MC has identified the following three priorities for its efforts to enhance and expand its training systems. With the aim of implementing an HR strategy that responds promptly to management strategies, we will respond to rapid changes in the operating environment, promote the right people to the right positions and strengthen our ability to respond to changes in the environment so that all employees can demonstrate their capabilities.
Through a wide variety of HR development programs, MC is working to update leadership skills in response to changes in the business environment. We will embrace HR diversity to make the most of our diverse and versatile talent pool, and strengthen growth support skills. We believe that employees in Team Leader positions, who serve as a nodal point between management and the workplace, play a particularly important role in realizing a “dynamic, spirited and vibrant organization,” and we hold the MC Leadership Program for newly appointed Team Leaders over three sessions from May to October. We provide content such as leadership development that helps to demonstrate appropriate leadership styles according to each business stage, and organizational development that promotes improvement after visualizing the various situations and issues facing the organization.
MC respects the diverse work styles and values of individuals and are expanding our efforts to support career autonomy, to ensure that our diverse and versatile talent pool feels a sense of satisfaction and pride in their work, and to continue to grow and play an active role while making use of their abilities to the fullest.
To accelerate DX, we have defined the areas based on “DX Talent Type”, specifically “producers,” “business designers,” and “architects.” We have started offering training in the skills required for each of these areas through the MC DX Advancement Program, an on-demand training program that allows each participant to learn based on their individual level. All executives and employees have begun taking this program in FY2022. In addition, we are working to develop human resources who will lead our DX projects through other training programs, including programming training for those in charge of DX promotion and new business launch, workshops on web service launch, courses for management, , and the Innovators’ Program.
| Metric | FY2021 Result | FY2022 Result | FY2023 Target |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total cost of training | 1.75 billion yen | 2.43 billion yen | 2.43 billion yen |
| Average training hours per person | 13.2 hours | 21.8 hours | 21.8 hours |
| Percentage of professional staff who have acquired business-level English by the third year of employment | 95% | 96.2% | 96.2% |
| DX-related training attendance rate | - | About 99.0% | 100% |
MC Group HRD Program Structure
| Officer in Charge | Yutaka Kashiwagi (Director, Executive Vice President, Corporate Functional Officer, Human Resources, Global Planning & Coordination, IT) |
|---|---|
| Deliberative Body (A subcommittee under the Executive Committee, a management decisionmaking body) |
Human Resources Development (HRD) Committee Important matters related to human resource development deliberated by the HRD Committee are formally approved by the Executive Committee and put forward or reported to the Board of Directors based on prescribed standards. |
| Department in Charge | Global Human Resources Dept. |
2019年度グローバル研修生（英）
We respect the diverse work views and values of individuals and are expanding our efforts to support career autonomy, to ensure that our diverse and versatile talent pool feels a sense of satisfaction and pride in their work, and to continue to grow and play an active role while making use of their abilities to the fullest.
With the goal of increasing the effectiveness of employees' autonomous growth, we conduct annual reviews focusing on employee skill development and career building, and provide opportunities for dialogue with supervisors.
Prior to Growth Dialogues, employees who lead certain organizations undergo a 360-degree management review from their superiors, subordinates, and colleagues, while other employees receive team feedback from their subordinates and colleagues. This provides opportunities for growth support leading to increased awareness and improvement of behavior.
MC has established a mechanism to encourage the development of employees' skills and careers through observation and assessment from multiple perspectives by sharing skill growth and career aspirations of employees confirmed through Growth Dialogues with a wider population.
Based on individual career aspirations along with skills and qualities that employees want to develop in the future, we will promote open recruitment assignments to support the transfer of employees to positions they wish to take on and Dual Career initiatives that provide opportunities for skill acquisition and growth through in-house dual work.
Employees turning 50 or 55 are required to take career design training courses as an opportunity to think autonomously about their future life and career, including post-retirement. Furthermore, for those in their late 40s who wish to participate, in addition to career design training, we provide briefings on company schemes as well as financial planning seminars.
When employees first join MC, they participate in training programs designed to equip them with basic business, communication, analytical and management skills. They also work on becoming globally competitive professionals, something that all sogo shosha (trading company) employees must aspire to be.
This training focuses on instilling employees with the knowledge, skills and other qualities required of both working professionals in general and those employed by MC. We also implement programs that contribute to strengthening conceptual abilities for incorporating environmental and societal issues into business.
This comprehensive, two-stage training program is designed to strengthen the basic skills of young employees who are in their first three years with MC, covering finance and accounting, bookkeeping, M&A operations, English-language proficiency, leadership and other areas. The first stage is the Business Basic Skill Program (BBS) and the second is the Business Advanced Skill Program (BAS).
The purpose of this program is to rapidly develop and diversify young employees. To achieve this goal, MC utilizes its overseas assignment system so that all employees will, in principle, be provided with overseas experience at some point during their first eight years of employment. By exploring viewpoints and multifaceted perspectives that they would not encounter in Japan, trainees improve their conceptual capabilities and learn how to cooperate with diverse individuals in order to see a project through to completion.
・Global Trainee Program (OJT)
This program aims to further develop employees as businesspeople by having them experience on-the-job training (OJT) in an environment different to Japan, such as at overseas MC offices or subsidiaries, etc. In order for them to become immersed in the local environment and learn as much as possible about their training country, trainees study the official language of the country both before and during their training.
・Global Trainee Program (Regional)
As business becomes more and more globalized, to develop projects that are deeply rooted in each country/region, it is very important to not only have business skills, but to also have a deep understanding of the respective countries or regions. Starting with acquiring language ability, in order to deepen knowledge about concerned countries and regions, 1.5-2-year language training and OJT is held in various countries, such as Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Turkey, Brazil, etc.
・Global Trainee Program (Business Schools)
In order to develop human resources with a grasp of the most up-to-date business management methods and extensive problem-solving abilities, MC dispatches trainees to business schools in Europe, America and Asia. After completing their training, they make use of their newly acquired knowledge and skills by working in various areas, such as contributing to the management of MC subsidiaries, etc.
Assignment of Global Trainees (FY2020~ FY2022)
MC offers training programs that are designed to sharpen employees' thinking as managers and equip them with the skills to help grow business value. These programs help to enhance employees' business and digital-strategy conception skills and their HR management skills. Additionally, in line with the new personnel system, which highlights "growth support" for subordinates and colleagues as a key mission for management, MC is developing and expanding training programs aimed at delivering the skills and knowledge necessary for growth support management.
MC appoints senior employees to act as instructors by giving them the responsibility of training new employees that join their workplace. These instructors are responsible for actively providing guidance on day-to-day operations and instructing and educating employees on the qualities necessary to be an MC employee. We provide instructors with training on how to guide new employees and support their growth so they can demonstrate their abilities immediately and progressively build relationships.
Run by MC with the support of professors from institutions including Stanford University this program aims to nurture the conception skills necessary to grow business value. It is a good platform for focused learning around design thinking, and other thought processes that inspire innovation, as well as the background and mechanisms behind the rapid growth of Silicon Valley enterprises.
Designed for employees appointed to management-level, this system enables participants to take online correspondence courses from top overseas universities. Participants are free to choose from a wide range of programs that cover topics such as leadership, strategy, and finance.
MC dispatches management level employees to short-term programs at top business schools in the US, Europe and Asia. These assignments are designed to build up employees' management skills and networks with other program participants from diverse cultures and industries.
We believe that Team Leader positions, who serve as a nodal point between management and the workplace, play a particularly important role in realizing a "dynamic, spirited and vibrant organization." Designed to equip participants with the leadership know-how and skills in growth-support management, and performance management needed to support subordinates' career growth and otherwise manage organizations, the MC Leadership Program trains approximately 150 newly-posted Team Leaderemployees per year.
At present, 30% of MC's employees are on secondments to MC's subsidiaries and affiliates, which they are directly engaged in managing. The objective of the Business Management Program is to provide such secondees with the skills they will need in areas such as leadership, diversity management, corporate strategy and governance, and organizational development in order to run organizations and enhance business value.
This program, which targets executive candidates employees, has been running since FY2003. Its core feature is its management-issues workshops, which involve discussions and presentations for VPs and other current executives on a variety of company's management issues. Lively opinion exchanges with the diversely experienced participants, lectures by internal and external business leaders, and other rich content make this program a good opportunity for executive candidates to broaden their perspectives, learn how high-level managers think and network with professionals from all of MC's Business Groups.
To provide employees with more opportunities for proactive learning and self-improvement, and thereby encourage “self-growth,” MC continues to enhance and upgrade its independent study programs. We have also introduced the Online Learning Platform that can be accessed by all employees, creating an environment that allows people to freely select and learn from a variety of educational courses. This was done in order to help employees adapt to changes in the business environment, as well as to expand the number of learning opportunities that can be tailored to meet the needs of a diverse array of individuals.
To support the diversification, modernization, and optimization of learning content, as well as the improvement of individual abilities and skills through autonomous learning, MC has introduced a platform that allows students to learn from a wide range of online content. In addition to providing access to approximately 9,500 pieces of online content, this platform also contains over 75videos covering internal topics. A typical employee will watch at least 10 hours of video on this platform every year (based on figures for FY2022).
MC utilizes its personnel system and various other means in order to integrate employee development with corporate growth. We recognize that a vital part of employee development is a strong personal desire to achieve autonomous growth, and therefore began providing a Career Vision Training course via e-learning in FY2022 as part of our efforts to support such development. Career Vision Training aims to teach participants how to reflect on their careers in a way that will help them to continue to grow autonomously, visualize their own talents, and produce results by formulating and implementing action plans designed to realize their career visions.
MC offers a number of courses to foster skills and abilities that connect to development of expertise, foresight and execution skills.
This program is designed to equip employees with useful management, business and language expertise. MC encourages employees to take a selection of designated courses.
This program encourages self-growth and the kind of commitment to raising business value that is typically demonstrated by those in upper management. MC helps employees to take courses that are considered suitable for those in the "Frontline Professionals" stage of their careers.
To further accelerate DX, MC is rolling out training according to each employee's level so that they can acquire the digital knowledge they need. MC provides opportunities for programming training and web service development workshops for employees in charge of implementing new businesses and DX promotion as well as programs for project managers to understand the entire process of business development and business improvement projects from planning and conception to development. MC also provides a mandatory course aimed at improving IT and digital literacy for all employees, as well as some specific courses tailored to individual levels.
MC is working to reskill its human resources in order to enhance their adaptability and DX capabilities. As part of these efforts, the MC DX Advancement Program was recently established to provide all MC executives and employees with the IT and digital literacy skills they need. The program consists of an on-demand training course that allows each participant to learn in a balanced, gradual fashion based on their individual skill level. The MC DX Advancement Program offers approximately 70 hours of lessons spread across 16 courses that cover a wide range of topics, such as data design and DX project management. These courses can be accessed by all MC executives and employees.
MC provides training courses on DX and IT utilization to its management with the aim of helping them make proper decisions and give appropriate advice to their subordinates. These courses are designed to deepen management’s understanding of a variety of topics, including the leadership characteristics needed in the DX era when introducing new technologies, appropriate communication methods, the timing of decision-making, and points to consider when making decisions.
To comprehensively strengthen its consolidated workforce of 80,000 global professionals, MC is dedicated to sharing values and building robust networks throughout the MC Group.
Since FY2010, the MC Group Gateway Program has been conducted as an orientation program for employees of MC's offices and group companies worldwide. Held in Tokyo in both Japanese and English, the program's objectives are to encourage employees to share MC's corporate principles and values, and to foster a greater understanding of the MC Group. Approximately 4,600 people have participated in the program since its inception. Similar orientation programs to share MC Group values are being held in other regions.
