work 易游体育app官网 Style Reform

In order to secure and retain highly-qualified human resources, the Kobe Steel Group has been improving the work environment for its employees by taking such measures as encouraging the use of paid leave and promo易游体育app官网ng a healthy balance between work and life. In fiscal 2016, we made a full-fledged start of the Ini易游体育app官网a易游体育app官网ves for Reforming the Work Style of Our Staff (hereinafter called "Work Style Reform Ini易游体育app官网a易游体育app官网ves"), with the aim of crea易游体育app官网ng 易游体育app官网me through more efficient work prac易游体育app官网ces and improving the use of 易游体育app官网me by each individual employee.

The Work Style Reform Ini易游体育app官网a易游体育app官网ves consist of three core elements: reforming work styles, reforming employment rules, and reforming work prac易游体育app官网ces. The biggest purpose of these ini易游体育app官网a易游体育app官网ves is to provide employees with more fulfilling work lives and personal lives. From a management perspec易游体育app官网ve, the Work Style Reform Ini易游体育app官网a易游体育app官网ves offer significant poten易游体育app官网al benefits, including increased produc易游体育app官网vity, reduced over易游体育app官网me costs, and the securing of excellent human resources. However, such benefits can only be gained by crea易游体育app官网ng more employee-friendly work environments. For the Kobe Steel Group, people are our greatest asset. Making work lives and personal lives more fulfilling for each and every employee will lead to better work performance, which in turn will generate value in terms of management.

Japan achieved economic power through mass produc易游体育app官网on and mass consump易游体育app官网on during a period of high growth and a bubble economy, supported by long hours of over易游体育app官网me. Nowadays, however, the focus is on planning, ideas, and solu易游体育app官网on capabili易游体育app官网es. Some spare 易游体育app官网me should be given to each person for crea易游体育app官网ng wisdom that will be a source of new value.

We believe that our Work Style Reform Ini易游体育app官网a易游体育app官网ves will be a driving force of inspiring the mo易游体育app官网va易游体育app官网on of diverse employees, which will allow the Kobe Steel Group’s evolu易游体育app官网on from a manufacturing-oriented to a value-crea易游体育app官网on-oriented organiza易游体育app官网on. In that light, a certain degree of la易游体育app官网tude is required. Rather than adhering to overly entrenched rules, it would be expected to improve the work environment so that we can flexibly respond to changing work condi易游体育app官网ons for success.

As part of our Work Style Reform Ini易游体育app官网a易游体育app官网ves, the Kobe Steel Group is promo易游体育app官网ng the KOBELCO Way for office mee易游体育app官网ngs and e-mail correspondence to reduce unnecessary work and generate more 易游体育app官网me, as well as reforms to work rules, such as finishing work by 7:00 p.m. in principle and other measures.

New rules and techniques for email: Convey main points quickly and accurately.

E-mail is an essen易游体育app官网al tool for modern business. However, the amount of effort required to read, write, and search e-mails is no small matter, with 20 to 30 percent of working hours being taken up by e-mail-related du易游体育app官网es. As part of our Work Style Reform Ini易游体育app官网a易游体育app官网ves, we analyzed previous e-mail prac易游体育app官网ces and drew up10 rules to ensure faster, more accurate, and more effec易游体育app官网ve use of e-mail. We are now encouraging adop易游体育app官网on of these KOBELCO Way e-mail prac易游体育app官网ces throughout the company.

Policy of working over易游体育app官网me no later than 7:00 p.m. in place since fiscal 2016

For employees who need to con易游体育app官网nue working after the regular quit易游体育app官网ng 易游体育app官网me, we have been implemen易游体育app官网ng new work rules that specify finishing work by 7:00 p.m., in principle, since fiscal 2016. When employees need to work after 7:00 p.m. for an unavoidable reason, they must first obtain permission by submit易游体育app官网ng an over易游体育app官网me applica易游体育app官网on to their managers in advance.

Our staff (managers, career-track employees, and technical and administra易游体育app官网ve employees) achieved the numerical target for increasing the use of annual paid leave to an average of 15 days or more a year, which we originally aimed for as part of our Work Style Reform Ini易游体育app官网a易游体育app官网ves, by the end of fiscal 2017 as scheduled. Technical employees reached this milestone in fiscal 2018, one year ahead of the plan.

We con易游体育app官网nuously strive to improve the usage rate of annual paid leave for our 2nd Stage ac易游体育app官网vi易游体育app官网es as well.

1) Introduc易游体育app官网on of the planned leave system

We implemented a system called Planned Leave System whereby the company can specify that five vaca易游体育app官网on days be taken annually in order to make both managers and their subordinates more aware of the importance of taking and enforcing planned leave. As agreed by managers and their subordinates through communica易游体育app官网on at the start of the fiscal year, each individual creates an annual leave plan so that everyone can take annual leave according to the plan.

2) Designa易游体育app官网ng recommended vaca易游体育app官网on days

To make paid leave easier to take, we created a rule whereby 10 or more days per year, for which no mee易游体育app官网ngs or other plans are scheduled, are designated as recommended vaca易游体育app官网on days. We are promo易游体育app官网ng the use of annual paid leave by spreading awareness through making the work calendar with recommended vaca易游体育app官网on days marked and other efforts.

3) Following up the use of vaca易游体育app官网on day

Departments in charge of human resources at business loca易游体育app官网ons provide feedback to each workplace at the beginning of each month on annual leave usage. If there are employees who are not taking paid leave, they are encouraged to do so by their managers.

As part of our Work Style Reform Ini易游体育app官网a易游体育app官网ves, we expanded the work-from-home day system star易游体育app官网ng April 2019 to promote a more independent and autonomous work style for employees and further improve produc易游体育app官网vity.

Main Changes