Diverse HR Activities
METAWATER is promoting diversity based on the belief that the ability of employees with diverse personalities leads to new value creation and corporate growth.
Acquisition of "Kurumin Mark" and "Eruboshi" Certification as company offering childcare support
METAWATER formulated an action plan based on the Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children, and acquired certification (Kurumin certification) from the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare as a company offering childcare support in July 2015.
In March 2020, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare granted us "Eruboshi (Stage 3)” certification under their accreditation system for companies with outstanding initiatives to promote women's participation and advancement.
We plan to continue our efforts to create an environment in which female employees can play an active role.
Promoting Diverse Ways of Working
At the METAWATER Group, we are promoting a variety of measures to realize diverse ways of working.
In fiscal 2020, we reduced the number of scheduled working hours by 30 minutes (from 7 hours, 45 minutes to 7 hours, 15 minutes), relaxed requirements for taking holidays such as granting annual paid holidays by the hour and raising the maximum number of accrued holidays (from 35 days to 100 days), and introduced a four-day workweek ahead of other companies in the industry. In addition, due to the spread of COVID-19, METAWATER has been actively recommending the use of telework and satellite offices, and the use of such facilities by employees has shown a marked increase.
We are also developing systems to enhance the balance between employees' lives and work (life-work balance*), such as a childcare leave system and shorter working hours to allow employees to take care of their children. Furthermore, we believe it is important to create an environment where all employees can work comfortably, regardless of gender, and we are making improvements to work clothes for women at work sites, and improving changing rooms and toilets for women.
* Based on the concept that “a fulfilling life leads to excellent work”, METAWATER has adopted the term, "life-work balance."
Supporting the Success of Female Employees
The METAWATER Group has been actively recruiting women, including new graduates and those trying a mid-career change. As a result, the ratio of women who make up new hires has more than doubled in the past five years and is steadily increasing.
Increase in Percentage of Women Taking Maternity and Childcare Leave, and in Percentage Returning to Work
One result of METAWATER’s efforts to create a comfortable workplace for employees is that the percentage of female employees taking maternity and childcare leave has been increasing each year, and the percentage of employees returning to work has reached 100%.
Many employees use the leave system not just once, but two or three times.
The number of male employees taking childcare leave has also been increasing. By 2020, 17 male employees had taken childcare leave, with an average of 41.5 days and a maximum of 336 days.
Promotion of Global Human Resources
Since METAWATER’s establishment, we have always employed a fair human resources system that is not bound by nationality or other personal factors. We hire foreign employees and accept local employees in our overseas offices (national staff).
In addition, the number of overseas Group companies in the METAWATER Group has also been increasing due to factors such as M&A.
Creating an Environment Where Those with Disabilities Can Play an Active Role
One of METAWATER’s initiatives to promote diversity has been to create an environment where those with disabilities can play an active role. Employees with disabilities are engaged in a wide range of work from various departments within the company. Instructors (working life instructors for disabled) check the health of members at morning gatherings and radio calisthenics each morning to determine the division of duties based on physical condition on that day.
In recent years, work involving the compilation of internal documents in PDF format has been contributing to the promotion of telework, one of our efforts to reform the way we work. Growing appreciation for this has led those with disabilities being asked to take on more work, and the appeal of this work style has been growing.
Common work
Employees create business cards, sort, collect and distribute internal mail, set up meeting rooms and training rooms, lend out equipment such as projectors, and manage and ship company-wide catalogs, etc.
Departmental request service
Compilation of internal documents in PDF format, organization and filing of expense vouchers, tabulation and digitization of handwritten questionnaires, creation of various materials, and delivery of order forms, etc.
Support for the Active Role of Senior Employees
In order to create more opportunities for senior personnel, who will become the largest age-group in the future, METAWATER is gradually making improvements to how we treat employees aged 60 and over for a period of 3 years from fiscal 2021.
One concrete measure we have taken has been the introduction of our "super field agent system" in order to secure excellent field agents to cope with the shortage of technical supervisors, a problem that the METAWATER Group has also been experiencing, and we have launched an initiative to prepare department general manager level treatment for those appointed.
