Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Initiatives

Promoting the Advancement of Female Employees

Basic Policy

With the aim of enabling women and all other employees to thrive at work and ensuring the Company continues to co-create new value with various stakeholders, Idemitsu has positioned promoting the active participation of women as a key D&I promotion measure. To fulfill this commitment, we have set out our vision for both female employees and the Company as detailed in the table below.

Female Employees
  • At each workplace and in each decision-making body, including meetings, multiple female employees participate and engage without stifling their own opinions
  • Regardless of age or life events, female employees grow while maintaining career aspirations with the aim of creating value
Company
  • Provide fair growth opportunities regardless of sex, age, or life events, encourage employees to take on new challenges, and evaluate employees fairly according to their growth
出光興産, DFF Inc.

Status of Female Employees (As of March 31, 2021)

  Number of women (people) Percentage of women (%)
Number of member 564 14.0
Number of employees in managerial position 24 2.4
  Of the numbers mentioned above, over general managers 3 8.1
Of the numbers mentioned above, managers 21 2.2
出光興産, DFF Inc.

Numerical Targets

  Current Status Targets
Number of female executives
(set as our target separately from the general business owner action plan)
2 people
(as of March 31, 2021)
5 people
(as of June 30, 2023)
Number of female management-level employees
(employed by Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd.)
24 people
(as of March 31, 2021)
* 27 people (including employees
seconded to other companies)
46 people
(as of March 31, 2023)
Percentage of female graduates hired 24.1%
(April 2021)
30.0%
(March 31, 2023)
Percentage of annual paid leave taken by employees 69.5%
(FY2020)
85.0%
(March 31, 2023)
出光興産, DFF Inc.

General Employer Action Plan Based on the Act on the Promotion of Women’s Participation and Advancement in the Workplace

When formulating our general employer action plan, we set out to uncover the fundamental factors inhibiting the growth and active participation of female employees by using the actual hiring situation, analytical data tools and surveys of all employees on topics such as motivation. Based on these results, we established quantitative targets for issues requiring improvement.

We believe that better workplaces, where women can work easily and feel their work is rewarding, lead to better environments, where all employees can achieve better work-life balance and fully demonstrate their diverse capabilities. Accordingly, from FY2020 onward, we are implementing initiatives based on this action plan.

Period of the plan
April 1, 2020–March 31, 2023 (3 years)
Idemitsu’s issues
  • The percentage of female managers is low.
  • The hiring ratio of women is low.
Plan Details
  1. (1) Provide growth opportunities to female employees

    Quantitative target 1*1
    46 female managers (3.0%) or higher (currently 26 (1.7%) as of April 1, 2019)

    <Initiatives>
    • Ensure training and growth opportunities for female employees
    • Reform the corporate culture and mindset of executives, superiors, and female employees

    Quantitative target 2*1
    30% or higher ratio of female graduate hires (currently 22% as of April 1, 2019)

    <Initiatives>
    • Strengthen hiring activities (provide internships, revamp our pamphlets and hiring website, etc.)
    • Promote workstyle reforms at manufacturing sites, hold networking events for female employees in the manufacturing departments, etc.
  2. (2) Initiatives related to supporting a work-life balance

    Quantitative target 3*2
    85% or higher percentage of annual paid leave taken by employees (currently 69.3% as of April 1, 2019)

    <Initiatives>
    • Promote workstyle reforms (work-from-home, encouraging the use of flextime, etc.)
    • Holding dialogues with each department and branch to encourage the use of annual paid leave
  • *1. Employees directly employed by Idemitsu (including those seconded to other companies) are within the scope of calculation.
  • *2. Employees directly employed by Idemitsu (excluding those on temporary leave or seconded employees) are within the scope of calculation.
出光興産, DFF Inc.

Specific Initiatives

Overview of Initiatives
Figure
Introduction of a Mentorship Program Quantitative Target 1

Since September 2020, we have been running a mentorship program with the aim of offering career support to female employees. Female managers active outside the Company act as mentors to solve current concerns and issues and encourage the growth activities of women by offering advice on how to achieve growth. In fiscal 2020, 14 women participated. In the questionnaire, all participants said they noticed or learned something new, 93% said they were influenced in their attitude and behavior, and 93% of superiors said they felt a positive change. 11 women will participate in fiscal 2021.

Figure
Thematic Subcommittee Quantitative Target 1

In order to implement the action plan, we think it is necessary to build a solid employee network. As part of it, starting from April 2020, employees who have common interest in a certain topic / theme gather forming subcommittees on Teams. Participants, not only limited to female employees, can share their problems and receive feedback from others about the topic. It could at least reduce anxieties among the members and stimulate them to exchange more ideas. ​

Month Number of
events
Target Number of
participants
Topic
April 2020 2 times Employees on childcare 7 people Does the number of employees struggling to balance work and childcare increase due to Coronavirus? Let's talk about your concerns and take a step forward to solve them!
June 2020 4 times Employees on childcare 16 people The state of emergency has been lifted! Let's think together about to balance work and childcare in this post-Corona era!
Reflected in goal achievement evaluations of management-level employees Numerical Target 1

From fiscal 2020, we will include initiatives related to women’s activities in the management-level employees’ management- by-objectives (MBO) evaluations to encourage the growth of female employees.

Opinion Exchange Meetings with Female Engineer Quantitative Target 2

In February 2020, we held an opinion exchange meeting that was attended by eight female engineers from the Group’s complexes and refining companies. The online follow-up meeting started in October and was held three times during fiscal 2020. In fiscal 2021, an opinion exchange meeting was held in August with 20 participants. We are continuing this activity because it helps participants get to know each other and motivates them to work and pursue their careers.

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Networking with Female Employees from Other Companies Quantitative Target 1

The former company Showa Shell held a networking event for female managers and South Korea-based GS Caltex every year since 2017. The third such event was held in September 2019, and the newly integrated company expanded the list of invitees to include next-generation leaders. The event provided opportunities to network with people outside the company and from overseas, creating strong bonds with the aim of broadening people’s minds and influencing future action. The participants fostered a sense of kinship among themselves, motivating one another to step outside their gendered boxes and take action enabling their own growth and activity.

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Female employee exchange meeting  Quantitative Target 1

‘Ladies Meet Up @ Odaiba’ was a gathering organized for female employees on January 17, 2019. This gathering was organized to promote interaction between employees of Idemitsu Kosan and Showa Shell, and to increase awareness on how to make effective use of individual capabilities in an ever-changing workplace environment. A total of 103 female employees gathered in Odaiba from various parts of Japan, while others joined the gathering via Skype.

In the first half of the event, 2 female executive officers, Ms. Terakami and Ms. Inoue spoke about their careers. The participants were inspired by the fact that Ms. Terakami and Ms. Inoue took up the initiative and overcame hardships to get to where they currently are, in spite of the fact that there were few females in power at that time.

In the second half of the event, the participants reflected on the contents of the talk given by Ms. Terakami and Ms. Inoue and tried to apply what they had learnt to their own situations. All participants actively participated in group discussions, openly sharing their thoughts and opinions, such as attributes that they would like to utilize and new challenges that they would like to take up in the future. Positive feedback was received from all participants, with some expressing that the gathering was a great opportunity to freely discuss about work and a good platform to think about solutions to solve issues in the workplace together. Other comments include an improvement in the level of interaction between Idemitsu Kosan and Showa Shell employees.

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出光興産, DFF Inc.