Employee Engagement
The Tsubaki Group is continuously implementing a range of activities to improve employee engagement. This refers to employees being able to work in comfortable environment that is both physically and psychologically safe, and with a deep understanding of and resonance with the company’s purpose and why we exist. We want our employees to also be self-motivated to proactively contribute to creating such a workplace.
Communication between Senior Management and Employees
We implement activities to spread the Tsubaki Spirit, our corporate philosophy, on an ongoing basis to deepen our employees’ understanding of the company’s purpose and significance. These include messages from the President, various opportunities for learning and training, and sending out information in a company newsletter. Every six months, we also send out a video message from the President, in which he explains the business conditions for that period. This is a way to share information about the company’s business performance and the progress of our businesses. We also actively create opportunities for management and employees to talk.
At the core of our personnel management system is our aim to improve employee engagement through the education, training, and evaluation of personnel. In FY 2022 we launched the T-Startup contest, which challenges employees to submit ideas for new businesses. One aim of this contest is to motivate employees to play an even more active role in the company by submitting proposals for new businesses.
Increasing Motivation with the New Business Proposal Contest T-Startup
In FY 2022, we launched T-Startup, a new business proposal contest. In this contest, we collect submissions of new business proposals from employees. If a proposal passes the judges screenings, the employee who submitted the proposal becomes the leader of a project to develop the proposal into an actual business. In FY 2022 we received 100 proposals over the four-month submission period from Tsubaki employees in Japan and overseas. Eight teams that made it through to the second screening gave presentations on their respective proposals, with the outline of each proposal shared via the company’s intranet site. As a result, four business proposals were selected as the seeds of projects to commercialize them. Although the T-Startup contest is an internal venture company system for creating new businesses, it is also a way to boost the motivation of employees and encourage them to take on new challenges in the company.
Awareness Survey for Monitoring Employees and the Organization’s Culture
Tsubakimoto Chain has been implementing a survey of employee awareness once every two years since 2002.
The survey is for Tsubakimoto Chain employees in Japan, and includes nine items that cover the following broad areas: (1) Workplace environment, (2) Workplace atmosphere, (3) Job satisfaction, (4) Guidance and evaluation of subordinates, (5) Tsubaki Spirit and management policies, (6) Tsubaki brand, (7) Initiatives for SDGs, (8) Satisfaction toward the company, and (9) Work style. We regularly monitor our employees and the organization, and ensure that our organizational operations reflect the voices of our employees. Our goal is to create a better working environment.
(Partial) Results of the FY 2022 Employee Awareness Survey
| Item | FY 2020 | FY 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Rate of job satisfaction | 47.5% | 49.8% |
| Rate of satisfaction toward the company | 54.9% | 57.0% |
Topics
Bringing Tsubakimoto Chain Closer with Employee-Family Plant Visits
We have been running plant visits at the Kyotanabe Plant and Saitama Plant for employees’ families. The participants learn about the plant and work carried out there, and also about the workplace where their family member works. There is also a quiz, a demonstration of a chain quality check, and other fun activities that each workplace comes up with to create an interesting visit.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for children to see where their father or mother works” and “It helps children to better understand the company, and to feel a sense of pride that their parent works at Tsubakimoto Chain.” These are just some examples of the positive feedback we have received from the participants of these very popular and successful plant visits.
Public Viewing of Cherry Blossom Trees at the Kyotanabe Plant
For the first time in four years, we welcomed the public to a space in the grounds of the Kyotanabe Plant to view the cherry blossom trees there. Tsubaki employees and their families, as well as local residents, all gathered to enjoy viewing thousands of cherry trees in full bloom. A similar cherry blossom viewing event was held at the Saitama Plant. Both of these events were blessed with fine and sunny weather. They were great opportunities for employees and their families to enjoy a BBQ together, while getting to know each other better.
