Relationships with Our Employees

Kissei’s Approach to Human Capital

Kissei Pharmaceutical’s basic approach to human capital is based on the idea that when employees with different modes of thinking and value systems mutually accept and inspire each other, they can add dynamism and creativity to a company.
We strive to improve the Company’s working environment in terms of hiring practices and working styles, and have introduced an elective-based human resource system that allows employees to choose a workstyle that matches their aptitudes and life plans. These systems are part of our effort to ensure that a wide range of human resources can demonstrate their full abilities.

• The Company will provide an educational and learning environment that aims to simultaneously realize the growth of employees and the development of the Company. • The Company will promote highly effective guidance and development by managers and systematic development of the next generation of employees. • The Company will encourage the self-development of employees and support self-motivated skill and career development.

Initiatives to Create a Fulfilling Workplace Environment and Raise Employee Engagement Levels

Kissei has identified the “creation of a fulfilling workplace environment” as a material issue as part of its efforts to create an environment that nurtures autonomous human resources. We believe that a fulfilling workplace environment is one where every employee feels that their work gives them a sense of satisfaction, accomplishment, mission, and growth. To make sure this is the case, we emphasize employee engagement and measure it regularly. Based on our analysis of this data, we consider and implement new human resource-related measures and are currently working on the following initiatives:
• Operation of our dual-track human resource system • Operation of our education system • Promotion of diversity and inclusion and gender equality • Promotion of health management

The Human Resources Awareness Survey

The Human Resources Awareness Survey comprises questions in five categories—engagement, job satisfaction, goal management system, treatment of employees and career, and human resource system and work situation—as well as a question regarding overall satisfaction. We measure the degree of satisfaction for each question and degree of importance, meaning how important the subject of the question is to life at the Company.
We then conduct a portfolio analysis based on the degree of satisfaction and importance and identify “priority items to maintain,” “items to maintain,” “priority items to improve,” and “items to improve.” These findings are then used to investigate, implement, and verify new human resources policies.
Results of the surveys conducted before fiscal 2019 and during fiscal 2022 the period of “PEGASUS,” the current five-year medium-term management plan, are shown in the table below.

Operation of our Multi-Track Human Resource System

Current business conditions are in a constant state of flux, making them difficult to predict. For Kissei to achieve sustainable growth under these circumstances, we believe it is important to enable employees to fully demonstrate their abilities from an early stage, regardless of age or length of service, to foster a high level of unity among employees who actively motivate each other, and to encourage a shift away from outdated views on work and modes of thinking. Going forward, we need to evolve our corporate culture to one in which there is a healthy sense of excitement in the actions we should take and the results we should achieve, rather than comparing ourselves to others or readymade models. Based on this idea, we utilize a dual-track human resource system that emphasizes diversity and future potential based on the following three concepts:

1. Treatment in line with one’s roleWe utilize a role-based qualification system that focuses on a person’s “role,” defined as one’s actions and assigned duties. Employees receive certain benefits based on the results of a conduct-based evaluation, which assesses the suitability of a person’s demonstrated actions, and a job-based evaluation, which assesses the scope of assigned duties and the performance record of the person carrying out those duties.

2. Greater opportunities for specialists to flourishIn an increasingly complex and sophisticated business environment, we are able to provide benefits properly suited to our highly specialized workers, for whom we have particularly high expectations. For managerial positions, in addition to line managers who are primarily responsible for managing organizations and people, we have established the role of professional manager, for which the primary focus is tackling management issues by utilizing their highly specialized skills. This creates multiple career paths as a result. This system enables us to reward employees who desire to contribute to the Company and support career development along a wide range of career paths.

3. Encouraging people to take on challengesUnder our qualification-based promotion system, we have abolished the standard number of years of work with the Company that was previously required to determine whether someone could be promoted to a higher grade and have instead incorporated an application step into the system, facilitating the early promotion of highly motivated human resources.

Operation of Our Education System

In conjunction with our human resources system, we are expanding our rank-based training to enhance management-level employees. In addition, we are expanding e-learning to encourage more active learning and reskilling among employees by creating a learning environment unbound by time or place, and encouraging continuous learning of business and IT knowledge, English conversation, and more.

Promoting Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) and Gender Equality

We are working to support the development of the next generation by maintaining our Platinum Kurumin certification, working to establish the groundwork for female employees to play an active role in accordance with the Act on Promotion of Women’s Participation and Advancement in the Workplace, working to operate a system of continued employment up to the age of 65, and working to provide an environment in which people with disabilities can work while demonstrating their individual capabilities.

Cultivating the Next Generation

Kissei is a company that enables employees to balance work and home life, including childcare, and by creating an environment that is easy for all employees to work in, employees are able to demonstrate their full potential. Kissei is making every effort to establish this type of work environment.

Promotion of Work-Life Balance

To promote the usage of annual paid leave, Kissei has established a systematic paid leave usage system, which covers an annual Companywide leave period of two days and three days of leave for commemorative occasions, such as wedding anniversaries and birthdays. To reduce overtime work, head offices and laboratories have set every Wednesday and salary payment day as “no-overtime” days, while sales branches and offices promote days without out-of-office travel and salary payment days as days to go home on time. These initiatives to reduce overtime work and improve efficiency are part of our constant effort to promote a work–life balance.

Promoting the Success of Women

Kissei formulated its General Employers Action Plan based on the Act on Promotion of Women’s Participation and Advancement in the Workplace. We are working to further develop our infrastructure so that women are able to fully express their individuality and ability in their professional careers and see success in the workplace.

< General Employers Action Plan >

1. Period

April 1, 2025–March 31, 2027

2. Goals and initiatives

Goal 1: Increase the proportion of women hired to 30% or more.

・We will increase the number of women applicants by proactively publicizing that Kissei offers workplaces where women can thrive.

・We will consider new measures to enhance flexible working arrangements during childcare periods and proactively publicize these measures to applicants.

Goal 2: Raise the average satisfaction level for all 36 items of the Human Resources Awareness Survey among female employees to 3.0 (somewhat agree) or higher

・We will conduct the "2025 Human Resources Awareness Survey," analyze the results, and consider human resources policies that will lead to the creation of a rewarding work environment.

・In the new promotion system introduced in April 2023, we will verify whether voluntary career development, unconstrained by age, years of service, or gender, is being promoted, and further advance the establishment of an environment where employees can aim for promotions from an early stage.

Goal 3: Maintain a ratio for average length of employment for female employees to average length of employment for male employees of 80% or higher

・We will provide support for balancing work and family life by proactively providing information to employees and managers about childcare and family care leave systems.

・We will encourage male employees who have children and their managers to take childcare leave, aiming to achieve a childcare leave take-up rate of over 50% among male employees and to extend the average duration of leave taken.

・We will promote heightened awareness among employees and in the workplace, with the aim of achieving 100% use of leave for commemorative occasions.

2. Recognized under the Certified Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organizations Recognition Program (Large Enterprise Category)

Continuing the trend from fiscal 2024, in March 2025, Kissei was certified as a 2025 Organization with Outstanding Health & Productivity Management (Large Enterprise category).

Occupational Health and Safety

To ensure a safe, secure, and reliable workplace environment for employees, Kissei complies with the Industrial Safety and Health Act and other related laws and regulations, as well as with internal work regulations, and is engaged in health and safety measures led by our Environment, Health, and Safety Committee.
At the head office, plants, and laboratories, subcommittees for health and safety at each business location take the lead in raising awareness by providing safety and disaster prevention education for new employees, conducting regular workplace patrols, using working environment metrics to maintain workplace environments, providing basic lifesaving training, and increasing safety awareness through internal newsletters and posters.