We, the JSR Group, specify our responsibilities to employees within our management policies.

• Evaluation and rewards based on fair standards
• Continuous opportunities to grow by challenging themselves
• Acceptance of the diversity of fellow colleagues and to be provided a place where all employees can work together as a team

We are working on human resource development with the understanding that it is the greatest priority for achieving sustainable, long-term corporate growth.

JSR Group drives its organization and personnel based upon the following measures:

• Develop mechanisms and a corporate culture with a healthy balance of 'Freedom' and 'Discipline,' guided by the Course of Action's 4Cs to enable managers and junior staff to grow together, help all employees accurately perceive and solve issues in order to foster a JSR that not only maintains its organizational capacity, but ensures its future growth.
• Promote the globalization of JSR corporation employees while developing a globalized workforce within JSR Group as well as train and manage the Group's human resources on a global level.
• Generate synergies which take full advantage of the increasing range of diversity (in terms of nationality, culture, gender, values, etc.) throughout JSR Group's vast human resource pool.

4C Course of Action

• CHALLENGE：All employees of JSR Group should share a common, global focus and desire to succeed. Employees should feel confident to autonomously take on new challenges, learning from successes while viewing setbacks as opportunities to learn, grow and improve.
• COMMUNICATION：All employees should feel comfortable and confident maintaining open lines of bi-directional communication at all levels within JSR Group. Employees should strive for organizational transparency through direct conversations as the best means to share value and achieve common goals, especially in the face of growth and diversification.
• COLLABORATION：Employees will work together in the spirit of cooperation, valuing common, corporate goals over internal or departmental barriers. Employees will also be encouraged to actively collaborate with external resources and not be bound to conventional ideas.
• CULTIVATION：All employees will cultivate an environment that supports bi-directional communication between managers and subordinates and provides opportunities to develop together as individuals and as members of productive, supportive teams.
  

• We shall ensure the fair treatment of employees, based on each person’s tasks, roles, and level of commitment.
• We shall respect the diversity of our workforce and make efforts to create a workplace environment that enables every employee to make the best use of their abilities and to find a rewarding sense of satisfaction in their work.
• We shall respect the human rights and diverse characteristics of all individuals, and shall not discriminate against gender, age, nationality, race, ethnic group, origin, religion, beliefs, social status, physical disability, sexual orientation, or other relevant conditions when determining employment status and/or working conditions.
• We shall not force religion and/or belief on others.
• We shall provide a workplace free from any harassment arising from positions of power. In addition, we will not engage in any form of sexual harassment, such as behavior and verbal comments with sexual connotations that will make others feel uncomfortable.
• In the event that a staff member reports the violation or possible violation of the law and/or the Principles of Corporate Ethics to his / her superiors and / or internal / external hotline, we shall fully protect the said staff member’s identity and protect him or her from unfavorable treatment.

Under the career-track system, we have established a skills-based qualification system that specifies qualification grades corresponding to employees’ abilities. Skill standards established for each qualification also clarify the standards for the type of human resource, ability, and treatment. For employees of higher ranks, we also apply a job rank system that establishes ranks corresponding to given duties (i.e., responsibilities in the organization and performance responsibilities).

In April 2022, we revised the personnel system for managerial level positions by establishing role-based grading system to create an environment and culture where fair treatment of diverse employees and organizations enables employees to demonstrate their best performance and to ensure that JSR continues to be a company that is chosen by employees and external human resources.

JSR Group strictly complies with the legally established minimum wage of each country and region, and provides wages that are based on fair assessments of employees. JSR Group naturally strives to be legally compliant in terms of working hours. We also endeavor to provide appropriate labor management with the aim of avoiding long working hours and to help employees enjoy a proper work-life balance.

JSR specifies desirable types of human resources to target in developing human resources.

1. （1）Professionals who are globally competitive in each area they are responsible for
2. （2）Challengers who respond flexibly to changes in the environment and pursue innovation and transformation without accepting the status quo
3. （3）Individuals who possess high ethical values and respect challenge, communication, collaboration, and cultivation

1. （4）Leaders who delegate work and responsibility to subordinates and consistently maintain an awareness of organizational management and human resource development while leading by example and standing at the helm
2. （5）Leaders who guide innovation while managing the efficient achievement of organizational objectives

JSR has established the following elements as its human resource development policy to develop human resources who are consistent with the company’s medium and long-term business objectives, improve the abilities of individual employees, and enable employees to fully demonstrate their abilities.

1. （1）Provide sufficient support for employees to focus on their own desire to grow and take the initiative in improving their own skills and building their careers.
2. （2）Developing and cultivating the abilities of employees is the foundation of the company. The greatest priority is growth through work. Structured, systematic, ongoing training is provided to supplement this from a company-wide, long-term perspective.

As globalization and digitalization progress, the demands made of leaders are changing. At JSR, we have been providing the “Training the next generation of leaders” course with external cooperation since 2007. This course is focused on development of the next generation of leaders. The training teaches participants established practices, the essentials of digital management, and other necessary business skills through discussions based on actual cases. Participants also expand their perspective by imagining that they are in the position of a superior, thinking about what is important from a management perspective, and outlining a vision for their own departments. Those who have taken this training include people who are already officers and the training is steadily generating diverse human resources who are equipped to look beyond the present and spur innovation themselves.

The greatest priority is growth through work via on-the-job training. We have produced the Seven Articles of OJT (Trainer’s Edition) and the Three Articles of OJT (Trainee’s Editions) and are using these to develop human resources through work at each workplace.

We have established the following systems to support self-education:

• Correspondence course system: Once an employee has completed a voluntary correspondence course selected from menu of 250 courses the company has selected, the company will pay roughly 50% of the course fee as a subsidy.
• Public certification course system: The company will pay testing fees, course fees, and the cost of course texts to employees who have acquired certifications necessary for their work.
• External training support system: The company will pay part or all of the course fees for external courses employees have taken that are necessary for their work.

We provide the following off-the-job training to augment on-the-job training.

Training in the common knowledge and skills considered necessary for skill qualifications or for each job grade level, from a company-wide perspective.

Training in the specialized knowledge and skills needed for each job for career building and to improve work efficiency.

• Specialized skill training: For engineers and technical staff, this includes plant training in common skills, safety training, quality control training, technology management training, and R&D environmental safety training. For administrative staff, it includes external courses on management strategies, accounting, finance, and other areas.
• Courses on handing down technological expertise: Expertise on the past business activities of JSR is shared among employees, including understanding of the past history, background on initiatives, techniques for problem identification and control, problem points, discussion of failures and tips for succeeding. We pass on the good DNA of JSR and have employees utilize it in the future business activities of each department.

For issues that should be addressed on a company-wide level, we narrow down the objectives and focus on the needs.

• Language training: To develop language skills and the mindset for global response, we support short-term language study abroad (in English and Chinese), and hold conversation classes in English and Chinese.
• Overseas research dispatch: Employees voluntarily perform research at universities and research institutions overseas for up to two years to improve research skills and learn challenging and innovative new technologies useful for future business creation and technological innovation.
• Dispatch for MBA/MOT: Employees acquire MBAs and MOTs at graduate schools in Japan while working their normal jobs.
• Life planning/management seminars: Employees around the ages of 51 to 52 have the opportunity to think about their lives after retirement by learning about the three pillars of life planning: 1) career development plan, 2) lifelong economic plan, and 3) health management.

• Training content is the same for all domestic Group companies and the employees of domestic Group companies also participate in training conducted by JSR. JSR is working to develop human resources for the entire Group.
• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some training is provided online, depending on the training objectives.
• To promote the advancement of women, the Diversity Development Office provides training to managerial level employees who have female subordinates, sends them to external training (the NPO, J-Win), and provides other training opportunities. Click here for more information.
  • Diversity, equity, and inclusion: Initiatives promoting the advancement of women
• As part of our efforts to promote digital transformation (DX), we provide training in data science to employees who will be the next generation of leaders, training in programming to young engineers and technical staff, and an introductory course in data literacy to young administrative staff.

JSR conducts a variety of training programs to raise the skills of its employees.
The total annual training time and education cost per JSR employee was as follows.
*Figures for education/training cost were corrected in December 2022.

Note: This total was calculated by including technology and skill training, stratified training programs, and other training organized by human resources departments. It therefore does not include hours spent in education provided independently by departments or external education. Additionally, it does not include educational hours based on e-Learning.

The status on providing core training is shown below.

Note: Nearly all technical training common to all plants, miniature plant training and safety education, and quality control education is conducted by internal instructors or alumni. We provide instructor training to improve the instruction techniques of these internal instructors and alumni.

We have established training centers near our Head Office and in the Yokkaichi area to create an environment that can provide continual educational support to employees. We are using these training centers to focus on further refining our strengths in technology and developing human resources by passing on technical skills at manufacturing sites and expanding employee education programs.

The following types of original educational programs and symposiums are also held at domestic Group companies.

This program is designed to develop human resources equipped to support global business operations overseas. The three-month program involves learning the mechanisms of company operation and management at the U.S. subsidiary while studying at a language school in the U.S.

This symposium has been held since 1989 and facilitates interaction with researchers who are leading global biological research. The 32nd Symposium was held in FY2021. The free-ranging discussions include presenters and participants of all generations and lead to opportunities to gain new perspectives and motivation.

• Takato Molecular Cell Biology Symposium (Japanese only)

JSR is actively working on reshaping its corporate culture based on the principles of freedom and discipline. Our corporate culture-related activities are comprised of cultivation, on-the-job training (OJT) advancement, and communication improvement. "Cultivation" works to help managers and subordinates develop together as individuals by promoting inter-personal communication and encouraging managers to provide their subordinates with more opportunities for independence. "OJT promotion" aims to spread preparedness to implement OJT and its philosophy among employees through training. And "communication improvement" creates opportunities for regular informal workplace gatherings and Group get-togethers.

We established a self-evaluation system in which individuals report frankly on how they view the status of the work they are currently responsible for and their future vision for themselves. This system deepens mutual understanding through meetings with superiors based on these self-evaluations. It targets systematic, efficient development of each individual’s abilities and self-realization as well as effective human resource development by setting skill development objectives for the coming year based on wage assessment results, skill development results during the past year, and the individual’s self-evaluation, through discussion between the individual and his or her superior.

We have established the Career Development Program (CDP) in conjunction with other training programs to support the growth of human resources who will be responsible for JSR Group in the next generation.
CDP is a job rotation program for recent university graduates on the management track. We believe that this kind of rotation forms the basis of human resources development. We have continued to improve and refine this method of training since CDP was first introduced in 1988.

Each employee in the program works in a number of different departments during their first 10 years of employment. This program produces highly capable employees who also improve their own work efficiency due to their understanding and awareness of the relationships between upstream and downstream processes as well as inter-departmental communication skills. In terms of career development, CDP gives participants the opportunity to think about their own careers and facilitates autonomous career building for the future.

To consider transfers under CDP, CDP Committee members individually interview employees who will enter CDP before discussing individual rotation plans at a general CDP meeting. The Human Resources Department runs the CDP Committee, and each General Manager is a committee member.

We use various awards programs to enhance employees’ motivation.

• Among the awards presented are the President’s Award, Production and Technology Award, Research and Development Award, Environment Distinguished Service Award, special commendations, length-of-service commendations, and “zero accidents” commendations.

JSR Group aims for sustainable growth and creates value for all shareholders. We respect diversity, equity, and inclusion, and focus on drawing out the maximum potential of all employees to create a resilient organization that can respond to all sorts of changes in the environment.

We continue to implement various initiatives to help each employee maintain a high level of health and engagement. In FY2021, we conducted the first global employee engagement survey to further enhance the support provided.

The first survey of Group companies, except for a few companies, yielded a response rate of 82%. Many employees were interested and responded despite facing a major turning point as a Group and being the first attempt at a survey. After the survey, we analyzed the factors influencing employee engagement based on the results and are beginning to identity the problems in each Group company and department and take action for improvement.

We will continue to conduct the survey on a regular basis and work to improve employee engagement by implementing continual improvements from both the top down and bottom up while carefully examining the appropriateness of such actions and reflecting them in measures.