As a member of the global community, the Socionext Group is striving to fulfilling our corporate social responsibilities by creating a sustainable and prosperous society through human resource development and by fostering a corporate culture that recognizes people’s individuality and their different attitudes and values, engaging with our many stakeholders (including customers, suppliers, employees, and local communities) on a basis of mutual respect.
Basic Philosophy Regarding Human Rights
In the CSR policies that constitute our group philosophy, the Socionext Group recognizes that it has an important duty to respect human rights and to maintain a good working environment.
Respect for human rights: We will respect the human rights of each and every employee and have no tolerance for discrimination or other such violations of human rights.
Maintain a good working environment: To foster the wellbeing of employees, we will create a healthy and pleasant working environment that respects individuality and treats people fairly.
At the Socionext Group, we respect the human rights of all stakeholders involved in the conduct of our business (including customers, suppliers, employees, and local communities) and will not treat people in ways that are discriminatory or violate their human rights, whether it be with regard to gender, age, nationality, ethnicity, beliefs, religion, social status, employment type, marital status, pregnancy, ancestry, sexual orientation or gender identification, physical features, health, disability, or other such attributes.
We will respect the human rights of everyone who works at the Socionext Group or in our supply chain. Along with eliminating harassment and providing a healthy and empowering workplace, we will comply with all labor laws covering matters such as working hours and minimum wage and never engage in forced labor, child labor, or slavery. We also support freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining, and the right to privacy.
●Prohibition on discriminatory treatment of employees
The Socionext Group has established clear rules prohibiting the discriminatory treatment of existing or candidate employees on the basis of factors such as nationality, beliefs, gender, or social status.
●Establishment of whistle-blowing system
The Socionext Group has established a human rights whistle-blowing system that employees can contact on matters relating to harassment, discriminatory treatment, or other violations of human rights.
The system provides for both internal reporting (to the Socionext Risk Compliance Committee Secretariat) and external reporting (to the Socionext Reporting Contact at TMI Associates). By providing these reporting channels, the system helps to prevent such violations from happening, or, if they do occur, enables them to be detected early and dealt with appropriately.
●Human rights education
The Socionext Group conducts human rights education to raise employee awareness and understanding of these issues. More extensive such education is planned for the future.
We hold human rights training, primarily for new recruits
We use e-learning to provide harassment prevention training to all staff (100% participation)
Basic Philosophy on Human Resource Development
With our leading-edge SoC solution business, the Socionext Group seeks to live up to the many expectations of our stakeholders (including customers, suppliers, employees, and local communities) by striving to achieve sustainable growth as a company that supports global innovation through the pursuit of advanced technology while also adapting to discontinuous change. To achieve this, we undertake human resource development initiatives to ensure that we can continue to foster more talented professionals who take ownership of their work and are willing to take up challenges as enthusiastic self-starters.
Main Actions on Human Resource Development
[1] Employee upskilling
We encourage motivation and skills development as we work to create an environment in which employees are able to take action on their own initiative from an early stage. Based on a personalized human resource development plan, employees build up their workplace skills and experience through OJT under the supervision of more senior colleagues.
[2] Training for management
When senior managers are appointed, they are provided with the opportunity to acquire knowledge and skills in areas such as management, communication, and accounting that will be essential in their new role, including through engagement with board members, group training, and remote learning.
[3] General education
The Socionext Group provides e-learning on topics relevant to all employees, including compliance, information security, insider trading, preventing harassment, the environment, procurement, and the law on security-related export controls. All employees take these courses.
[4] Education for engineers
To train engineers who are able to work globally, Socionext encourages autonomous career development, offering a dual-track career path structure targeted at technical engineers and project managers, respectively. All engineers are given the opportunity to demonstrate the required experience and skills as well as having monthly one-on-one meetings with their supervisors.
[5] Language education
Management staff have access to a variety of opportunities to enhance their international communication skills, including online language schools, language training, and fee subsidies.
Human Resources Development Activities
Socionext undertook the following human resources development (employee education and training) activities in FY2022.
| Training Summary | Training Time per Employee | |
|---|---|---|
| Job-level-specific training | Training for new recruits and for newly appointed senior management, etc. | 1.3 hours |
| General training | [All employees attend an annual e-learning course] Topics include compliance, information security, insider trading, preventing harassment, the environment, procurement, and the law on security-related export controls |
4.6 hours |
| Targeted training | Technical training for engineers, language studies, etc. | 5.5 hours |
| Total | 11.4 hours | |
Basic Philosophy on Diversity
The Socionext Group strives to foster a corporate culture that is welcoming of people with different personalities, attitudes, and values and in which they are able to fulfil their potential. To achieve this, we recruit and appoint staff regardless of factors such as nationality, gender, or age, and are working to create an environment in which a diverse range of people can thrive in their work.
Main Actions on Diversity
●Creating an environment in which women can thrive
Socionext has taken steps to create an environment in which women can successfully combine work and family commitments, with systems in place that allow for shorter working hours, various types of leave of absence or vacation, and subsidies for the cost of childcare. We are also striving to create a workplace that is healthy and pleasant for a diverse workforce that includes women. To this end, we have prioritized measures for preventing excessive overtime and are pursuing greater diversity in working practices by offering options such as work-from-home and flexible working arrangements with no core component. We also intend to improve workplace attitudes and culture through extensive training for young and female employees while also facilitating greater involvement by female leaders and encouraging participation by male employees in childcare. As of the end of March 2023, women accounted for 9.8% of our workforce and filled 2.3% of management roles. Further action is planned to help improve these numbers.
●Creating the right environment
We are working to create an environment in which older employees to play an active role within the company, making the most of their experience, knowledge, and skills.
●Action on hiring disabled employees
Socionext is hiring more disabled employees and is working to create an environment in which people with many different types of disability can thrive. To expand opportunities for disabled employees, Socionext has also set up its Healthkeeper Program run by five staff with visual impairment that provides massages to employees and the Challenge Staff Program in which six staff with mental or developmental disabilities take on routine in-house work.
As a result of these initiatives, the ratio of people with disabilities to all employees reached the statutory employment rate of 2.3% as of June 2023. The company intends to hire more disabled employees in the future and to provide them with steady and ongoing employment.
[Past External Presentations and Speeches]
| Event | Speech/Presentation Description | Date | Venue | Organizer | Speaker/ Presenter |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Symposium of Supporters of Persons with Disabilities | Spoke as a panelist representing companies in general in a panel discussion.
Presented the company's employment initiatives for people with disabilities in response to the panel discussion theme of "Eliminating barriers and creating a symbiotic society." |
2022.11.14(Mon.) | DENKI RENGO Hall | DENKI RENGO, Japanese Electrical Electronic & Information Union (JEIU) | Yuri Umekawa |
| 2 | Association of Organizations Relating to Employment of Persons with Disabilities | Spoke on the theme of "Employment will Change with Recognition and Understanding: What is Workability and Job Satisfaction?" with a case study of Socionext's employment of persons with disabilities. Also, attended a meetup of companies employing persons with disabilities as an advisor. | 2020.01.31(Fri.) | VIEW PORT KURE | Support Center of Works and Lives of Persons with Disabilities in Kure and Aki Area of Hiroshima Prefecture | Yuri Umekawa Naoko Ishida |
| 3 | The 27th Presentation of Studies and Practices for Rehabilitation of Working Persons with Disabilities | Presented the company's efforts in employing people with mental and developmental disabilities and their post-hiring opinions titled "Creating our first pay-raise system aimed at improving the work motivation of people with mental and developmental disabilities: Company initiatives and post-hiring opinions of the employed handicapped." | 2019.11.19(Tue.) | Tokyo Big Sight | Japan Organization for Employment of the Elderly, Persons with Disabilities and Job Seekers | Koji Tokiwa Naoko Ishida |
●International recruitment
The Socionext Group operates group companies in a number of different countries and regions, including Asia, Europe, and North America, recruiting or appointing talented employees from these places and encouraging their participation. Likewise, approximately 50 employees in Japan are of overseas nationality, with the selection of both new recruits and mid-career hires being done without regard for nationality.
Basic Philosophy on Health and Safety
In order to maintain its ongoing growth, the Socionext Group places top priority on the health and safety of both its employees and any other people involved in the operation of its business, ensuring that all employees can work in a safe and healthy manner and are able to make the most of their skills. As well as taking steps to prevent accidents and ensure a safe working environment so as to maintain a safe workplace with zero injuries, Socionext also has a variety of measures in place for maintaining and improving employee health.
Health and Safety Promotion
Socionext has established a team dedicated to supervising health initiatives and undertakes a variety of measures in which industrial doctors and nursing staff are employed to improve and manage employee health. The company also holds monthly committee meetings on health, safety, and disaster prevention at each workplace that are attended by industrial doctors, health and safety managers, regular employees, and labor union delegates. These committee meetings report on and debate issues and activities that relate to these matters, drawing on input from industrial doctors and health and safety managers. Topics include the conducting of health and stress checks and workplace inspections, measures for preventing infectious diseases such as COVID-19 or influenza, the prevalence of long working hours, and disaster prevention or mitigation measures.
Main Actions on Health and Safety
●Prevention of workplace injury
The committees described above work to prevent injuries by reporting on monthly workplace inspections and incidents and by discussing how to prevent incidents from reoccurring. Only one (minor) workplace injury occurred in Japan during fiscal 2021.
●Health and stress checks
Medical examinations, women’s health checks, and stress checks are conducted on a routine basis to monitor employee health, including the prevention and early detection of lifestyle diseases and other illness. The target for medical examinations in particular is to achieve 100% coverage, with almost all employees receiving such checks during the 2022 fiscal year. The results of stress checks are also being used for team-level analysis, combining this with advice and consultation from industrial doctors in an effort to reduce employee stress.
●Measures to reduce smoking and prevent passive smoking
Measures for cutting the smoking rate at Socionext include providing support to quit smoking. To encourage employee self-restraint on smoking during working hours, we also abolished indoor smoking rooms during fiscal 2021 in response to an employee opinion survey. This has achieved a gradual reduction in the percentage of smokers in our Japanese workforce to 13.8% in fiscal 2022 (a 3.3% improvement on fiscal 2018), with ongoing efforts planned to further reduce smoking.
●Measures to prevent COVID-19
Socionext has implemented measures to prevent COVID-19 infections that include the comprehensive adoption of infection control practices, establishing the infrastructure to allow working from home, and offering workplace vaccinations.
Social Contribution Activities
In our relationships with all stakeholders, the Group values mutual respect, acceptance of diverse personalities, cultures, and values, and the ability to grow and coexist together with members of various communities through the creation of a sustainable society.
●Support for the activities of the F. Marinos Sports Club
F. Marinos Sports Club is actively engaged in social contribution activities such as clean-up activities, first-aid activities, diversity awareness activities, community activities such as reconstruction support, management of a soccer team for the mentally challenged, and implementation of soccer classes at special needs schools. They are also actively involved in academy activities such as coaching and training football for children, from infants to junior high school students. As a member of the local community, we sympathize with this activity and have been supporting it as a supporting member since February 2023. Together with the members of F. Marinos Sports Club, we will continue to contribute to the local community by fostering world-class athletes and supporting the development of better communities through sports.
●Participation in town beautification support programs
We actively participate in beautification activities in the areas of our business sites.
As a member of the local community, we will contribute to the development of a community where people can live comfortably while communicating with local companies and residents.
●Support for The Family Giving Tree
While the Bay Area ranks as one of the wealthiest regions in the world, more than 800,000 Bay Area residents live below the poverty line, with 1 in 5 children living in poverty. Poverty robs children of their happiness and confidence, ultimately reducing their ability to grow and succeed. The Family Giving Tree serves more than 2 million children and individuals throughout the Bay Area and is active in philanthropy and volunteerism.
Socionext America Inc. supports this great Bay Area nonprofit organization.
●Movember Fundraiser
Socionext America Inc. participated in Movember's efforts to raise awareness and health awareness of male-specific cancer. This is a unique fundraiser for growing beards and mustaches for the month of November. Donations raised through Movember go toward projects that address the most complex health issues facing men (mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer, testicular cancer, etc.). Through these fund-raising activities, the distance between employees has been reduced, and communication within the company has been stimulated.
●Support of an art exhibition in the art course of the upper secondary school in Dreieichschule
For many years, Socionext Europe GmbH has supported art exhibitions in the art courses of the upper secondary school in Dreieichschule, providing many students with opportunities to create acrylic and oil paintings. After the art exhibition, students' work is displayed in the offices of Socionext Europe GmbH, where all employees are inspired and healed by their original and creative work.