Promotion of Diverse Human Assets and Active Roles for All

Green tea leaf
Green tea leaf

Promotion of Diverse Human Assets and Active Roles for All

ITO EN is committed to constructing an organization where everyone in the value chain is respected and where all employees work vigorously in good health.

Themes and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Promotion of initiatives to ensure respect for human rights

Number of compliance education sessions held (for all employees)

FY2026
12 (per year)

Development and empowering of diverse human resources

Employee engagement score

FY2026
3.5 or higher

Female manager ratio

FY2026
10%

Gender pay gap (regular full-time employees, male employees = 100)

FY2026
80%

 Of the above, less than 10 years of service

FY2026
100%

Percentage of male employees taking childcare leave

FY2026
50%

Promoting health and productivity management

Maintain Health and Productivity Management Organization (White 500) certified

Contributable SDGs and Targets

  • GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING

    3.5
    3.6
    3.a

  • QUALITY EDUCATION

    4.4
    4.7

  • DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH

    8.5

  • REDUCED INEQUALITIES

    10.2

Find out more

Promotion of initiatives to ensure respect for human rights

We will respect the human rights of our employees and all the other people in the ITO EN value chain.

Respect for human rights

Respect for human rights forms the foundation of the ITO EN Group's management principle, “Always Putting the Customer First,” and underlies all of our business activities. In addition to observing laws and regulations, the ITO EN Group has established our stance concerning respect for fundamental human rights and formulated the ITO EN Group Code of Conduct. Besides referring to these guidelines for our business, we are implementing initiatives to provide a comfortable working environment by eradicating power harassment and sexual harassment, eliminating discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation (and gender identity), age, ethnicity, nationality, race, religion, ideology, beliefs, social status, family origin, disabilities, or other attributes, and complying with laws and regulations on working hours and minimum wages that apply in the countries and regions in which we operate.

Furthermore, with the diversification of the Group's business activities and overseas expansion, the importance of respect for human rights based on international human rights norms, including the prohibition of forced labor and child labor, is increasing. Against this backdrop, we have established the ITO EN Group Human Rights Policy, based on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, to publicly reaffirm the Group's stance on respect for human rights and our responsibilities in this regard.

This Policy has been formed based on advice from external experts who have specialist knowledge and practical experience in matters regarding human rights. We will continue to hold dialogues with stakeholders and reflect the outcome in the Policy and our initiatives on respect for human rights as needed in the future.

Implementation of activities to raise awareness about human rights and human rights training

The ITO EN Group provides training on human rights issues to employees as part of compliance training. The training deals with issues such as power harassment and sexual harassment in the context of human rights.

Meanwhile, by driving initiatives for tackling human rights issues through business activities, we have sought to make employees more aware and understanding of human rights issues in local communities.

Development and empowering of diverse human resources

ITO EN creates a corporate culture in which employees can think for themselves, learn independently, and actively take on challenges.

Diversity

The ITO EN Group is committed to developing a comfortable and pleasant workplace environment in which diverse individuals feel motivated to work. By developing an environment in which diverse individuals can opt for flexible working styles and ensuring that all employees feel enthusiastic about their work, we aim to energize the company as a whole and improve the productivity of employees.

Equal employment opportunities for men and women

ITO EN has established an action plan based on the Act on Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace and is implementing initiatives to empower women. We have also established an action plan based on the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children and is developing working environments in which it is easier for employees to balance parenting and work. While the average length of service of female employees is increasing year by year, we currently have a high ratio of male employees because of our sales format, which mainly consists of route sales involving visits to customers and loading, unloading and delivering products. We will continue striving to develop workplaces in which both men and women can thrive, including expanding job categories and offering women more opportunities to fulfil their potential.

Support for development of the next generation

ITO EN has established an action plan to ensure that all employees take advantage of child-care leave and we are steadily implementing this plan. As a result, we have received Kurumin certification as a general business operator that has met standards based on the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children a total of three times, in 2010, 2015 and 2020. We have now formulated our fourth action plan and are continuing to implement initiatives.

Kurumin
Kurumin

Employment of persons with disabilities

At ITO EN, employees with disabilities work in a variety of occupational categories, and candidates are trained prior to hiring to confirm compatibility of the candidate and the workplace to increase the retention rate. After individuals with disabilities have joined the Company, we work to create a pleasant working environment for them by understanding their disability through regular meetings with professional training officers in the human resources department and in cooperation with the support center at the workplace and in the local community.

Hiring global talent

Aiming to become a Global Tea Company, the ITO EN Group runs campaigns to hire foreign nationals.

Development of scheme for reemployment up to the age of 70

ITO EN previously established a system under which employees could be rehired for a maximum of five years after mandatory retirement; however, aiming to further energize the company as a whole and improve productivity, in FY2017 we introduced a new system which allows employees to work actively up to the age of 70. Employees who wish to continue working after reaching the age of 65 are matched with a workplace according to their requirements and adjustments are made to enable them to carry on working. We will develop an environment in which employees can demonstrate the experience, knowledge and expertise they have accumulated to date in various work places, and encourage the creation of systems which allow employees to work in good health and with enthusiasm until the age of 70.

We are also working to develop comfortable and rewarding workplaces through continued implementation of initiatives such as the system for moving employees on fixed term contracts to permanent contracts and offering area-specific positions.

Human resource development

The ITO EN Group puts effort into the development of human resources, based on the view that "people" are its most important assets. Most notably, we offer our own unique self-development schemes and have developed a range of programs to support the motivation of our employees. Such human resource development initiatives are implemented alongside training programs offered according to qualification, position, seniority, occupation and other needs.

Enhancement of training programs

Position-based training
Training to develop the skills and decision-making ability needed to fulfill the role of a specific position
Qualification-based training
Training in the knowledge and skills needed for a specific qualification
Seniority-based training
Training to increase understanding of the corporate philosophy and policies, etc., to reassess own direction and create career development plan
Occupation-based training
Training to develop the specialist knowledge and professional skills needed for a specific occupation
Self-development programs
Programs which offer self-development opportunities and are fully or partially subsidized where necessary for the purpose of developing competent employees

ITO EN Business College and ITO EN Graduate School

In the ITO EN internal training system, established in 1989 and known as “ITO EN Business College,” employees select subjects from the curriculum such as sales, finance, marketing, or organizational studies, and work for one year toward the acquisition of knowledge by engaging in assignments and group discussions. "ITO EN Graduate School” was also founded in 2009, and serves as a platform for employees engaged in further personal growth to acquire business acumen.

Development of global human resources

The ITO EN Group is working to strengthen the development of employees who will play active roles both in Japan and overseas, aiming to become a Global Tea Company.

As part of our overseas trainee program in collaboration with group companies, we have introduced a pre-entry system for the development of employees according to their career stage. We also have an internal recruitment system and have introduced a framework for supporting employees who want to work overseas to realize their dream. We are committed to the development of employees who can realize our goal of becoming a Global Tea Company.

Career development support

ITO EN offers a range of support programs to enable employees to shape their careers in a self-directed manner and always work with enthusiasm. In addition to the qualification acquisition assistance program through which employees achieve their personal aspirations and seniority-based training consisting of new employee follow-up training and training in the second, third and fifth years after joining the company, we have also introduced a program for employees to reflect on their careers and think about their future career goals and plans on reaching the ages of 35, 45 and 50 respectively. Besides training, we also provide personal interviews (consultations) about future career plans when employees reach the ages of 50, 55, 57, 59 and 63 respectively.

ITO EN Tea Taster Business Skill Test system

The ITO EN Tea Taster Business Skill Test is in-house business skill test system that has been in operation since 1994, with the objectives of instilling employees with a high level of tearelated knowledge, and conducting tea-related enlightenment activities both inside and outside the company. Candidates wishing to obtain the qualification participate in a skill test held once annually, with successful candidates being determined by a strict screening process. The test involves academic content, tea tasting and oral recitation, and requires a wide range of skills and knowledge on tea. In 2017, the ITO EN Tea Taster Business Skill Test became the first in-house business skill test to be certified by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) after the revision of the certification system.

By connecting to the cultures of tea around the world and broadly shares taste and value as tea specialists, Tea Tasters work within the Group both in Japan and overseas, as part of a scheme that develops human resources who can help realize the vision of ITO EN as a Global Tea Company.

MHLW Business Slill Test certification system logo
MHLW Business Slill Test certification system logo
Practical tea tasting test
Practical tea tasting test

Voice System (internal proposal system)

The ITO EN Group has a Voice System through which all employees regardless of the type of job they do can suggest new products, propose sales promotions and other ideas. Voice System feedback is divided into four categories with emphasis on ideas for products. The other three are ideas concerning sales activities and examples of successful innovations for how products are sold and how ITO EN interacts with customers. This scheme keeps the things that customers are still dissatisfied with in the forefront of all employees' minds and also help improve employee motivation, with internal awards presented for excellent suggestions.

Equal opportunities and fair evaluation

ITO EN Group employees are given equal opportunities for training, job assignments and work, and shape their careers through experience in a range of workplaces, regardless of their age, academic background, gender or other characteristics.

In terms of evaluation, employees evaluate their own conduct and performance first and are then evaluated (graded) by both direct and indirect superiors. The evaluation results are relayed to the evaluated employee and reflected in the goals set for the next fiscal year.

Promoting health and productivity management

As a Health Creation Company which contributes to people's health through tea, ITO EN is committed to the development of working environments and the creation of opportunities to enable employees to work vigorously and in good health both mentally and physically.

ITO EN Group Health Management Declaration

ITO EN aims to maintain a safe and healthy workplace as its policy for improving and maintaining employees’ health, and implements initiatives to maintain and improve the health of employees and their families. From the perspective of health and productivity management, which considers employee health management from a management perspective and puts it into practice strategically, we formulated the ITO EN Group Health Management Declaration.

The ITO EN Group exists for all its workers and their families and for society as a whole.

Based on this principle, we will support the physical and mental health of employees of the ITO EN Group to enable them to lead an enjoyable and fulfilling life.

We aim to be a company whose employees contribute to society through their enthusiasm for work, cheerfulness, positivity, and challenging spirit, and whose customers love us for providing them with the value of health.

May 1, 2021

ITO EN, LTD.
President and Executive Officer

Daisuke Honjo

Action Guidelines for Individual Employees

1. Stay proactive and positive, and keep smiling.

2. Take responsibility for your own health.

3. Lead a well-regulated lifestyle
(eat a well balanced diet, maintain a healthy weight, exercise in moderation, and get a proper amount of sleep).

Company Initiatives for Employees

1. Maintain and improve employees' mental and physical health

2. Create a safe, and comfortable working environment

3. Promote a healthy work-life balance

Health and Productivity Management Promotion Structure

Health and Productivity Management Promotion Structure
  • * Workplace Environment Improvement Committee members at 186 locations nationwide (FY4/2022) also serve as Health and Productivity Management Promotion Officers.
  • * Health managers and health promoters in the safety management system also serve as Health and Productivity Management Promotion Officers.

Challenge for management, benefits of implementing health and productivity management, and health and productivity management initiatives

Continually striving to be a "Health Creation Company" which creates healthy and fulfilling lifestyles for customers and a sustainable society, ITO EN also regards "employees' health" as an important challenge to be addressed. This is because we believe that it is only when our employees themselves value their own health and that of their families that ITO EN can propose a healthy fulfilling lifestyle to people all around the world through its main business and can, in turn, become a company that is loved for another 100 or 200 years.

For the promotion and realization of health and productivity management, we implement a range of initiatives to address the criteria of “management principle and policies,” “organized frameworks,” “systems and implementation of measures,” and “evaluation and improvement” and we also actively disclose information about our initiatives.

ITO EN is committed to the health management of all its employees, carrying out tests above and beyond those items stipulated by law, covering the cost of gastroscopy and prostate cancer screening when employees reach a certain age for the early detection of cancer, and also establishing a system for subsidizing the cost of further investigation after medical check-ups. We also provide support to help ensure the health of not only our employees but also their families, including introducing subsidies for gynecological examinations, stop smoking clinics, sleep apnea testing and regular checkups for spouses, and forming corporate membership agreements with gyms and sports clubs.

We have also established counseling services (provided by industrial physicians and health nurses) and an external 24-hour Health & Medical Consultation and Mental Health Consultation Desk, and are working to improve our support framework for handling health-related consultations for employees and their families, and for alleviating psychological concerns and anxieties.

In addition to these initiatives, as part of our efforts to maintain and improve the mental and physical health of our employees, we also conduct stress checks at all of our business locations regardless of size or scale. We thoroughly ensure the protection of employees’ privacy with regard to the results of these checks, and make the existence of the above consultation desks known to employees to enable them to make effective use of the available support as necessary. We also give care and consideration for employee health by participating in courses run by industrial physicians on a range of occupational health and hygiene related themes.

Going forward, we will continue stepping up initiatives to ensure that every employee can work energetically and in good health, to achieve sustainable growth in pursuit of our long term goal of becoming a Global Tea Company.

Improving workplace environments

Initiatives for comfortable workplace environments

ITO EN has established the Workplace Environment Improvement Committee (convened twice a year, in principle) to comprehensively consider workplace environment issues and improvement measures and create a more positive workplace environment, and the proposals examined here are recommended to the Executive Board. With a view to implementing improvement measures which are based on actual conditions across the Group, district committees made up of representatives of each office have been established under the Committee to exchange opinions on issues such as working hours, workplace safety and hygiene management and review future work styles. Every employee is constantly thinking about improvements to resolve work-related issues and improving business processes independently based on internal cooperation.

In addition, ITO EN carries out an awareness survey every year to ask all employees for their feedback on systems and their workplace environment. Survey results are analyzed and organized by the department in charge and fed back to workplaces and are also used to revise HR systems and improve workplace environments.

Reducing overtime work and improving the rate of paid-leave usage

ITO EN is working continuously to improve safety in the workplace.

We established the Group-wide Health & Safety Committee, which is chaired by the Director responsible for employees' health and occupational health and safety, with the objective of improving our management framework for health and safety-related matters.

To implement basic measures for the prevention of worker health problems, etc., ITO EN has established health/hygiene committees (which meet once a month as a general rule) at its head office and at business locations with 50 or more employees, and a Health & Safety Committee in its Production Headquarters (which also meets once a month as a general rule). We also give care and consideration for employee health by participating in courses run by industrial physicians on occupational health and hygiene related themes, such as safety measures in the workplace, and measures against heatstroke, infectious diseases such as influenza, and passive smoking.

To ensure safety across the Group, we conduct internal awareness raising activities by holding regular safety and health/hygiene weeks and distributing various documents and have also established committees comprised of workplace representatives, and are working to formulate and implement working environment improvement measures by conducting workplace safety surveys and sharing the results amongst committee members.

Health and safety initiatives

ITO EN is working continuously to improve safety in the workplace.

We established the Group-wide Health & Safety Committee, which is chaired by the Director responsible for employees' health and occupational health and safety, with the objective of improving our management framework for health and safety-related matters.

To implement basic measures for the prevention of worker health problems, etc., ITO EN has established health/hygiene committees (which meet once a month as a general rule) at its head office and at business locations with 50 or more employees, and a Health & Safety Committee in its Production Headquarters (which also meets once a month as a general rule). We also give care and consideration for employee health by participating in courses run by industrial physicians on occupational health and hygiene related themes, such as safety measures in the workplace, and measures against heatstroke, infectious diseases such as influenza, and passive smoking.

To ensure safety across the Group, we conduct internal awareness raising activities by holding regular safety and health/hygiene weeks and distributing various documents and have also established committees comprised of workplace representatives, and are working to formulate and implement working environment improvement measures by conducting workplace safety surveys and sharing the results amongst committee members.

Ongoing infection control initiatives

During the COVID-19 crisis, ITO EN established a coronavirus infection control office to strengthen safety measures and focused on measures to prevent coronavirus infections based on the assumption of preventing infection and ensuring business continuity.

Improving workplace environments to eliminate occupational accidents

In the event of an occupational accident, ITO EN conducts a root cause analysis in an occupational accident report and endeavors to prevent a recurrence. Every year, the Human Resources Department reports to the Executive Board on the status of initiatives to prevent occupational accidents, the results of medical checkups received and other matters related to employees' health and occupational health and safety.

Because ITO EN has many sales personnel who use vehicles in their route sales activities, the company provides vehicle driving training that includes thorough observance of traffic rules and good driving manners. To promote safe driving we have also installed dashboard cameras in our vehicles and are seeking to ensure the thorough implementation of the content of our education programs, with the aim of achieving zero accidents.

We will continue striving to step up initiatives further in the future, aiming for zero occupational accidents.

Enhancing health-related preventative education and training

In addition to conducting health and safety education and training for management-level personnel on a job-specific basis, ITO EN also works to make the relevant information widely and thoroughly known amongst all of its employees through the efforts of Health/Hygiene Committee and Workplace Environment Improvement Committee members selected by the representatives of each department.

Enhancing welfare and benefit systems for more fulfilling leisure time

The ITO EN Group believes that employees who lead fulfilling lives will perform better at work. We encourage employees to pursue a work-life balance and strive to develop environments with better systems aiming to create pleasant workplaces for everyone.

Enhancing the Family Support System for supporting work-life balance

In FY2017, ITO EN launched the Family Support System to facilitate comprehensive support for ITO EN employees and their families during major life events through various support schemes, including work support, welfare benefit support and salary support schemes. As part of its most recent efforts, the Company has enhanced childcare leave (making it part of paid leave) and introduced systems to support for balancing work with illness (flexible work style), support for fertility treatment (leave of absence and subsidy) and support for nursing care (work arrangements to shorten work hours and days and the establishment of a consultation desk dedicated to nursing care), in a bid to develop an environment in which employees can continue working with peace of mind.

Other health and productivity management initiatives