Shiseido's People Strategy
Shiseido’s PEOPLE FIRST philosophy recognizes our people as the source of value creation, and we are committed to making proactive investments in our people. Our commitment to fostering a positive work culture and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) in areas such as gender equality and career development has earned us external recognition as one of Japan’s top companies. In addition to establishing English as the Company’s official language, over the past decade, we have globally standardized our performance management programs, grading and compensation structures, and talent development frameworks, further strengthening our foundation as a global enterprise.
To achieve our corporate mission, BEAUTY INNOVATIONS FOR A BETTER WORLD, we believe it is essential to fill our company with employees who drive the future with commitment and passion for beauty. Our concept of “beauty” encompasses a wide range of expressions: the beauty of sound, as experienced in nature and music; the beauty of omotenashi hospitality, which reflects our desire for others’ happiness; and the beauty of dedicating yourself wholeheartedly to something you are truly passionate about. By placing the “Sense of Beauty” inherited over our 150-year history at the forefront of our efforts, we are advancing our people strategy to execute our business strategy effectively. Therefore, we have defined our ideal organizational culture that fosters value creation, which we call the “Beauty Innovation Atelier— Energized by Passion, Collaboration, and Excellence,” and we have shared this vision with our global employees.
We consider one of the key roles of our human resources division to be empowering each employee to fully realize the potential and strengths of their authentic selves. This involves not only leveraging their expertise and experience but also embracing their unique values, ideas, senses, and passion. We strongly believe that when employees express their passion driven by intrinsic motivation, it raises their energy levels in a sustainable manner, enabling innovation and significant progress. To this end, we have defined eight elements that connect to employee energy as “Passion Drivers,” positioning them as key indicators and promoting various initiatives based on this framework.
2024 Key Initiatives and Their Impact
In 2024, we organized our fundamental approach regarding people and organization, and worked on various initiatives. To move beyond the current situation and drive innovation, we placed a strong emphasis on creating an organizational culture that inspires the integration of diverse knowledge and skills to execute beauty innovations, and acquiring and developing leaders who embody a "Sense of Beauty" along with the mindsets and skills necessary to lead change. Our approach to organizational culture development is rooted in the belief that, just as trees flourish in a rich forest, employees thrive in a dynamic and vibrant workplace. Specifically, we initiated efforts to foster connections among employees, starting with the HQ ALL HANDS meeting at our global headquarters, which facilitates direct dialogue with the top management. In collaboration with the Corporate Communications and Marketing departments, we organized employee-focused events such as "Brand Day," showcasing our brands and new products. Additionally, based on the belief that value emerges from the integration of diverse knowledge and skills, we held events to enhance employees' engagement and awareness of DE&I. These events include "Diversity Week for LGBTQ+" during Pride Month and "Diversity Week for People with Disabilities" in alignment with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
With respect to the leadership acquisition and development, we have redefined our leadership model as "Futurists, Leading Change," around which workshops were held at Shiseido's global headquarters. Moving forward, we intend to scale this initiative globally, integrating the defined roles, skills, and behavioral traits of leaders into training and evaluation frameworks. To further reinforce a culture of self-directed learning among employees, we launched various leadership programs at "Shiseido Future University," a cutting-edge learning platform for future driven employees. We also hosted the "Shiseido Learning Festival," where employees engaged in immersive learning experiences. Our unique curriculum blends insights from leading-edge, global-level business schools with our company heritage that we have been pursuing since our founding, such as the “Sense of Beauty” and the richness of spirit. Moreover, we launched the “SHISEIDO Work Smart” initiative in collaboration with the IT department, leveraging AI and digital tools to improve the employee experience and enhance productivity through workstyle transformation. This includes the "Shiseido AI Concierge" based on generative AI, and a new service platform "PASS (People Assistance Solutions Salon)" that dramatically enhances HR support. Thanks to these initiatives, employee interactions—previously stagnated due to COVID-19—have increased, revitalizing our workplace. There is a clear and tangible sense that we are making steady progress on our journey to achieve the "Beauty Innovation Atelier."
Engagement Survey and KPIs
The Global Engagement Survey conducted in May 2024 provided valuable insights into our employees’ values. The global positive engagement score was 68%, marking a 3-point increase from the previous survey in 2022. While there is room for improvement, it is encouraging to see the notable rise in employees’ "desire to contribute," which remains at a high level compared to global benchmarks—an important indicator of engagement particularly during this transformative period for the Company. Analysis shows improvement in "organizational alignment" and "individual strengths," aligning with our current people strategy.
Going forward, we will establish KPIs related to "Passion Drivers" to assess employee perceptions of various initiatives, and we utilize these insights to recognize and address any challenges.
Future Initiatives and CPO Commitment
Looking ahead, we will advance our people strategy with a focus on executing the "Action Plan 2025-2026" while ensuring medium-to-long-term business growth. This plan aims to build a unified global team dedicated to sustainable brand development, aligning all employees with our strategic execution. For exceptional global talent, we will actively increase their appointments to key positions and roles, regardless of their location, as needed for strategic execution. To facilitate this, we must once again enhance the visibility of global talent, providing abundant learning opportunities and hands-on experience through talent reviews
and succession planning.
Maintaining high employee engagement, even in the most challenging business environment, will require transparent communication about company direction and ongoing dialogue with our employees.
In 2025, we will ensure that the initiatives outlined above, which began in 2024, continue to develop at a global level. Through the "Beauty Innovation Atelier," we aim to shift our culture, enabling individual employees to inspire each other and passionately drive beauty innovations together.
Major Initiatives (in 2024)
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【People & Organizational Development】
- Workshops on the introduction of a new leadership model (Approx. 1,000 participants)
- Shiseido Learning Festival (Approx. 700 participants)
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Shiseido Future University
- - Number of visitors (5,855 in total)
- - Selected Global leadership training (165 participants)
- Career mentoring program that allows employees to have conversations with managers other than their direct supervisor (113 pairs, 226 participants)
- Continuous utilization of LinkedIn Learning as a self-directed learning platform (Approx. 14,000 total participants globally)
- Digital Academy participation (Approx. 10,300 total participants globally)
- HQ ALL HANDS meeting, an interactive event with management (Approx. 1,350 participants)
- Brand Day (4 sessions)
- Global Engagement Survey (Positive engagement score of 68%)
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【DE&I】
- Diversity Week for LGBTQ+ and Diversity Week for People with Disabilities (Approx. 1,800 total participants)
- NEXT LEADERSHIP SESSION for WOMEN training conducted in Japan to foster women leaders (334 total participants over eight years)
- Mentoring program Speak Jam implemented in Japan to foster women executives and employees (213 total participants over five years)