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Preparing human resources to take on global roles

Faced with changing markets and rising costs, many Japanese companies are moving their operations overseas. Many large companies already have gone global in terms of production and marketing bases, and now mid-sized and smaller companies are moving into overseas markets too, especially in Asia.
We believe this trend will pick up speed up in the future. And so, to service these companies, SMFG also needs to take measures, as a matter of urgency, to internationalize its operations.

Focusing on practical language skills and international awareness, SMBC is putting in place frameworks to give impetus to the process of “in-house internationalization.”
Under our “global course” program, newly hired sogoshoku (management-track) staff are sent overseas after basic training. We have also expanded human resource training programs in English and Chinese and at overseas units.
Improvement of language skills in particular is something that requires ongoing commitment. For this reason, we have set a TOEIC target of 800 points and are sending 1,000 employees per year to English conversation classes given at specially installed teaching booths at SMBC’s head office and elsewhere.

We are also committed to stepping up personnel exchanges within Japan and with overseas countries. For example, we organize “Global Corporate Banker Training” classes in Tokyo for foreign staff working at overseas units and for regular employees in Japan. All of these courses are in English and feature discussions and presentations on resolution of issues faced by global companies. Through such lively exchanges, the aim is to develop the ability to deepen cross-cultural communication and cultivate a global outlook and mentality.

At the bank, we will continue measures to promote globalization going forward, and create systems that can provide higher quality support to our customers.

Better support for carers: Workplace measures to deal with the rising old-age dependency ratio

In November 2010, the bank expanded its employee carer support program
Even now, much remains to be done to develop public support mechanisms, subsidies and other infrastructure needed to provide and enable old-age care services. If the old-age dependency ratio continues to climb, we expect the number of employees with care responsibilities to increase. In light of this, we have broadened the scope of our support program to achieve a sounder balance between work and care needs.
The improvements have three aspects: (1) Care-leave time has been extended to one year; (2) the time frame during which staggered and shortened working hours for care-giving are allowed has been extended to three years; and (3) greater flexibility has been introduced in reduction of working hours for care purposes.

We have also established the SMBC Care Consultation Desk as a convenient general service for employees and their family members concerned about care issues.
In this way, SMBC is creating better working environments, based on an understanding of diversifying employee needs.

Creating support tools for developing the role of female employees

“My Story”

SMBC has surveyed approximately 1,000 female employees on their careers and major events in their lives. Role models have been created based on 50 of these individual interviews, and presented in the form of book, which is distributed as a guide to individual women’s career paths and as a management aid for superiors in executive training.

Career development handbook for young mothers

SMBC has compiled a career development handbook covering maternity leave for all women employees wishing to strike a better balance between work and family life. It provides pathways for mothers pursuing careers, citing answers by women who have been through this experience to questions such as “What do I need to do to return to work?” and “How do I go about arranging nursery school?” It also includes preparatory exercises for expectant mothers and support lectures on child-raising leave after they return to the workplace of June 30, 2011.)