Social Responsibility
About
Human Resource Development
Performance-Based Personnel System, Designed to Encourage Employees’ Commitment to Developing Their Own Potential
Employment
Over 30,000 Employees Work for the Konica Minolta Group around the World
As of the end of 2006 a total of 30,207 employees were working for 98 Konica Minolta Group and affiliated companies in 26 countries.
In keeping with the Konica Minolta Personnel Philosophy, which is based on the Company's Management Philosophy, the Group is committed to creating an ideal workplace where all workers (full-time employees, temporary staff members, part-timers etc.) can fully develop their own potential in pursuit of business innovation.
Konica Minolta Personnel Philosophy, based on the Company's Management Philosophy
<Management Philosophy>
The Creation of New Value
<Corporate Message>
The essentials of imaging
<Personnel Philosophy>
KONICAMINOLTA VALUES PEOPLE WHO···
- are committed to shared corporate goals of becoming a global company with market leadership in the imaging business domain.
- always strive for continuous innovation through a customer oriented approach, not simply adhering to successful achievements of the past nor established customs.
Information Sharing
Intranet and Various Other Systems for Interactive Communication
Our intranet system, Konica Minolta Online, links all operations within Japan. In addition to disseminating Group policies and important information on individual Group companies, the intranet enables communication between senior management and individual employees. We have also established Online Global, to share information with employees of Group companies outside Japan.
FORWARD Page on Konica Minolta Online
FORWARD is a special page on Konica Minolta Online where the President and CEO of Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc. explains Group policies and plans to employees in an easy-to-understand manner. Employees can communicate directly with the President via this page.
Meeting of the CEO and Employees
In October 2006, Mr. Ota, the President and CEO of Konica Minolta Holdings, held a meeting with employees of the Japanese Group companies. The employees participating belong to diverse sections, including design, development, manufacturing, and marketing. For about two hours, these employees held animated discussions with President Ota. The meeting was designed to develop closer relationships between employees and the CEO, and to create an open and lively corporate culture that encourages freewheeling thinking.
Quarterly Journal KONICA MINOLTA
Konica Minolta is a quarterly journal for all employees (including Japanese employees dispatched outside Japan and temporary staff) of Group companies in Japan; the journal has a circulation of over 20,000 copies. Konica Minolta introduces diverse topics, ranging from Group-wide initiatives to achieve innovation by involving all employees worldwide, to activities in a specific region. In a journal contest held in fiscal year 2006 by the Japan Business Federation, out of the 194 journals of various Japanese companies, Konica Minolta was selected as the winner of the highest award, in recognition of the journal’s excellent editorial policies, content, expressive style, and layout.
Establishing a Communication Coordinator System
Konica Minolta Group companies appoint communication coordinators, who promote communication within the Group by making optimal use of the Group's newsletter and other media.
Discussions on CSR, Held between a CSR Officer and Young Employees in Germany
In February 2007, when the CSR officer of Konica Minolta Holdings visited Europe, he held a discussion meeting on CSR with young employees in Germany. Participants in that meeting discussed diverse topics: their wish to learn more about the Group’s CSR activities, what they should do and what they want to do in CSR activities, and so forth.
CSR Campaign: Learn CSR and Take CSR Actions!
To promote employee awareness of CSR, in November 2006 we started a new program in Japan called the Konica Minolta CSR Campaign “Learn CSR and Take CSR Actions!” The members of the CSR promotion section displayed panels and CSR-related materials at cafeteria entrances and other places, where the members explained about the Konica Minolta Group Charter of Corporate Behavior and related activities to employees in person. Approximately 3,000 employees had participated in the campaign by the end of fiscal year 2006.
Personnel System
Promoting a Performance-Based System
Konica Minolta's personnel system honors employees who are striving to build their own capacity and willing to take on challenging tasks. In line with this policy, the Company has done away with the traditional seniority system. In its place the Company has introduced a performance-based system, to ensure that employee salaries and positions are based on ability and performance.
For ambitious employees willing to more aggressively achieve lofty goals, we have established a new career program titled the Innovation Course. Greater incentives are given to those who select this program, while they can also have more flexible work styles, and their performance is reflected more. The new system has been established with the aim of inspiring Konica Minolta employees to take on challenging tasks.
Human Resource Development
A Variety of Educational Programs to Develop Multitalented Employees
To make optimal use of our new performance-based personnel system the Konica Minolta Group encourages the development of human resources, primarily through On the Job Development (OJD).* To enhance the effectiveness of our OJD programs, we also offer various educational programs.
In Japan, we conduct what we call Position-Based Training for employees who assume new positions/roles; Knowledge and Skill Development Seminars for developing specialists such as Konica Minolta College; and Strategic Capacity Building Programs such as the Challenge Engineers Forum and the Business Leader Program for developing global business persons from a Group-wide management perspective.
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- On the Job Development is our method of employee training in the workplace, through day-to-day service.
Human Resource Development outside Japan
To enhance employee expertise and technological skills, many Group and affiliated companies outside Japan develop their original programs, including e-learning programs.
Wuxi Plant of Konica Minolta Business Technologies (WUXI) Co., Ltd., our manufacturing company established in Wuxi, China in December 2004, for instance, is committed to developing human resources through compliance and other seminars for new employees, technological training for engineers, and other programs.
The Company has established a personnel system to promote local employees to management positions. As a result, the number of Chinese managers reached 22 in April 2006. The Company has also established a system to promote temporary staff members to regular full-time employees. Under this system, about 160 temporary staff members had been re-employed as full-time employees by the end of fiscal year 2006. The Company offers seminars to provide employees with basic knowledge on business management and about the Konica Minolta Group, as well as training of basic PC operations. Employees who develop their skills by attending these programs can take examinations, and successful candidates are eligible for higher positions.
Konica Minolta Business Technologies Manufacturing (HK) Ltd., another manufacturing company in China, provides local staff with special training with the aim of transferring greater power to them and promoting them to higher management positions. In addition, the Company provides education to approximately 5,000 employees at Shilong Plant in Guangdong Province, based on a long-existing tie-up with the plant. In addition to compliance education for all employees, the Company offers various programs for employees willing to acquire special skills. Japanese language, English language, and quality management courses began in September 2005, and PC seminars in February 2006. Attracting many employees, these programs are effective in enhancing employee motivation and capabilities.
Improving the Work Environment
Respect for Employees
The right to work is a basic human right. Both the Konica Minolta Group Conduct Guidelines and the Compliance Manual stipulate that Konica Minolta respect each employee's personality, human rights, and privacy; never permit any discrimination toward employees; provide all with equal employment opportunities; and endeavor to create comfortable workplaces for all employees. To prevent sexual harassment, we have posted the Sexual Harassment Prevention Guidelines on our intranet—Konica Minolta Online. In addition, we have established the Help Line (hotline) and appointed staff dedicated to this issue in the personnel section.
In the Konica Minolta Group, child labor and forced labor are ruled out.
Respect for Employees (excerpt from Konica Minolta Group Conduct Guidelines)
- We shall endeavor to make the lives of employees comfortable and fulfilling.
- We shall comply with all applicable laws, internal policies, and regulations concerning the health and safety of employees at work, and shall endeavor to create a safe and healthy workplace.
- We shall respect the individuality, human rights and privacy of all employees, and shall create a cooperative and comfortable working environment that is free of discrimination on the basis of race, nationality, gender, religion, or physical disability.
- We recognize that men and women are equal, and shall not engage in any conduct that may be construed as sexual harassment.
Equal Employment Opportunities
Our Commitment to Providing Equal Employment Opportunities
The Konica Minolta Group employs and promotes its staff on a global basis, without discrimination on the basis of race, nationality, gender, and so forth.
Our Group company in Germany has established a long-term training system under which college students can acquire actual work experience by taking one to three years' leave of absence from college. In fiscal year 2006, the German company received about 30 such students. In addition, it employed staff from various countries.
In Japan, during fiscal year 2006 we employed many applicants who already had professional careers, in addition to those who had just graduated from schools/colleges/universities. We hope that by employing people of diverse backgrounds we will encourage diverse perspectives and opinions regarding our business, with the ultimate result of dynamic corporate innovation.
To ensure equal employment opportunities for both men and women, we have abolished all distinction between men and women in terms of employment, in-house treatment, training programs, promotion, and so forth. To support parents, we are improving workplace environment and working conditions so as to assist them in fulfilling both work and family responsibilities. As a result, in fiscal year 2006 the average age of our female employees in Japan increased to 38.1 years, the duration of their service averaging 18.1 years. These figures attest to the increase in number of women who have chosen to continue working at Konica Minolta.
As regards employment of disabled persons, the percentage of such employees in the Group companies in Japan remained at 1.74%, as compared to 1.73% in fiscal year 2005. We will continue our efforts to hire increasing numbers of disabled people.
Support for Working Parents
Creating a Workplace that Assists Employees in Fulfilling Their Work and Family Responsibilities
Konica Minolta continues to strive to create a workplace that helps employees fulfill both their work and family responsibilities. We do this because we believe that our employees need to lead a contented family life in order to commit themselves to business activities.
Given the rapid decline in the birthrate in Japan, both the public and private sectors are being encouraged to create a workplace environment that enables parents to give birth to and raise children while concurrently continuing to work. To this end, we have established various leave systems in Japan for both mothers and fathers, including parental support leave, shorter working hours, and leave for tending to sick children. Various other parental support programs are also available as part of what we call the Flexible Benefit Plan. Our system allows parents to take longer leave than is specified in Japanese law. In July 2006 we established the Next-Generation Development Committee, to firmly establish these parental support systems and to prepare and promote related programs in Japan.
Our efforts in this area in fiscal years 2005 and 2006 were recognized by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan. Konica Minolta Business Technologies and Konica Minolta Technology Center obtained Kurumin certification from the Ministry, which is given to enterprises whose parental support programs satisfy the Ministry’s criteria. Konica Minolta will continue to improve our workplace environment for both male and female employees through efforts to promote parental leave and reviews of work and life balance. We hope such efforts will help create a lively workplace embracing workers of diverse lifestyles
| Number of employees who took maternity leave (FY 2006: out of the 1,280 female employees) | 59 |
|---|---|
| Number of employees who took parental leave | 118 women 2 men |
| Number of employees who selected shorter working hours | 163 women 1 man |
Employee Leisure and Volunteer Activities
Holiday Systems Allowing Employees to Enjoy Leisure Activities and Supporting Their Volunteer Activities
As one example of our measures to ensure our employees derive greater enjoyment from their leisure activities, periods of sabbatical leave called "refreshment holidays" are provided for employees in our Japanese Group, in addition to annual paid holidays. The average percentage of annual paid holidays actually taken during fiscal year 2006 in our Japanese Group remained unchanged from the previous year (49% in both fiscal years 2005 and 2006), the fact indicating that we must improve the level further.
In recognition of the vital roles of individual employees as members of a civil society, Konica Minolta supports their volunteer activities. To this end, our Japanese Group Companies carry a volunteer activity leave system.
Healthcare Activities
Various Programs to Create a Healthy and Comfortable Workplace Environment
In our efforts to promote employee health, Konica Minolta places the highest priority on measures to prevent overwork and to maintain employees’ good mental health. During fiscal year 2005 we introduced in Japan an e-diagnosis system, which uses the intranet to offer a Mental Health Self-Check Sheet. This simple electronic system enables employees to check their stress levels. During medical examinations of long-hour workers and flex-time employees, doctors refer to the results of the self-check, in addition to the results of physical examinations, so as to prevent both physical and mental health problems.
During fiscal year 2006 we expanded the target audience for monthly medical examinations, which were initially designed for long-hour workers, to encompass managers and flex-time employees, as well. In fiscal year 2007 we are also expanding the target audience of semiannual medical examinations, initially designed for flex-time workers, to cover managers as well. By expanding the target audience of these medical examinations, we seek to prevent health impact of overwork on all employees, regardless of their working styles or positions. To identify employees who are working long hours, we have introduced a new online system that monitors the login and logout times of individual employees’ PCs. We have also introduced an intranet system to book medical examinations. Since this system also records which employees actually received examinations, the system is also effective in encouraging applicable employees to take examinations.
For managers, we hold annual Mental Health Management Seminars in Japan (with 346 managers participating in fiscal year 2006).
Labor-Management Relations
Constructive Labor-Management Relations
As of the end of March 2007, the membership of the Konica Minolta Labor Union was 6,337. In accordance with the labor-management agreement, representatives of both parties hold constructive discussions at management meetings, in order to find solutions to various labor-management problems. Some Group companies have other in-house labor unions, with which we also enjoy favorable labor-management relations.
Occupational Safety and Health
Creating a Safe and Comfortable Working Environment
In our commitment to occupational safety and health management, Konica Minolta places priority on accident prevention in day-to-day activities. Our primary concern always remains to maintain and promote workplace safety and the good health of all employees.
To visualize hidden risks and determine risk levels, each establishment of the Konica Minolta Group gives scores to the risks and other aspects of its occupational safety and health management. After scoring them through effective use of our original Safety and Health Achievement Program (PAS), each establishment creates charts in order to visualize the risk levels more clearly. In this way, individual establishments are improving the level of their occupational safety and health management. In addition to Japanese companies, our production companies in China, North America and Europe also adopt this visualization method.
During fiscal year 2007 we are improving our visualization program to enable further quantitative analyses of target achievement levels. We are also building a new occupational safety and health management system with the aim of further improving the quality of our safety initiatives.
Promoting the “Intrinsic Safety” of Facilities
To further promote the operational safety of our facilities and operations, we are committed to continuing risk assessment.
The term “intrinsic safety” refers to providing every possible safety measure to facilities and equipment so that even careless behavior on the part of a worker need not result in an accident or injury.
During fiscal year 2006 we conducted a pilot project in which we tested our original risk assessment technique that combines conventional risk prediction and hiyari-hatto (near accident reporting) approaches with advanced risk assessment techniques. Through this pilot project, we were able to confirm that the new risk assessment technique is effective in identifying risk sources in facilities, equipment, and operational processes, as well as in determining appropriate remedies. By introducing this new technique across the Group, we will promote intrinsic safety throughout our operations.
Award for Our Commitment to Occupational Safety and Health Management
Mr. David Pasquini, Vice President of Konica Minolta Headquarters North America, Inc. was presented with the 2006 Achievement Award from the International Imaging Industry Association (I3A), in recognition of his contribution to enhancing the level of occupational safety and health management.
Employee Safety
Improving Employee Safety
As measures to improve employee safety, during fiscal 2006 we assessed the various risks involved in our common facilities and non-manufacturing workplaces, in addition to enhancing the level of intrinsic safety of facilities and operational processes. Through this risk assessment, we raised employees’ sensitivity toward hidden risks and promoted measures to diminish risk sources.
As a result of our steady efforts over the past years, the industrial accident frequency rate of our Japanese group companies for fiscal 2006 improved radically as shown in the chart below. We will continue our commitment to further developing employees’ awareness of everyday risks.
