Creating a Pleasant Working Environment

Making Kobelco a motivating, rewarding place to work, where a diverse range of employees can fulfill their potential

 

Kobe Steel's human resources policies respect the personality and individuality of company employees while creating a lively and attractive working environment. We also work with Group companies in various ways to achieve one of the principles of the Kobe Steel Group Corporate Philosophy: "We support each employee in developing his or her abilities, while respecting mutual cooperation."

Human Resource Development

Policy

The goal of Kobe Steel's human resource development program is to foster employees' pride and help them find fulfillment in their work. To that end, it is important for every employee to have specific goals for personal growth and make progress towards those goals day by day. The company gives comprehensive support for this policy, with the expectation that every employee will grow and develop through constant improvement. We have also set out our ideal vision for human resources at Kobe Steel, as outlined below, and continue to focus on human resource development.

	"As employees, we will continually strive to establish trust in Kobelco on a global scale." Sincerity People who take matters seriously and act in good faith Cooperation People who express their own views while also working in partnership with others and accepting their opinions Innovation People who are never satisfied and constantly strive to innovate

Career Development

In terms of career development for employees at Kobe Steel, we operate a self-assessment system that provides an opportunity for staff members to discuss their professional goals with their superiors and plan their careers. This forms the basis for our job rotation scheme, the aim of which is to develop employees' skills whilst also taking into account their goals and the company's business needs. We also operate a personnel recruitment system that is designed to encourage independent career development.

Personnel Development Support

Our main focus in terms of personnel development at Kobe is on on-the-job training (OJT) through ongoing practical experience. We also provide supplementary "offline" training aimed at improving employees' specialist skills, tailored to suit different lines of business, skill levels and capabilities.

Career Development for Career-Track Employees

Personnel Benefits System

Kobe Steel's system of personnel benefits is performance based. We have introduced an employee system that has employees set targets, as well as a formula for calculating pay and bonuses related to employee performance. In fiscal 2007, the personnel benefits system in general and the employee system in particular were overhauled with the aim of increasing the capabilities and morale of individual employees and nurturing greater job satisfaction. Kobe Steel strives to conduct fair and appropriate evaluations by adopting an aptitude observation system, under which employees' performance is evaluated from diverse perspectives by a wide range of relevant personnel in addition to an evaluation by their immediate superior.

Respect for Diversity

Supporting a Balance Between Work and Personal Life

To maintain an energetic and appealing workplace, Kobe Steel actively creates a work environment that supports both the jobs and the personal lives of employees.

	- Formulation and Implementation of a Private Sector Employer Action Plan Based on the Next Generation Education and Support Promotion Act - Developing efforts to reduce overall working hours by having employees take more annual paid vacation days and by increasing worker productivity. - Expanding support for childrearing and home care beyond what is required by law Major recent initiatives Extending parental leave (until the child reaches the age of three) From fiscal 2008 Expanding flexibility in working hours for childrearing (until the child graduates from elementary school) From ffiscal 2008 Extending leave for home care (to a maximum of three years) From fiscal 2008 Introducing paid nursing care leave for children and family members From fiscal 2010

Eliminating Gender Bias

Kobe Steel recognizes the importance of maintaining an employment environment in which diverse employees can fully exploit their individual abilities regardless of gender. To that end, we have actively implemented policies designed to create an environment in which women can give full play to their abilities. These include: 1) improving the work environment and culture; 2) reforming hiring, placement, and training programs; 3) providing assistance so that women can work while maintaining their families; and 4) providing networking help. In fiscal 2006, we introduced a mentoring program for women engaged in corporate planning in order to provide psychological support for those developing careers and abilities.

VOICE Staff Comments "Extending parental leave gave me the chance to watch my child grow up." Kayoko Bando Energy & Nuclear Equipment Division, Machinery Business My boss informed me that the company's parental leave scheme had been extended to the age of three just before my child's first birthday. I decided that I would like to spend more time with my child, so I extended my period of leave until the age of two. That enabled me to watch my child grow up. My child also seemed to have enjoyed spending time with me. I was concerned that I might struggle to get back into the rhythm of everyday life after returning to work when my child reached two, but I needn't have worried because everyone at work was very understanding and helpful. I am really thankful for that.

VOICE Staff Comments "I found my ideal approach to work thanks to advice from my mentor." Mariko Matsuda Technical Development Department, Steel Casting & Forging Division, Iron & Steel Business Working in a department with no female managers, I was struggling to find the right approach to work and felt worried about the future, so I decided to take advantage of the mentor scheme. The scheme involves frankly discussing matters that are difficult to talk about with your immediate superior, with a mentor at the general-manager level who provides advice. Having talked things over, my mentor advised me to "find my own approach to work, even if it's something that nobody has done before." Discussing things like that has enabled me to map out a clear direction for myself and given me a real sense of motivation.

Accommodating Diverse Values and Lifestyles

To create and maintain a working environment in which employees can work securely over the long term, Kobe Steel has established various types of welfare support and care programs (including leave of absence) that they can use if they or their families need medical treatment or nursing care. These programs are matched to employees' individual life stages. Recognizing the diversity of values and lifestyles among our employees, we introduced in fiscal 2006 the cafeteria-style Kobelco Cafe Plan, which offers a flexible approach to the company's benefits package.

Kobelco Cafe Plan Manual

Employing Older People

Kobe Steel has introduced a system to reemploy older workers, through which employees who reach retirement age can be rehired if they so desire. This system, which includes the reemployment of Kobe Steel personnel by other member companies of the Kobe Steel Group, enables us to continue to benefit from the skills and abilities that are possessed by veteran employees. This arrangement helps to maintain and enhance workplace vitality by facilitating the transfer of skills to younger workers, while giving older employees a greater sense of fulfillment on the job. Other companies in the Kobe Steel Group have introduced similar systems.

Reemployment of Retired Employees (Ffiscal 2009)

Employment of Disabled People

The Kobe Steel Group actively promotes the employment of disabled people by such measures as holding periodic joint seminars on employment and is striving to make the workplace one where individuals can make full use of their abilities and work comfortably. In fiscal 2009, disabled people accounted for 2.24% of the work force in Kobe Steel, superseding the ratio of 1.8% required by law. The company will continue with measures designed to increase this ratio further.

Employment Ratio of Disabled People (Kobe Steel)

Respect for Human Rights

To maintain a working environment where human rights are respected, and that is free of any sort of discrimination, the Kobe Steel Group runs educational programs on human rights, such as human rights awareness training for different management levels. We are also giving training to recruitment staff on unprejudiced recruiting.

Preventing Sexual Harassment

Kobe Steel's Guidelines for Business Conduct in our Corporate Code of Ethics clearly state that sexual harassment is unacceptable. Our labor contracts and rules of employment stipulate that sexual harassment will be met with disciplinary action. A system has been set up whereby a counselor is available in every working location for consultation on sexual harassment and swift action is taken. In addition, a Sexual Harassment Prevention Manual has been produced and training is also given as part of our training on human rights. These measures are intended to create a working environment that allows all personnel to work comfortably and with peace of mind.

Sexual Harassment Prevention Manual

Health and Safety Management

Policy

Kobe Steel believes that health and safety are fundamental to business management and take priority over all business activities. In keeping with this principle, we strive to create a vital workplace where employees can safely pursue their careers with peace of mind.

	Goals of Health and Safety Management Activities - Correctly understanding all relevant laws, regulations, and company rules, and building a consistently compliant organization and structure. - Quickly and comprehensively responding to changes occurring in areas as production, product quality, personnel, company organization, and the environment. - Creating a corporate culture in which all employees work to protect not only their own health and safety, but those of their fellow workers.

Safety Management

In 1979, Kobe Steel started a drive to reduce accidents at work over the medium to long term. Since then, we have formulated and implemented medium-term health and safety management plans approximately every three years. As a result, the number and frequency of accidents have greatly declined. Unfortunately, this progress has slowed or in some cases been reversed in recent years. We take this trend seriously and recognize that protecting the lives and health of our employees is an especially important part of our social responsibility as a corporate group. Therefore, in fiscal 2010 we adopted the following three items as high-priority elements in our safety management program.

Frequency Rate of Accidents That Halted Operations

	1. Endeavoring to ensure the strict observance of all related laws, ordinances and safety rules, and the thorough implementation of health and safety management activities 2. Keeping an eye on the changing nature of risks and stepping up activities aimed at harnessing frontline capabilities and ensuring safety 3. Establishing a constantly evolving framework for health and safety education at all levels (developing human resources capable of thinking for themselves and acting safely) 4. Promoting integrated health and safety activities throughout the Kobe Steel Group

Health Management

To create a working environment that promotes employee health, we are enhancing our management system in both the mental and physical realms, with an even greater emphasis on prevention. With respect to mental health, we continue to expand our system of consultation offices, where employees can discuss any matter of concern with occupational counselors and specialized doctors, while promoting mental health education at all company levels. In the area of physical health, we work to prevent the onset of lifestyle illnesses by ensuring that all staff have regular health check-ups and follow-ups. We also strive to prevent work-related illnesses by dealing with changes that occur in the working environment. In response to the threat of influenza, we continue to reinforce preventive measures and formulate action plans in the event of an outbreak of a new strain of influenza.

Safety Award Ceremony