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Basic approach

The Mitsubishi Chemical Group believes that for the sustainable development of a business, the Company and each employee need to build autonomous relations based on trust and duty while fulfilling respective responsibilities, with a focus on human resources development, and the development of a good organization and culture. Based on this concept, we associate with each employee sincerely and offer a rewarding working environment that suits personal levels of development, so that the capacities of each member are brought out to the fullest extent. These efforts emphasize human resources development, organizational and cultural development, and support for attaining work-life balance.

Cultivating human resources capable of thinking and acting independently

The Mitsubishi Chemical Group believes it is essential for all its employees to continually strive to improve their abilities, take on challenges with enthusiasm, and generate new value and innovation. To achieve this, by offering Dream Training Series and other programs for separate tiers of workers, our Group supports medium- to long-term career development to suit each employee's level of development and position.

Employee training system of Mitsubishi Chemical Group

Enlarged view

Fostering the next generation of executives

The Mitsubishi Chemical Group participates in the Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Business College: General Course aimed at the early development of the next generation of executives. Employees recommended by respective Group companies participate in this program for fifteen months to acquire skills useful for actual business operations, strategy formulation and implementation, through business administration literacy education, case studies and research on specific topics.

For example, in the Lessons by Executives part of the program, current executives give lectures based on their experiences, then join the participants in a discussion. In this way, the aspirations of the executives and current issues are conveyed to and shared by future generations, and participants are expected to identify practical actions they should make.

After the seminar, employees who participated are assigned to positions and duties that allow them to practically apply what they have learned and expand their experience, and which promote their growth.

Fostering human resources for business globalization

Local training at Melak Plant in Indonesia

The Mitsubishi Chemical Group recognizes dealing with globalization as a management issue. Active efforts are underway for globalizing businesses, by establishing overseas production bases and expanding overseas businesses mainly in China, India, and other emerging economies. New attempts were made in fiscal 2010 in addition to conventional internationalization and other training, for the purpose of cultivating human resources capable of dealing with mergers and acquisitions and configuration of alliances and partnerships.

Specifically, the new Global Staff Cultivation Program (entry level) was started for young employees who have no experience in overseas duties. This six-month program consists of two domestic and one in-field seminar. In the in-field seminar, trainees visit local corporations in Singapore, Indonesia, and other areas, attend lectures by executives and participate in discussions with regional staff to familiarize themselves with the frontlines of business. In fiscal 2010, 16 young employees who have been with the company for three to 10 years attended the program.

One participant commented that, "I learned that global personnel are required to perform in the same way anywhere, under any environment. I want to take this opportunity to broaden my views and try expanding my field of experience in the next five years, and the next 10 years."

In addition, Mitsubishi Chemical will provide training programs to comply with the United Nations Global Compact^* at its overseas subsidiaries.

* The Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact, enacted in July 2000, were proposed by (then) Secretary-General Kofi Anan of the United Nations at the 1999 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Businesses around the world are to comply with them regarding human rights and labor, environment and anti-corruption.

Offering opportunities to take on challenges and boost awareness

In addition to usual personnel transfer and rotation among divisions, Mitsubishi Chemical has established a system where employees may declare their desires related to their duties and career and transfer to desired areas.

The system works in three ways: open recruitment where programs are offered in-house and those wishing to participate apply, in-house free agencies where employees make a request for a transfer to another duty, and in-house internships where employees are transferred to another duty for two to three years for training on the assumption they will return to their previous duty. In fiscal 2010, attempts were made for improving users' convenience by unifying the main contacts and trying more effective measures for publicizing the system among employees in order to expand its use.

A career counseling system adopted in fiscal 2006 also enables employees to independently consider their career path. Qualified career counselors are assigned in-house and other employees may consult with them at any time about their careers. The system offers awareness-building opportunities for employees who are seeking to form their career path. Individual guidance is given from the viewpoints of taking inventory of one's career so far and of rediscovering oneself.

Number of people who consulted career counselors

Actual use of open recruitment, in-house free agencies, and in-house internships

FY

Title		2008	2009	2010
Open recruitment	Programs offered (people)	74	17	19
	Applicants (people)	37	42	25
	Accepted (people)	12	10	6
In-house free agent (people)		2	1	0
In-house internship (people)		6	1	1

Promoting diversity for developing a corporate culture that makes work rewarding for anyone

The Mitsubishi Chemical Group proactively promotes diversity for developing a corporate culture where all employees mutually respect each others' values and find work rewarding.

Proactively supporting enthusiasm and skills development of female workers

Target values of Women's Initiative & Work Innovation (WIN-WIN) Plan (%)

FY

Item		2008	2009	2010	Target values*
Ratio of women among management		4.4	4.6	4.6	20 or more
Ratio of women among new hires	Clerical	30	32	41	40 or more
	Engineering	9	9	16	20 or more

* The target for ratio of women among management is for fiscal 2025 and for women among new hires is for fiscal 2015.

Aiming to be a company where all employees work to their fullest capacities regardless of their gender, as well as having appeal as a place where energetic workers come together, Mitsubishi Chemical in 2008 adopted the Women's Initiative & Work Innovation (WIN-WIN) Plan. Using the targets stated in the plan as guidelines, Mitsubishi Chemical continues to offer various supporting measures that women need for building their career and promoting work-life balance, from the three viewpoints of human resources development, organizational and corporate cultural development, and support for maintaining work-life balance. Beginning in fiscal 2010, three systems were also established: leave while accompanying the spouse's overseas assignment, temporary suspension of transfer, and declaration of desired place of work. These systems were in high demand among female workers, and were adopted to help them attaining a work-life balance when they get married and wish to continue working.

Career training

Supporting measures are also being offered for the skills development of female workers. In fiscal 2010, two seminars for female employees were held, along with six career training sessions. The latter offer opportunities for female employees to review their career, understand their strengths and weaknesses, develop a mid-term career plan, set targets according to the plan, consider career paths suited to their goals, and think about ways to motivate themselves.

* The above and other systems for supporting work-life balance, childcare, and nursing care may be used for longer than the statutory periods.

Status of use of systems for work-life balance

FY

System	2008	2009	2010
Maternity leave before and after childbirth (people)1	61 3	67 3	62
Child-raising leave (people)	103 3	123 3	126
Shorter work hours while raising a child (people)	122	192	211
Nursing care leave (people)	4 3	0 3	2
Shorter work hours while providing nursing care to family members (people)	5	1	1
Fertility treatment leave (people)	0	0	1
Subsidy for fertility treatment (cases)	30	30	29
Leave to accompany spouse's overseas assignment (people)2	-	-	3
Temporary suspension of transfer (people)2	-	-	1
Declaration of desired place of work (people)2	-	-	5

1 Only female workers may take maternity leave before and after childbirth. Both male and female workers are eligible for other support systems. 2 These are the systems for supporting work-life balance that were introduced in fiscal 2010. 3 In this year's CSR Report, numbers of Mitsubishi Chemical employees who used the systems (including the Group companies staff) are indicated. For this reason, the figures differ from those indicated in last year's CSR Report.

Promoting diversity in recruitment

Mitsubishi Chemical promotes diversity in its recruitment activities, with the hope of revitalizing the organization by addressing changes in business structure and globalization, and by assembling diverse human resources. Specifically, hiring local human resources is promoted in Japan and at overseas companies as a measure in response to globalization. Application eligibility has also been widened for university graduates, treating them as new graduates for up to three years after graduation. We are also making growing use of mid-career recruitment.

In fiscal 2010, 71 new graduates were hired, three of whom were foreigners. After recruitment, and irrespective of their nationality, they are given the support to become outstanding contributors to the future for the Company, including the same rotation and training programs and the same treatment that Japanese employees receive.

Helping people with disabilities bring out their skills

Under a philosophy of normalization, in 1993 we have established a special subsidiary, Kasei Frontier Service, Inc., for helping people with disabilities take on roles with greater responsibility, developing their capabilities, and contributing to society. At the same time, we have sought to improve their working environment. The subsidiary's major scope of businesses include information processing services, general printing services and work consigned by Mitsubishi Chemical. As of April 2011, 81 people with disabilities (of a total of 124 employees) work at the Kurosaki head office and Yokkaichi branch office in ways that suit their respective skills.

The recruitment ratio of people with disabilities as of fiscal 2010 is 2.26%. Since attaining a statutory recruitment ratio of 1.80% in 2001, we have maintained a level significantly above the statutory requirement each year.

Change in recruitment ratio of people with disabilities

* Includes companies to which Mitsubishi Chemical's system of disabled person employment ratio applies

Utilizing skills of senior workers effectively

Mitsubishi Chemical has established the Senior Partner System for rehiring enthusiastic and able employees after they reach retirement age. In fiscal 2010, 188 (about 80%) of 227 such employees were rehired under the system. They use their skills as experienced workers and train younger workers to pass on the expertise and techniques they have acquired in their careers.

Promoting reduction of total work hours for attaining work-life balance

The Mitsubishi Chemical Group believes that maintaining work-life balance improves productivity and motivation for both men and women. Based on this thinking, Mitsubishi Chemical has attempted to reduce total work hours so that all employees can lead healthy and satisfying daily lives. In fiscal 2010, Labor-Management Monitoring Committee meetings were held five times. The company and labor union confirmed the situation and exchanged ideas for resolving various issues, with the aim of reducing total work hours.

For eliminating long work hours

Mitsubishi Chemical attempts to eliminate excessive work hours by ensuring that division managers properly understand the duties and work hours of subordinates and maintain appropriate duty allocation within the workplace, so that certain employees are not assigned excessive duties.

Reducing overtime and holiday work hours by raising work efficiency

Mitsubishi Chemical has a number of policies designed to boost work efficiency and reduce overtime and holiday work hours. Examples include simplification of in-house materials, reviewing topics of discussion at in-house meetings and their timing, setting a no-overtime day once a week and turning off the lights in the head office at 8:00 p.m. on weekdays. These measures have reduced overtime and holiday work hours to about 20 hours/month on average for general workers in fiscal 2010, indicating that work efficiency has gradually risen. We will continue seeking to reduce overtime and holiday work hours in fiscal 2011 by fundamentally revising the duties assigned to workers.

Change in overtime and holiday work hours (general workers)

Measures for encouraging employees to take annual paid vacation

Aspiring to encourage employees to lead well-modulated daily lives with greater leisure, Mitsubishi Chemical is striving to create an environment that allows employees to take planned vacations. Examples include setting planned annual holidays (three days each year) and adopting a life support holiday system. The life support holiday system enables an employee taking two consecutive paid days off to take an additional day off once a year. This enables five consecutive days off if a weekend is included, encouraging employees to take extended holidays. Employees aged 30, 35, 40, 45, 50 and 55 are allowed three extra days off, to take even longer vacations.

We have also established volunteer holiday (five days), volunteer leave (three years), and donor holiday (in the number of necessary days) systems to assist employees doing volunteer work. Following the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011, Mitsubishi Chemical has participated in recovery work at affected areas by dispatching employees who responded to the call to take part in volunteer support activities organized by Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings.

Change in the ratio of life support holiday system taken
(general workers)

Change in number of paid vacation days taken
(general workers)

Changes in shift work systems

At the plants of Mitsubishi Chemical, shift workers currently work in three shifts through four groups. However, a study is underway to change to three shifts and five groups or other shift systems, to allow greater leeway for shift workers, taking the nature of duties and plant features into consideration.

Example of three-shift and five-group system

Group	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30
A	1	1	1	1	P	3	3	3	3	P	2	2	2	2	P	P	1	1	1	1	P	3	3	3	3	P	2	2	2	2
B	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	P	3	3	3	3	P	2	2	2	2	P	P	1	1
C	P	3	3	3	3	P	2	2	2	2	P	P	1	1	1	1	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
D	3	P	2	2	2	2	P	P	1	1	1	1	P	3	3	3	3	P	2	2	2	2	P	P	1	1	1	1	P	3
E	2	2	P	P	1	1	1	1	P	3	3	3	3	P	2	2	2	2	P	P	1	1	1	1	P	3	3	3	3	P

Legend

Shift	Work description
P	Public holidays
1	Shift 1
2	Shift 2
3	Shift 3
D	Daytime

* Employees may take consecutive days off while working the daytime shift

Continuing with human rights awareness-building and education

The Mitsubishi Chemical Group, including its overseas subsidiaries, believes it is essential to conduct business activities in ways conforming to the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact to fulfill its corporate social responsibilities. For this purpose, we have consistently and proactively conducted education and awareness-building on human rights, aiming to deepen correct understanding and recognition of human rights issues and to make us a spiritually rich corporate group that provides agreeable places to work.

In fiscal 2010, group seminars were held for executives and employees working with our Group for reconfirming and understanding the buraku issue and eradicating prejudice, as well as preventing sexual, power, and other forms of harassment. Human Rights E-Training is also continuously administered using the company Intranet.

Education and training on human rights given

FY

Training description		2008	2009	2010
Group seminars	Number of times	441	328	406
	Number of people	10,836	10,049	9,684
Human Rights E-Training	Number of times	4	4	4
	Number of people	12,964	13,930	16,742
Overseas seminars*	Countries	5	1	2
	Number of times	8	4	2

* Includes surveys on overseas human rights situations

Results of questionnaire after group training in fiscal 2010

Mitsubishi Chemical precludes any and all discrimination in its hiring and selecting employees. Even if infectious diseases such as HIV and gender identity disorder, which have been issues in recent years, are made known after joining the Company, Mitsubishi Chemical takes appropriate steps according to a manual to deal with them, taking careful note of the privacy of the persons concerned.

Building productive labor-management relations

Labor unions exist at the head office (as well as branch offices) and production sites at Kurosaki, Yokkaichi, Naoetsu, Mizushima, Sakaide, Kashima, Nagoya, Tsukuba, and Odawara of Mitsubishi Chemical, which together form the Mitsubishi Chemical Labor Union Federation. The Federation and labor unions do not participate in senior bodies, but pursue a policy of working together with the company. The emphasis is placed on maintaining and strengthening sound labor-management relations, and the two parties meet regularly at biannual management and labor committee meetings.

Some Mitsubishi Chemical Group companies have organized labor unions, and these have all maintained productive labor-management relations.