Human Capital Management（Human Resource Strategy）

The company recognizes that our employees are important human resources indispensable to the realization of our management philosophy, and are capital that is the source of value creation. By actively investing in our human resources and continuously increasing their value, we aim for sustainable development of local communities and our own sustainable growth. In addition, employees are important “stakeholders,” and our management philosophy states that we will “continue to be an attractive company where employees can be proud to work”.
Based on this concept, we have established our Group Human Resource Policy, a basic policy for maximizing human capital to realize our vision of being “a solution company rooted in communities and selected as a partner to walk together” and have formulated the Group Human Resource Strategy linked with our management strategy for building the talent portfolio that we aim to achieve in the mid to long term.

We have established our Group Human Resource Policy as our basic policy r egarding the human resources of our group based on our management philosophy.

Basic Concepts

The human resources we seek

In order to realize our vision while responding to changes in the external environment, we have formulated a Group Human Resource Strategy linked to our management strategy, and are implementing measures related to human resources from a medium to long-term perspective to eliminate the gap between “As is” and “To be”.

（Excerpt from the 2024 Integrated Report）

The “Group Human Resource Strategy” covers the period up to FY2027 and has three basic themes:① “Human Resource Development that values the will to grow and to take on challenges”,②“Build an Organization that enlivens the activities of diverse human resources and③that enlivens the activities of diverse human resources and
Under these three basic themes, we will work on 10 major measur es to enhance employee engagement (Total attractiveness of the company) while building a tale nt portfolio with quantity (ratio of sales personnel) and quality (solution earnings per employee), and as a result, we will aim to achieve the management target of ROE of around 7%.

In implementing measures related to human resources based on the Group’s Human Resource Strategy, we will strengthen investment in human capital, with a focus on H uman Resource Development that emphasizes the development of human resources that support our solution business, as well as Or ganizational Development and Environment Development.

Through investment in human capital, we work t o increase the number of sales personnel (=Quantity) and incr ease solution revenue per capita (=Quality) by improving skill levels, thereby strengthening solution profitability, which is the foundation of profitability. By strengthening training programs and self-development support, we will increase the proportion of personnel with advanced skills at sales branches and through inter-disciplinary learning to acquire advanced skills, we will increase the number of direct sales personnel at head office and in this wa y develop human resources with high solution sales capabilities who have high business execution skills and advanced knowledge. Through these efforts, we aim to achieve a per capita solution r evenue of over ¥90 million in FY2027.

We conduct an annual employee awareness survey with the aim of utilizing the results in planning and formulating management measures to improve the job satisfaction and engagement of each and every employee.
Under the supervision of outside experts, we have formulated and introduced our own original questions. The survey results, including comparisons over time, are used to analyze the current status, strengths, challenges, and other factors within the organization. We utilize this analysis to measures related to “Human Resource Development," “Build an Organization," and “Create an Environmental," which are the basic themes of our Human Resource Strategy.
As a result of the employee awareness survey, the index of total attractiveness of the company has been improved compared to the previous year. Since the year before last, we have been expanding opportunities for dialogue with our employees and working to improve engagement. We actively hold town hall meetings and briefings for employees to reflect their opinions in management, and we are also working to enhance employees' understanding of our management and human resources strategy. We believe that the effects of these efforts are reflected in the results of the employee awareness survey. We will continue to engage in dialogue with our employees to deepen their sense of “being in the same boat” while sharing our values.

By strengthening training programs and self-development support, we will increase the proportion of personnel with advanced skills at sales branches and through inter-disciplinary learning to acquire advanced skills, we will increase the number of direct sales personnel at headquarters and in this way develop human resources with high solution sales capabilities who have high business execution skills and advanced knowledge.
Through these efforts, we aim to achieve a per capita solution revenue of over ¥90 million in FY2027.

The Group is working to increase the frequency of dialogue between management and employees in order to enhance employees' understanding of our management and human resource strategies and in order to reflect the views of employees in management.
In FY2022, we held 78 (large) town hall meetings, in which management strategies and other information were explained to all employees. In addition, we held 132 small group town hall meetings, mainly for section managers and lower, to listen to the opinions of sales branches and for them to hear directly from officers about management policies and their thoughts on management.
In response to the many requests from employees during these town hall meetings to have more time for personal growth, the Bank of Yokohama launched the “Job Satisfaction Improvement Project Team” to create more time for self-fulfillment by fundamentally reviewing the way business had been done until then in order to improve employee job satisfaction and engagement. By implementing measures across the entire company to resolve management issues highlighted in questionnaires and interviews with employees, we aim to achieve a vibrant workplace through behavioral and cultural reforms.
In addition to these efforts, we aim to enhance the total attractiveness of the company by implementing key measures based on the three basic themes of our human resource strategy.

In implementing measures related to human resources based on the Group's Human Resource Strategy, we will strengthen investment in human capital, with a focus on Human Resource Development that emphasizes the development of human resources that support our solutions business, as well as Organizational Development and Environment Development.

In order to realize our vision of being a solution company, we believe it is important to improve the skills and expertise of those in charge of providing solutions. Based on this concept, we will implement human resource development that links OJT and Off-JT, expanding opportunities and support for employees to take on such new challenges as open recruitment withing the bank, temporary assignment to external companies, and self-development, in order to actively respond to each employee’s desire to grow.

To increase the number and quality of solution business personnel, we have established a human resource development system that makes it easy for employees to feel their growth by visualizing their skills, linking OJT and Off-JT, and supporting individual employees in steadily acquiring and mastering relevant skills.
For “skill visualization”, we have defined the skills required of solutions sales personnel, and at the Bank of Yokohama, we have introduced a skills certification system for the corporate and individual client divisions, while at the Higashi-Nippon Bank, we have introduced a system for measuring and evaluating skill levels in the corporate division through the assessment of specified check items.
For “OJT/Off-JT linkage”, OJT involves assigning personnel to positions where they can gain experience early and demonstrate what they learned in training, while Off-JT involves group training segmented by division and skill level taught by Financial Business School lecturers, as well as ongoing follow-up after training. Through these means, we aim to “steadily develop relevant personnel” and “increase the proportion of personnel with advanced skills” who have sophisticated skills, knowledge and a wealth of experience.

We have introduced the “Career Innovation Support Systems (concurrent positions/side jobs)” that allow employees to take on concurrent positions outside the company or work side jobs in accordance with certain requirements, such as for personal growth or to contribute to their main job or the local community. Since the system was introduced, 17 employees have taken advantage of it. By expanding opportunities for employees to gain a variety of experience outside of banking, this system aims to encourage their self-directed career development and growth outside their existing career paths, as well as to increase the diversity and expertise of human resources, to improve operations productivity, and to reform our corporate culture.

To promote and support employees’ autonomous career development, we have established a Career Consultation Desk to provide consultation on career development and career paths.

We have implemented “In-house recruitment” and “re-skilling challenges” as an open recruitment system to motivate employees for self-development and to encourage them to take on the challenge of career development on their own initiative.
Our in-house recruitment accepts applications regardless of career stage. In addition to assignments to various divisions of head office, we also offer external secondments and MBA programs. With 114 applicants in FY2023, concrete actions for career realization are expanding on a bank-wide scale. In FY2023, the “FA System” was introduced to give bank employees who have certain qualifications and experience the opportunity to widen their skills in a department of their choice. In addition, as an initiative to expand opportunities for challenges, we are also conducting public recruitment-based dispatches to participate in the educational program 'Round Table Training for Experienced Managers' offered by Yokohama National University, a national university corporation with which we have concluded a comprehensive partnership agreement, aiming to enhance the management skills of middle managers.
The re-skilling challenge is an open recruitment system for administrative staff at sales branches and head office to take on the challenge of “re-skilling” to close the gap between their current skills and the skills that will be needed in the future. We also provide support such as a career roadmaps to help staff envision the person they want to be and a Job Forum for understanding the operations of each department in head office. Since the start of the initiative in FY2021, a total of 422 people have applied, of which 176 have been hired as trainees, and 147 have been transferred to new positions in sales divisions or at the head office after completing the training period.

In order to provide optimal solutions to the increasingly diverse and sophisticated needs of local communities and customers, it is important to be an organization where diverse human resources can maximize their individual abilities. To achieve this, we are enhancing our recruitment efforts, upgrading our talent management systems, promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and encouraging the active participation of senior personnel. By doing so, we aim to create an environment where a diverse range of talents can thrive.

working hours and subsidies for daycare expenses and housekeeping services. The Bank of Yokohama has introduced a “support program for return from maternity leave” to ensure a smooth return to work for employees by supporting self-study during leave and holding roundtable discussions. Approximately 20% of employees who have taken maternity and childcare leave for one month or longer have used this program.
Furthermore, the Group is working together to support a smooth return to work. For example, in February 2024, the Bank of Yokohama, the Higashi-Nippon Bank, and THE KANAGAWA BANK jointly held a pre-return-to-work seminar for employees on maternity and childcare leave, which featured workshops to simulate how they will work after returning to work and discussions between participants.

The Group believes that local employment and procurement play an important role in building amicable relationships with the countries and regions in which it operates and contributing to sustainable development. At our overseas sites, we proactively hire local personnel who are familiar with the customs and needs of the region, and as of April 1, 2024, the number of locally-hired employees stood at 53. For locally hired employees, important matters such as labor standards regarding working hours, wages, etc. as well as the need for compliance are translated into the languages used at the overseas sites, such as English and Chinese, and communicated to all employees to ensure their understanding. In addition, we are actively promoting foreign personnel to management staff positions, and as of April 1, 2024, there were 11 foreign nationals in these positions.

Through our special subsidiary, Hamagin Business Challenged Co., Ltd., we aim to support the independence of people with disabilities and realize an inclusive society. We are working to create a workplace environment that supports the active participation of employees with disabilities by sharing information with employees through the “Hama Challenge Plaza” information tool, and by holding study session with outside lecturers for the human resources division and managers who have subordinates with disabilities. As of the end of FY2023, the Group’s employment percentage of people with disabilities was 2.65%.

In order for each and every employee to utilize his or her full potential, it is essential t o have a vibrant organizational culture and a work environment in which employees can work with peace of mind and in good mental and physical health. We foster an organizational climate and workplace environment that starts with the wellbeing of each and e very employee and their diverse values and lifestyles.

The Group has introduced a human resources evaluation system covering all employees, including part-timers, as a mechanism for improving motivation among employees and invigorating the organization, as well as for developing human resources and cultivating abilities through support for the realization of employees’ career visions. The human resources evaluation system is a flow of operations based on the “Management By Objective (MBO)” objectives for the year and consisting of “goal setting”, “performance evaluation”, and “feedback” through personal interviews. This evaluation system is implemented and operated in order to bring out individuals’abilities, from short-term evaluations of performance and bonuses to mid- and long-term evaluations of transfers, promotions, and advancement.

The Group has always endeavored to treat all employees, including part-timers, fairly and equitably, regardless of personal attributes such as seniority and gender, in accordance with the level of responsibility based on the difficulty, scope, and role of the job, as well as their contribution to business performance. In FY2023 and FY2024, we revised salaries (base pay increases) for two consecutive periods to reflect rising prices and other factors. Furthermore, we　are committed to complying with laws and regulations regarding minimum wage and equal pay for equal work for all employees, and these policies are clearly stated in our internal regulations and other relevant documents.

Revision of the Bank of Yokohama’s personnel system

In order to transform into a solution company, in July 2024, the Bank of Yokohama revised its personnel system with three objectives: “increase each individual employee’s desire to grow and take on challenges”, “strengthen retention, particularly in new-graduate recruitment and younger employees”, and “secure specialized human resources and strengthen development of them”. By partially unifying qualifications that enable early promotion and establishing a new “Style System” to realize dualtrack careers, the Bank aims to operate personnel management based on merit rather than seniority or personal attributes, and to enable each employee to realize a career that matches their own values and aptitudes.

We encourage participation in childcare regardless of gender by developing and encouraging the use of various leave systems, including male childcare leave, special leave for when a spouse gives birth, and leave to support work-life balance that can be taken when a child has a school event.
In particular, we are focusing awareness-raising activities regarding “male participation in housework and childcare”, which is the foundation for promoting women’s participation in the workplace, and in FY2023 the percentage of men taking childcare leave across the three Group banks was 111.7%.
For caregiving leave and fertility treatment too, we have established a stance that allows each employee to achieve a work-life balance according to his or her own circumstances. We raise understanding through the use of such tools as trainings, creating guidebooks, and introducing video content and we encourage employees to take nursing care leave to care for a family member in need or t o take family planning leave when undergoing infertility treatment.
In recognition of these efforts, the Group was selected as the F Y2023 “Next Nadeshiko: Companies Suppor ting Dual-career and Co-parenting”.

In order for each employee to reach his or her full potential, the workplace must be a healthy place with a high level of psychological safety. The Group uses one-on-one meetings to provide opportunities for superiors and subordinates to discuss everything from work-related concerns to private matters without hesitation, and to ensure psychological safety by building mutual understanding and trust between superiors and subordinates.
In addition, the Group clearly states in its employment regulations that all forms of harassment are prohibited. The Group is working to prevent and appropriately respond to harassment by providing training for all employees on harassment prevention and training for managers on how to report and respond to harassment, by establishing internal and external “harassment consultation offices” for sexual harassment, bullying, harassment related to pregnancy, childbirth, childcare leave, nursing care leave, etc., and SOGI^*harassment, and by establishing an internal reporting system (hotline).
In addition, we have established a consultation service for employees to discuss matters related to balancing work with childcare and nursing care, as well as matters related to diversity, equity, and inclusion regarding themselves and their surroundings, and we are widely promoting the development of a workplace environment that ensures psychological safety.
The contents of consultations are kept confidential, and a system is in place to protect the privacy of the consultants and other parties involved.

As part of our efforts to respect human rights, the Group identifies human rights issues through human rights due diligence as stipulated in the human rights policy, and are evaluating issues that have a negative impact on the human rights of emplo yees based on the content of v arious consultation desks and results of questionnaires, and other factors. Furthermore, to prevent and mitigate negative impacts on human rights, we conduct awar eness-raising training and workshops to deepen correct knowledge and understanding of human rights. We are also working to raise employee awareness of the importance of respecting human rights by soliciting slogans related to human rights awareness and presenting awards for outstanding works.