Human Resource Development

Relevance to our business

Having major bases in 14 countries, the Fuji Oil Group is expanding its business globally (as of July 2021). Our business is supported by about 6,000 employees. They are our important stakeholders who make the Group’s value creation possible. Human resource development forms the foundation of our value creation while contributing to each employee’s capacity development and skill improvement.

Basic approach

The Fuji Oil Group believes that developing an organization with people capable of responding flexibly to unforeseen circumstances is important to adapt to every change in the business environment and continue contributing to society. Under the concept that a company and its employees grow together and support each other, we focus on the fostering of management personnel to strengthen our organizational capability. We also develop human resources to support global business expansion and employees’ autonomous learning.
Based on this notion, the Fuji Oil Group established the Human Resources Policy.

Management system

Initiatives for human resource development are promoted with the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) acting as the chief executive for human resource development at the Fuji Oil Group, and with the president of each company playing a central role at Group companies. Important initiatives are reported and reviewed at the Management Committee Meeting.^*

• * An advisory body to the President, which mainly consists of the President and executive officers, and is held once a month, in principle. The Management Committee Meeting contributes to the decision-making process of the President and the Board of Directors by fully deliberating and monitoring important management matters. Through this, we established and strengthened a system that allows legal compliance and efficient execution of business operations.

Development of human resources with global business skills

To keep up with the accelerating pace of our global strategies, we conduct initiatives to recruit, promote, and develop human resources that can demonstrate their capabilities globally.

Cultivating management personnel

Under the common values of the Fuji Oil Group Management Philosophy, we believe that it is important to develop management personnel in order to fulfill our social mission.
Since FY2018, we have been working to clearly identify and foster future executive candidates at major Group companies outside Japan as well as management personnel who can face the challenges of a career involving job relocations. In FY2020, we dispatched an employee from a U.S. subsidiary to a Belgian subsidiary as the Group’s first global assignee.^* Going forward, we will continue to provide opportunities for growth to our diverse human resources across different countries around the world.
In addition, aiming to develop candidates for future management positions at an early stage, since FY2016 Fuji Oil Holdings Inc. and Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. have been conducting a training program that incorporates performance assessments. This program aims to help trainees grasp their behavior trends in group and individual situations through group discussions and interview exercises. Eighteen employees underwent the training in FY2020. The program is designed to help the trainees understand what a manager should be like, and objectively identify their own strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, it involves post-training feedback meetings with their supervisors and HR Development staff, and on-the-job training (from planning to review). We aim to achieve trainees’ steady growth by ensuring close involvement of supervisors and other relevant people in the training.

• * Global assignee: Employees of subsidiaries outside Japan who are sent for posting at other Group companies outside Japan

Katy Revels, global assignee

Human resource development to support globalization

At Fuji Oil Holdings Inc. and Fuji Oil Co., Ltd., we place great importance on developing personnel who will lead the Fuji Oil Group’s global management, as well as personnel who will manage and lead business operations at corporations outside Japan. We consider them as the core management resource for continued growth and development of our business globally.
We conduct self-development and off-the-job training to improve the language skills of employees. We are also working to develop their global mindset and have them gain business experience from a global perspective through postings at Group companies outside Japan according to their area of expertise.
In FY2020, we introduced a new global trainee program to work on early-stage development of candidates for future corporate management positions at companies outside Japan.

Career support system

At Fuji Oil Holdings Inc. and Fuji Oil Co., Ltd., we provide hierarchical training programs for executives, managers, general employees, and new hires, and also support employees’ skill development through various programs, like providing financial assistance to employees taking distance learning. We provide employees with the opportunity to share growth and enlightenment points with their supervisors during their annual evaluation. Individual employees also have a meeting with their supervisors once a year based on the Career Advancement Communication Sheet for reviewing the progress made toward their goals and their career aspirations. We endeavor to provide opportunities to foster career development, where employees flourish through suitable job assignments.
We also provide educational support and incentives for getting the necessary qualifications at each department, in order to meet the differences and variations in knowledge and skills required at each workplace and job occupation.

Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. training system (FY2020)

Employee engagement

Fuji Oil Holdings Inc. and Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. regularly conduct employee engagement surveys to help create a vibrant workplace where every employee can work in good health and demonstrate their abilities to the fullest. In these surveys, we ask employees for their honest opinions on a wide range of issues, such as workplace environment and systems. The survey analysis results are given to executives and managers to further improve business operations and the workplace environment.

Dialogue between labor and management

The dialogue between labor and management is important for Fuji Oil Co., Ltd. since employees and the company should support each other. The HR Department serves as the company’s contact point for dialogue with the Fuji Oil Workers Union, which represents the employees. The workers union was established at the same time as the company. Both entities have worked hard for 70 years to create a comfortable work environment for employees. The dialogue between labor and management takes place in a monthly forum consisting of representatives of the HR and Administration Departments of the Company and the executive committee members of the workers union. The aim of this forum is to encourage employees to maximize their potential, improve themselves and play active roles. When revising labor systems, we actively listen to the opinions of union members at each business site nationwide and make sure to increase the frequency of dialogues as necessary. The Fuji Oil Workers Union adopted a union shop system, and the participation rate of the Company’s regular employees other than managers is 100%.