Developing global human resources

The ideal human resources that the Group seeks and entrenching the “Sumitomo Spirit”

Personnel needed by the Sumitomo Electric Group are defined as those who honor the Sumitomo Spirit, understand the Sumitomo Electric Group Corporate Principles, possess high levels of skill and knowledge rooted firmly in the basics, and who can play active roles in the global community. The core elements of their training are individual employees’ strong motivation for self-development and on-the-job coaching and close communication between superiors and the employees they manage. The training cycle includes management by objectives, dialogs on career, on-the-job training, employee performance evaluations and job rotation, supported by training and education by SEI University, with the aim of improving each employee's value through the achievement of company goals.
In particular, the Sumitomo Spirit is positioned as the basis for employees to perform their duties. We give them opportunities to learn about it in the training programs for new employees and various position-based training programs. In addition, we always explain the relations of the Sumitomo Spirit to compliance and human rights in the relevant training programs. Furthermore, the president asks all employees to perform their duties in accordance with the Sumitomo Spirit via a video once in six months and the video is also translated into multiple languages and distributed to group companies in Japan and overseas. For the employees to be assigned overseas, a training program to ensure that they can convey the Sumitomo Spirit in their own words in their new workplaces is organized before the transfer. We are also cultivating internal lecturers to enable the Sumitomo Spirit to be learned periodically in Group companies in Japan and abroad.

“SEI University,” a comprehensive training system

“SEI University” is the collective name for the training system of the Group. We implement various training programs in a wide range of areas to achieve the company's goal of becoming a ”Glorious Excellent Company.” Some trainings are carried out as Off-JT, while others are carried out as hands-on training in the actual workplace.

At “SEI University,” the following five basic subjects are mandatory training for all employees and are incorporated into each training program.
With the five subjects listed above as a foundation, we provide more than 300 training programs (commonly developed across the Group) in the three areas of ”human skills,” ”problem-solving skills,” and ”technical skills,” including position-based compulsory programs for all group employees ranging from executives to new employees. Our Group companies and divisions also organize their original training programs (specialized knowledge) in the field of technical skills to have the trainees acquire the unique knowledge and skills especially required in the respective workplaces.

*SEQCDD stands for the Sumitomo Electric Group's policy of considering and implementing the following elements: S (Safety), E (Environment), Q (Quality), C (Cost), D (Delivery), and D(Development).

Enhancement of manufacturing capabilities and developing human resources

Based on the basic idea that ”manufacturing is human resource development,” at SEI University they are engaged in developing human resources in the fields of safety, environment, quality, and production technology in order to evolve and deepen ”SEQCDD, ” which is the foundation of a manufacturing company. For details on ”manufacturing is human resource development,”

Diversity and Inclusion

Aiming for diverse human resource activities

The Group employs more than 280,000 people in approximately 40 countries around the world. As the business environment has become increasingly complex and the future increasingly difficult to predict in particular, we believe that in order for the Group to continue to grow and develop, it is important to recruit and develop a diverse and talented workforce from around the world, regardless of nationality or gender, and to promote placement and promotion beyond the individual company, as well as to provide a variety of career opportunities.
Based on its basic policy on human resources, the “Sumitomo Electric Group Global Human Resource Management Policy,” the Group is working to accelerate the recruitment and appointment of global human resources by creating an environment where employees can experience growth and realize personal fulfillment through their work, providing career opportunities without regard to race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability, promoting diversity and inclusion, and developing global leaders.

Establishment of Diversity ＆ Inclusion Department (June 2020)

The promotion of diversity and inclusion is one of the key issues in the Company’s management strategy. Also, it is essential to achieve diversity and inclusion not only by increasing diversity, but also by recognizing and taking advantage of the diversity of employees, so that each and every one of them can be motivated to work toward the same goal and demonstrate their comprehensive capabilities. The Company defines“ inclusion” as a mixture of“ diverse perspectives”,“ trusting relationships”, and “demonstrating ability” to achieve more than the simple sum of the individuals. Through inclusion, we aspire to create better ways to solve problems and generate better creativity and ideas more than sum of employees’ abilities.
We have now taken a variety of measures here in Japan to promote diversity and improve our working conditions, including building a framework to support employees balancing work with life situations such as raising children or caring for family members, changing the work styles, introducing and then expanding our work-from-home arrangements, supporting non-Japanese employees and hiring more employees with disabilities. In order to further accelerate and deepen our diversity and inclusion measures, in June 2020 we detached the organization from the Human Resources Department and established the Diversity ＆ Inclusion Department as an organization reporting directly to the President. The Diversity ＆ Inclusion Department will implement a variety of measures, including strengthening organizational capability and fostering a culture of human resource development, with the promotion of women’s activities as the first step, in order to promote the creation of an organization where employees with diverse attributes can feel fulfilled in their work and maximize their abilities.

Global Grade System, Group Global Executive Personnel System One key measure to achieve the objectives

As one of the measures to achieve the Global Human Resource Management Policy, it is important for capable and qualified human resources to assume responsibility for the management of domestic and overseas group companies, and to aim for broad career advancement beyond their individual companies to assume even greater responsibilities. For this purpose, we have initiated the “Global Grade System” as our Personnel System Executives of overseas subsidiaries, excluding subsidiaries of listed companies, or their equivalents are positioned as “GL” grade, and executives equivalent to this grade are certified as“ SEG Global Executives.” Currently, 42 people, most of whom are management executives of overseas group companies, have been recognized, and through the provision of various career opportunities, we are supporting their activities as global leaders.

Promotion of Women’s Activities

In order to integrate more diverse opinions and values into the management of the Group in the future, producing directors and executives from a diverse pool of human resources, including women, on an ongoing basis is an important issue. It is necessary for employees who are candidates to gain experience in overcoming sometimes difficult situations and achieving results through various tasks. For this reason, in the future, we will strengthen our efforts to support the development and advancement of a diverse range of human resources, build a system that allows employees with life event and other restrictions to have opportunities to grow through their work and become even more active, and develop systems to further promote and support the activities of each and every employee using the various networks that support these efforts. In 2016, we also launched SWING (Sumitomo Electric Group Women's Innovative Networking Group) to support women’s activities in the Sumitomo Electric Group, including our listed subsidiaries. Through providing mutual study and networking opportunities for female employees of the Group, this initiative aims to nurture and develop the skills of female employees. As a result of these initiatives, in FY2020, following on from FY2016 and FY2018, we were selected as one of the companies of the “Nadeshiko Brand” initiative, which lists companies that excel in promoting the advancement of women. We will continue to actively promote the advancement of women as part of our efforts to utilize diverse human resources.

*1 Sumitomo Electric and its consolidated subsidiaries

Realizing diverse work styles and supporting work-life balance

To support its employees in balancing work and life, Sumitomo Electric is committed to promoting a work style that makes a clear distinction between work and life by adjusting working hours and improving productivity. For example, the Company attained the goals set under its five action plans, which were formulated on the basis of the Law for Measures to Support the Development of the Next Generation.
From FY2018, we expanded the scope of our teleworking system to allow employees to use it for reasons other than childcare and nursing care, and introduced a paid leave system that allows employees to take paid leave on an hourly basis, so that they can work in a more flexible manner. Also, we provide opportunities to provide information on nursing care through training and internal newsletters, and encourage employees to prepare for balancing work and life, thereby helping them to balance work and life in the future.

Sumitomo Electric Group Health Management Declaration

In order to realize Sumitomo Electric Group's sustainable development and growth, it is essential that every employee is fit and healthy. In 2015, we announced the “Sumitomo Electric Group Declaration of Health Management,” and since 2017 we have been working we have been working on the prevention of metabolic syndrome among employees, improvement of exercise habits and mental health measures in our “Kenkatsu!” health maintenance and improvement activities.


●Selected as a “Nadeshiko Brand” in FY2020
In March 2021, the Company was selected as a “Nadeshiko Brand” by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in collaboration with the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The Nadeshiko Brand aims to promote investment in companies and accelerate the implementation of their activities by introducing listed companies that excel in the promotion of women's activities as attractive issues for investors who focus on improving corporate value over the medium to long term. This is the third time our company has been selected for this award, after being selected in FY2016 and FY2018.

●“Eruboshi” Certification
In August 2016, on the basis of the Act on Promotion of Women’s Participation and Advancement in the Workplace, we acquired the third highest level of certification under the “Eruboshi (‘L Star’: L stands for Lady, Labour and Laudable)” certification, by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan. Women have active participation!

●“Sports Yell Company” Certification
Continuing from the last time, in January 2021, we were certified as a “Sports Yell Company” by the Japan Sports Agency.