Relationship with Major Stakeholders
At the DOWA Group, at each office and department, we communicate with our major stakeholders through various methods of communication, including customers, shareholders, investors, suppliers, local communities and employees.
Relationship with Major Stakeholders
Communication with Shareholders and Investors
At the DOWA Group, we recognize as an important issue for corporate governance the explanation of corporate and management information to shareholders, investors and other stakeholders, and we are striving to disclose timely and appropriate information.
Providing IR information
We hold briefing sessions by management for our quarterly financial result announcements.
In addition, we also arrange opportunities to explain management information directly to investors in Japan and overseas.
As a tool to report the management policies and situation of the DOWA Group, we also publish the annual report and other reports in Japanese, English and Chinese, and we work to disclose information that is appropriate and highly transparent.
In order to help shareholders and investors understand the DOWA Group's management situation and business strategy, we also provide IR information on our website.
In addition to the financial statement summary and securities report, we post materials like the annual report and shareholder communications.
We will keep working to disclose information in a timely and easy-to-understand manner.
IR information website
General Meeting of Shareholders
Every June, we hold an ordinary general meeting of shareholders at the Hotel Chinzan-so in Tokyo.
After the general meeting of shareholders, we hold a social gathering aimed at promoting communication with shareholders. There we set up a forum for dialogue with executives and a product exhibition section for each business.
In addition, we set up a separate presentation room at the venue where the executives can explain the topics of the DOWA Group.
For FY 2017, we introduced products for hybrid cars and electric cars that DOWA Metaltech is developing in its business. We held an active question and answer session, with questions from shareholders about such things as the product shipment status.
Dialogue with institutional investors
Besides the quarterly financial statement briefings by the company president and management, we holds such things as business briefings.
In addition, IR representatives visit institutional investors in Japan and overseas, and also give individual interviews, working so that they can understand our business and business plans.
We regularly report to management the opinions that we receive during these dialogues, which are useful to improve management.
Ordinary general meeting of shareholders
Social gathering for shareholders
〔 The main opinions we received in FY 2017 with regards to CSR 〕
- In the CSR Report, the ordinary things that we do also need to be listed.
If it is not written about, it might look like nothing has been done.
- It is better to make more of an appeal about the main business, such as resource recycling or the environmental business.
- By the company growing, it leads to resolution of the SDGs.
A stance of working on one goal in the medium to long-term can be valued.
- Once we set the SDGs goals, a viewpoint to link them with the core business seems important so that the process itself is updated each year.
Tour for investors
The Dowa Group conducts factory tours for institutional investors and securities analysts as an opportunity for them to deepen their understanding about our business.
In FY 2017, we held one at the Hamamatsu Kita plant of DOWA Thermoengineering (Shizuoka Prefecture). We did a tour of industrial furnaces and manufacturing processes, and we explained the strengths of DOWA Thermotech which is engaged in both manufacturing & sales and processing services for heat treatment facilities.
Tour for investors
Together with Our Customers and Business Partners
The DOWA Group strives to build long-term relationships of trust with its business partners and suppliers in order to improve customer satisfaction through providing better products and services.
In addition, we are promoting CSR initiatives through the supply chain, including environmental conservation and improvement in the working environment.
Supply Chain Management
The DOWA Group promotes CSR throughout the whole supply chain by distributing to business partners and suppliers the “DOWA Group CSR Procurement Guidelines” that pull together our CSR procurement policies and code of conduct, and by seeking understanding about our company’s approach to CSR.
These guidelines are translated into English, Chinese and Thai and distributed to DOWA offices overseas.
In FY 2017, in order to confirm the status of CSR efforts, we distributed a self-check questionnaire to about 100 major business partners and suppliers, and collected about 95% of them
While the average point rose overall compared to the previous FY, looking at it by sector, we found that initiatives for social contribution were weak.
For those business partners and suppliers who we received answers from, we sent them a feedback report, telling them about the status of the current evaluation.
CSR procurement audits
With regards to important suppliers, we will actually visit them, and together with explaining our thinking about CSR procurement, we also check their conformity with the CSR procurement guidelines.
We mainly interview them about the questionnaire results, check documents, and confirm site safety and environmental initiatives.
In FY 2017, we expanded the scope from raw material and auxiliary material manufacturers, and visited suppliers of equipment and manufacturing parts that are important to our manufacturing business.
Regarding the importance of CSR in the supply chain, we will keep working to further improve CSR while strengthening the partnership with suppliers by getting their understanding.
Quality Control
At the DOWA Group, we position “quality” as an important management standard for manufacturing.
Major manufacturing plants have obtained international standard ISO 9001 certification for our quality control systems.
We strive to improve the quality of products and services by continuously operating these quality control systems based on PDCA.
In addition, as an initiative to strengthen quality control, we put effort into confirming the quality of procured items.
In cooperation with suppliers, we aim to ensure the quality of procured items from the aspect of quality and technology by implementing supplier surveys and inspections at appropriate intervals.
From fiscal 2018, we will begin auditing our internal quality control systems, including at overseas offices.
Response to Comments and Opinions
With regards to opinions and inquiries that we have received from customers, we strive to supply satisfactory products by aiming to promptly make appropriate improvements.
We aim to improve the information sharing and management system, and we classify, analyze and evaluate the information gathered at each business site, which leads to development and improvement of our products and services.
Together With the Regional Society
With initiatives in the social field, the DOWA Group is working on regional contributions as a priority measure.
In each of our domestic and overseas bases, we are actively developing community-based CSR activities such as factory tours, accepting interns, hosting sports events and communicating with local communities in order to progress and develop together with the region.
Social contribution activities
[Tokyo] Holding a tour of our headquarters
In May 2017, as part of a school trip, 48 ninth-grade students from the Kosaka Municipal Junior High School, the area of our company’s birthplace, visited the headquarters of DOWA in the Akihabara area of Tokyo.
While this was the fifth time that students from this school have done such a tour, after they tour our offices and we explain our business, every year the students come up with ingenious presentations, such as song or dance.
In FY 2017, presentaion entitled “The Love Kosaka Presentation”, they introduced their home town of Kosaka.
[Akita Prefecture] The DOWA Cup Junior Cross-Country Ski Tournament at Lake Towada
In February 2018, the DOWA Cup was held on the shore of Lake Towada in Akita Prefecture. This was the 28th time that this historic junior cross-country ski tournament was held, and it is certified as an official event of the Ski Association of Akita.
It is one of the qualifying races for participation in the Junior Olympics. From elementary and junior high schools in the three prefectures of the Tohoku region, 218 children participated in high-level races.
About 130 staff are involved in its operation, including DOWA Group employees and people from neighborhood councils and local ski clubs.
Starting with the cleaning of the venue in May of the previous year, they cooperate on various tasks, such as taking over a month to develop the course, setting up the venue and the final tidying up.
For over a quarter of a century, this ski tournament has been an indispensable event for the DOWA Group to deepen ties with the local community.
[Myanmar] Event for children
In Myanmar, every February 13th is “Children’s Day” when families celebrate and wish for the growth of their cherished children.
To celebrate Children’s Day, GOLDEN DOWA ECO-SYSTEM MYANMAR, which operates a waste disposal treatment business in Myanmar, invites children from the neighboring area to a weekend event that they hold.
Compared to the city of Yangon, the Tirawa area where the plant is located is still developing and there are children who do not attend school.
At the event, the 216 children who participated were given original T-shirts and sweets, etc.
In the future, we would like to continue our initiatives so that the children in the area can lead bright and healthy lives.
Together with Employees
The DOWA Group sets forth in its Code of Conduct that human resources are the basis of all business activities, and employees should be evaluated for their ability to do their jobs, regardless of differences in their educational background, seniority and gender.
We have taken various initiatives so that employees can exercise their full potential.
Employment status
At the end of FY 2017 (March 31st, 2018), the number of employees in Japan was 6,094, up 22 people the year before.
Of the regular employees in Japan, there were 3,851 men (92%) and 337 women (8%).
With globalization, the proportion of employees at offices overseas is increasing, and the number of employees overseas in FY 2017 was about 35% of the total.
In addition, the total number of new graduate and mid-career hires in the group as a whole was 209 men and 19 women, an increase of about 20% from the year before.
While the retention rate is a little higher for male employees, it is roughly around 90% overall.
[ Employment related data ]
Employment situation in Japan (DOWA Group)
| Type of employee |
FY |
FY 2015 |
FY 2016 |
FY 2017 |
Gender
Classification |
Men |
Women |
Men |
Women |
Men |
Women |
| Regular employees in Japan |
Executive officers |
132 |
1 |
128 |
1 |
125 |
1 |
| Management employees |
725 |
9 |
758 |
9 |
778 |
10 |
| General employees |
2,845 |
302 |
2,901 |
311 |
2,948 |
326 |
| Non-regular employees in Japan |
Dispatched employees |
493 |
633 |
709 |
| Part-time |
1,053 |
318 |
1,050 |
281 |
897 |
300 |
| Total |
5,248 |
630 |
5,470 |
602 |
5,457 |
637 |
| Grand total |
5,878 |
6,072 |
6,094 |
No. of employees by region (including non-consolidated)
FY
Region |
FY2015 |
FY2016 |
FY2017 |
| Japan |
5,878 |
6,072 |
6,094 |
| Asia(besides Japan) |
2,897 |
2,899 |
3,092 |
| Europe |
22 |
23 |
14 |
| North America |
96 |
96 |
131 |
| Latin America |
1 |
1 |
4 |
| Total |
8,894 |
9,091 |
9,335 |
Employee retention rate (DOWA Group)
| Year they joined the company |
FY 2015 (as of the end of FY 2017) |
Gender
Avg. retention rate |
Men |
Women |
| Avg. retention rate after 3 years in the company |
95% |
83% |
| Avg. retention rate |
93% |
TOPICS
Akita Zinc received the Innovation Award for the 2017 “Good Career Company Awards”
Akita Zinc, which smelts zinc in the city of Akita, was selected as the only company from Akita Prefecture to be awarded the “Innovation Award” (human resource development supervisor commendation) for the 2017 “Good Career Company Awards” by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
Akita Zinc, where about 200 employees work, introduced a career consulting and mentoring system that makes the setting and achievement of individual goals a reality by tailoring to each individual's values, while utilizing existing mechanisms such as improvement proposals and small group activities. For six years in a row, they have achieved a turnover rate of zero for employees who have been with the company three years or less since graduating from high school.
The point that this award recognized was “realizing young employee retention through career support to enhance a feeling of self‐efficacy”.
Human resource development and evaluation
As a vision for human resources and our organization, the DOWA Group aims to “respect a sound and free corporate culture, and by building a foundation for long-term growth, continue to provide new value to society by creating human resources and the organization”. We are developing various human resource development and utilization measures for all employees.
Fair evaluation & treatment
At the DOWA Group, based on the principle of “evaluating employees for their ability to do their jobs” in the Code of Conduct, under the following polices, we are working for fair evaluation and treatment.
Training for evaluators and those being evaluated is positioned as a group-wide initiative. By setting up opportunities for ongoing training, we strive for appropriate evaluation, treatment and training.
As a training opportunity, we plan to cover all employees of the group over three years. In addition to getting understanding of the system for three years from FY 2018, we plan to conduct “interview training” aimed at promoting communication with subordinates.
We also conduct a survey every year in order to evaluate the operational status of the system.
From last year, the issues extracted from this were added as new improvement items in the briefing for evaluators and the training for those being evaluated. We are striving to promote understanding of the system for employees, and for its appropriate operation.
- For evaluators and those being evaluated, deepen understanding of the standards and structure of the system, and utilize appropriate evaluations and training.
- While sharing organizational goals, and getting understanding of the abilities and behaviors required of their job grade, try to improve job performance abilities.
Education and training system
From new employees to managers, we have established stratified education according to job classification, and have set up an education system of selective education in order to nurture the next generation of leaders at each level.
We also conduct training and meetings to implement shared awareness and edification.
In FY 2017, within the selective education we started training to strengthen skills for leading subordinates.
In the selective education, we also provide opportunities for self development, with such things as correspondence education and e-learning, which are easy to use with few restrictions on time and place, and external interactive education.
[ Examples of stratified & selective education in FY 2017 ]
(Targeting DOWA Holdings and the operating companies)
Promoting diversity
At the DOWA Group, amid global development and the expansion of business areas, we believe that diversified human resources with various values and points of view who can fully demonstrate their individuality and abilities will lead to the growth of the company.
Training of global human resources
As part of promoting diversity, the Dowa Group is working on creating a mechanism from the recruitment stage based on the idea of working globally regardless of nationality.
In recruiting new graduates for regular positions, we are actively recruiting foreigners and Japanese exchange students who have graduated from foreign universities, and foreign exchange students from overseas, and are boosting our hiring results year by year.
Along with the expansion in employing human resources in various countries and regions, at the time of hiring, we provide education to convey our principles and policies, as well as consideration for human rights.
In addition, we provide training to employees who are assigned to overseas offices prior to taking up their new posts, and also conduct diversity acceptance education such as cross-cultural understanding.
In future, we will continue to work on expanding our global talent base.
Promoting Participation by Women
At our company there is no distinction according to gender in how people work, and regardless of whether in Japan or overseas, female employees are also active in such fields as manufacturing, research and development, production management, sales and accounting.
For hiring, promotion and advancement as well, evaluation is done according to the abilities of the person.
For the hiring of women for regular positions, it is about 10% to 20% of people hired overall, and the number of female managers is around 1%. The number is certainly not high, but it is gradually increasing along with changes in the business and workplace environments.
In addition, in order to support participation by women, we conduct diversity management training for managers.
In FY 2017, we newly launched a diversity career program for female employees and training for female office workers.
At our company, despite arranging a workplace environment where it is easy for women who are raising children to work, such as a flex-time system without core time and assistance for child-rearing costs, it is a problem that the proportion of continued employment is lower than that of male employees.
In the future, we will actively work on improving the system to balance work and family life and to change awareness, with a numerical target of 80% or more for the continued employment of women hired 10 years ago, so it is about the same as men.
Percentage of female workers by level
| Level |
FY 2015 |
FY 2016 |
FY 2017 |
| Executive officers |
0.8％ |
0.8％ |
0.8％ |
| Management employees |
1.2% |
1.2% |
1.3% |
| General employees |
9.6% |
9.7% |
10.0% |
Re-employment of retired workers
Utilizing their technical skills and knowledge, for employees who wish to continue working at the DOWA Group even after their retirement, we are striving to improve the environment so that they can work with more motivation.
In addition, for the purpose of providing information about a second career after retirement, we hold a life planning seminar for employees who have reached a certain age.
We have also established an investigative committee on the employment of the elderly, and are discussing ways to utilize this human resource in the future.
Employment for physically challenged
In FY 2017, the DOWA Group as a whole was unable to reach the statutory employment rate.
On the other hand, the scope of work that those with disabilities can do is increasing every year, and the trend is for an increase in the number hired.
In order to promote the employment of people with disabilities, we will continue to provide opportunities for workplace experiences, and to create a workplace environment that accepts them and where it is easy for them to work.
Work-Life Balance
With the aim of harmonizing work and life, we are enhancing the system to support work-life balance, and are developing a workplace environment where it is easy to work, so that it is possible for employees to maximize their abilities according to their lifestyle.
Supporting various working styles
At the DOWA Group, we introduced a flex-time system without core time so that employees can work according to the fluctuations and characteristics of the job.
In addition, besides community service leave and a relaxation leave system where employees get days off for a certain number of years of service, we have prepared support measures beyond what is stipulated by the law, such as paid time off for nursing sick children (up to five days), limitations on transfers that involve moving for the reason of childcare, partial subsidies for childcare expenses and a leave system due to life events.
The number of people using these systems has increased every year. In FY 2017, the number of people who took childcare leave was 34, and 27 men and 26 women took time off to nurse sick children.
Those who took childcare leave
| FY |
FY2015 |
FY2016 |
FY2017 |
| Men |
Women |
Men |
Women |
Men |
Women |
No. who took
the leave
(people) |
1 |
15 |
0 |
28 |
2 |
32 |
In-house Questionnaire
We conduct a questionnaire on work-life balance for new employees every year
In FY 2017, including men, those who wished to get childcare and nursing care leave was over 80%.
Against the background of the improvement in the utilization rate of the current system, in addition to promoting the improvement of the workplace environment so that it easy to use the system, the impact of the change in awareness by such employees is also considered to be significant.
Also, in addition to flex-time and shorter working hours to balance work and family life, many were of the opinion that they wanted a telecommuting system.
We will keep working on work-life balance initiatives with these opinions in mind.
Optimization of working hours
We are working to curb long working hours and promote the taking of annual paid vacation so that employees can work with health and vigor in both mind and body.
With the attendance system managed by the head office, we are managing time through the computer logs, and when a certain level of working hours are exceeded, an improvement plan must be submitted to the manager.
There is also an interview with an industrial physician depending on the number of overtime hours.
The average overtime hours in FY 2017 were 19.7 hours a month.
To optimize working hours, we will continue to strive to manage working hours with both hard and soft measures.
With regards to annual paid vacation in FY 2017, with 20 days on average granted, employees took about 65% of their vacation days.
We promote the planning of yearly paid vacation according to the business situation at each business site, and through changing the awareness of employees with such things as further feedback on the number of days taken during the year, the number of vacation days taken improves year by year.
TOPICS
Meltec Certified as a work-life balance promoter in Oyama
At Meltec, which processes waste in Tochigi Prefecture, there has been understanding and a desire to promote a gender‐equal society. In June 2017, as a company that actively worked on creating a working environment where it was easy to work for men and women who were balancing work and family life,
They were certified as a work-life balance promoter in the city of Oyama.
In the certification, Meltec was recognized for actively working on promoting community contribution activities in three areas:
(1) Harmony between work and home life; (2) Promoting female workers to demonstrate their abilities; and (3) Activities in the community with regards to parenting and for people to connect with each other.
