Promoting Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I)
Promoting DE&I
Basic Approach
We position DE&I as a key management issue, aiming to create an organization where diverse, talented individuals can maximize their individual abilities. We have set the following numerical targets and are working toward creating workplace environments where everyone can thrive.
Promotion System
At Nihon Nohyaku, we position DE&I as a key management issue, aiming to create an organization where diverse, talented individuals can maximize their individual abilities. We appoint Diversity Promotion Special Mission Team, primarily from the Corporate Planning and Human Resources Departments. Together with members recruited through our in-house side-job program, this team engages in training and awareness-raising activities for employees. In FY2025, we are implementing our own DE&I activities by conducting an employee survey in conjunction with Human Rights Week and hosting the NICHINO English Café. We will reflect on the results of the employee survey in our FY2026 activities. Through these activities, we aim to create workplace environments where everyone can thrive, leading to sustainable growth.
General Employer Action Plans
To create an environment which ensures that children, who will form the next generation of society, are born and raised in good health, the “Act on Advancement of Measures to Support Raising Next-Generation Children” was enacted in 2003, and the “Act on the Promotion of Women’s Active Engagement in the Professional Life” (or “Women’s Engagement Promotion Act”) was enacted in 2016. We have formulated and published “Action Plans” based on each of these laws.
Promotion of women’s participation and advancement
As part of our efforts to promote women's advancement, we are actively promoting female employees to managerial positions such as department heads and section chiefs.
Our ratio of female managers stood at 2.0% in April 2011. However, through initiatives to develop and raise awareness among female employees for managerial roles, and to foster a mindset shift among male managers toward promoting women's advancement, this ratio improved to 9.7% by March 2025.
From FY2023 to FY2024, we conducted career development training for 40 employees aiming to become female managers. In FY2025, we will hold roundtable discussions with female employees, where we will obtain feedback directly from frontline personnel. In this way, we aim to foster awareness of career development and further enhance support measures.
Employment of Persons with Disabilities
In FY2024, we utilized new recruitment channels and hired two persons with disabilities. We are working to create safe and welcoming work environments through consideration based on the characteristics of each disability and by promoting barrier-free workplaces. Moving forward, we will collaborate with specialist organizations outside the Group and actively work on recruitment, not only of individuals with physical disabilities but also those with mental and developmental disabilities.
Recruiting Foreign Nationals
As of October 2025, six foreign nationals are actively working at our company. Furthermore, in 2011 and 2021, we appointed presidents of overseas group companies who are foreign nationals to positions as our executive officers. We will continue promoting management appointments and actively recruiting to cultivate talent possessing the qualities required for executive roles.
In fiscal year 2024, we hired one foreign national as a researcher. Going forward, we will strengthen foreign recruitment through both graduate and career hiring, leveraging partnerships with exchange student programs run by national universities and collaborations with group companies. By welcoming talent from diverse cultural backgrounds, we will further enhance our global perspective and organizational diversity.
Mid-career recruitment
Based on the belief that “innovation arises from diversity,” we actively recruit human resources who have garnered experience at other companies. Around one-third of our employees are mid-career recruits, and the ratio among executives and managers is approximately the same. We will continue to conduct mid-career recruitment, hiring personnel such as executive managers, researchers with advanced skills in specific fields, experts in new fields for our business expansion, and DX specialists. As of the end of March 2025, the ratio of mid-career recruits among all employees of Nihon Nohyaku was 33.5%. In addition, we introduced the following systems in April 2024 with the aim of diversifying our mid-career recruitment methods, incorporating new values and revitalizing the company.
- Career Entry
A system that enables employee referrals and allows those who wish to join the company to register their career and desired job type in advance. - Job Return
A system for former employees who left the company due to unavoidable circumstances or who have gained experience at other companies to rejoin the company.
The current medium-term plan (through the fiscal year ending March 2027) sets a numerical target of 50% for mid-career hiring rates, and we consider this one effective means of achieving that goal.
Senior employees
Our company has established a senior employee program that allows employees to continue working with us after reaching the mandatory retirement age. As of the end of March 2025, there were 51 senior employees.
Gender pay gap among workers (women’s pay as a percentage of men’s pay)
FY2024
| Overall | full-time employees | non-regular employee |
|---|---|---|
| 74.3% | 82.9% | 66.4% |
*Individual (excluding seconded personnel)
Realizing Flexible Workstyles
Basic Approach
The working environment has changed greatly due to the diversification of work values, an increase in dual-income households, and labor shortages caused by the declining birthrate and aging population. Against such a backdrop, we implement initiatives to improve employee motivation and to realize diverse workstyles.Work-life Balance
To realize work-life balance, we have introduced and are appropriately operating the following systems.
Support for Work-life Balance
Childcare
To promote the uptake of childcare leave and nursing care leave among male employees, we are working to foster understanding and reassurance regarding leave acquisition by establishing consultation desks, distributing childcare pamphlets, and providing individual notifications to eligible employees. Additionally, we conducted explanatory sessions for managers to deepen their understanding of the system and raise awareness about facilitating smooth implementation of workplace support for leave acquisition. The childcare leave uptake rate among male employees in fiscal year 2024 was 88%. (8 takers / 9 eligible individuals)
Family Care
In FY2025, we created a pamphlet summarizing our company's caregiving-related systems and general caregiving knowledge, and promoted awareness among employees. In addition to information sessions for employees aged 40 and over and interested individuals, we also held sessions for managers to enhance understanding. Furthermore, we conduct individual consultations with employees facing caregiving responsibilities, providing information on applicable systems and available support tailored to their specific situations. Going forward, we will continue to promote understanding of caregiving-related systems and work to enhance our support framework so that employees can balance work and caregiving responsibilities.
Shorter working hours system
Starting in October 2025, we will introduce a new shorter working hours system combined with the existing flexible work schedule system, promoting initiatives that balance flexible working styles with improved productivity.
Working from home system
In April 2019, we introduced a work-from-home system with the aim of supporting diverse work styles according to the individual circumstances of each employee. In addition to increasing the provision of company-paid mobile phones and equipment for web conferencing, we enhanced our remote working systems through measures such as establishing a new work-from-home allowance. As a result, we are providing an environment where many employees can choose increasingly flexible working styles while maintaining their productivity.
Free Addressing
To further transform our workstyle and promote cross-departmental communication, we are implementing free addressing at our headquarters and branches. Starting with the Fukuoka Sales Office (now Fukuoka Branch) in April 2022, we introduced free addressing to all headquarters departments and the Tokyo Branch in March 2023.
Promotion of Paid Leave Utilization
We aim for an average of 14 or more days of paid leave taken per employee as a labor-management goal. In addition to the twice-yearly scheduled allocation dates under the labor-management agreement, we designate the middle days of scattered holidays as paid leave promotion days to encourage extended consecutive vacations. We also encourage taking paid leave in conjunction with summer vacations, year-end/New Year holidays, and other periods. The average number of annual paid leave days taken by all employees in fiscal year 2024 was 13.0 days.Labor-Management Relations
We have concluded a labor agreement with the Nihon Nohyaku Labor Union and conducts discussions on an equal footing through the Labor-Management Council. We recognize the labor union as a key stakeholder. based on the shared labor-management understanding of “improving the company and enhancing employee livelihoods,” we are building a sound labor-management relationship founded on mutual understanding and trust. Furthermore, to deepen communication among employees and promote flat relationships, we hold jointly organized labor-management discussions and recreational events at each business site.
The discussions between our company and the labor union for fiscal year 2024 are as follows.
Labor-Management Council: 14 sessions (including 1 meeting with top management)
Division Policy Briefings: Policy explanations and opinion exchanges for Domestic Sales Division, Overseas Sales Division, External Sales Business Division, Research Division, Market Development Division, Production Division, Corporate Planning Division, Administration Division, Audit Office, and Environmental Safety Department
Engagement
Basic Approach
Nihon Nohyaku introduced the engagement survey tool “Wevox” in February 2024 to visualize the effectiveness of human capital initiatives such as “career autonomy and increased growth opportunities,” “promotion of DE&I,” “improving well-being (promoting health and productivity management)” and “realizing flexible workstyles,” and to continuously drive improvements. The surveys measure nine items—“work duties,” “personal growth,” “health,” “support,” “human relationships,” “recognition,” “philosophy and strategy,” “organizational culture,” and “environment”—twice a year. Using similarly sized companies in the pharmaceutical industry as a benchmark, we target an engagement score of at least 70 points in our medium-term management plan, and will further strengthen dialogue with employees. For the past three years, we have maintained a retention rate of 100% for new graduate employees in their first three years of employment.Results of the inaugural survey (implemented in February 2024)
The overall score was 66 points, falling 3 points below the benchmark. In response, we implemented the following improvement measures.I
- Conducting management training aimed at enhancing “support”
- Introducing an in-house side-job program to provide opportunities for “personal growth”
- Initiatives to improve management in organizations with low “health” scores
Future initiatives
In the fourth survey conducted in August 2025, the overall score reached 71 points, achieving our target under the medium-term management plan. We will continue to work on fostering a rewarding corporate culture to further enhance engagement.From FY2025 onward, we also plan to expand this survey to our domestic Group companies. By linking it with our human capital management initiatives, we aim to ensure stable talent acquisition and improve employee performance, contributing to the sustainable growth of NICHINO Group.
