Training System
Nifco has clearly set out the requirements and guidelines for the action of human assets able to excel at a global level based on the keywords “challenge,” “transformation,” ”future,”“ cooperation,” and“ overcoming.” Our employee training and development systems have been established with the aim of cultivating these kinds of human assets, and we make revisions and improvements to the system as necessary while listening to employee feedback and taking the changing times into consideration.
Various training programs based on the circumstances of each employee
Our training system ranges from new employee training held with everyone proceeding at the same pace to long-term development designed to cultivate global human assets. In FY2022, 2,936 employees participated in training programs hosted by the Training Center. In addition, we have established a system that facilitates self-development through a qualification acquisition incentive program and a subsidy program for external e-learning course fees.
Self-assessment system
This is a system where employees submit requests to the company through their supervisors regarding requests or feedback on their job and the workplace, their occupational aptitude, their own career plan, and so forth. The system has been implemented yearly as a means of collecting information to ensure that employees can lead a more fulfilling work life. As well as helping encourage communication with supervisors, the details of the input are fed back to management and are utilized to make improvements to the workplace environment and implement job rotations from the perspective of human asset development. There are also mechanisms for the personnel section to respond directly to individual employees as needed.
Training system chart for FY2023
Developing value-creating people who can respond to change
In creative human resource development, flexibility is required to respond to the changing times. We are committed to encouraging autonomy and self-direction by ensuring that each and every employee has a sense of ownership and a future oriented way of thinking. By learning new things, we are able to change and grow, and through individual growth we are able to repeatedly update our organization, which in turn improves our corporate value. We train our employees to look for problems on their own and to be able to work on their own initiative.
Purpose-facilitated activities (making purpose a personal issue)
As part of a project to enhance employees' planning skills, this activity promotes self-understanding and develops a sense of fulfillment and value creation. Each employee considers and verbalizes his or her own purpose (purpose of existence) and connects it to the company's purpose of “Sparking innovation by fastening small insights with technology for a better world” in order to find job satisfaction and what he or she would like to be. In FY2022, the event was held in the spring at Nagoya Plant, and it was attended by about 70 employees from various professions. The event has become an opportunity to deepen horizontal and vertical ties that transcend departmental boundaries. In the future, we intend to hold another event at Head Office to expand our connections.
Cross-border program to enhance “My Strengths”
Cross-border programs are used to develop human resources who will be pioneers in the future. In order to gain the various insights that give rise to the “power to create change,” observation, insight, and communication skills are required. By crossing borders, coming into contact with the thoughts and values of various people, questioning the norm, thinking and acting on one's own initiative, and continually producing results, participants become aware of their strengths, and they can then hone their abilities to co-create businesses with people from other industries in the future.
Roundtable discussion between management and cross-border students
We are working on a roundtable discussion between the president and management and four people with experience in cross-border study-abroad programs. As one means to develop human resources, we asked the participants to experience firsthand their understanding and thoughts on the cross-border study-abroad program, which has been introduced mainly in the Development Division, and how it is applied to their work. Through dialogue with management, the program provides an opportunity to share each other's ideas and thoughts. From FY2023, the program is being developed as a company-wide cross-border program.
Developing planning skills in the unpredictable VUCA age
Nowadays, it is important to be able to discover issues on your own and to have good communication skills. We focus on the quality of relationships to promote the development of small insights to find potential needs and the ability to plan based on future ideas developed with fellow participants. We also learn from each other about the power of ideas, leadership, coaching, career design, and more. The Planning Skills Program is a program for people who want to think about and create the future of the company together, and it has created a chain of connections among members.
Joint industry-university project by Tama Art University and Nifco
We are conducting a six-month joint industry-university project as an initiative to discover issues and create new value from diverse perspectives. Through monthly sharing meetings and discussions, six third-year product design students and the Nifco team will work together to create value in a mobile space under the theme of Climate Change and Lifestyles. This is a joint industry-university project in which the results are presented as business models and product works.
Joint industry-university business plan by Kanagawa University and Nifco
This is an initiative to plan and create new value, including business models and products, from a wide range of perspectives. Under the theme Value Creation in a Mobile Space, seven teams of 30 second-year students from the Faculty of Business Administration participated in eight sessions over a period of three months to experience the process of planning and creating business plans. Some Nifco employees supported the students by providing feedback and mentoring and participated in the discussions from a neutral perspective. The students presented their business plans, and both the students and the Nifco employees reflected on their experiences, leading to individual's gaining confidence and personal growth through the various things they had learned and the insights gained.
Special manufacturing class by Nifco employees (Tama Art University)
Three employees participated as lecturers in a special class on cooperative research. As an opportunity for 70 first-year students majoring in product design to come into contact with engineers from companies, the class theme A Story of Making Things from Plastic Materials was presented to them in the form of quiz-style work using samples and a mini exhibition of Nifco products, injection molding machine models, transparent mold models, and more. Students seemed to enjoy it, and many said they gained a lot of insights and learned a lot by being exposed to the company and the engineers who worked there. In addition, by providing outside lectures, we are able to convey the appeal of Nifco to students and educate them, leading to their greater confidence and growth.
Special marketing class by Nifco employees (Kanagawa University)
A special class on marketing was offered to 150 first to third year students of the Faculty of Business Administration. By giving students a sense of actual initiatives at companies, the program has increased interest in business. The class included an introduction to online marketing using social media, which has become indispensable in recent years, and offline marketing, which aims to acquire a core fan base and expand awareness by creating direct contact with consumers. As a case study, the lecture introduced a product plan for non-loosening shoelaces, which led to product branding through crowdfunding and a variety of promotional tools. The class also raised interest in Nifco and its corporate branding.
Holding workshops to improve the ability to notice value creation and develop the sensitivity and ability to see designs
A total of eight workshops were held to awaken the participant's sensory perceptions, the starting point for all creativity, and to create the root for ideas and develop the ability to see designs while understanding the various concepts of modeling. In the Sensibility Workshop, participants were encouraged to stimulate their dormant perceptions in various directions by focusing on work mediated by artistic expression, such as drawing and appreciating, interacting, and creating art. In the workshop to develop the ability to see designs, participants were asked to think about what form means. They learned by sketching and drawing various ideas and perspectives, and they enjoyed learning from the totally different values and perspectives of other people. Participants also learned the ability to create value through sensitivity and the ability to see designs.
Value creation training for new employees
As part of the creative development of human resources, this program aims to help participants acquire the ability to work on their own through their own desire to grow. The eight days of training enable participants to acquire the thinking ability and skills of value creation through imagination, leadership, team building, and communication skills. Participants develop their confidence by creating proposals and hand-drawn idea drawings, learning to express their ideas in a communicative manner, and presenting their ideas as a team in a proposal creation process with the help and advice of senior employees.
Product development through activities to reduce environmental impacts
As part of our efforts toward a sustainable society, our Product Development Department is implementing activities to quantitatively identify and reduce CO2 emissions throughout the lifecycle of our in-house manufactured products.
A Nifco employee participated in a business planning project for becoming carbon neutral (CN) at an environmental management support service company as part of the Cross Border Study Program. The employee is currently engaged in activities to calculate the amount of CO2 reduction within the company. Through this activity, the employee has obtained the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Expert certification.
What is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)?
It is a method to quantitatively assess the resources and energy input and the environmentally hazardous substances discharged and their potential environmental impact on Earth and its ecosystems throughout the entire life cycle of a product, from the extraction of raw materials, material production, parts production, product manufacturing, distribution and use to its disposal.
The quality of relationships of the in-house social networking community strengthens the organization
We are working to improve engagement by enhancing cross-departmental connections and dialogue online, promoting learning and tolerance from the insights of other employees, and actively communicating with them to share ideas and thoughts. The program is also used as a “community space” inside and outside the company, with 550 participants, or 40% of employees, working with their peers to strengthen the organization by building on the quality of relationships to achieve common goals.
