Human Resource Strategies to Support Value Creation

The importance of the SMBC Group Talent Policy, formulated in FY2023, remains unchanged in the new Medium-Term Management Plan. The Talent Policy clearly codifies the unchanging “expectations” for employees and the “value we provide,” regardless of changes in the business environment and the employees with a variety of backgrounds and professional expertise. By creating a virtuous cycle between the two, we aim to build a relationship where the Company and employees Mutual Choice by each other. By permeating and constantly embodying the Talent Policy, we will Creating workplaces and teams where employees with varied backgrounds and expertise aim high and feel rewarded.

To further clarify the linkage between business strategy and HR strategy, we have fundamentally revised our existing human capital management model starting from FY2026. The new human capital management model positions the SMBC Group Talent Policy as the engine of value creation. By executing strategic investments in human capital, we aim to achieve the desired state in the three focus areas of “Talent,” “Culture,” and “Platform.” The model demonstrates the concept that reaching “Teams that can consistently maximize output are in place in all areas” directly leads to an improvement in corporate value.

For Key strategic area, we will enhance recruitment, development, and placement by visualizing not only the “quantity” of necessary talent but also the “quality,” such as skills and experience. Furthermore, we will strategically allocate resources generated through streamlining headquarters functions and improving the efficiency of domestic and international middle and back office operations to growth areas. We will promote optimal placement across Group and global boundaries, further strengthening the linkage with our business strategy.

We are strengthening and diversifying our talent acquisition efforts in alignment with our business strategy. We have expanded open-track recruitment of new graduates, providing access to a broad range of career opportunities; recruitment of new graduates by business units, enabling candidates to build careers in their chosen fields; and mid-career recruitment opportunities that capitalize on advanced expertise as well as diverse experiences and perspectives. We will continue to attract and recruit talent capable of making a significant impact beyond the traditional boundaries of financial services. To this end, we will strengthen collaboration among Group companies and enhance our talent development and onboarding frameworks.

We are also focusing on developing the talent that will lead our management in the future. We have formulated succession plans for key positions globally, including CxOs and Head of Business Units.

For future management candidates, we are building a system for planned development over a medium- to long-term span. This includes providing tough assignments involving cross-boundary learning unbounded by business domains, diverse training opportunities, and opportunities for dialogue with management.

We are expanding a Group-wide self-study platform, creating an environment where each employee can proactively acquire the necessary knowledge and skills according to their challenges and goals. We will support employees in their pursuit of diverse career paths and contribute to employees’ long-term growth and development.

In FY2026, SMBC Group will disclose its first report dedicated to human capital. This report will detail our HR strategy and introduce employees who embody the Talent Policy.
Furthermore, we will enhance communication by utilizing internal social networking services and increasing proactive interviews and speaking engagements, thereby working to instill a culture that embodies the Talent Policy both internally and externally.

We position diversity management as a growth strategy itself, aiming to transform diversity into organizational strength, leading to new value creation and improved corporate value. For example, in Japan, we provide development programs for female executive candidates to promote greater diversity at the decision-making level, in response to the country’s persistent gender gap. Additionally, some Group companies have implemented a “sponsorship system” where management committee executives provide comprehensive support for career advancement to female executive candidates.

We are also expanding support programs that enable employees to balance their work and personal lives while realizing their full potential. At SMBC and SMBC Nikko Securities, we are advancing initiatives to strengthen team resilience^* so that teams can cope with vacancies arising from various reasons, including childcare. As part of this effort, we established a new incentive system for teams that took the opportunity of childcare leave to strengthen their team resilience.

We consider the physical and mental health of each employee, which is the driving force for providing value to customers, as a management issue, and are promoting health and productivity management. To support physical and mental condition management as professionals, we offer various seminars and training programs, as well as subsidies for medical examinations and treatments, and flexible work arrangements. These efforts have been recognized, and our Company was certified as a Health and Productivity Management Outstanding Organization 2026 (Large Enterprise Category (White 500)).

As our businesses expand across the Group, differences in HR systems and operations among companies, along with the decentralization of structures and foundations, have become constraints on the agile promotion of our HR strategy. Therefore, we will promote Group integration in four areas—HR systems, talent deployment, HR IT infrastructure, and HR organizational structures—to enhance our HR platform and work on improving the agility of operations that support strategy execution.

We view the issues as strengthening alignment between headquarters and regions and moving away from region- optimized HR operations. We are addressing these by strengthening global response capabilities at our Japan-based headquarters and integrating HR systems, operations, and IT infrastructure at overseas locations.

We are also working on formulating a consistent talent management policy for employees hired in Japan and those hired locally overseas, aiming for a shift toward consistent talent management across the entire Company and all regions, regardless of hired location.

SMBC introduced a new HR system in January 2026. The system is guided by the basic principles of “Professional,” “Merit-based,” and “Inclusion,” this is the first fundamental system reform since its establishment, featuring appointments and promotions not constrained by seniority and compensation based on roles. To enhance effectiveness, while monitoring labor productivity and the labor share ratio, we will link the added value created through employees’ expertise to the sharing of the resulting gains. Through this, we aim for sustainable productivity improvement and strengthening of recruitment competitiveness and retention.

Considering the progress in AI utilization, we aim to maximize the value that only humans can provide, such as sophisticated judgment and the ability to build trust. In preparation for business transformation, we will integrally advance reskilling, talent redeployment, and review of evaluation and compensation. By building an HR foundation suited to the AI era, we aim to achieve both productivity gains and enhanced value creation.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation has formulated a "Human Resources Vision" in its Medium-term Management Plan to serve as a long-term strategy for every aspect of personnel development. Guided by this vision, we are transitioning from Human Resources Department-driven development models to more business-oriented, self-driven development models to better support the ambitions of all employees. Also, we are increasing the transparency of human resource evaluations to cultivate an atmosphere in which employees are evaluated based on their contributions.

For junior employees, SMBC Group provides frameworks through which new employees receive guidance from more experienced employees ("anchor" system) and is introducing development systems for fostering rigorous self-understanding, gaining insight on basic actions and basic knowledge, and cultivating an appropriately competitive mindset.
In addition, the wevox engagement survey system is utilized on an individual-workplace basis and one-on-one feedback meetings are held at all banks as part of our efforts to accelerate an experimental learning cycle based on on-the-job training.

The following set of evaluation processes are operated on an annual basis in a cycle.