Graduate Employment

Each Employee the Right Person for the Right Job

“People are the lifeblood of Suntory. Each person putting maximum effort into their job leads to company growth.” Guided by this way of thinking, we develop highly detailed talent development policies with a variety of working styles in mind, and we apply each employee in the way most suited to him or her. Our end goal is to become “a global company in which each employee, working as an independent professional, can design his or her own career and continue to create new value.”

By promoting the assignment of the right person for the right job through on-site training based on “Suntory leadership competency” (being qualified for management-level positions) and “prudent action items” (being qualified for member-level posts) as well as inter-company and inter-departmental job rotations guided by the “career vision” of each employee in cooperation with their supervisors, we are working to achieve a workplace in which all employees can enjoy fulfilling careers.

At the heart of Suntory’s talent development system is the idea of a “career vision” that involves the employee, the HR Department, and the employee’s supervisor. The employee looks toward his or her own future career and fills out a “career vision sheet” that envisions where that employee wants to be in ten years’ time, establishes medium-term goals based on that vision, and identifies experiences the employee would like to have for achieving that vision. On the basis of that sheet, the employee is interviewed by a manager to identify long-term goals and establish a plan for working toward them.

Employees are a company-wide asset. Individuals should receive company-wide training.” Based on this thinking, we actively carry out job rotation between companies, businesses, and departments, from the perspective of maximizing the individual’s skills. The intranet’s Career Vision Information Site publicizes information that can assist employees with diverse career design.

In addition to a “career vision” interview once a year, employees have discussions with supervisors and subordinates regarding their individual duties and performance evaluation four times a year. At the member level, an assessment is made regarding the employee’s level of achievement toward the objectives and processes of the work plan established by the employee’s supervisor at the beginning of the year, and the employee receives evaluation feedback that compares his or her performance to the “prudent action items” that indicate what image is required of the individual as a Suntory employee. Through a framework for providing plain feedback that includes publicizing the evaluation standards and holding thorough discussions about everything from the plan establishment to results with the employee’s supervisor, we aim to have an evaluation system that is both fair and highly satisfactory for each and every employee.

We opened Suntory University in April 2015 as a large platform that encompasses all our talent development programs. Its mission is to improve the skills of everyone at Suntory and to create appealing human resources through future-focused continuing education and the creation of an environment of continuous growth. Furthermore, its aim is to achieve our ambition of “Global One Suntory” by ensuring that all 38,000 global employees of the Suntory Group understand the Founding Spirit and believe in our company’s values.

Overview of Suntory University

Awards ceremony for Walk the Walk – Yatte Minahare Award

We actively work to disseminate our “Yatte Minahare” slogan, which expresses the Founding Spirits, throughout the Suntory Group, both in Japan and abroad. In 2015, we established the Walk the Walk – Yatte Minahare Award for which all Suntory Group employees may qualify, and we award it to a team that spends a year taking on a challenging task based on a new idea. This award is also offered overseas, and more than 500 teams worldwide have applied to receive it.

Awards ceremony for Walk the Walk – Yatte Minahare Award

The Ambassador Program offered through Suntory University has had over 700 overseas employees participate since its launch in 2012.

Ambassador Program for overseas employees

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  At Suntory Hall

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  Mizuiku, Suntory's natural water education program for children — Simulation activity

In order to be able to entrust responsibility-laden jobs to individual employees one year after their entry into the company, we are providing training for new recruits that includes both on-the-job and off-the-job training.

In the group training that new recruits receive, we offer a program related to global business and implement business etiquette simulations. Furthermore, employees in the second half of their first year undergo a two-day Value Training trip, where they do hands-on activities to learn about the slogans that express our Founding Spirits: “Yatte Minahare” and “Giving back to Society”.

We also actively rotate young employees through different job positions. In addition to a yearly “career vision” interview with their supervisor and the HR Department, we have a framework for interviews between the HR Department and all company employees in their fourth and ninth years of employment, so we can obtain a direct understanding of each individual’s career vision and aptitudes. Local top management and HR are united to help individual employees grow by providing transfers between companies, business areas, and departments, providing experience in everything from sales to public relations, marketing, and systems.

We pour all our energy into training the company’s global human resources talent in order to support Suntory’s global development. We have a program for employees to attend business school in Japan or abroad to obtain a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in English, and our career challenge program for establishing and acquiring skills needed for global business execution on an individual basis. Additionally, we have established our Trainee program for sending employees to overseas group companies or to external institutions and schools in overseas areas where our group has yet to expand (e.g. developing countries).

Furthermore, we have established our Global Leadership Development Program, which lasts for half a year and is available for employees at the team leader level who have been selected from the Suntory Group in Japan and abroad. Through this program, roughly 20 employees from various countries get to develop their leadership skills.