Diversity

Ensure diversity of core human resources within the company, internal environment development policy, human resources development policy

To enable a diverse range of human resources to play an active role, we do not make any distinctions in treatment or promotion based on gender, nationality, or disability. In addition, as part of our policy for improving the internal environment, we have set "workplace environment and job satisfaction" as one of our most important values, and each and every employee works together with his or her colleagues to create a pleasant workplace. In addition, as an investment in balancing work and child rearing, we actively support our employees by providing a leave system, child rearing support system, and work styles that match their life events. As part of our human resource development policy, we believe that the growth of our human resources is our greatest growth strategy, and we provide various forms of training to maximize all employees' knowledge and skill improvement and educational opportunities, creating an environment where employees can learn what they want to learn when they want to learn it, without any burden.

Examples of Action

Promoting Women's Empowerment

Skylark Group is striving to create a system that allows female employees to work for a long time with peace of mind, even with changes in life stages—such as marriage and childbirth—by offering paid leave and childcare support systems that allow women to work comfortably, work styles that can be chosen according to individual preferences, and training programs that offer peace of mind before and after joining the company.

Major Indicators	KPI
	2030	2050
Percentage of female employees in management posts	30%	50%

	FY2018	FY2019	FY2020	FY2021	FY2022	FY2023
Percentage of full-time employees who are female	12.9%	13.7%	14.0%	13.7%	14.1%	15.2%
Percentage of employees who are female	60.7%	61.0%	61.3%	61.2%	62.5%	61.6%

Percentage of new employees who are female	FY2018	FY2019	FY2020	FY2021	FY2022	FY2023
Total number of new employees	427	427	261	126	242	217
Number of new employees who are female	151	174	94	52	93	115
Percentage of employees who are female	35.4%	40.7%	36.0%	41.3%	38.4%	53.0%

Leave and Childcare Support Systems

Workstyles	Up to 141 days off per year Varies between 7–12 days per month Standard 117 days per year, up to 141 days System for taking five or more consecutive days off twice a year Seven consecutive days off recommended Percentage of employees who have taken five consecutive days off: 91.6% Variable working hours system Employees can work freely according to busy seasons and slow periods
Childcare Support	Reduced working hours Reduced working hours can be taken until the employee's child is in the sixth grade of elementary school Employees can choose from 4–6 working hours Employees can also specify their clock-in times Child nursing care leave If their child is injured or sick, employees can take 10 days of nursing care leave per child Childcare support allowance Employees receive 10,000 yen per dependent child
Childcare and Maternity Leave Systems	Maternity leave Six weeks before giving birth Eight weeks after giving birth Childcare leave Childcare leave can be taken until March after the child turns one year old, or up to one and a half years old.

Selectable Workstyles

Employees can choose different workstyles according to changes in their life stages

	Eligible Work Locations	Workstyles
National Employees	Stores / restaurants Nationwide (Nationwide transfers possible)	When joining the company, employees are assigned mainly to positions in major cities such as the Greater Tokyo area, Kansai area, Sendai, Nagoya, Hiroshima and Fukuoka, taking their current address into account The company will bear all moving expenses associated with transfers
Area Employees	Stores / restaurants within commuting distance from the employees' home (Transfers within local area possible)	There are restrictions on employee capacity and possible working areas

Training Programs

	Timing	Training program	Details of training
Rank-specific Training	Before joining the company	Support before joining the company	A new graduate recruiter will be assigned as a dedicated contact for new recruits, answering questions about joining the company and providing support to get off to a smooth start after joining the company
	After joining the company (1st year)	New employee training	Combination of group training sessions and online training
		Follow-up training	Training sessions held in parallel with store work during the training period
		J2 Training, J3 Training* （Assistant manager training）	Training conducted upon promotion to J2 and J3*
	Upon promotion to manager positions	Newly appointed manager training	Training focused on improving problem-solving skills at stores when promoted to manager
Purpose-specific Training	All managers	Purpose-specific manager training	Skill development training tailored to individual abilities (career sheets)
	All supervisors	Supervisor training	Training by external instructors focused on improving communication skills
	All sales department managers	Sales department manager training	Training by external instructors focused on improving the skills necessary for subordinate development
	Managers and above (Managers, supervisors, sales department managers, sales division managers)	Purpose-specific external training	Theme-specific seminar-type skills improvement training by external lecturers
Store Support	Store support through IT solutions	Conversion of operating manuals to video format	In order for every employee to learn and teach standard tasks in an easy-to-understand manner, we have prepared training manuals in video format
		Updating store systems	Labor management functions have also been greatly improved, such as through the automation of food management duties and making it possible to flexibly manage work shifts using smartphones

*By passing the J2 and J3 certification exams after the initial exam at the time of joining the company (J1), employees gain manager qualifications

Women's Empowerment Site

Extension of Mandatory Retirement

Extended maximum age for part-time workers to 75 and retirement age for full-time employees to 65

Employment of Persons with Disabilities

Our employment rate for employment of persons with disabilities in 2020 is 2.29%, exceeding the legal minimum.
Skylark Group has about 470 employees with disabilities.
For this reason, we have created a guidebook called the Handbook for the Employment of Persons with Disabilities at business sites where people with disabilities are registered as employees, so that the characteristics of disabilities and contact information in case of any problems can be shared throughout our stores. By incorporating many case studies in manga cartoon format, we are creating workplaces where people with disabilities can work more comfortably.
In April 2021, we established a dedicated consultation desk for people with disabilities, to support further recruitment and retention.

Work Environment	Currently, more than 470 people with disabilities are active in Skylark Group, many of them working at stores in their local areas. One characteristic of our stores is that there are many opportunities to work with housewives during the daytime, and they work together with employees with disabilities every day, watching over their growth as if they were their own child. The many experiences gained from interacting with various people while working leads to the growth of each individual.
Consideration for Physical Condition and Respect for Individuals	Types of disability and situation are different for each person. At Skylark, we respect the individuality of each employee, and ask them only to perform work that they are able to carry out. At the same time, we work to ensure necessary care and consideration, such as securing break times and enabling employees to take their medication as necessary. To correctly understand the characteristics of people with disabilities within the company and respond to them as necessary, we have created a framework for accepting them, such as by creating video tools and guides.
Workstyles	Everyone works differently. First of all, we start with simple tasks such as dishwashing and cleaning work. After that, while confirming the characteristics, state of skills' acquisition and understanding for each individual, we increase the range of work that can be done within a reasonable scope. Once they become accustomed to their duties, employees may begin to serve food and attend to customers. Every one of our efforts leads to smiles on the faces of local customers.

	FY2018	FY2019	FY2020	FY2021	FY2022	FY2023
Employment rate for persons with disabilities	2.2%	2.2%	2.3%	2.9%	3.3%	3.6%

Employment of Non-Japanese Employees

There are around 2,000 non-Japanese employees of various nationalities from around 26 countries working in Skylark Group. Approximately 200 technical intern trainees from Vietnam are currently working at the company's food and logistics factories, as part of a program which began in 2016.
As an example, we have prepared video-format basic business process explanation tools that can be viewed on tablet devices by non-Japanese employees working at stores. Smooth acceptance is achieved with audio in four languages (English, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese) and manuals that are also easy to understand visually.
To enable employees to work with greater peace of mind, we have established a contact desk and dedicated telephone line called the Global Human Resources Contact Desk, and are working to improve the system by offering consultations not only on working at Skylark, but also other problems in life in Japan (such as lifestyle customs and some religious issues).

	FY2018	FY2019	FY2020	FY2021	FY2022	FY2023
Employment rate for non-Japanese employees	2.7%	2.7%	2.5%	4.1%	4.5%	5.1%
Number of non-Japanese employees	2,986	3,089	2,213	4,194	4,396	4,802

 

Promotion of diverse human resources
～Established a new training center and held "Group training for non Japanese human resources"～

A new training center opened in April 2023 to provide group interviews, orientation, and initial training exclusively for foreign nationals, conducted by foreign interviewers.

Feature

• The program is being implemented mainly in the Tokyo metropolitan area, and approximately 115 new foreign part-time staff have joined the company in the past four months.
• Communication with instructors who can speak foreign languages to create a sense of security during the interview and onboarding process.
• Horizontal connections among applicants have also been created, leading to a sense of security and improved retention rates.
• More than 15 countries including Nepal, China, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, etc.

To watch the training video Click here

Initiatives at the Central Kitchen of Skylark Group

Technical intern trainees 171　Specified skills 93 　264 people are active
We also have a large number of foreign nationals working in our central kitchens, which are located in 10 locations throughout Japan. The number of Vietnamese technical intern trainees is 171, and the number of those with the specified technical skill No. 1 is 93. (As of August 31, 2023)
In addition to technical training in manufacturing and safety and health education, we offer Japanese language study sessions and opportunities to learn about Japanese culture.

Other Activities

In addition, the recruitment website is written in "easy Japanese", through the promotion of DX, such as the introduction of catering robots, we are working to create an environment in which diverse human resources can work comfortably.

Employee Turnover Rate

Although turnover among full-time employees has remained flat, a certain number of employees leave the company each year.
To ensure that our most important management resource, "human resources," are not compromised, the entire company is working together to create a comfortable work environment, a stable labor environment, and a harassment-free workplace.

	FY2018	FY2019	FY2020	FY2021	FY2022	FY2023
Turnover rate	4.9%	5.7%	5.6%	6.3%	6.7%	7.3%

Employee Development Training

The table below shows time spent on employee development training to improve knowledge and/or individual skills. We are also working actively to increase training opportunities so that employees can learn what they want to learn, when they want to learn it, without burden, based on the content and type of training, such as group training, online training, on-demand training and e-learning.
In order to share management philosophy and deepen understanding of training content, training content is also included in questions for promotion examinations and other tests.
In addition, to support the acquisition of official qualifications required for managers, we allow employees to take courses during working hours and provide manuals on how to take courses and other necessary knowledge, so that more than 150 employees acquire qualifications every year. 

ESG Data Book

	FY2023
	New Graduates and Mid-career Employees	Other training	Total
Number of subjects	214 persons	5,035 persons	5,249 persons
Training Hours per Employee (hours)	Approx. 990 hours	Approx. 4 hours	Approx. 56 hours (232,695 hours/4,169 employees)
Total Training Hours (hours)	211,860 hours (990 hours ×214 employees  )	20,835 hours (4.14 hours × 5,035 employees)	232,695 hours ( 44.33 hours ×5,249 employees)
Days per Employee (days)	Approx. 124 days	Approx. 3.5 days	Approx. 8.4 days
Implementation Details	Corporate philosophy, business manners, food hygiene, store / restaurant management, cooking and customer service operations, complaint handling, compliance, information security, communication, harassment, skills development, etc.

Skylark ‘s Recruitment Information “Skylark Career Comprehensive"

Performance Evaluation

Evaluation Interviews (Goal Management, Frequent Feedback)

Evaluation is based not only on financials, but also on customer survey ratings and store QSC status. We work to maximize performance by setting KPIs during monthly meetings with superiors, repeating feedback, and following up on a regular basis.

Evaluation Frequency

Twice a year in the first and second half of the year.

Questionnaire for Managers (360-degree Multidimensional Evaluation)

The program is conducted annually for the purpose of training and developing the skills of managers. By learning how they themselves are viewed by their subordinates, managers are encouraged to change their behavior, and the results for the entire company and departments are used to create a comfortable work environment, leading to the realization of the mission and strategic vision.

Team Based

As part of reforms to store-centric management, a sales department incentive system has been introduced. Maximize performance by increasing evaluation and allocation to sales department (team) units rather than individual store evaluation.

Harassment Training

In March 2021, Skylark Holdings and the Skylark Labor Union signed a Joint Labor-Management Declaration on the Prevention of Harassment, declaring that labor and management will work together to prevent harassment and create a workplace where all employees can enjoy peace of mind and job satisfaction, and respect each other.
Based on this declaration, in May 2021, we renewed our existing harassment prevention training program and conducted training for approximately 2,800 sales department directors, supervisors, and store managers nationwide.
Currently, we are actively working to eliminate harassment by expanding the scope of training to include all employees, including assistant managers and part-timers. 

List of Harassment-Related Training

Training Program	Target	Training Date
Service Mindset Improvement Training	Sales Division Directors	at any time
	Sales Department Directors
	Managers and Sales division staffs
Anger Management Training	Managers and Sales division staffs	Conducted monthly by selecting eligible participants
	Assistant Managers
Harassment Knowledge Acquisition Training
	Sales Division Directors	time of appointment
	Sales Department Directors	time of appointment
	Managers and Sales division staffs	time of appointment
	Assistant Managers	time of hire/promotion
	Store Employees (Crews)	time of employment
Harassment Awareness Training	Sales Division Directors	Every 2 months
	Sales Department Directors
	Managers and Sales division staffs
	Assistant Managers
	Store Employees (Crews)
Anger Management Training (Given by external lecturer)	Sales Division Directors	at any time
	Sales Department Directors
	Managers and Sales division staffs
Unconscious Bias Training (Given by external lecturer)	Skylark Group Internal and External Executives	at any time
	Division Managers of Headquarter
	Sales Division Directors
	Sales Department Directors

Certifications

Kurumin Certification

Tomonin Certification