Human Resources Development Policy

In order to achieve the group’s corporate philosophy of “Sampo-yoshi,” one of the three important measures to enhance our corporate brand value is reinforcement of human capital. By reinforcing human capital, ITOCHU aims to pursue further labor productivity and sustainably enhance our corporate brand value. Emphasizing a market-oriented perspective, ITOCHU will listen to the voices of the market, society, and consumers and focus on implementing the following measures:

1. Securing Excellent Talents by Leveraging the Advantage in Recruiting Market

In order to achieve higher results with fewer employees compared to other companies in the same industry, ITOCHU will secure outstanding human resources who resonate with our corporate philosophy of “Sampo-yoshi.”

2. Continuous Development of Diverse Management Talents Through Officer Appointment System.

Based on the diverse customer needs in the consumer goods industry, ITOCHU is promoting women’s active participation by diversifying the organization and management in decision-making. ITOCHU will also accelerate downstream investments and foster a “culture of continuous learning” within the company to further expand and strengthen our business infrastructure, focusing on nurturing management talents and global talents.

3. Enhancing Employee Motivation and Pursuing Further Labor Productivity.

ITOCHU has been implementing advanced initiatives in workstyle reform, such as Morning-Focused Working System, and creating opportunities for challenging experiences and early promotion based on performance. ITOCHU aims to realize a “Challenging but Rewarding Workplace” where all employees can maximize their abilities.

Since FYE 2000, ITOCHU has positioned the investment in human capital as a continuous investment for enhancing corporate value, and ITOCHU has reviewed them throughout the company to link them to talent development. Through these efforts, ITOCHU will nurture “one” who fulfill “infinite missions” in response to changes in the social environment and customer needs, and achieve our group’s corporate philosophy of “Sampo-yoshi.”

Targets and Action Plan

Based on our employee training policy, ITOCHU Corporation works to achieve the following goals.

Division Company	SDGs Targets	Impact Classifi-cation	Issues to Address	Business Area	Commitment	Specific Approach	Performance Indicators (Non-Consolidated)	Degree of Progress
Head-quarters		Labor Practices	Sustainable development of employees’ capabilities	Human resources affairs	We will develop training programs on a global basis and provide opportunities to learn proactively that respond to the changing times and business needs with a market-oriented mindset to foster employees who can constantly change their business to meet their needs while inheriting the corporate philosophy. We will also utilize training programs to continuously produce excellent human resources.	Continue to develop and provide training programs at all jobs levels. Continue and enhance overseas deployment of interns and language trainees. Offer diverse career path options and experience in diverse work through regular rotation. Foster career awareness among employees by enhancing personnel assessments, career vision training, career counselling systems and other programs/systems.	Annual training-related expenses exceeding one billion yen. The number of employees who joined human development program（cumulative total number）50,000 or more. Percentage of career-track employees who are deployed overseas in their first eight years at the company at 80% or higher.	Annual training-related expenses forecast: 2.27 Billion yen in FYE 2024. The number of employees who joined human development program（cumulative total number）68,824. Overseas dispatch rate for career-track employees in up to their eighth year since joining the company: 87.3%.

Structures and Systems

ITOCHU Corporation implements a global personnel strategy. Specifically, in FYE 2011, we established leadership standards and we constructed the Talent Management Process to hire, develop, utilize and promote excellent talent who will expand overseas revenues worldwide.
We also reflect the corporate philosophy and values we have inherited since the foundation of our company not only in our recruitment standards but in our evaluation and training systems. With this, we are recruiting and training people who match the values of ITOCHU Corporation on a global basis. We provide a selective online training program as support for career formation according to diverse values. This program enables employees to take about 9,500 courses on various topics such as management skills, digital transformation, finance & marketing, languages anytime, anywhere. It is utilized by about 1,300 overseas bloc employees every year. We have so far stationed a total of about 120 overseas bloc employees in our headquarters from the perspective of career formation. The purpose is to deepen their understanding of the corporate philosophy, to acquire knowledge and experience through the headquarters’ business, and to build a human network. Currently, there are about 740 overseas bloc employees among management personnel (equivalent to managerial positions). We will continue to work with each company and overseas bloc to proactively train and promote excellent employees in the right place regardless of their nationality. This will lead to a further business expansion overseas.

• We have created the ITOCHU Global Classification (IGC). The IGC is a global grading system based on positions and duties at all levels worldwide. We use it to place, promote and train personnel regardless of nationality.
• We have set behavioral requirements that leaders should possess on a global basis. We use these in the recruitment standards and evaluation standards.
• Relevant data:Overseas Bloc Employees by Region

Training System

The ITOCHU Corporation training system consists mainly of selective training for future management personnel and selective training for career development based on meetings with superiors in addition to mandatory training when an employee is appointed an organizational manager or is posted overseas. There is a wide range of training opportunities at various levels, not only for Headquarters employees, but also for those at certain overseas bloc companies and Group companies.
Overseas blocs arrange their own training systems to teach the skills and expertise required for their business and markets. In combination with the headquarters training system, they develop management talent capable of global success.

Key Points for Better Training

In FYE 2014, we created a training scheme for talent who shoulder administrative responsibilities at Group companies from the perspective of group management. Specifically, in FYE 2015, we started Business Management Training for young employees to learn about accounting work efficiently in a short period of time through practice to strengthen the acquisition of basic knowledge on business management and risk management techniques. Additionally, we have a replete lineup of Group company employee trainings and conducts joint new employee training and mentor training, among others, so that domestic Group company employees can upgrade their skills and expand their networks within the Group.
Furthermore, we conduct trainings in the Global Development Program and the Short-Term Business School Dispatch to develop global management talents with an overseas perspective. Meanwhile, we were among the first to offer a short-term overseas dispatch system in 1999. This program is designed to improve the English language skills of young employees at the headquarters and foster a global mindset. Chinese and other special language programs dispatch employees to emerging markets such as China and etc. These are the core programs for our initiatives to foster specialists in each market.

Our employees take stock of their strengths/weaknesses and career every year from the perspective of “Supporting Employee-Led Career Development.” They meet with their superiors to discuss the development of their abilities (re-skilling) and their vision for the future. Our employees can choose to take more than 100 training courses we have prepared as Career Vision Support Training.

For our training with an emphasis on fundamental skills, we conduct independent training programs that are based on each company or Headquarters administrative division’s talent strategy and tailored for various objectives to develop industry professionals with diverse values.
Most recently, we have been providing our employees with opportunities for training and lectures aimed at studying cutting edge business model cases and acquiring IT expertise according to our Management Policy. The aim of these training programs is to develop personnel to put into practice digital transformation focused on profitability to drive evolution of business.

• Relevant data: Number of Overseas Local Employee Management Personnel (March 31, 2024)

Talent Synergy with CPG & CITIC

In January 2015, ITOCHU Corporation formed a strategic business and capital tie-up with Charoen Pokphand Group Company Limited (CPG) and CITIC Limited (CITIC), which are some of the leading conglomerates in Asia and China, respectively. Thereafter, in January 2016, the three-company group signed a memorandum to strengthen talent synergies as the foundation for producing medium- to long-term business synergies and raising enterprise value. According to the memorandum, the goal for the future is to build a robust network of talent between the three companies and construct a foundation that will support their strategic partnership. This will be accomplished by dispatching and exchanging talent between the three companies from the short-term to the long-term, dispatching trainees to join training programs at other companies, and conducting new joint training.

In FYE 2017, the three companies held their first joint training in Tokyo. We held this combined training seminar for the second time in Beijing, where CITIC is based, in FYE 2018 and for the third time in Thailand (Khao Yai and Bangkok), where CPG is based, in FYE 2019. In FYE 2020, we held this training for the fourth time in Tokyo. We select employees who match the business themes established in advance from the three companies. The participants come to fully understand each other’s management policies, values, history and main business. They then thoroughly discuss the creation of business synergy. With this, the aim is to build a solid personnel network as partners.
The three firms are also steadily accepting trainees into their existing programs through short- to -long-term talent dispatch and exchange arrangements.

In addition, the strategic business and capital tie-up was accompanied by the FYE 2016 startup of a project to develop 1,000 Chinese-speaking employees, who account for one-third of all career-track employees. The project has made progress in laying a solid linguistic foundation. By the end of FYE 2018, we reached our goal of 1,000 people. We continue developing those employees even after that. The total number of trainees as of the end of FYE 2024 was 1,308. We will continue to build the foundations to further promote the expansion of business in China and the rest of Asia in the future.

ITOCHU Morning Activity Seminar

In September 2016, we began conducting early-morning training sessions and presentations as one measure to encourage shifts beginning in the early morning. The themes of these seminars are focused on the next generation of business and health. We held these seminars a total of 3 times with the participation of 1,298 people in FYE 2024. We received comments from the participants like the following: “I was able to hear stimulating stories before work, so I felt very positive.” We plan to hold these seminars on a periodic basis in the future.

Morning Activity Seminar Results for FYE 2024

Date	Theme	Speaker
February 2024	From Good Sleep to Well-being: Sleep is the Foundation of Health and Performance.	Masashi Yanagisawa, PhD., University of Tsukuba
July 2023	The Way to Walk the World like a “Merchant”	Akira Ikegami and Yuriya Masuda, Journalists
May 2023	Learn about Cancer - Both Adults and Children	Keiichi Nakagawa, PhD., Professor in the Tokyo University Graduate School

HR Appraisal & Assessment System

The HR Appraisal & Assessment System is a core part of the human resources organization that helps employees fully demonstrate their capabilities in a motivated and rewarding manner, and we have introduced an evaluation and reward system that provides clear incentives based on performance starting from the FYE 2025. It covers all ITOCHU Corporation employees. One part of the system is Management By Objectives (MBO), by which we assign individual employees with targets that match up with the management plan, then confirm execution. This approach helps us carry out business strategies.
We determine bonuses by reflecting company performance in addition to individual performance assessments based on MBO. This has led to an increase in employees’ awareness to participate in management. In addition, we comprehensively grasp individual employee’s competencies, expertise, past career, aspirations and suitability. We have established a human resources assessment system that we utilize in placement and transfer planning and an employee commendation system that recognizes employees who have made significant contributions in quantitative and qualitative terms and teams that have produced results based on the corporate action guidelines.
In order for these components of the HR Appraisal & Assessment System to function, we believe it is critically important that superiors conduct fair and impartial evaluations and meet with their subordinates to provide feedback. 360° feedback^* assessor training and one-on-one interviews enlighten superiors so that they will encourage employees to develop and grow.

• Multifaceted observation: A system by which feedback from observations by the organization managers themselves and subordinates are used to review everyday personnel management that the organization manager typically does not notice, followed, if necessary, by initiatives to make improvements or upgrade capabilities. We make sure to apply this approach every year.

Overall Picture of the Personnel Evaluation Systems

Management By Objectives (MBO) Flow

Competency Assessment Flow

Career Development Support

Challenge Career System and Introduction of the Career Market System

We have introduced the Challenge Career System as a measure to support employee-led career development. of personnel for career-track employees (excluding organization managers) and clerical employees working in Japan. With the system, employees can check a list of job openings announced on the company intranet, then inform their superior of their desire for a transfer. With the superior's approval, through interviews with the desired division and, if successful, may make a transfer beyond organization boundaries. The aim of this system is to strengthen organizational capabilities by motivating employees and supporting them to independently develop their careers with the provision of career selection opportunities. 16 people transferred in FYE 2024 following on from 16 people in FYE 2022 and 13 people in FYE 2023.

Also, we have introduced the Career Market System in FYE 2024 to match the “Talent Needs” and “Employees Seeking Transfers” within the company. When employees seeking transfers register their self-promotion, limited authorized personnel within the organization can view this anonymous information and “Scout” the talent aiming for employee-driven “suitable placement.” Similar to the Challenge Career System, we will provide further support to our employees in taking initiative in their career development.

Challenge Career System Process

Virtual Office

We introduced the Virtual Office in FYE 2024. The aim of the Virtual Office is to promote business by sharing ideas and resources across organizations and to support the growth and career development of our employees. It is a mechanism which solicits cross-organizational projects company-wide. Employees themselves can then use small blocks of spare time outside of their main work to engage in the projects in which they have a high level of interest and enthusiasm.
We conducted a trial of the Virtual Office with a total of five projects in FYE 2023. Employees with different work locations, ages and duties gathered from across the company to work on the projects. According to a questionnaire we conducted on the participants in the trial, 91% of employees said that the activities of the Virtual Office led to their own growth and job satisfaction. We will continue to support the creation of new business by facilitating collaboration among passionate employees across the organizations.

ITOCHU Internship

ITOCHU Corporation provides an internship to students which allows them to tackle various challenging issues based on past business cases. We do this so that they can think about their careers in terms of working in a general trading company.

ITOCHU Website for students(Japanese only)