Society
Increasing Engagement
Setting Employee Engagement as an Important Indicator of Our Corporate Strategy
The engagement score of Sysmex Corporation for fiscal 2022 was 57%. To improve the engagement of employees in Japan, who account for about 40% of the Group’s employees, we have been implementing and monitoring action plans to improve employees’ support of the corporate philosophy (69% in fiscal 2022) and their satisfaction with well-being (56% in fiscal 2022). Pulse surveys, which cover a shorter period, have also been introduced to determine the progress status of the measures undertaken and to allow rapid incorporation of the opinions of employees.
Monitoring the Effects of Human Capital Investment
Indicators of the Effects of Human Capital Investment - “Value-Added Productivity” and “Engagement”
Sysmex aims to balance value-added productivity* and employee engagement. As indicators of the effects of human capital investment, we monitor value-added productivity and employee engagement scores.
The value-added productivity per employee of Sysmex Corporation for fiscal 2022 reached a record high of 28 million yen, which demonstrates the effectiveness of our human capital investment. The return on human capital investment (operating profit divided by labor cost) also reached a record high of 155.7%. These achievements are attainable only when employees maintain a high level of engagement and willingly take on new challenges. Our action plans to foster an organizational culture that balances value-added productivity and employee engagement have been producing consistent outcomes.
- (Operating profit + labor cost + human capital depreciation)/working hours
Joint Achievement of Comfortable Working and Productivity Enhancement
It adopts a hybrid workstyle combining onsite (office) and remote (from home, etc.) working. In addition, we promote time management to realize a good work-life balance by allowing our employees to combine flextime, staggered office hours, and “stepping out from work” according to their business duties and individual lifestyles. As a result of these efforts, the percentage of fathers taking childcare leave reached 62% in fiscal 2022, achieving the target of 60% for fiscal 2023 ahead of schedule.
Encouraging Paid Leave and Ensuring Continuous Employment
Sysmex Corporation uses various measures to encourage employees to take paid leave. They include the introduction of recommended dates for paid leave and a half-day paid leave system. Other measures include allowances paid under the “Cafeteria Plan”* (our welfare program) to employees who take paid leave for travel, leisure, or courses at culture centers. In addition, we have a leave of absence and re-employment program designed to offer a wide range of opportunities for employees who leave our employment due to their spouses’ overseas assignments or for other personal reasons, so that they can return to work.
- The Cafeteria Plan provides Cafeteria Points, which entitle employees to select and sign up for certain programs (e.g., parenting support, care assistance, health improvement, and certification) on their own.
Supporting a Balance between Work and Child-Rearing
Sysmex Corporation has introduced several programs to provide family support, from prenatal care to child-rearing. These programs include leave for fertility treatment or morning sickness, a spouse’s childbirth, and nursing children. When childcare leave expires after an employee’s child turns two years of age, employees are entitled to reduced working hours, and a work-from-home program until the child enters junior high school. To support employees returning to work after childcare leave, we hold seminars before their return. We also send out newsletters to employees currently on childcare leave to keep them informed of work issues. Technopark, our R&D site, has an in-house daycare center called Sysmex Kids Park. It is also available for temporary use when employees’ spouses work part-time, children’s guardians are sick, or an employee is arranging a funeral. Through such support, we encourage all employees who desire to return to work after childcare leave to do so.
In recognition of such initiatives, we have received a next-generation support certification logo (nicknamed “Kurumin”*) as a “company that supports child-rearing” from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
- Based on the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children, companies that formulate business plans as general business operators, meet the targets designated by such plans, and satisfy certain standards may receive Kurumin certification as companies “that support child-rearing” from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
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Sysmex Kids Park (Japan) -
Next-generation support certification logo (Kurumin)
Stakeholderʼs Voice
Saya Yamashita, Next Generation Medical Business Development Office
Having returned to work from childcare leave, I work full time while using Sysmex Kids Park. I decided to use the daycare center because it has a large playground and offers a superb environment in which in-house meals are cooked. In addition, because it is located within the company premises, I can run to the center immediately in the event my child becomes ill. So, I can leave my child in the care of the center with peace of mind. And on top of that, systems to allow me to work flexibly, including the “smart work” system, as well as gain support from others around me, enable me to achieve a balance between child-rearing and work.
Encouraging Male Employees to Take Childcare Leave
Sysmex Corporation implements measures to increase the number of male employees taking childcare leave. We have distributed a booklet, “Guidebook for Fathers on Childcare Leave”, and held seminars with external lecturers for male employees and their supervisors to explain the present status of childcare by men, the importance of men being involved in parenting, work-life balance, and the essentials of childcare, in addition to appropriate support by supervisors to allow male employees to take child care leave, and we have held discussions on these issues. We also held a seminar in collaboration with our labor union, Sysmex Union, to raise awareness of childcare leave for male employees.
Systems to Support Work-Life Balance
Supporting Nursing Care, Corporate Citizenship Activities, and Others
Volunteer leave and donor leave programs are also available as support systems intended to make it easier for employees to take leave for particular purposes.
Activities at Group Companies
Our Group companies also engage in various initiatives to provide a comfortable working environment.
The companies in the EMEA region1 have all received the Great Place to Work2 award for their excellent workplace environments and employee satisfaction. In the engagement survey, over 95% of employees of Sysmex Turkey gave positive answers to the question of whether they were “employed fairly regardless of gender, nationality, ethnicity, etc.” At Sysmex UK, all managers have completed training on well-being, so that emphasis is placed on the health of each and every employee and a positive work-life balance is ensured for all employees. Sysmex South Africa is expanding systems to support a balance between work and child-rearing. The efforts include incorporation of a maternity policy into its human resources policies and a guarantee of four months of paid maternity leave.
- 1 Sysmex EU: Sysmex Deutschland, Sysmex Belgium, Sysmex Netherland, Sysmex Turkey, Sysmex Austria, Sysmex UK, and Sysmex France
- 2 Rankings of companies announced by Great Place to Work (GPTW), a research institute that specializes in studies and analyses of corporate employee job satisfaction. GPTW publishes in influential media the names of companies and organizations in about 60 countries that have been judged to meet certain standards.
Activities at Other Group Companies
| Company | Initiatives |
|---|---|
| Sysmex RA |
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| Sysmex America |
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| Sysmex Europe |
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| Sysmex Shanghai |
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| Sysmex Asia Pacific |
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