Events and Planning

In 2022, we launched SPLi, a community that supports continuous career development by providing an environment and plan where employees can demonstrate leadership while leveraging their uniqueness and diverse individuality.

We invited the Fermentation Life Promotion Association and first heard from a fermentation life advisor about his career. After that, I think I gained a deeper understanding of "fermented foods" and my attitude towards daily food has changed. After the exchange, Mariko Bando, an outside director, gave a lecture on "human capital and women's careers." She spoke about the changes in promoting women's participation in the workforce and Japan's level compared to other countries around the world, and it was a time to recognize the challenges once again and to feel hopeful and prepared for the future. A total of over 70 people participated in the event, both at the venue and online. This was the start of the second year of SPLi which is gaining momentum.

In July 2024, we introduced the women's health support service "FEMCLE". The aim is to create an environment where women can work comfortably by improving menstrual symptoms and menopausal disorders, which are health issues specific to women. Female employees can take part in a free online medical interview, and all employees can watch videos on women's health issues. All managers have watched the videos, and in the viewing survey, many comments were received such as "I gained new realizations" and "I would like to use this in my daily communication and organizational management."

A health seminar was held jointly by the women's empowerment community SPLi and the Health Promotion Office. The seminar was held under the theme of "Health issues of working women that men should also know about," and 52 people participated. The seminar was aimed at not only women but also men, and was intended to deepen their understanding of female colleagues and subordinates, to address the health issues of their partners, and to prevent and detect breast cancer early. In the "Sleep Toughness Seminar" held at the Kanto Plant in 2022, 80% of the 100 participants were satisfied with the content of the program and expressed a desire to continue holding it. Including the health seminar, the cost of education and training for employees in fiscal 2022 was 63,000 yen per person.

In 2023, the Shiga Factory held its first Family Day with the theme "Let's increase the number of ITOKI fans!" Approximately 300 family members and friends participated. In a survey of visitors, more than 80% of respondents said that their impression of ITOKI had improved, with comments such as "The content exceeded our expectations and the whole family enjoyed it," "I started talking about ITOKI more in conversations with my family," and "My reputation improved when my family saw my workplace." In August, the event was also held at XORK (84 groups, 272 people) and Osaka SR (29 groups, 95 people), and many people participated.
In July 2024, we held the event in Osaka SR (37 pairs, 131 people), and in August in Nihonbashi (92 pairs, 304 people), with many family and friends participating. We are also planning to hold the event at our factory in October.

A workshop on "building blocks" was held on July 26, 2023. After learning about forestry, the children cut pieces of domestic thinned wood at a workshop for people with disabilities and polished them with sandpaper until smooth, making them safe and secure building blocks. The building blocks we created were donated to kindergartens, nursery schools, etc. in special wooden boxes with an Itoki branding stamp. Although it was part of a social contribution activity, there were many team-building elements, and everyone enjoyed participating. At Itoki, if you do volunteer work on weekdays, you can take special paid leave called ``volunteer leave.''

We aim to create a workplace environment where everyone can work energetically and in their own way, and we support the balancing of work and childcare. In 2022, we agreed to the "100% Male Childcare Leave Declaration," and from July 1, 2023, we began providing "Childcare Leave Return to Work Support Grants" to employees who return to work after taking childcare leave according to the number of days taken. We also promote internal awareness-raising efforts by holding interviews about male childcare leave and childcare leave information sessions as in-house events. In fiscal 2023, the rate of male childcare leave taken was 70%, and the number of days taken was 38.2 days.
On the other hand, we held a seminar on balancing work and nursing care in July, which family members could attend. We are focusing on helping employees correctly understand the company's internal systems and how to use public nursing care insurance services, so that they do not become ill due to caregiving fatigue or find themselves in a situation where they have to quit their job.

ITOKI aims for diversity and inclusion, where people with disabilities can live their lives to the fullest, making the most of their characteristics. As part of our DE&I promotion, we sold baked goods carefully made by people with disabilities within the company. At the same time as the sales, we introduced a slide show about employment support for people with disabilities, providing an opportunity to deepen understanding of disabilities and raise interest in them.