Society
Increasing Engagement
Setting Employee Engagement as an Important Indicator of Our Corporate Strategy
The engagement score of Sysmex Corporation for fiscal 2023 was 65%. 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 (70% in fiscal 2023) and their satisfaction in terms of well-being (57% in fiscal 2023). We have also introduced pulse surveys conducted in shorter intervals to understand the progress of measures and promote initiatives to incorporate employee input rapidly.
In fiscal 2023, as a new measure to promote in-house communication, we introduced a web service called Sysmex Peer Bonus, through which employees can mutually send messages of gratitude, encouragement, greetings, etc., with tips and receive rewards in points. We strive to create an attractive workplace in which everyone can work comfortably, based on the concept of “making work more enjoyable.”
Monitoring the Effects of Human Capital Investment
Sysmex aims to balance value-added productivity* and employee engagement. As indicators of the effects of human capital investment, we set value-added productivity and employee engagement scores and monitor them continually.
The value-added productivity per employee of Sysmex Corporation for fiscal 2023 reached a record high of 14,800 yen per hour, 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 167.9%. These results are accomplished as high levels of employee engagement are maintained and employees are willing to take on new tasks. 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.) work. In addition, we promote time management to realize a strong 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 was 62% in fiscal 2022 and 61% in fiscal 2023, meaning that we achieved our target of 60% for two consecutive years.
Promotion of taking paid leave and financial well-being
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 Plan1” (our welfare program) to employees who take consecutive paid leave days for travel, leisure, or courses at culture centers. In fiscal 2023, in consideration of recent price increases, we strengthened investment in human resources that support the improvement of employee wellbeing engagement and continuous corporate growth pursuant to the Multi-Stakeholder Policy. When paying winter bonuses, we implemented a special payment2 in the form of employee stock ownership, separately from regular bonuses.
- 1 The Company provides employees with cafeteria points every year. Employees can select and use the benefits they prefer from a menu of various benefits (childcare and nursing care support, health support, self-development, etc.) depending on their lifestyle and needs.
- 2 The Company expended incentives to contributions as part of the Sysmex Employee Stock Ownership Plan to support employees in building assets. For the special winter bonus in fiscal 2023, each employee was given the right to choose between stock and cash.
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 parenting, fertility treatment or morning sickness, a spouse’s childbirth, and the nursing of 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. We support employees returning to work after childcare leave, including with seminars before their return, as well as distribution of newsletters (including the Diversity Newsletter) to employees on childcare leave. 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 next-generation support certification (with a logo nicknamed “Kurumin”*) as a “company that supports child-rearing” from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. In fiscal 2023, we were also selected as a “Next Nadeshiko: Companies Supporting Dual-career and Co-parenting” by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Tokyo Stock Exchange. This program recognizes companies that make particularly outstanding efforts to support dual-career and co-parenting.
- 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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The “Sysmex Kids Park” in-house childcare center -
The “Kurumin” next-generation support certification logo -
Granted “Next Nadeshiko: Companies Supporting Dual-career and Co-parenting” awarded (fiscal 2023)
Stakeholderʼs Voice
Wonderful Moments: Connecting the Past and the Future
Kids Park Director, Ms. Kyotani
As part of Hyogo Prefecture's "Try-Yaru Week"*, we welcomed junior high school students for a childcare experience. We were extremely delighted to have the graduates of Kids Park return to our facility. Over the past 14 years, various staff members have spent time with the children, and we are honored to have shared such wonderful moments. It was a moment that made us feel the connection between the past and the future.
On the final day, we saw off the two students with cheers, as if it were their second graduation ceremony, celebrating their new journey. As childcare providers, we hope that the time spent at Kids Park will be a source of strength for all those who have graduated.
We also hope that this experience serves as a good opportunity for the parents of our current children to imagine the future growth of their own children.
- This is part of an educational program that helps junior high school students in Hyogo Prefecture find their own way of life through various experiential activities in the community, such as work experience and welfare experience
Encouraging Male Employees to Take Childcare Leave
Sysmex Corporation implements measures to increase the number of male employees taking childcare leave. These measures include the distribution of Dad's Childcare Leave Guidebook and the organization of seminars for male employees and their supervisors, inviting external lecturers. At the seminar, lectures were given and opinions were exchanged about 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 childcare leave.
Stakeholder’s Voice
Hayato Aoki, Reagent Engineering
At the time I took childcare leave, I was a development leader. In addition to two months of childcare leave, I took more than three months off in total, including paid leave and special leave for events such as weddings and funerals. By participating in childcare, I was able to experience my child's growth, and at home, the bond of cooperative parenting was strengthened. After taking childcare leave, I encouraged my colleagues to take childcare leave as well, based on my own experience. Recently, there has been an increase in the number of men in our department taking childcare leave.
Systems to Support Work-Life Balance
Support for continuing employment and promoting social contribution activities
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.
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. 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 the incorporation of a maternity policy into its human resources policies and a guarantee of four months of paid maternity leave. Additionally, Sysmex Spain and Sysmex Portugal have been selected by El Mundo as two of the “100 Best Companies to Work For.”
- 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.
Other Activities at Group Companies
| Company | Initiatives |
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| 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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