Foundation for Value Creation

Human Resources
Developing Policies and Environment An organization with thestrength to adapt tochanges in theenvironment

An organization thatallows people with diverse
opinions to interact andcreate the best solutions

An organization thatencourages taking onchallenges and evolves

Mandatory Groupwide training

Officers

Level-specific training

Career design training

Selective training

Seniors
Training for department directors

Executives

Training for section managers
Compliance,
mental health,other

Training for newly appointed executives
Training for newly appointed section
chiefs and assistant managers
Third year training
Second year training

An organization that
continues to be trusted
by society

Division-specifictraining

Elective training

Training for newly assigned officers

Generalstaff• ASKA Pharmaceutical Holdings Human Resources Strategy and Measures
The idealorganizational vision• Education and Training Structure of ASKA Pharmaceutical Holdings

LeadershipNew
employees

New employee follow-up training

Prospective
employees

Training for prospective employees

New employee induction training

Organizational management

Fresher’s Leaders
Mentors

Correspondence courses

We have set indicators for employee engagement, consistingof “vitality, enthusiasm, and immersion” in work, and formental toughness, which focuses on the “ability to solve
problems” when faced with difficulties.
Since FY2021, the Group has conducted an engagement surveyof all employees, which we use as a vehicle for taking in direct
feedback from employees. We aim to foster an organizational
culture in which employees and management build relationships
of mutual trust, working together to drive innovation.

years old). We also provide opportunities for consultations
with external career consultants, thereby supporting
independent career development. As such, we have also
created an environment that supports all employees in their
desire to learn. We offer selective training that employees cantake voluntarily and an e-learning system that allows them toparticipate regardless of time and place. In this way, we
promote an attitude of autonomous growth and a willingness
to take on challenges in response to change.
Furthermore, ASKA Pharmaceutical helps employees
advance their careers in their current posts and has also
introduced inter-departmental job rotation and an in-house
recruitment system to promote career change based on
enabling employees to transfer to various other roles.

E-learning

We believe that when employees can relate to our corporate
philosophy, they will align also with our common vision andgoals. Through their various roles, they will then independently
develop initiatives that promote innovation. Based on thisidea, the Group actively creates opportunities for communication
with management, fosters awareness of diverse values andchallenges, and improves the workplace environment andemployee engagement.

In addition to our human resources system, which empowers
all employees to maximize their individual abilities, we have
put in place training programs linked to the system. These
programs are designed to enable employees to learn anew andgrow autonomously as the environment changes.
Specifically, in addition to mandatory Group-wide training
and level-specific training, we offer a variety of other programs
including elective training programs for developing the next
generation of management leaders; career design training forfemale employees (selective training) to foster awareness ofthe promotion of women’s advancement and to drive
implementation; and talk sessions for promoting gender
diversity. Furthermore, based on the idea of a “self-career docksystem” (self-guided career development), the Group provides
career design training for each age group (35, 45, and 55

External training course

Employee Engagement 

2 Human resources development

Business skill selective training

Through various measures aimed at realizing the Group’s
organizational vision, we are creating an environment that
responds to employees’ willingness to learn, respects diverse
values and encourages employees to embrace challenges,
with the aim of realizing their wellbeing. In this way, we are
fostering an organizational culture in which employees
themselves seek change and grow.

introduced role transition rules and role-based compensation(single rate) based on the clarification of roles to further evolvethe existing role grading system. In addition, we establishedevaluation meetings to ensure evaluations are transparent andfair, and to develop human resources through feedback, whileconstantly optimizing the system.

Specialized training by department

We believe that employees who feel happy in themselves canhave a positive impact on their families and on society as awhole and can contribute to the creation of sustainable value.
With this in mind, the Group is committed to creating aworkplace environment that empowers employees to lead
lives that are physically, mentally, and socially fulfilling.

To realize the growth strategy set forth in the medium-term
management plan that began in FY2021, ASKA Pharmaceutical,
which plays a central role in the Group, introduced a humanresources system in April 2021 aimed at maximizing humancapital.
In this system, as a measure to strongly promote theachievement of the medium-term management plan, we have

Studying abroad/Studying in Japan

Wellbeing 

1 Human resources system

Language training

acquire human resources capable of responding to new
businesses and changes in the business and social environment,
and to create a working environment in which a diverse rangeof human resources, including women, career professionals,
and seniors, can play an active role.
The Group strives to promote wellbeing by creating anenvironment that encourages a willingness to learn and respects
diversity. We work to improve engagement by deepening
mutual trust through dialogue between employees andmanagement. We will continue carrying out various humanresources measures aimed at nurturing employees who embracechange and personal growth autonomously. Our aim in doing
so is to build an organizational culture that drives innovation by
fostering diverse values and an entrepreneurial spirit.

Evaluator
training

A company must link its management strategy and humanresources strategy to achieve sustainable value enhancement. As
such, the Group is working to further reform its human resources
strategy as it aims to become a total health care company witha strong foundation as a specialty pharma company.
Based on the belief that the Group’s most important asset
is its human resources, we regard our employees’ skills andabilities as human capital. We aim to maximize this so that we
can create value.
In terms of maximizing human resources, one of the sevenstrategies for laying the foundation for realizing Medium-Term
Management Plan 2025 is to “Develop Human Resources to
Realize Growth Strategies.” To enhance each organization’s
specialty and ability to create, we are striving to develop andTraining forevaluated employees

Basic Principles 

Career training by age

ASKA Pharmaceutical

The model humanresources

ChangeDiversity & Inclusion

Challenge

Reliability

Human resources who canskill-up as needed andgrow on their own

Human resources who can
express their opinions andtake positions among
diverse human resources

Human resources who cantake on challenges (risktaking), and turn theminto opportunities

Human resources who
can act reliably withhigh ethical standards
and pride

ASKA Animal Health
ASKA Pharma Medical

ASKA Animal Health
ASKA Pharma Medical

An environment that encourages a willingness to learn
9 Opportunities for dialogue with management

Developing policies
and environment

34

ASKA HD REPORT 2023

1 Human resources system2H uman resources

development

6O ccupational health3D iversity & Inclusion,

Promoting advancementof women4S upport for developing
the next generation
5E
 mployment of people
with disabilities

and safety

10 E
 nhancing our
8 In-house award

systemcompliancepromotion system

VOICE

7 Health management

Go Kakiuchi
Section Manager
System Department
Group Business
Management Division
ASKA Pharmaceutical
Holdings

Through initiatives such as the book summary app and the e-learning system provided
to all employees, I feel that we have created an environment that responds to the desire
to learn and has led to my own growth and the growth of those around me, as well as
the formation of a new community. While continuing my own learning, I nurture mystaff and encourage them to take on many challenges. In this way, I contribute to therealization of the Company’s vision and goals.

ASKA HD REPORT 2023

35

Foundation for Value Creation

3 Diversity and Inclusion

6 Occupational safety and health

The Group believes that it is important to respect diverse
values in order to achieve sustainable growth and increase
corporate value. By building a diverse organization that is notbound by attributes such as gender, age, nationality, or race,and fostering a corporate culture in which all employees canplay an active role, we will be able to drive new innovations
and achieve sustainable business growth.

Promoting advancement of women
We set an index for the ratio of women in management
positions (central roles in management), and we are developing
female managers by expanding the range of job opportunities,
creating a rewarding workplace, promoting diverse and flexible
work styles, and enhancing training programs so that women
can broadly demonstrate their abilities according to their own
desires. ASKA Pharmaceutical has set a target of 15% for its
percentage of female managers by the end of FY2024 and is
working to foster a workplace environment where womencan fully demonstrate their abilities and play an active role.
As a result of these efforts, the percentage of female
officers and female managers has been increasing year by
year. The percentage of female managers was 9.9% as ofthe end of FY2022.

• Percentage
of Female Managers among Full-Time
Employees of ASKA Pharmaceutical
(%)
15.0
15

9.9

10

6.2

6.6

6.5

2018

2019

2020

Plan period: Five years from April 1, 2020
to March 31, 2025
1. Set the target percentage of female managers at 15%

The Group sees human resources as the driving force that
advances our business activities based on our corporate
philosophy. We consider the mental and physical health of all
employees from a managerial perspective, aiming to maintain3. Offer diverse and flexible work styles to enhance thework-life balance•P ercentage of Female Board Members (Members of
the Board of Directors and Audit & Supervisory Board
Members) of ASKA Pharmaceutical Holdings Co., Ltd.
June 2021

June 2022

Health InsuranceSociety2024

Periodic health checkups
Specific health guidance

10.0%

16.7%

ASKA HD REPORT 2023

Cooperation

Cooperation

Labor Union

EAP (Employee assistanceprogram) Services
Professional staff
Free 24-hourcounseling

Healthcare manager at each business location(One executive member and one general staff member appointed as the responsible persons)Consultation

Consultation
Executives

Consultation
Consultation• MaleChildcare Leave Utilization Rate at
ASKA Pharmaceutical
(%)
100

94.7

Target

50.0
40.9

45.5

Consultation

Consultation100• HealthManagement Goals of ASKA Pharmaceutical Holdings

80
60

Consultation

All Group Employees

45.5

Step 2

Step 140

By FY2020

Step 3

FY2021 to FY2025

20
0
2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2024

(FY)

Note: Percentage of male employees whose spouses gave birth during the fiscal
year who took childcare leave

HealthMaintenanceandPromotion

Assess mental and physical health
Percentage of employees receiving
periodic health checkups: 100%
Plan
Percentage of employees
receiving stress checks: 100%
ActionImprove lifestyle habits
Exercise, sleep, diet,smoking, drinking,mental care
Do

Health managementtargets
Plan
ActionCheck

Work Style
Reform

5 Employment of people with disabilities

36

Director of Human Resources Department

16.7%

4 Support for developing the next generation

The Group strives to create a workplace environment in which
all people, regardless of whether or not they have disabilities,
can work with vigor and enthusiasm. ASKA Pharmaceuticalhas set a target of 2.3% for the employment rate of persons
with disabilities. By working together, we are striving to share

Senior Managing Member of the Board of Directors,
Representative Director

June 2023(FY)

The Group considers the creation of an environment in which
the children of the next generation can be born and raised ingood health to be one of the issues that society must address,
and is promoting efforts to balance work and child rearing.
100% of our female employees have returned to work after
taking childcare leave, and the Group has created anenvironment in which they can raise their children with peaceof mind. For male employees, we have set a new target of
100% childcare leave utilization, which we are promoting
throughout the Group. As a result, the rate had increased to94.7% as of the end of FY2022. Going forward, we will also
focus on in-house training, such as correcting assumptions
about role sharing based on gender differences, in order toimprove the number of days taken for childcare leave.
The entire Group supports employees who are raisingchildren, and all employees participate in society’s efforts to
support the development of the next generation by deepening
their understanding of gender bias correction.

Cooperation

Industrial physician/Occupational health nurse Cooperation Human Resources Department

Percentage of
women
2022

a balance between health management and work stylereforms. In this way, we aim to further improve productivity
and creativity and become a company that grows sustainably.

• HealthManagement Promotion Structure of ASKA Pharmaceutical Holdings

7.1

2021

and disasters, as well as to minimize damage should those
events occur, each business location has establishedemergency response procedures and conducts periodic drills.
We continue to provide accurate information about safety
and health for each employee to internalize and act upon as
we work to create a workplace environment where employees
can work comfortably and with peace of mind. In addition,
various safety and health-related discussions held between
labor and management are useful for improving the workplaceenvironment and working style.

7 Health management

2. Implement specific initiatives to promote the healthof women

Target50ASKA Pharmaceutical: Action Plan for
Promoting the Advancement of Women

The Group is committed to occupational safety and health,placing the highest priority on workplace safety and physicaland mental health. In response to these issues, ASKA
Pharmaceutical has established a safety and healthmanagement system at the Shonan Research Center, Iwaki
Factory, and at its head office and each of its sales offices, andholds regular Safety and Health Committee meetings. The
Safety and Health Committee monitors long working hours,
conducts workplace safety inspections and other safety andhealth-related risk checks, and implements corrective andpreventive measures on a monthly basis. To prevent accidents

new discoveries and knowledge and to foster a culture ofmutual recognition.
We aim to be a group where all human resources canmaximize their abilities and feel a sense of fulfillment as theywork toward the realization of an inclusive society.

Improve presenteeism
Improve engagement

Check

Promote work-life balance

Promote work-life balance

Improve paid leave utilization rate
Reduce long working hours

Practice diverse and flexible
work styles
Improve work engagement

The Group has established and is working toward goals
tailored to the health-management stage of each Group
company. In particular, in terms of understanding employee’sDomental and physical health, which is the foundation of healthmanagement, we maintain a 100% regular health checkup
rate and a 100% stress checkup rate for the entire Group.
ASKA HD REPORT 2023

37

Foundation for Value Creation

ASKA Pharmaceutical is working to promote improvement
in lifestyle habits and improvement in work-life balance basedon respect for diverse values, and has set numerical targets forthese efforts for the years up to FY2025.
We are also enhancing our social contribution activities
through health-related initiatives by linking the identity that

the Group has cultivated to date with health management.
Through a continual process of evolving and deepening, we
will promote health management from various angles so that
employees, organizations, and society as a whole can sharehappiness that has the value of health.

• Details
of Dialogue with Management in FY2022 (ASKA Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.)
Name

TargetTown Hall
Meetings

All employees

leave system, reduced schedules and time-differentiated work,
work from home, and remote work, allowing employees tochoose work styles that suit their diverse values. This highdegree of flexibility improves employees’ self-management
ability and fosters a workplace culture in which they can growand challenge themselves.

VOICE

Section Manager
Clinical Development
Department
Development Division
ASKA Pharmaceutical

Department
directors, etc.

Irregular

Dialogue withmanagement inselective training

Selected training
participants

Held with the aim of cultivating the next generation of leaders
who will be responsible for the future ASKA Pharmaceutical
Holdings. By directly sharing the company’s vision and
expectations of each role, we aim to boost motivation anddemonstrate leadership with a willingness to take on challenges.

1

Workplace talksessions

Labor union officers(all central committee
members and central
executive committee
members belonging
to each branch)

Held with the aim of promoting discussion and deliberation
between labor and management on the theme of the working
environment and work styles at each workplace (branch).

1

Labor union central
executive

Held with the aim of improving working conditions and developing
the company. These discussions cover working condition requirements,
the working environment (safety and health aspects), and thecompany’s management and productivity. They help build a good
relationship between labor and management by promoting
communication and deepening mutual understanding.

2

Labormanagement
meetings

8 In-house award system
Holdings personally presents the awards. Each Group
company also has its own award system aimed at increasing
employee motivation. The president of each company
personally presents awards to employees for theirachievements, rewarding their initiative and ingenuity.

can become an organization that creates optimal solutions andinnovation. To this end, it provides the following opportunities
for dialogue to improve employee engagement.

Opportunities for dialogue with top management atroundtable meetings
VOICE

The Group actively provides opportunities for dialogue
between employees and management. ASKA Pharmaceuticalaims to ensure that all people involved in the company, notjust employees, respect each other’s diverse values so that it

18

Held with the aim of sharing information and strengthening
collaboration between the department directors and management.
This is an important initiative for delivering management
strategies to each organization in greater depth and ensuring its
implementation. It also contributes to strengthening leadershipand improving the performance of the entire organization.

1 : 1 Meetings
with thePresident

Dialogue withthe labor union

9 Opportunities for dialogue with management

13

Dialogue with
employees

I instruct my staff to work remotely or come to work, based on productivity and efficiency
considerations and through discussion. In addition, employees are taking advantage ofthe full-flex-time system and voluntarily choosing their working hours.
I feel that these factors have helped foster an awareness of results and self-management
skills, contributing to a higher level of engagement.

The Group has established a system (the Group Award System)
aimed at fostering a sense of unity and improving motivation
within Group companies. Various challenges and achievements,
such as cultural and social contributions, are selected fromthroughout the Group, and the President of ASKA Pharmaceutical

Held with the aim of instilling the management vision among
employees. The President directly explains topics such as the Group’s
vision, progress on the medium-term management plan, and businessexecution policies to employees, and answers their questions.

Employees ranging inage from their 20s totheir 40s, selectedfrom each division

Roundtable
Meetings

Use of work-from-home system and full-flex-time system

Yusuke Suzuki

Numberof times

Held with the aim of shortening the distance between employees
and management and improving employee engagement. Thesemeetings are an open forum for top management to hear thethoughts and opinions of employees and for employees todirectly hear the thoughts and messages of top management.

A Work Style in Which Diverse Values are Respected
ASKA Pharmaceutical has introduced various systems to support
the diverse work styles of employees. In 2019, it introduced aflex-time system for all offices except for discretionary workers
and Iwaki factory workers. In 2020, it introduced a full-flex-timesystem with no core hours for even greater flexibility. Various
other systems have been introduced, such as an hourly annual

Content

Haruna Wakatsuki
Endocrine Business Unit
ASKA PharmaceuticalThrough the opportunity to communicate with top management at the roundtable
meeting, I was impressed by their aspirations for the thyroid area. It reminded me of thecompany’s special mission. I am proud when I realize that my role in the organization
will lead to the proper treatment of many patients. I will continue to take pride in mydaily work.

• Dialoguewith Management in FY2022 (ASKA Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.)

38

10 Group compliance promotion structure

Takashi Yamaguchi

Atsushi Maruo

Sohta Yamaguchi(Member of the Board of
Directors, Representative
Director, Chairman of the Board)(Member of the Board of
Directors, Vice Chairman of
the Board)(President, Member of theBoard of Directors,
Representative Director)

Overall

Numberplanned

3

6

8

9

Number held

7

17

74

98

ASKA HD REPORT 2023

We have established a department to promote and supportcompliance within each Group company and developed thenecessary internal systems, and rules and regulations. The
structure we have created facilitates the prompt handling ofcases, the formulation of measures to prevent violations, andother measures. This means that officers and employees canengage in corporate activities with peace of mind.
To increase our employees’ awareness of compliance, weare conducting compliance education for each job level whileworking to grasp the level of employee awareness throughquestionnaire surveys and to identify points for improvement.

In FY2022, drawing on the results of the complianceawareness survey, we worked for more thorough complianceby gaining a greater understanding of the current situation,
identifying problems, and conducting training and problem
solving based on actual conditions. The Group Compliance
Promotion Committee has been established to supervise theGroup’s efforts toward recognizing and responding to risks
that could have a significant impact on Group management
and promoting a compliance system that thoroughly complies
See page 50 for details.
with laws and corporate ethics.
ASKA HD REPORT 2023

39