We will strive to realize our long-term vision with sustainable growth and strong organizational development through creation of value in human capital.
Hiroshi Inoue
Nissui Corporation
Executive Officer, In Charge of Human Resources
For the Nissui Group, our people are the key element driving the creation of social, human capital, and environmental value, which lead to financial value. My duty as part of the management team is to cultivate talent who can realize innovation related to food and value creation by tackling new challenges while embodying our mission.
Our intent since the Company was founded has been to resolve issues relating to food—a commitment that is also seen in the Founding Principles and Five Genes—an approach that has also taken root among our employees. We define “increasing value in human capital” not as simply developing the ability to wait for and follow instructions from a supervisor or to complete tasks without issue, but as taking on challenges in cutting-edge fields with a spirit of independence. By working to attract, retain, and develop human capital who can continue to explore and create value on their own, we want to generate social, human capital, and environmental value, and translate that into financial value.
With the increasing complexity and uncertainty of the business landscape, fueled by factors such as climate change and geopolitical risks, balancing solutions to societal issues with economic growth is not easy. The Nissui Group employs more than 19,000 people (including temporary employees) worldwide. It is the knowledge and experience of such employees, each of whom has their own diverse values, that generates innovation, leading to the creation of innovative food solutions. We hope to make that a driving force for sustainable growth. To that end, although later than ideal, we began discussions of how to link human capital strategy to management strategy at meetings of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee in FY2023, and from FY2024 began formulating a human capital strategy that aligns with our management strategy and our business portfolio leading into the next Medium-Term Management Plan. By increasing the linkage between our mission and management strategy and our human capital strategy, and prioritizing assignment of people to the most important tasks, we will produce a positive cycle of creating greater financial, social, human capital, and environmental value.
In addition, although we previously defined personnel requirements for organizational leaders at the section manager level and higher, and implemented related measures, there was not sufficient discussion of consistent management succession. To address that issue, we have pinpointed the talents required in management from a long-term perspective, analyzed the gap between those talents and our current situation, and in FY2024 established the Human Capital Development Committee. This committee is tasked with implementing and monitoring concrete measures to attract, retain, and develop the human capital we currently lack. The Human Capital Development Committee is chaired by the President, and is composed of eight members—Internal Directors, the Executive Officer in charge of corporate planning, and myself—and has started discussions of ways to ensure consistent executive succession, including executives of Group companies. Each year this committee will also liaise with the Nomination Committee (composed of the President and four Outside Directors), which discusses candidates for Director, in order to systematically discuss succession plans, including for the position of President. Furthermore, with our policies on human capital now clearly defined, the Company will move past simply outlining expectations of employees, to introduce specific human capital measures demonstrating what the Company will do for employees. Along with diversity of human capital, an organizational culture of high psychological safety in which employees can exchange and discuss their ideas freely and openly, is also an important element of enhancing corporate value. That is why I would like to establish an organizational culture that builds empathy with our mission (brand promise) and supports employees in taking on challenges. Even as work styles and values continue to diversify, we aim to realize our long-term vision with a strong organization in which all employees envision what they want to be, do their jobs independently on their own initiative, and continue to pursue self-improvement.
