Human Resource Management
- Our Basic Stance
- K-Win Activities (Kawasaki Workstyle Innovation)
- Securing and Retaining Human Resources
Our Basic Stance
Human resources are the most important asset necessary for the Group to continuously provide the new value required by society, and we consider the enhancement of human capital to be fundamental to this. In the Group Vision 2030, we positioned human capital as an important element supporting our growth scenario.
Based on this awareness and in accordance with our basic policy on human capital (Kawasaki Group Policy on Human Resource Management), we are implementing various measures to recruit and develop diverse human resources, create an environment that enhances and demonstrates the individuality and abilities of those human resources, and achieve people and organizations that continuously tackle challenges and reform in a positive manner.
In particular, we position the improvement of employee engagement as a priority issue and are actively working on human resource system reforms and organizational development activities to further increase highly motivated employees provided environments in which they can fully exercise their abilities.
Guidelines
The Kawasaki Group seeks to create a hopeful future by providing in a timely manner innovative solutions that accommodate an ever-changing society through advanced technological capabilities in wide-ranging fields.
Human resources are the most important assets supporting the foundations of the Group. Moreover, changes in the business environment and the values of employees are accelerating, and human resources are becoming increasingly important for creating new value.
We established the following human resource and organizational goals and will implement human resource policies in order to continuously transforming our corporate culture so that all Kawasaki Group human resources will be highly motivated to ambitiously work toward the realization of the Group Vision 2030: “Trustworthy Solutions for the Future.”
Personnel-related Structures
Company-wide policies on human resource development and utilization with significant potential impact on corporate management are discussed and reviewed at the Company-wide HR Management Committee. With the president as its presiding officer, the Company-wide HR Management Committee comprises primarily internal company presidents. The committee discusses and reviews matters regarding 1) cultivating corporate managers, 2) the application of human resources in key strategies, 3) the assignment of human resources to new business and new product operations, and 4) the status of human resource measures in operation.
In addition, the Head Office Human Resources Division maintains various meetings and committees in which division managers in charge of human resources and labor at the internal companies convene to gather views and opinions on the drafting of detailed of human resource initiatives and communicate Company-wide policies.
Human Resource Committees and Meetings
Body | Purpose | Attendees | Meeting frequency |
---|---|---|---|
Company-wide HR Management Committee | To discuss and consider Company-wide policies on human resource development and related matters with the potential to significantly impact corporate management |
|
Four times a year |
Meeting of Company-wide human resources planning departments* | To consider and share information on policy and operations related to personnel & labor administration |
|
As needed (approximately twice a month) |
Meeting of managers in charge of human resources | To exchange views about and discuss the operations of Human Resources & Labor Administration Department |
|
As needed (approximately twice a year) |
Meeting of managers in charge of human capital development | To exchange views about and discuss the operation of Human Capital Development Department |
|
Twice a year |
Meeting of managers in charge of labor administration | To exchange views about and discuss the operation of Human Resources & Labor Administration Department |
|
Twice a year |
Meeting of managers in charge of safety & health management | To exchange views about and discuss the operation of Safety & Health Management Department |
|
Four times a year |
* Meetings of managers serve as venues for discussion, while the meeting of Company-wide human resources planning departments serves as a venue for sharing information and communicating policy.
Responsible Officers
Katsuya Yamamoto, Representative Director, Vice President, and Senior Executive Officer, General Manager of Human Resources Division
Company-wide HR Management Committee: Yasuhiko Hashimoto, Representative Director, President, and Chief Executive Officer
Other various HR meeting bodies: Senior Managers from the Head Office Human Resources Division
Responsible Executive Organ and/or Committee
Company-wide HR Management Committee
K-Win Activities (Kawasaki Workstyle Innovation)
The Kawasaki Group launched K-Win activities, an effort to promote workstyle reform, in fiscal 2016 with the objectives of “promotion of work-life balance,” “increasing the productivity of administrative and technical personnel,” and “reducing long working hours.” Through these activities, we pursued three areas of transformation, namely, operational transformation, organizational and corporate culture transformation, and system transformation.
K-Win activities are currently integrated with Group management and have been expanded to include overall corporate innovation to change the corporate culture and employee awareness for the purpose of achieving the Group Vision 2030. Through these efforts to create more highly motivated employees who actively take on challenges, we are building organizations that create virtuous cycles of corporate value enhancement.
Vision for Our Employees and Organization
We have identified a vision for our employees and organization as described below. This vision is aimed at making effective use of human resources with an eye to total business portfolio optimization, maximizing results by improving productivity, and realizing value creation by bringing together diverse insights.
- People and organizations with high levels of engagement, job satisfaction and enjoyment, and ease of work
- Organizations in which every employee takes specific actions that go beyond internal and external boundaries based on market-in perspectives for achieving the Vision
Priority Issues to Be Addressed in K-Win Activities
Encouraging the formation of connections and dialogue that link management topics with employees: proactively moving in a single direction
- Informing employees about the Group Vision 2030 and engaging in dialogue with senior management
- Implementation of the WinDEX engagement survey to make visible the corporate culture and address organizational issues
- One-on-one engagement and organizational development to establish a shared awareness with employees and revitalize organizations
Promote crossover action internally and externally with a focus on demonstrating competence and results: break down existing constraints and overcome internal and external boundaries
- Shift to new workstyles for Kawasaki and advance communications (e.g., use of remote communications and DX)
- Share information and solve cross-organizational issues using a suggestion box on the Company intranet
- Form a crossover community made up of members from inside and outside the company and exchange knowledge
K-Win Implementation Structure

Responsible Officer
Katsuya Yamamoto, Representative Director, Vice President, and Senior Executive Officer, General Manager of Human Resources Division
Responsible Executive Organ and/or Committee
K-Win Activities Implementation Secretariat
Workstyle Reform
To promote organizational and corporate culture transformation, we have issued messages from top management, provided educational seminars for managerial staff, and held one-on-one meetings. In system transformation, in fiscal 2017 we added productivity as one of our employee review criteria for administrative and technical personnel in order to recognize employees who carry out work quickly and efficiently, and in fiscal 2018 we introduced a remote working program (teleworking program) for said employees. In terms of operational transformation, we have provided the Operational Efficiency Improvement Start Book as well as useful information for operational transformation, including tools for various types of work.
Securing and Retaining Human Resources
Hiring
Administrative and technical positions are characterized by a prevalence of team-based operations. As such, finding team players who can engage in friendly competition with their colleagues is a major focus in hiring. When recruiting human resources, rather than simply filling the gaps left by outgoing retirees, we seek to secure individuals with the necessary skills in the required numbers from a medium- to long-term perspective. Furthermore, to flexibly meet the need for more employees due to business expansion, we are actively recruiting not only new graduates but also individuals with career experience. To facilitate overseas business expansion and promote diversity, we hire new overseas college graduates and foreign national students in Japan.
|
Number of Employees Hired (Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Railcar Manufacturing, and Kawasaki Motors)
(FY)
Unit | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
New graduates hired* | Persons | 538 | 562 | 555 | 357 | 370 | |
Male | Persons | 492 | 507 | 498 | 323 | 333 | |
Female | Persons | 46 | 55 | 57 | 34 | 37 | |
Administrative and technical positions | Persons | 332 | 338 | 344 | 231 | 246 | |
Male | Persons | 291 | 290 | 296 | 200 | 214 | |
Female | Persons | 41 | 48 | 48 | 31 | 32 | |
Production specialists | Persons | 206 | 224 | 211 | 126 | 124 | |
Male | Persons | 201 | 217 | 202 | 123 | 119 | |
Female | Persons | 5 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 5 | |
Mid-career hires and ratio of mid-career hires to all new hires | Persons | 417 | 296 | 167 | 95 | - | |
% | 43.7 | 34.5 | 23.1 | 21.0 | - | ||
Male | Persons | 297 | 202 | 136 | 72 | - | |
Female | Persons | 120 | 94 | 31 | 23 | - | |
Administrative and technical positions | Persons | 162 | 165 | 90 | 89 | - | |
Male | Persons | 152 | 148 | 81 | 68 | - | |
Female | Persons | 10 | 17 | 9 | 21 | - | |
Production specialists | Persons | 148 | 60 | 59 | 6 | - | |
Male | Persons | 140 | 50 | 54 | 4 | - | |
Female | Persons | 8 | 10 | 5 | 2 | - | |
Partner | Persons | 107 | 71 | 18 | - | - | |
Male | Persons | 5 | 4 | 1 | - | - | |
Female | Persons | 102 | 67 | 17 | - | - | |
Average years of service | Years | 13.6 | 13.4 | 13.7 | 14.2 | - | |
Male | Years | 13.7 | 13.7 | 14.0 | 14.5 | - | |
Female | Years | 12.3 | 10.0 | 10.3 | 10.8 | - |
* Number of new graduates hired as of April 1 of each fiscal year.
Employee Evaluations
Our Approach to Human Resource Evaluation
Kawasaki operates a personnel system that rewards employees based not on such individual characteristics as age, but on the size of the employee’s role, the ambition of the targets they set, their ability to carry out the necessary work with determination and speed, and the results they achieve. By using this system, we aim to promote the further growth of our human resources and ongoing corporate growth. At the core of this is our target management system, which values commitment and ambitious effort.
Employees set targets for themselves that comprise both the expected targets entailed in carrying out their basic responsibilities as well as targets that reflect taking on self-directed challenges and rising above their normal roles to generate additional added value. Supervisors and their subordinates meet regularly to discuss hurdles to achieving these targets and employees’ initiatives to do so. At the end of the fiscal year, employees themselves and their supervisors evaluate their performance regarding each target, and supervisors provide feedback that includes the reasons for their evaluations and reach a final evaluation. They then discuss initiatives for the coming year and the subordinate’s career path.
To ensure fair and equitable evaluations, we have established fixed evaluation procedures. We also incorporate case studies and other training aimed at improving evaluation skills into the training of managers.
For managerial staff, we implement multi-faceted observational surveys, which serve to aid individuals in seeing themselves through the eyes of others in an objective, multi-perspective manner, helping to develop their self-awareness as part of their education.
Moreover, once a year, the labor union is briefed on promotions and compensation to verify that employees are being treated in an equitable and fair manner.
Percentage of Employees Assessed by Different Evaluation Methods (Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Railcar Manufacturing, and Kawasaki Motors)
(FY)
Unit | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Evaluation based on target management*1 | % | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
Multifaceted performance evaluations*2 | % | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 |
Evaluations for ranking employees within their category | % | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
*1 Evaluations based on targets and other criteria agreed to by the Line Manager.
*2 360º evaluations, etc.
Overview of Long-term Incentives for Employees
Kawasaki provides a retirement payment system where employees can receive payment in a lump sum or as a pension. In addition to defined benefit pensions, Kawasaki offers defined contribution corporate pensions, which allow employees to choose their contribution amounts to suit their life plans and put them to good use in their long-term asset building plans.
Assessment Criteria
Years of service, age, work qualifications, work performance
Period for Assessment
Three years or more
Scope of Policy Application
All employees
Number of People Resigning (Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Railcar Manufacturing, and Kawasaki Motors)
(FY)
Unit | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total number of resignations and turnover rate*1 | Persons | - | - | - | - | 481 | |
% | - | - | - | - | 2.8 | ||
Male | Persons | - | - | - | - | 421 | |
% | - | - | - | - | 2.7 | ||
Female | Persons | - | - | - | - | 60 | |
% | - | - | - | - | 4.1 | ||
Number of employees voluntarily resigning and turnover rate*1*2 | Persons | 187 | 220 | 217 | 205 | 313 | |
% | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.8 | ||
Male | Persons | 166 | 200 | 186 | 179 | 275 | |
% | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.8 | ||
Female | Persons | 21 | 20 | 31 | 26 | 38 | |
% | 2.0 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 1.7 | 2.6 | ||
29 and younger | Persons | 78 | 111 | 116 | 109 | 162 | |
% | 2.3 | 2.9 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 4.3 | ||
Male | Persons | 68 | 101 | 104 | 99 | 146 | |
% | 2.1 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 4.2 | ||
Female | Persons | 10 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 16 | |
% | 5.6 | 4.4 | 4.8 | 3.8 | 5.9 | ||
30 to 39 | Persons | 75 | 76 | 77 | 63 | 105 | |
% | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.9 | ||
Male | Persons | 67 | 70 | 64 | 52 | 89 | |
% | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 1.8 | ||
Female | Persons | 8 | 6 | 13 | 11 | 16 | |
% | 2.7 | 1.7 | 3.2 | 2.6 | 4.0 | ||
40 to 49 | Persons | 25 | 16 | 14 | 28 | 29 | |
% | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.7 | ||
Male | Persons | 22 | 13 | 11 | 25 | 24 | |
% | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.6 | ||
Female | Persons | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | |
% | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 1.1 | ||
50 and above | Persons | 9 | 17 | 10 | 5 | 17 | |
% | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.5 | ||
Male | Persons | 9 | 16 | 7 | 3 | 16 | |
% | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.5 | ||
Female | Persons | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
% | 0.0 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
*1 Age of resigning employees is shown as of April 1 of each fiscal year.
*2 The turnover rate for employees who voluntarily resign does not include retirees and executive transfers.
Employee Satisfaction
Engagement Survey
The Kawasaki Group believes that to achieve the Group Vision it is important for employees to engage in their work with a sense of purpose and fulfillment, going beyond the bounds of their prescribed role or division. To this end, we are implementing a variety of reform activities, including the K-Win activities. We use an engagement survey, like those used widely by other global companies, to regularly gather current data on organizational capacity, which we regard as the target of reform activities, and to aid in identifying effective measures for addressing barriers to increasing such capacity.
Employee Satisfaction Survey Results
(FY)
Unit | 2017 | 2018*1 | 2019 | 2020*2 | 2021*3 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Response rate | % | - | 94 | - | 80 | 83 |
Satisfaction (Percentage of people who replied “I would like to continue to work here”) | % | - | 70 | - | 86 | 83 |
Male | % | - | 68 | - | 87 | 83 |
Female | % | - | 70 | - | 83 | 82 |
*1 Scope: The Kawasaki Group (domestic)
*2 Scope: Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (non-consolidated)
*3 Scope: Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Railcar Manufacturing, and Kawasaki Motors
Employee Stock Ownership Association
The Kawasaki Group operates an employee stock ownership association system established to promote employee welfare (in terms of wealth building) as well as employees’ sense of involvement in management. As part of the employee benefit system, the Company matches a certain portion of employee contributions, and the dividends on shares held by employees are used to buy more shares, achieving a compounding effect and enabling employees to build wealth. Furthermore, holding shares of the Company through the ownership association helps employees gain a greater awareness of corporate management, just as for general shareholders. We believe that this will contribute to the enhancement of enterprise value over the long term.
Shares Held by the Employee Stock Ownership Association and Position on the Register of Shareholders
(FY)
Unit | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Shares held by the Employee Stock Ownership Association | Shares | 2,980,821 | 3,286,221 | 3,790,021 | 4,501,521 | 4,934,251 |
Position on the register of shareholders (by size of shareholding) | 9th | 7th | 6th | 4th | 4th |
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