Interview
Be Yourself. Empower Yourself.
We believe people with passion can create a better future.
Profile
Yoshiko Nakazawa
Executive Officer, Human Resources
Chapter 01Unleash the power of 80,000 employees
People are the core of our business. At Sumitomo Corporation HR, our mission is to empower the people toward our goal, “Enriching lives and the world.”
Chapter 02HR strategic pillars: Talent, Culture, Process and Governance
Sumitomo Corporation’s HR strategy is composed of the following three pillars.
Talent:Prepare for future
We are known as a company with a long history of investing in human capital. We undertake numerous employee initiatives for continuous learning and development, health management, well-being, etc. As we create and build diverse businesses in this VUCA era, we are more committed than ever to developing people for the future.
Our focus is as follows:
- 01.New graduate recruiting that is more reflective of the candidate’s intentions. ※
- 02.Equal opportunities for career development.
- 03.Development of enterprise leaders.
※Note: In Japan, new graduate recruiting by corporations is not always linked with a specific job. We are somewhat rare in that we give greater consideration to the candidate’s own career preferences.
Culture:Align with strategy
Our core culture has the following features:
1. Every person is respected and included.
2. Our mission goes back more than 400 years and continues to guide us.
3. We embrace new ideas and different views.
We leverage our core culture to enhance our performance and chances of success. HR plays a pivotal role throughout the process as a partner of business leaders.
Process and Governance: Fairness, Transparency, Compliance
HR operations require fairness, transparency and compliance, which together are the foundation of trust between our people and the Company. We believe trust is one of the most important factors in employee engagement.
We also focus on Digital HR. Digital processes enable our people to work more efficiently and with greater flexibility and to feel connected to their work and each other.
Chapter 03Inclusion is innovation
First and foremost, we believe inclusive workplaces encourage innovation. We continue to enhance our inclusive culture. Some 10% of our people are mid-career hires, which impacts positively on our organization. Together, we do not just welcome diversity, we celebrate it to create a better future.
columnBe kind to yourself
We proactively provide technologies to empower people to work from home and enjoy greater flexibility. We also develop various employee support programs in health and well-being. Now we focus more on our mindset.
We are often too hard on ourselves. We cannot always be perfect in both work and personal life. As a mother of two sons, I have been trying to be my best at work and at home, which may not be sustainable.
“Be kind to yourself. Do not push yourself too hard.”
Every day is a series of trial and errors, and so is life. Let’s focus on enjoying both work and personal life.
