Career Development and
Opportunities to Excel

Career Development and Opportunities to Excel Career Development and Opportunities to Excel

Supporting employees
in developing their
own career path

We respect employee diversity
and aim
to develop human resources
with great individuality

Supporting employees in developing their own career path

In September 2010, SoftBank Corp. established SoftBank University, an evolved form of the existing core capability training, aiming to develop personnel who contribute to the realization of management goals.

SoftBank respects employee diversity and emphasizes independent career development by employees to realize the development of human resources with great individuality. Under this policy, “SoftBank University” provides an independent career development system which enables employees to independently select training subjects that match their career goals rather than a uniform, company-led career development and training system.

In addition to group training, SoftBank University also offers a learning style that epitomizes SoftBank as a company with the full use of ICT to deliver e-learning courses that employees can complete on their computer, smartphone, tablet, or other similar devices, plus online interactive training in real time and even an archive of on-demand videos.

The Internally Certified Instructor (ICI*1) system has been in place since June 2009 to leverage employees' knowledge and experience to support personnel development. This system certifies those employees with certain levels of skills as internal instructors and gives them opportunities to provide training drawn from actual experience and to develop enhanced skills. As of June 2022, there are over 100 ICIs teaching some 60 courses.

[Note]
  1. *1
    Internally Certified Instructor

Encouraging the sharing
of knowledge and ideas
between employees

In July 2013 we began providing opportunities for employee-originated learning aimed at fostering a culture of mutual learning through a program called “Knowledge Marche.” Employees sharing knowledge are referred to as “organizers,” while those taking part are called “participants,” and they learn together on an equal basis. The scheme allows any employee with knowledge or insight to become an organizer, and goes beyond the traditional “training” approach to promote the sharing of knowledge and insights through small-group study sessions, workshops, lecture meetings, and more.

SoftBank Corp. will continue to support the growth of employees by implementing training sessions which incorporate the knowledge, expertise, and experience of our employees.

Proactively providing opportunities
to shape employees' careers

Once every year, employees can submit a self-assessment of their current job fitness or request a transfer to work in a different position or location. In addition to establishing an opportunity for open feedback regarding an employee's career through an interview with their superior based on the self assessment details, this process enables the company to transfer and assign the right person to the right job by taking into account the aptitude and abilities of each individual. When launching a new business or establishing a new company, members are recruited through a job posting system to provide employees with opportunities to engage in personal growth and self-actualization.

Job posting
(Internal recruiting system)		 An internal recruiting system for starting up new business lines which provides opportunities for employees to grow and express themselves and establishes a challenging work environment.
Free-agent system
(internal transfer system)		 The free-agent system enables ambitious employees to challenge themselves to boost their careers. Employees can specify a department or a group company they would like to join and apply.
Support system for advancement of employee qualifications The company supports employees seeking to advance their qualifications (with approval from the company) through reimbursement of tuition or examination fees.
Self reporting Employees submit a report once annually that self-assesses current job fitness. At this time, employees can also request a specific job assignment and speak with their supervisors. This process enables the company to match the right individual with the right job and construct the best career path for each individual.
Skill development goals This semi-annual program aims to maximize company training programs, and is designed to have employees set their skill development goals based on a self-assessment of improvement needs and work toward those goals.
SB Career Dock In order for employees to take a positive step toward their future careers, we host seminars and lectures for different age groups, group learning, and e-learning, etc. to provide regular opportunities for employees to review their own abilities and skills.

Grade, Evaluation, Remuneration Systems

Evaluations and remuneration are based on fair and just frameworks that enable people who demonstrate results through their efforts and to be able to take on the next challenge.

Mission Grade System Fields and grades are decided according to the individualʼs mission and workstyle, rather than personal attributes such as age or gender. Mission statements are set for each position: Directions for challenges are presented by clarifying the mission that the company expects of the employee, and clearly defining the skills to be demonstrated.
Evaluation System SoftBank has adopted a number of evaluation, indexes, including: Evaluation contributions (2times/year), which recognize work achievements and contributions to the organization; Mission evaluations (1time/year), which recognize individual missions and abilities; and evaluations of the core abilities and values (1time/year) required to perform evaluations for all full-time employee to carry out those missions.
Remuneration System The remuneration system is tied into the Mission grade system and the evaluation system. Bonuses are tied into the individualʼs contribution evaluations, and flexibility is maintained so that remuneration can be paid in keeping with contributions to the organization.

Employee Satisfaction Survey / Pulse Survey

Employee Satisfaction (ES) surveys are conducted each year with the goal of achieving a "overall satisfaction level of 3.5 or higher" to monitor status and identify issues, as part of efforts to build stronger organizations and increase motivation.
Action plans are created based on an analysis of results and conditions, both companywide and in each division.
This ties into continuous improvement activities for building better organizations, and also ensures that those improvement activities permeate through all levels of the organization, contributing to employee vitality and improved business performance.

The monthly pulse survey is conducted for checking the individual status and promoting communication between superiors and members. it promotes better communication by measuring changes in one's condition and disclosing the results to superiors.

At SoftBank Corp. employee satisfaction surveys and pulse surveys are treated as risk assessments. By understanding the risks related to securing human resources based on these results, we link them to the vitality of employees, the improvement of company performance, and the retention of excellent human resources who support the sustainable growth of our business.

Employee Satisfaction Survey FY18 FY19 FY20 FY21
Response Rate 98.1% 97.4% 96.8% 96.4%
Overall satisfaction* Average Male 3.53 3.55 3.59 3.63
Average Female 3.46 3.49 3.57 3.63
Company-wide Average 3.51 3.53 3.58 3.63
[Notes]
  1. *
    Overall satisfaction: Aggregated value of results related to work / workplace / senior colleague / company
  2. *
    Scored out of 5 (~3.00: Low, 3.00~3.50: General, 3.50~4.00: High, 4.00 or above: Very High)

An educational program
to identify and foster
potential successors

Following the announcement of SoftBank's Next 30-Year Vision, Masayoshi Son launched SoftBank Academia on July 28, 2010 with the goal of identifying and educating potential successors.

The program sees students focus on developing practical skills and actively providing feedback to support one another, as well as lecture courses taught by Mr. Son in his capacity as founding principal.

The program is not exclusive to SoftBank employees, and has been openly accepting students from outside the SoftBank Group since June 2011. Students admitted to the program are selected following a thorough review process designed to shine a light on highly motivated individuals with diverse backgrounds who are eager to inspire and be inspired and have what it takes to lead the SoftBank Group.