Social
Sustainability
Promotion of health and welfare
The Company promotes solutions to social issues, including nursing care and elderly welfare issues, by guaranteeing commercial transactions with hospitals and social welfare corporations.
Local small and medium-sized companies play a central role in the social welfare business. For example, the nursing care business is a relatively easy sector to enter, despite its high costs and low profit margins. These factors have made large companies reluctant to engage in this business, which has resulted in small and medium-sized companies becoming the central players in the sector. Small and medium-sized companies undertaking nursing care operations face financing pressures in areas such as the initial costs mainly consisting of purchasing buildings and fitting out their interiors, as well as running costs such as the personnel costs of frontline care workers. The Company assists these small and medium-sized companies by undertaking their credit risks and extending their usance for payment of supplies, etc. that they procure.
Contribution to regional revitalization
Regional companies are doing more and more business with companies in urban areas or other prefectures. Shifts in sales channels have been a major reason behind this trend. Namely, whereas in the past, large companies, such as the trading companies, functioned as intermediaries in these kinds of transactions, buying from and selling to companies in urban areas and other prefectures, the rise of the internet in recent years has given regional companies a direct connection to those urban and out-of-prefecture companies, allowing them to buy and sell directly. However, these regional companies have difficulty investigating the credit risk of these other parties outside their own prefecture, making the cost of collecting outstanding debts a major burden.
The Company undertakes those credit risks in the form of guarantees, which reduces such collection costs and gives the regional companies more options for commercial transactions. In this way, we are contributing to the growth and development of regional communities.
Support for start-ups, etc.
Through our guarantee services, we give start-ups the same ability to determine credit risk and risk tolerance as large companies. We also guarantee and provide credit to start-ups and sole proprietors. In such ways, we make it easier for start-ups and sole proprietors to do business smoothly with other companies, supporting the further growth of start-ups and the sustainable business activities of sole proprietors.
Strategy, indices, and targets for human capital
(1) Policies
One of the three tenets in the Company’s management philosophy is “We strive to be a company that values free thinking, nurturing talented and trusted employees who can think and act independently.” In order to realize this tenet, we aim to cultivate employees who proactively develop their own skills and take a sense of ownership in their daily duties. The Company emphasizes the acquisition of three categories of skills (conceptual skills, human skills, and technical skills) necessary for management, and we have established a training system for all employees to acquire these skills. We are also strengthening the cultivation of overseas human resources and have established a training system for starting businesses in the United States. Taking on the challenge of starting a business and gaining experience from the standpoint of a manager enables employees to improve their problem-finding skills. Moving forward, we plan to expand our credit guarantee business, mainly in Asia, and are cultivating human resources with this goal in mind.
(2) Systems
Employment, values, lifestyles, and other factors are diversifying in today’s society. Accordingly, the Company is working to promote diversity. We aim to be a company where individuals with different backgrounds can work with mutual respect and fulfill active roles. To achieve this goal, we are working to foster systems and culture. As part of efforts to improve our internal environment, we have established systems related to work-life balance; for example, such as childcare leave, long-term care leave, and shortened working hours systems. These systems allow employees to choose flexible ways of working according to their stage in life.
(3) Indices and targets
In order to ensure diversity in appointments to management positions, the Company proactively identifies talents in female candidates for managerial positions, regardless of age, and selects such candidates for management positions. By the end of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2027, we aim to increase the number of female workers in managements positions (section chief or higher) by at least five positions compared to the beginning of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023. Furthermore, by promoting health guidance, mental health measures, and an increase in the rate of taking paid leave, we aim to maintain the physical and mental health of employees. These activities will also improve employee engagement and motivation, and ultimately reenergize the Company’s organization as a whole.