Work Environment

For the group to continue to sustainably increase its corporate value, it is essential to further strengthen human resources, which are our greatest form of management capital. For this reason, it is important to hire, train, and utilize excellent human resources. Our hiring of employees is based on Our Corporate Spirit of integrity, fairness, and harmony, a belief that has been nurtured since our founding 179 years ago. We are committed to hiring people who can actively practice the 3Cs: “Change (Change ourselves as society changes); Challenge (Challenge new fields with conviction and ambitious spirit); and Create (Create fresh global value through diversity).” In addition, we are promoting the recruitment of experienced candidates as a way to strategically place human resources in areas of group business expansion. We welcome professionals with varied experience and a “Challenge” mindset, who are looking for an environment where they can make the most of their abilities. In OVOL Medium-term Business Plan 2026, we have set a goal of increasing the ratio of female employees in career track positions (parent company) to 30% or more. We achieved this target in fiscal 2023.

Japan Pulp & Paper has adopted a personnel system based on the Role Responsibility System. This system aligns the basic functions of management—vision and strategy development, performance management, and business execution—with the roles and performance responsibilities assigned to each employee. This framework serves as the basis for personnel management and is aimed at developing and utilizing human resources effectively. In terms of education and training systems aimed at developing human resources, we are promoting a program aimed at raising the skills of each and every individual and vitalizing people and organizations based on the concepts of “developing human resources able to fulfill their roles and responsibilities” and “developing personnel with self-initiative who are able to respond to times of change.” Through rank-based training, we bring together all employees eligible for promotion and train them to understand what’s expected of them in their next role and to perform at a higher level. Selectable training courses incorporate practical training programs designed to give core personnel the necessary management knowledge and skills to solve and accomplish increasingly sophisticated and complex organizational and business challenges. In addition, one of our training programs is conducted outside of Japan to give employees a more international perspective and to develop their practical communication skills for interacting with international counterparts in foreign languages. As a part of our talent management system, we also centrally manage and visualize basic employee data, such as their work history, as well as their experience and other abilities including specific skills. We use this data for developing a curriculum, and for strategic human resource placement that takes each employee’s uniqueness into account.
Going forward, we will further refine our human resource data and use it when making strategic investments in human resource development. In this way, we seek to improve the skills and abilities of employees who have the responsibility of continuously enhancing our corporate value.
As part of OVOL Medium-term Business Plan 2026, we have set a target of more than tripling the investment in training and education compared with fiscal 2023, with the aim of raising the overall skill level of employees and developing specialists.

In business, goal management is essential for performance management. When combined with a personnel evaluation system, it promotes organizational motivation and individual skill development, and is an important factor in determining personnel management. The personnel evaluation system at Japan Pulp & Paper is comprised of Grade Standard Evaluation and Challenge Evaluation components. The system is used as a tool for employee development to maximize performance. In both setting goals and conducting evaluations, we emphasize clear communication between evaluators and those being evaluated to ensure fair evaluation of achievements and actions and increase transparency through feedback. We aim to enhance employees’ sense of understanding and motivation.

We view human resources as our most important form of management capital and support each employee in taking the initiative to improve their health and increase their vitality. In addition to reducing overtime hours and creating an environment that makes it easier to take paid leave, we are further promoting workstyle reforms. As part of OVOL Medium-term Business Plan 2026, we aim to reduce average monthly overtime to less than 10 hours and increase the paid leave usage rate to over 80%, ensuring a better work-life balance. As one of our initiatives to support employee health, we offer healthy menu options at the company cafeteria aimed at improving metabolic health and encourage employees to receive specific health guidance. To prevent strokes and cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks, we have implemented smoking cessation support programs and hold walking events for all employees once a year. We also conduct various other initiatives such as holding multiple health seminars each year to improve health literacy. In fiscal 2023, we were certified as a Health & Productivity Management Organization. In addition, we are improving the system-based management of health check data, and we will use this data to implement effective health measures. Our goal is to create a work environment where each employee can maintain both mental and physical health and perform at their best.

The Japan Pulp & Paper Group has established the Occupational Health and Safety Policy, and is working to strengthen its occupational health and safety system and management with the aim of eradicating workplace accidents, hazards, and occupational illnesses. Each group company implements initiatives through the Personnel Department, the Environment & Safety Promotion Office, and the OVOL Environment & Safety Meetings, and progress is reported to the Executive Sustainability Committee. Efforts are overseen by the Board of Directors. In the same way that it has established systems for managing and ensuring compliance with environmental laws and regulations, the group works to improve safety management through self-management, the Environment & Safety Promotion Office, and on-site visits by external experts. We also promptly share information on accidents and incidents within the group to prevent recurrence.The OVOL Environment & Safety Meetings held two general meetings for group companies in Japan in fiscal 2023, providing a forum for communication between employees on labor safety and health. We have set the “work environment” as a material issue for the group, and will continue to improve occupational health and safety as our highest priority by implementing measures to prevent workplace accidents and providing comfortable workplaces. The group recorded zero fatal accidents in fiscal 2023.