Employee Relations

One of the basic policies of the “Brand-new Deal 2012” medium-term management plan is to “Proactively Seek New
Opportunities.” To this end, ITOCHU will proactively advance efforts to develop and strengthen human resources as the
management foundation supporting a commitment to taking assertive and forward-looking action. Our longstanding
promotion of a global human resources strategy also remains unchanged.

Policies and Tasks for Fiscal 2012For ITOCHU Corporation, human resources are its greatest management assets as a
general trading company.
“Brand-new Deal 2012,” our medium-term management plan launched from fiscal 2012,
outlines a variety of initiatives pertaining to human resources, such as cultivating“industry professionals” and “strong human resources.” By executing the medium-termplan and these measures, we intend to further enhance the structure that will support
utilization of our human resources, enabling our employees to demonstrate their skills
and abilities to the fullest.

Fumihiko Kobayashi
Executive Officer, General
Manager, Human Resources &General Affairs Division

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Employee Relations

Human Resource Development Supporting the “Seeking of New
Opportunities”

Human Resource Development Supporting the “Seeking of New Opportunities”

Human resources are what support the stable, ongoinggrowth of ITOCHU Corporation.
Our human resource development activities are available
to employees throughout the Group, both domesticallyand in overseas blocs. Based on each employee’s work
experience and abilities, we strive to help them develop
into professionals who play an active role in their businessfield and to provide them with the skills necessary to
manage business on a global level.
Through individual evaluations and feedback, and byproviding valuable job experience via on-the-job training(OJT), we help to cultivate the motivation and willingnessof employees to increase their career opportunities within
the Group. To further the support of employees’ selfdevelopment, we not only provide skills and knowledge
through training but also actively support individual

Basic Structure of Human Resource Development

career development. We will continue to invest
substantially in our human resources, while at the sametime promoting human resource development which isproactively led by the front-lines.

A Variety of Training Schemes

ITOCHU conducts a variety of training schemes that include essential training by
position and job class, as well as select and elective training. We have a wide range ofprograms for the development of global management human resources, including global
development programs (such as the GEP, GLP and GNP) (*) , and workshops fororganization managers. We also have a system for sending new employees overseas,
instituted in 1999 as a means of fostering English proficiency and an international
perspective in our young employees. As a follow-up to this program, we launched a newprogram designed to dispatch Junior staff overseas training for multi-language. Our plan
is to develop candidates who will become specialists in each target market in the future.
We also offer a wide range of training for specific objectives, such as “Career vision
support training” and distinctive training based on the human resource strategies ofeach Division Company and administrative division at ITOCHU Headquarters, with theaim of developing industry professionals and diverse human resources.
***

Global executive program (GEP) is one of our core programs for developing global humanresources. Its aim is to develop global executives.
The Global Leadership Program (GLP) is a program designed to foster organization
managers capable of acting on a global stage.
The Global Network Program (GNP) for staff hired locally overseas seeks to help themlearn about the ITOCHU Group’s global operations firsthand through training at ITOCHU
Headquarters, and to create a peer network among program participants.

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Global development
programEmployee Relations

Human resources development policy and training details (excerpt)
Overview of human resources

Training program name (excerpt)

development system
Development of global management

Global development programs, organization manager training,

talentsending employees to short-term business school programs

Business leader development

Sending of new employees overseas, dispatch of junior staff
overseas to learn Chinese and other languages

Development of industry professionals

Career vision support training, distinctive training for each Divisionand diverse human resources

Company, headquarters administrative division

Number of employees participated in major training programs
Training program name

FY2011 Results

Global development program

108

Organization manager workshops

466

Sending of employees to short-term business school

44

programs overseas
Junior staff overseas training for English and Junior staff

76

overseas training for multi-language
Career vision support training

2767

Comments by Training Participants
Sang-Chul Choi

Global Executive Program (GEP)Division General Manager
Corporate Planning &Business Development
Department
ITOCHU Korea LTD.

Through the GEP training program, I learned about
the requirements of a global leader, and that themost important thing for true communication is thewillingness to learn. During the course of various
discussions with executives, I gained a tangible
appreciation for how much ITOCHU is changing andthe role we have to play in the future.

Shinji Ishikawa

Junior staff overseas training for English

Chemical Compliance Team,
Chemicals Division

I was posted to the U.S. state of Maine under thesystem, Junior staff overseas training for English.
By actually living locally, I came into contact withdifferences in cultures and values that can’t becommunicated by video and voice alone. I feel it wasa major step on the path to becoming a global
human resource.

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Employee Relations

Ryoko Nagao

Junior staff overseas training for multi-

Supply Chain Facilities
Development Section,
Construction & Realty
Department No. 2

language
Every day was stimulating and allayed my uneaseahead of my posting.
While interacting with various bright, kind andpassionate Chinese people, my preconceived imageof China changed. In addition to learning thelanguage, I developed a keen sense of the Chinese
economy, which continues to go from strength tostrength. I really appreciated this wonderful
opportunity.

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Employee Relations

Global Human Resources Strategy Enters a New Stage

Global Human Resources Strategy Enters a New Stage

Since fiscal 2008, ITOCHU has been promoting a global human resources
strategy in order to maximize the value of human resources and optimize thetalent development of the Group on a global basis. In parallel, an environmentis being developed that will allow employees to take on new challenges by
respecting their diverse values and individuality, heightening their motivation,and optimally bringing their skills and talents to the fore, all without regard tonationality, age or gender. In promoting this global human resources strategy,
each Division Company, the Human Resources & General Affairs Division at
ITOCHU Headquarters, and Global Talent Management Centers (GTECs) infour major cities worldwide had, by fiscal 2011, come together to create acommon global platform, including standardized evaluation items and a global
human resources database. From fiscal 2012, focusing on individual
employees, we will strengthen human resources strategy in core overseas
markets such as China and Asia in order to secure, develop, and optimize
personnel that will contribute to business development worldwide.

Talent Management Process

Specific Initiatives
1.

We are inviting employees from our overseas blocs worldwide to come to our headquarters forapproximately two years as a form of HR development through actual operations. These employees areprovided the opportunity to master business operations, gain a firm understanding of our corporate
philosophy and culture, and build interpersonal networks. At the same time, this initiative encourages ourheadquarters to become more global in its outlook. (From April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2011, a cumulative
total of 54 employees have been accepted.)2.

We are assigning, promoting, and developing human resources on a global basis regardless of nationality,
using the ITOCHU Global Classification (IGC) as a common measure of job level/level of responsibility for alljobs and positions worldwide.

3.

We promoted a globally shared human resources strategy through the ITOCHU Global Recruitment website,a channel that human resources desiring local recruitment overseas can also utilize. In addition, we
conducted an internship in English for foreign university students in August 2010 as a form of PR targeting
talented human resources.

4.

We have incorporated the five ITOCHU Values, formulated as the new ITOCHU Mission, into the humanresource requirements for ITOCHU leaders. These requirements are reflected in our hiring standards andour evaluation and HR development programs led by internal instructors, enabling us to hire and develop
human resources suited to ITOCHU’s values globally.

Number of overseas bloc employees by region (As of March 31, 2011)(Unit: persons)North America

157

Latin America

164

Europe242

Africa38

Middle East

161

Oceania39

East Asia

628

ASEAN & South West Asia

667

CIS

88

Total: 2,184

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Employee Relations

Providing Comfortable Working Environment for Employees

Efforts to Support Employees’ Childcare and Nursing Care

During the course of their working lives, employees inevitably pass through life stages that require them to renderchildcare and nursing care. To enable them to continue working with peace of mind and demonstrate their fullest
potential, ITOCHU has expanded and upgraded systems to help that are far and above those required by law. Thesesystems are available to both men and women, and provide support to employees in their work as well as child and/or
nursing care duties.
In fiscal 2008, along with offering a system for childcare leave, we added systems that allow employees to choose thedays they wish to work and to work shorter hours when raising children. We also established a paternity leave system
as yet another way to support employees in both work and parenting, with the number of employees utilizing thissystem growing each year.
In fiscal 2010, we opened I-Kids, a childcare center for our employees, at a location close to our Tokyo headquarters.
This move was made in light of a widespread social issue where many children are currently waiting for entry tonurseries in the Tokyo metropolitan area, and female workers face difficulties in planning their return from childcare
leave. Subsequently, we took this step to minimize factors that might hinder our employees from continuing theircareers and support their motivation to keep working. Furthermore, in line with revisions to Japan’s Child Care andFamily Care Leave Law, in fiscal 2011, we expanded our system for supporting the participation of male employees inchildcare, and established a new system of nursing care leave, allowing employees to take short periods off from work
as a way to support them in meeting their work and nursing care responsibilities.
Through the continued expansion and upgrade of support and systems of this kind, ITOCHU is creating a working
environment that will enable employees to retain their motivation to continue working.
(Unit: persons)Acquisition of leave according to child care or nursing care related systems
FY 2009
Child care

Parental leave

FY 201030

FY 201143

49（2 males; 47
females）

Leave to nurse sick71

98

125（58 males; 67
females）

children
Shorter working hours for40

3250（1 males;
49females）

child care
Special parental leave

21

16

13（7 males; 6
females）

Nursing care

Paternity leave

48

53

62（62 males）

Nursing care leave

0

0

0

Special nursing care989（3 male; 6 females）--

16（7 males; 9

leave
Nursing carefemales）

responsibilities
Shorter working hours for

1

2

2

247

383

469（285 males; 184

nursing care
Family support leave

females）

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Employee Relations

Comments from an I-Kids user
Investor Relations Department

Akihide Chiba
I was unable to get my child into an approved nursery school, so I
chose to use I-Kids instead. I was a bit worried at first if my daughter
would adapt to being in daycare. But she quickly became accustomed
to going to I-Kids and seems to enjoy being their each day, which as aparent makes me glad. While commuting to work on the train with a
one year old can be tough, my wife and I both appreciate knowing that
we can continue to work while having her looked after by nursery
Birthday party at I-Kids

school teachers, nutritionists and other staff that we can trust.

Comments from a user of childcare leave
When my second child was born last year, I decided to take leave fromthe Company after discussing the decision with my supervisor and mywife. Thanks to the support of my supervisor and colleagues, I wasable to give my all to helping raise my child during this irreplaceable
time in a baby’s development. Although there are still not many male
employees opting to take leave, as Japan’s birthrate declines and its
population grows older, supporting childcare efforts will become an
HR Management Department,
Human Resources & General
Affairs Division

Takashi Kawasaki

increasingly major social responsibility that companies must fulfill. I
think that more must be done to create an environment andatmosphere that will allow men and women alike to meet theirrespective parental duties.

Acquired “Kurumin” Mark Certification

On July 11, 2011, ITOCHU Corporation obtained approval from the Tokyo Labor Bureau
to display the Next-Generation Certification Mark (affectionately known as Kurumin)
after satisfying approval criteria stipulated by Japan's Act on Advancement of Measures
to Support Raising Next-Generation Children (*) .
In an effort to create working environments suitable for all of its employees, ITOCHU
has a full range of systems in place to support them in balancing their work and parental
responsibilities. Steps taken to embed and promote active participation by more of ourdiverse workforce over the years have included the establishment of an in-house childdaycare center, called I-Kids, in January 2010. Approval to display the Kurumin Mark is
an acknowledgement of ITOCHU's track record in this important area.
ITOCHU will continue to create environments that make diverse working styles possible,
allowing employees to balance work and childrearing, as well as give ample play to theirown skills and abilities.
*

Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children
The Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children calls on regional public-sector
organizations to formulate and present local action plans to help reverse Japan's rapidly declining birthrate. Meanwhile
companies, based on the number of employees employed, are mandated to formulate action plans of their own forsupporting employees in balancing work and parental duties, and submit a detailed summary of these to prefectural laborbureaus. (Excerpt from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Japanese only)63Employee Relations

Career Counseling

The Career Counseling Center offers a wide range of counseling and support for diverse career stages, ranging fromnew recruits to organization managers. Staffed by several employees certified as career counselors, the department
touches on an array of topics with its clients, including relationships with supervisors, junior staff and peers,
approaches to work, and considerations about one’s own future. A mechanism is in place in which all young employees
go to career counseling at certain milestones after joining ITOCHU as part of their training. Counseling, moreover, isavailable to all employees when choosing a career path, as well as for middle-aged employees looking to extend theiremployment. In the words of one employee, “Since I usually don’t have time on a given day to really sit and consider
my situation, being able to go to career counseling was a very valuable experience for me.”

Employee Health Management

For ITOCHU Corporation, employees are assets, and thus the health management of every single employee isextremely important to ensure that a diversity of employees can freely exert their capabilities.
We have developed an in-house system that allows employees to receive counseling on their health at any time. For
example, the Health Administration Center at ITOCHU’s Tokyo Headquarters, which also serves as a clinic, has 20
specialist physicians on staff, as well as an X-ray technician and a pharmacist. These health maintenanceprofessionals, who each act as a “health concierge,” care for every aspect of health for each employee, providing themwith the support needed to manage their own health.
Where mental health is concerned, we have established a stress management room in-house, and have a system
where employees can talk at any time with a psychiatrist or clinical psychologist.
We are also taking steps to prevent long working hours, including setting days at each business site for early dismissalfrom work. At the same time, we are further strengthening our system for ensuring proper time management as acompany, including utilizing an objective labor time management system based on building entry and exit records.

Employee Safety Measures

To ensure that ITOCHU Corporation employees stationed around the world and their families spend a meaningful
assignment term in safety and good health, we have built a full system not only for incidents, accidents, disasters andother emergencies, but also for health management.
To prepare for emergencies such as diseases or injuries, including preventive measures for infectious diseases in the
dispatched area, we collaborate with multiple medical emergency service companies for a complete support system.

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Employee Relations

Communications with Employees

Dialogue Meetings with the President

Dialogue meetings that employees can freely take part in are held in an effort
to deepen communication through two-way discussions between employees
and the ITOCHU president.
Although Company-wide Employee Meetings have been held since 2001, fromthis fiscal year the meetings were divided into three sessions in an effort todeepen dialogue. At the dialogue meetings, the president himself can directly
share his passion around management policies and their realization with
employees. At the same time, employees can share their opinions and anyquestions they may have directly with the president. As such, these meetingsare extremely valuable opportunities for two-way communication.
The dialogue meeting for fiscal 2012 took place in August. The meeting was
an exceptionally lively one, and touched on everything from management
policies to more personal topics.

Enactment of Engagement Survey for Employees

ITOCHU continuously surveys the level of engagement present among employees. In fiscal 2011, we conducted asurvey targeting all employees, including those on assignment overseas, with the goal of assessing motivation,satisfaction, and engagement (*) , and utilizing survey results in a range of measures designed to improve employee
engagement and corporate value.
*

Engagement: The degree to which employees, with a strong desire to contribute to ITOCHU, can of their own initiative
optimally capitalize on their own abilities.

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Employee Relations

Dialogue with the Labor Union

At ITOCHU Corporation, a wide range of issues is discussed with the labor union in order to realize our corporate
mission, “Committed to the Global Good.” In fiscal 2011, we held a number of meetings, including management
meetings with the President and similar meetings with Division Companies. Through opportunities of this kind, laborand management enter repeated and active discussions to build up a healthy relationship that enables both sides torecognize and share challenges currently facing them and to study and implement improvement measures.
Initiatives with the Labor Union in fiscal 2011
Apr. 2010

Chemicals, Forest Products & General Merchandise
Company management meeting

June 2010

Settlement of accountings meeting

July 2010

Management meeting with the President

August 2010

ICT, Aerospace & Electronics Company management
meeting

Ratio of labor union members in April
2011

October 2010

Headquarters management meeting

DecemberMeetings to discuss branches and offices in Japan2010
December

Energy, Metals & Minerals Company management

2010

meeting

February

Management meeting with the President

2011

Comments from the Labor Union President
The ITOCHU Labor Union is involved in a host of measures designed torealize working environments that allow one of the Company’s key
stakeholder groups, its employees, to be more enthusiastic andmotivated, and bring their individual abilities to the fore. As a labor
union, we hope to contribute to CSR activities through active dialogue
with ITOCHU, based on input gathered from a wide array of frontline
operations.
Satoshi Morikawa
President, ITOCHU Labor
Union

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Employee Relations

Promoting Human Resources Diversification in Japan

Commitment to promoting more diverse human resources in Japan

Promoting efforts to embed and utilize through numerical expansion and systems enhancement
Promotion Plan on Human Resources Diversification 2013 (Japan)
Since December 2003, ITOCHU has promoted efforts to diversify its workforce in Japan. The motivation here is arecognized need to respond to changes in the external environment, such as intensifying competition spurred byeconomic globalization and the race to secure human resources due to Japan’s declining birthrate and aging society.
ITOCHU must also respond to the need to create new businesses, as well as address the disproportionate age makeup
of its workforce.
In fiscal 2010, ITOCHU launched “Promotion Plan on Human Resources Diversification 2013 (Japan),” a new roadmap
aimed at enhancing individual and organizational abilities further by putting an environment in place that leverages
and utilizes the characteristics of each employee without regard to gender, nationality or age. Set to run from April
2009 to March 2014, this new plan outlines concrete measures to implement with emphasis on supporting careerformation for women, seniors and other human resources in their respective fields.
One example of these efforts is the hiring of students from universities overseas to work at ITOCHU Headquarters. By
supporting the push to secure, embed and utilize more diverse human resources, our goal is to create a more
attractive company and corporate culture. Similarly, by reforming consciousness around our approach to work, andthrough measures that encourage appropriate time management and the taking of holidays, we seek to realize
comfortable, dynamic working environments inside ITOCHU.
Number of male and female employees(Unit: persons)
Men

Women

Total

FY 2009

3,161

1,014

4,175

FY 2010

3,191

1,068

4,259

FY 2011

3,201

1,100

4,301

(As of March 31, 2010)

Mid-career hires (career-track)

Total hires of new graduates

67Employee Relations

Supporting the Participation in Society by People with Disability

In 1987, ITOCHU Corporation established Itochu Uneedus Co., Ltd., as a special subsidiary based on the Disabled
Persons Employment Promotion Act (Law for the Employment Promotion of the Disabled) in order to create work
opportunities for those with disability. As of July 2011, the proportion of our workforce with disabilities is 1.99%, which
exceeds the legally stipulated ratio of 1.8%. We will continue to actively support the participation in society by people
with disabilities.

68