Workforce Diversity
(Commitment to Employees)

The Air Water Group comprises 67 Group companies from 18 different countries, with a global workforce that exceeds 20,000. Each and every one of our employees is given a platform to succeed regardless of their gender, age, race, nationality, or any other individual characteristic, accompanied with full respect for their fundamental human rights. We therefore promote diversity throughout the Group, and engage in personnel development that maximizes the diverse characteristics of our workforce.

In our mid-term management plan NEXT-2020 Final, we are aiming to increase the percentage of women in managerial positions from 1.5% in fiscal 2018 to 10% by fiscal 2021, and are actively promoting women who are motivated to succeed.

The Women’s Participation and Advancement Promotion Project was launched in 2016 in order to further develop a corporate culture and workplace conditions that enable women to work with energy and a sense of purpose at the Air Water Group. As part of the project, we are working to increase opportunities for women to succeed and are moving forward with the creation of environments necessary for them to do so.

In fiscal 2019, the Air Water Group launched the Global Challenge Recruit program in order to hire new graduates and mid-career professionals capable of supporting the Group’s global growth. In addition to the special selection of personnel with outstanding language, interpersonal, and fundamental skills, the Group is offering attractive employment conditions to acquire leaders who can drive future global expansion of the Air Water Group.

Elsewhere, we offer language training to selected young and mid-level employees and a two-year educational language program for new employees. Moving forward, we will host personnel surveys with 24 of our Group companies to pick out potential candidates for overseas employment, candidates to work in our global business in Japan, and candidates for future management positions. Through training programs that teach the skills necessary for success on the global stage—such as languages, mindsets, logical communication, management, and leadership—we will strengthen our development of personnel who can develop our global businesses.

To encourage the early promotion of young employees to managerial positions, we revised our personnel systems and lowered the age requirement for managers to 33, an age we will look to lower even further in the future.

Air Water conducts personnel development aiming at the ideal of a company where each employee amply demonstrates his or her abilities with energy and a sense of purpose. While continuing to promote the education of young employees and the active participation of women as priority tasks, we will implement various personnel measures with emphasis on education and development with the aim of effectively utilizing diverse human resources and enhancing diversity in our organizations.

Air Water provides both rank-based training that corresponds to the skill development level of individual employees and a variety of training systems intended to impart expertise and skills in line with the characteristics of specific businesses and departments. In addition to providing training appropriate to an employee’s current position, we support training for future-oriented skills development to encourage independent career growth.

<Rank-Specific Training>
Under this system, we instill the attitudes and mindsets needed to perform the roles and obligations of each specific grade. The training uses self-analysis and a variety of tasks to encourage employees to make discoveries for themselves and apply those in their work. Starting in fiscal 2019, new post training for those assigned to ranks on the cusp of promotion to managerial posts instills the basics of management, thus better enabling us to harness the potential of younger employees.

<Language Training>
This involves a variety of programs, including basic language training to seed new recruits and younger employees with the potential to become globally capable workers, as well as invitation-only language instruction for mid-career employees with a view to overseas postings. Moreover, “language training” is not just about foreign languages, but also teaches practical skills such as presentation, meeting strategies, and debating. Moving forward, we will continue to enhance the globalization of our workforce to prepare for the group’s ongoing internationalization.

<Manufacturing Skills Training>
Worksite supervisor training is a groupwide initiative limited to employees in our manufacturing businesses. Based on solving actual problems from the factory, trainees receive guidance from instructors on how to implement improvements and identify and resolve issues, as well as on workplace leadership.

<Air Water Group Academy>

In fiscal 2020 we launched the Air Water Group Academy, a new system to develop young employees. New recruits undergo training here for two years, and we offer regular training opportunities and help them obtain the relevant qualifications. Employees are expected to develop an understanding of the company and of their work, as well become able to independently develop their own careers. In the mid to long term, this new academy will facilitate development of the next generation of Air Water Group management.

Under this system, employees can set the career path they want to pursue. Following self-assessment in their current positions, participants declare the roles they would like to progress to next, regardless of whether or not it is in the same department or business segment.

Percentage of female employees overall