Human Capital
Human Resources Systems and Operations
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Konica Minolta's Approach
Background and Issues
The role of management has expanded significantly to increase engagement and maximize the output of the group’s professional human resources. In other words, human resource development, which involves meeting each individual and helping them to advance their career, as well as organizational development are both required to enhance the quality of relationships among human resources. Furthermore, when looking at each individual, with the increasing orientation toward specialization, it is becoming increasingly difficult to treat career paths as one track of "aiming to reach the pinnacle of management.” To address these issues, we will contribute to the sustainable growth of the Company by introducing a system that is most suitable to Konica Minolta, instead of following in the footsteps of other companies. In addition, we will promote workstyle reforms so that each employee can maximize their potential.
Vision
Clearly perceiving the direction in which our organization and personnel should be heading, we encourage each individual to change their behavior and thinking through a system that enables the acquisition, development, and retention of human resources.
Key Measures
- Promote double-track system to support career aspirations
- Strengthen Empowerment Leaders
Double-Track System for Management Positions
To make the most of professional human resources, it is increasingly important to maximize the power of human resources and the organization in the workplace. In order to respond to the diverse careers of human resources, Konica Minolta, Inc. and its main sales subsidiary Konica Minolta Japan, Inc. are radically rethinking the management system based on conventional "workplace management" and have initiated efforts to strengthen it.
Introduction of Double-Track Personnel System
In order to clarify that the role that we expect future leaders to play is that of leaders of a group of professional human resources, from April 2022, we have decided to abolish the “management position” classification and name which connotes workplace management, and to revise the definition of “management position” to make the existing single-track management system a double-track system. There are three reasons for this change.
(1) Strengthen leaders who energize human resources and organizations, commit to results, and elevate their ability to execute
(2) Develop and retain experts who create innovation and lead with their expertise
(3) Support the diverse career aspirations of employees
The new definition divides the required leadership into two categories as follows. The first is the organizational leaders who energize human resources and the organization and elevate their ability to execute. We call these individuals "Empowerment Leaders" in the expectation that they will maximize the individual potential of human resources. The other is human resources who create innovation beyond existing boundaries and lead with their expertise. We call these individuals "Experts" in the expectation that they will increase their own expertise and contribute to the business by leveraging their expertise. We have decided to call these "Empowerment Leaders" and "Experts" collectively "Exempt.”
Along with this change in definition, we have defined the required behaviors as "do you have a vision and can you chart your own course," "do you have the ability to produce results," "can you draw on diverse strengths," and "do you continue to develop yourself," and have made these the basis for evaluation.
In addition, the Company checks whether required behaviors are being met through semi-annual multi-faceted evaluations, enabling employees to continuously update their behavior. For experts, the Company has also revamped its compensation system, offering executive officer-level remuneration to high-achieving experts, which significantly contributes to attracting highly skilled external professionals.
Conceptual Diagram of the Double-Track Career
Strengthen Empowerment Leaders
To maximize the power of the organization and team, the Empowerment Leader must be a "driver of change" who communicates in their own words the direction that the business should take to members with a wide range of experiences, expertise, and values, and leads them to new answers that they would not have thought of before through frank discussions. At the same time, the empowerment leader is also required to discuss the career aspirations of each and every team member and determine what they need to do to get closer to their career goals and to support them.
This is no easy task; Empowerment Leaders are in a sense “human resources with professional expertise" who empower people and organizations and require a high level of talent empowerment capabilities instead of workplace or human resource management.
For Empowerment Leaders, Konica Minolta systematically and continuously implements management skill enhancement programs, including coaching, team building, and communication skills, for all employees in positions equivalent to department managers who lead on-site organizations and teams. In addition to these efforts, in fiscal 2025, the Company plans to implement programs aimed at strengthening both the mindset and behavior of employees at the general manager level, who are central to achieving a V-shaped recovery and medium-to-long-term profit growth. (FY22-23: 300 people, FY24: 60 newly appointed line managers at the third organizational layer) In addition, looking at the multifaceted biannual assessments conducted by supervisors, subordinates, and peers, we confirmed that the average improvement of participants in the program in fiscal 2022 and 2023 was about 10% in all requirements compared to those who did not take the program.
Key Actions in Each Phase of the Empowerment Leader Development Program
Assessment and Compensation System Encourages Career Autonomy and Taking on Challenges
Assessment and Compensation System
To create an organization that continues to provide customers with new value, Konica Minolta, Inc. expects each employee to possess superior knowledge, expertise, and unique skills befitting a true professional, and to act and think independently to solve problems. In order to accelerate employee development, the Company has revised its personnel assessment and compensation system for general employees, introducing a system that highly evaluates talented personnel who act in accordance with the Konica Minolta Philosophy and take on the challenge of pursuing ambitious goals without fear of failure. It also includes a system to evaluate employees who take on challenges, regardless of the outcome.
It is worth noting that, since the merger, we have excluded seniority and instead fairly evaluate skills and results (such as the achievement of thematic goals and contributions to the organization), reflecting these in promotions, salary increases, and bonuses. Compensation resulting from promotions and salary increases is linked not only to the most recent salary but also to retirement benefits,* which are increased accordingly. This approach serves as an incentive for long-term improvement in ability and contribution to business performance. (*Retirement benefits are paid based on accumulated points at the time of retirement, accumulated each year based on an evaluation of job performance.)
In addition, to achieve the career vision of each individual, we regularly provide important opportunities for employees to review and reflect on their own career history. They discuss their skill development challenges and career development goals (direction and plan for skill development) with their superiors through their work. Supervisors also support the achievement of these goals by considering job and role assignments, providing feedback through daily work, and fostering interactive development through dialogue."
Expanding Systems to Support Diverse Work Styles and Increase Productivity
Various Systems to Support Diverse Work Styles and Increase Productivity
Konica Minolta enhances both productivity and engagement by expanding its systems to include flexibility in time and location, combined with support for life events.
The Company offers various work style options, such as flextime, discretionary labor, reduced working hours, and remote work, creating an environment where employees can proactively design their work styles with well-defined time management.
Konica Minolta also focuses on promoting work-life management, including support for balancing childcare and nursing care with work.
These systems have yielded results such as eliminating the gender gap in average years of service and achieving a male childcare leave acquisition rate of 77.3% in fiscal 2024, realizing “highly productive work styles” where diverse talent can demonstrate their expertise regardless of their life stage.
