Human Resource Development

Skills Development for Employees

The NGK Group puts its Group Philosophy into action by ensuring that Quality of People remain our top priority as we pursue the mission of “Enriching Human Life by Adding New Value to Society.” We do this not only through the educational programs that we offer but also by cultivating work environments and supportive supervisors capable of ensuring that each employee is able to contribute and independently grow through the work that they undertake within the environment in which they are placed.

NGK undertakes systematic human resource development, including Group companies in Japan, which encompasses every job category from employment to every promotion milestone in their career.
The education and training that we provide employees across the NGK Group, in conjunction with their departments and with the aim of putting the Group Philosophy into practice, is divided into three areas: “Human Skills” needed to tenaciously pursue results through teamwork, “Professional Competence” needed to cultivate a distinctive skill set and a proactive approach to problems, and “Compliance Requirements in Job Performance” needed to recognize and act upon responsibilities as a member of society.

• Note: In fiscal 2020, training programs were temporarily scaled down in order to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19.

Training Participant Summary

(total participants)

Average Annual Hours Spent for Training per Full-Time Employee

(hours)

Average Annual Cost of Training per Full-Time Employee

(¥10 thousand)

Fiscal 2021 Company-Wide Education Scheme

Key Personnel Competencies

In order to improve the managerial skills of key personnel and, thereby, contribute to greater organizational vitality, we have defined the “key personnel competencies (behavioral traits)” that are expected of key personnel in NGK.
As the diversity of our human resources continues to increase, we want to put in place a structure that promotes a shared awareness across our company to enable key personnel to effectively contribute to business performance.
We have established key personnel competencies for the sake of achieving the following aims.

• Ensure key personnel have a correct understanding of their expected roles so that their performance meets the expected contributions of those roles to company development.
• Ensure key personnel candidates have a clear vision for themselves, and promote their growth towards recruitment as key personnel.

Training programs by objective

Values

NGK training and education seeks to foster an understanding of the NGK Group Philosophy and Code of Conduct such that employees will not simply work for the sake of meeting their individual targets, but rather will think about the significance of the work they perform and the basis for their decision-making, leading to a sense of pride and shared identity as an NGK employee. It is not enough for employees to know what the NGK Group Philosophy and Code of Conduct are; we want employees to incorporate them into their behavior.
This approach is particularly evident in the corporate history training program that was launched full-scale in 2017 for every level of employee, from new hires to those promoted to managers. It is also incorporated into the educational programs of Group companies outside Japan in order to reach a variety of personnel. We will continue to develop and expand such programs.

Business Skills

We carry out training designed to equip employees with the mindset, knowledge, and skills they need to carry out their jobs. To ensure that the skills employees acquire are applicable and directly contribute to the work that they perform—i.e., practical skills instead of just knowledge—we provide coaching in cooperation with the participants’ supervisors and training programs for handling challenges directly relevant to their own departments.

Career Support

In order to ensure that as many personnel as possible are able to actively participate in and contribute to the functioning of NGK, we provide employees with career development support in the form of a variety of effective HR initiatives, such as promoting the active participation of women and extending the mandatory retirement age. This support is focused on cultivating personnel capable of thinking outside the limits of predetermined career models to chart their own career path.
Career design training programs for women, employees in their 50s, and others serve as opportunities for employees to think about who they want to be and how they can challenge themselves in their work to grow to become that person.
To this end, we are continuing to focus on ensuring that every employee is able to work to their full potential within the context of the many and varied environments that comprise the NGK Group.

Compliance Requirements in Job Performance

We provide employees with training that communicates to them the responsibilities, which NGK bears as a corporate citizen, as well as what this requires of them as employees of NGK. This training seeks to instill a strong sense of ethics and a commitment to doing what is right.
The fundamentals of NGK business—safety, quality, environment, and CSR—are inculcated from the time an employee joins the company to every time they receive a promotion so that knowledge ends up being reliably translated into action.

Manufacturing Training

Manufacturing basic training is centered on practical training tied to the actual manufacturing process. It involves teaching participants about ceramic technologies and manufacturing in general at NGK so that they will have a broad perspective, which they can apply in their work.
Worksite capability enhancement training cultivates human resources capable of making managerial contributions as manufacturing worksite leaders who independently pursue worksite capability improvements together with others both in and outside of their plant’s organizational framework.

Innovation Training

The aim of innovation training is the cultivation of leaders suited to an era of transformation and speed. This is achieved by fostering outside-the-box thinking coupled with an ability to think and act to bring an idea to fruition.
In the program for young employees with leadership potential, participants learn about the essential innovation processes involved in generating new business. The program is held jointly with other companies. This allows interaction with employees from other companies who have different experiences and values, thus helping NGK employees develop a more multifaceted perspective.

Corporate History Training

This training program looks at the history of NGK in order to reexamine the origins of our corporate activities, to reinforce our shared values, and then to prompt participants to think about how this impacts the way they go about their jobs. The program for newly appointed managerial personnel incorporates corporate history materials related to topics, such as globalization and diversity, which are assigned to each participant group, along with a worksheet, that they discuss in depth in relation to the distinctive character of NGK.
Education programs for other job grades are being steadily introduced, as well as programs geared towards Group companies outside Japan.

English Language Training for New Employees

Practical Overseas Training

NGK conducts practical training over a period of six months at Group companies outside Japan with the aim of developing globally minded human resources. The training focuses on developing practical business and communication skills in a cross-cultural environment targeting young employees who are future candidates for overseas postings.