Development of Human Resources
Policies
Resonac’s Purpose is to “Change society through the power of chemistry.” As a precondition to our realizing this, each employee is expected to understand their own value, strengths and aspirations, to embody Resonac’s Values in their own way, and to foster co-creation at a high level with both internal and external collaborators.
For the development of personnel who embody Resonac’s Vaues at a high level and have a positive impact on those around them and society as a whole, we aim to provide an environment that offers high growth potential to make Resonac an attractive employer that will be selected by talented workers.
Roles played by Resonac’s personnel, leaders and human resource (HR) and other organizations
Role of Resonac’s personnel
- Develop their own careers with strong ownership, believe in their own talents and potential and hone themselves to demonstrate their abilities for the benefit of society and to return value to shareholders.
- Engage in sincere dialogue with people inside and outside the Company to rediscover their own values and strengths.
- Keep themselves up to date through dialogue with diverse people and collaboration aimed at solving issues as well as through the provision of professional value, aiming to achieve “co-creative growth” together with those around them.
Role of Resonac’s workplace leaders
- Assist subordinates who are taking ownership of their careers with further career development and capacity building based on an understanding of their diverse values, strengths, potential and life- and career-related goals.
- Build psychological safety in the team and encourage subordinates to generate ideas and embrace challenges in their jobs.
- Regard individual failures as opportunities for the entire team to learn and individual successes as opportunities to praise the entire team, and take actions accordingly.
Role of Resonac’s HR and other organizations
- Help personnel who are taking ownership of their careers and are committed to providing society with value with professional development assistance to build up their capacities.
- Based on an understanding of the diversity of the life- and career-related goals employees have, provide them with appropriate opportunities to learn and grow.
Talent management
For the earlier identification and development of leaders who can embody the Purpose and Values at a high level, we are focusing on talent management.
In 2022, as part of our talent management, we selected and clearly identified candidates to take over major positions in each of the divisions and created a development plan for each one. We also launched a companywide talent review meeting to give the management team an opportunity to openly talk about organizational issues as well as about succession candidates and the next generation of leaders from the perspective of companywide optimization, and to hold discussions on the succession plans and human resource development policies formulated by each division. Moreover, we have been rebuilding a talent pool of candidates to serve as the next generation of leaders, which will be managed by the entire Resonac Group.
Furthermore, in 2023, we introduced a human resource management system (SAP Success Factors) to all Group companies including those outside Japan, thereby speeding up our talent management measures on a global scale.
As one of the important pillars of our talent management, we expanded the scope of our companywide talent review to include all leadership positions in Japan (around 1,300 on an unconsolidated basis) and carried out a bottom-up talent review under the leadership of the CEO. As a result, successor plans have been formulated for more than 90% or so of the targeted positions and have been registered with the system. Moreover, discussions on human resources development have started at each workplace.
Starting in 2024, the scope of talent reviews has been further expanded globally. Succession plans will be formulated for more than 1,500 positions both domestically and internationally, and efforts have begun to visualize high-potential talent overseas and consider cross-border assignments.
In addition, we have started applying global grading to domestic and overseas group companies and have also begun implementing the MBO process using SuccessFactors, thereby initiating the deployment of systems for global talent management.
Provision of Growth Opportunities
For the development of co-creative personnel who can embody the Purpose and Values, we are designing human resource development measures by attributing importance to the following: helping employees make the Purpose and Values their own from the perspective of their respective careers; providing employees with learning opportunities to meet their diverse needs for career development and capacity building; and offering opportunities for employees to learn about each other’s fields of specialization and make effective use of one another’s expertise.
We created a career development guide that systematically shows the types of personnel needed by Resonac, how to make a career plan, effective means to foster dialogue such as one-on-one meetings, and details of MBO and MBO-based evaluation with a view to giving employees tips for building their careers and supporting them in taking specific actions based on a clear understanding of what experience and knowledge they need to meet their career goals.
Additionally, to promote employees' career ownership, we have launched an internal career information dissemination site called "From Resonac to Colorful Career". This site primarily features interview articles with "Shines"—employees who are perceived as attractive to work with and are shining—sharing information related to careers. To encourage all employees to think of their careers as their own and close to them, we have established six themes tailored to different target groups. By introducing their past experiences, current jobs, attitudes to seize opportunities, and important values, we support career development at Resonac.
themes of "From Resonac to Colorful Career"
Examples of career development and capacity building opportunities
- Provision of career training that is tailored to the life and career stage of each individual
- E-learning service that provides more than 1,000 courses, from which employees can select those that meet their capacity building needs for reskilling and future career development. In-house creation of learning content, through which employees can share knowledge and positive examples in a cross-organizational manner and can network with others including external experts.
- In addition to the above e-learning, a two-day learning festival called "Learning Festival" will be held at a large exhibition hall, featuring 10 special stages and over 50 training contents as face-to-face training.
- Overseas trainee system under which young employees in their fourth or more year at their company are provided with opportunities to work outside Japan
- Started operating a mentoring system on a voluntary basis that connects young employees with outstanding mid-level staff. By creating cross-departmental and diagonal connections between mentors and senior employees with preferred attributes, the system supports the growth and career development of young employees.
- For the talented young group, we are rolling out a leadership training early selection program aimed at early promotion to management positions (managerial posts) in their 30s.
- Co-creative leadership training program in which managers acquire basic knowledge and skills to improve their ability to communicate with their subordinates
- Co-creative collaboration ability enhancement training in which participants learn about unconscious biases, psychological safety, facilitation and other topics useful for co-creation
- 360-degree feedback that supports managers' awareness, reflection, and growth.
TOPICSCo-creative leadership training
We have been conducting co-creative leadership training since October 2022 with the aim of becoming an organization with high human resource development capabilities. As of February 28, 2025, 1,754 employees were enrolled in the program. Many managers with subordinates and employees in non-managerial positions responsible for training the next generation through on-the-job training (OJT) are also taking this program.
Co-creative leadership training involves re-learning and practicing basic knowledge and skills in people management based on the results of the engagement survey carried out prior to Resonac’s establishment. Employees learn about MBO, key points for effective on-the-job training, and giving appropriate feedback and coaching.
Through the extensive group work and role-play activities provided in the training program, participants not only gain knowledge, but are also given the opportunity to review practical situations. Training is carried out by in-house instructors.
In a survey we conducted among training participants, 92% were satisfied with the content, 95% found it useful, and 96% said they could see how they would immediately apply what they learned in the workplace.
We started working on global development in 2024, and plan to complete in-house instructor training in Europe, China, the U.S., and Southeast Asia in the first half of fiscal 2024. As of December 2024, 85% of overseas managers have completed the course. Going forward, we will continue to implement these measures as a foundation for the Resonac Group’s human resource development.
Provision of opportunities to encourage career ownership -In-house recruitment system and project challenge system-
As a measure to foster employees’ awareness of career ownership and provide them with opportunities for autonomous career development, we operate an in-house recruitment system in which internal job openings are displayed through the talent management system and employees can raise their hand to apply for transfers. Taking advantage of opportunities for career development and co-creation that are not bound by conventional transfer and deployment practices, more than 108 in-house recruitments were approved in 2024.
Additionally, as a system to more easily support employees' challenges, we operate an internal side job system (Project Challenge System) that allows employees to participate in projects of other departments for a limited period while continuing their current work. It provides an opportunity to bring out the hidden potential of employees that is not fully utilized within their own departments, while also leading to the acquisition of experience opportunities that contribute to the growth opportunities employees desire and to autonomous career development.
Goal Setting and Evaluation
Our company's evaluation system, MBO (Management By Objectives), is based on goal management and communication between supervisors and subordinates, and emphasizes not only the "results" against performance targets but also the aspects of "behavior and growth." "Behavior and growth" are measured by "values," and by using key behavioral traits (competencies) that are essential for embodying these values as guidance, the system verbalizes (sets goals for) "how to act" and "how to grow" at the individual level within activities, and evaluates accordingly. We comprehensively evaluate both performance and behavior/growth across two axes.
Communication (interviews between supervisors and subordinates) is conducted at the beginning, middle, and end of each period. Communication is conducted not only for progress management but with a strong emphasis on behavior and growth. Supervisors provide feedback to subordinates on the overall evaluation results, conveying not only the evaluation results but also the individual's behavior, growth, daily work performance, and overall contribution to the organization. Subordinates are motivated to feel their own growth and to connect that growth to the future. At Resonaq, the evaluation system (MBO) is unified globally. The entire group promotes the penetration and practice of values, achieving talent and performance management based on a global common framework.
Development of the next generation of management and business leaders
We establish a talent management process that includes overseas affiliated companies and, regardless of the employing entity, nationality, gender, or age, provide opportunities for appointment and growth to highly potential individuals who resonate with our company's purpose and values. We assess leadership traits and management literacy and provide feedback in order to offer development opportunities suited to each next-generation leadership candidate. Additionally, through programs such as mindfulness and reflection to improve self-awareness and emotional intelligence, each next-generation leader collaborates with their supervisor to develop a personalized development plan tailored to their strengths and individuality. To accelerate growth according to individual capability development plans, in addition to strategic assignments and feedback from supervisors, we provide catalogs and online learning platforms such as short-term leadership programs, MBA (Master of Business Administration), and MOT (Management of Technology) based on each person's development needs, supporting the acquisition of autonomous growth opportunities.
Also, as opportunities for networking among next-generation leader candidates and executives, we have started holding global-scale Gathering Events.