Connect | 250717 | Employee Interviews | Company Information

挑戦マインドの形成を
後押しする場づくりで
社員と出光興産の「今」を
「未来」へとつなげる。

Human Resources Department Human Resources Division

Y. SHIZUNO

Idemitsu Kosan's Job Festival, an exhibition where each department introduces their work to employees, will be held again this year. The first event will be held in 2023 as an opportunity for employees to "learn" about their jobs. In the past two events, many employees visited the booths displaying various exhibits, and the atmosphere of the secretariat wearing original happi coats made it seem as lively as a school festival. We spoke to a member of the Human Resources Department, which is hosting the event, about the background to the project, the reaction, and future prospects, with the theme of "connecting."

INTERVIEW POINT

Joined the company in 2006. After working at the Hokuriku branch, he joined the Agribio Division* in 2010. He is involved in sales of livestock materials that apply microbial fermentation and cultivation technology. In 2020, he was transferred to the Corporate Planning Department's Planning Division 2, where he is responsible for formulating investment plan rules and supporting the division's investment decision-making. He has been in his current position since 2023. In addition to personnel transfers, evaluations, and formulating personnel systems, he is responsible for planning and managing career development support measures such as career challenges and job festivals.
*The organization name was current at the time. The business was transferred to consolidated subsidiary SDS Biotech Co., Ltd. in July 2022.

しなやかに、逞しく
未来を切り拓く
人財集団に
なるための布石。

Towards realizing Vision for 2050 of "Shaping Change"

In November 2022, Idemitsu Kosan announced Vision for 2050 "Shaping Change" with an eye toward realizing a carbon-neutral, recycling-oriented society by 2050. "As we approach a major turning point in the social environment that is at the core of the oil industry, we see this as an opportunity to transform our business structure to create new value. Furthermore, in order to achieve business structure reforms amid growing uncertainty about the future, we have set our vision of becoming 'a group of human resources that is resilient, resilient, and able to pave the way to the future, no matter what the future brings.'"
To be "a group of human resources that paves the way to the future," each employee needs to have flexible ideas, a mindset for innovation and challenges, and self-improvement with an awareness of adapting to change. "We organized employee career development into three steps: 'Knowing (Idemitsu and yourself)', 'Thinking (about your career)', and 'Taking action.' This is connected to the current idea of 'self-directed career development.'"

The first step to "self-directed career development" is to "know"

The launch of the Job Festival was triggered by a questionnaire survey of employees conducted immediately after the formulation of Vision for 2050. "This is a survey that has been conducted every year since 2017, and it is a so-called job engagement survey. When we looked at the results for 2022, we found that the score for 'Can you envision your career at our company in the future?' was relatively low, and we knew we needed to make an effort."
Based on the results of the questionnaire survey, the company also solicited opinions on the personnel system. "Among the comments we received, many people said they wanted to know what kind of work is available within our group. This confirmed that 'getting to know Idemitsu,' which we position as the first step in career development, is an actual need among employees."
Thus, the Job Festival, commonly known as "Job Fest," was held as a place to provide employees with an opportunity to "get to know Idemitsu." The first one was held in July 2023, just two months after employees were asked for their opinions.

より多くの社員を
巻き込むための
工夫を
積み重ねる。

From a "fair" for those seeking transfers to a "festival" for all employees

In fact, even before Job Fest, there was a project called Job Fair. Although the two have similar names, they have different aims. "Our company has a Career Challenge System where employees voluntarily apply for positions in other departments that are publicly advertised, and Job Fair was held with the aim of matching the departments that advertise in this Career Challenge with employees who wish to apply. On the other hand, Job Fest is aimed at providing many employees with an opportunity to get to know Idemitsu and discover that there are a variety of jobs available at our company. We changed the name to "festival" instead of "fair" with the aim of creating a festival atmosphere so that employees can easily participate, and we also revamped the content."
After the direction of the event was decided, we approached each department in the company about exhibiting. We went around explaining the significance of holding the event. As a result, 42 departments exhibited in the first year. "I think that all the departments have in common the desire to 'have people know about our business and work.'"

With "casual" as the motto, we polished up our plans

Thus, about two and a half months after the idea was conceived, the first year's Job Fest was held, with around 500 employees attending. It was a success to a certain extent, but some issues remained. "In the first year, we set up a booth for each department, and the venue was designed so that exhibitors and visitors faced each other across a desk. This meant that only those who had made up their mind to come and hear what was being said could get close, and we often saw employees looking at the booths from a distance, even after making the effort to attend. We also heard comments such as, "Are you considering being transferred?", which made it difficult for employees to attend. Therefore, for the second event to be held in 2024, we aimed to create a space where anyone can easily come and talk to the venue."
The HR department members racking their brains for ideas were given hints by employees from other departments who had participated in the running of Job Fest through the "a secondary job in-house system" (described below). "Based on the ideas of the side job members, for the second event we changed the layout of department booths to a panel display format rather than a face-to-face format. We also held a digital stamp rally so that employees could enjoy visiting as many department booths as possible, and we held an awards event for exhibits so that each department could come up with creative ideas for their exhibits." The side job members come from a variety of backgrounds. "The synergy between members of different ages and departments allowed us to create ideas that would not have been possible if we had stayed confined to the HR department."

"Getting to know Idemitsu." While adhering to that principle, the event will be enjoyed by employees.

The number of visitors to the second Job Fest was about 1,000, double that of the first, and employees of a wider range of ages and levels attended. "We also incorporated online projects, such as interviewing all department booths and broadcasting them in real time, so that employees who could not come to the headquarters where the event was held could also participate. In addition, the Human Resources Department covered the domestic travel expenses for employees from outside the headquarters who wanted to attend the event, and about 100 employees from branches and business locations around the country attended."
In a survey conducted after the event, satisfaction with the question "Were you able to discover the appeal of the work content and job?" rose from 70% in the first event to 80% in the second. "As an event to 'get to know Idemitsu,' we would like to further improve this indicator. At the same time, while being conscious of creating excitement as a 'festival,' we want to ensure that the core of the project, which is 'getting to know Idemitsu,' does not waver."
The purpose and significance of holding such a Job Fest is gradually spreading throughout the company. In 2024, Tokuyama Complex held its own "Tokuyama version of Job Fest." In manufacturing Complex, where many employees are hired locally and transfers to other locations are rare, the majority of employees build their careers within the same Complex. For this reason, the event was planned as an opportunity to "learn about the work Complex."

多角的な
アプローチで
自律的キャリア形成を
促し、支える。

To foster flexible thinking and an adventurous mindset

Job Fest is not the only initiative aimed at encouraging employees to develop their own careers. In 2023, the same year as the first Job Fest, the company also launched initiatives such as "a secondary job in-house" and "cross-border experiences."
a secondary job in-house is a system whereby each department can recruit participants from within the company for tasks or projects, provided that the tasks contribute to the employee's personal growth. Applicants must obtain prior approval from their department head, and if approved by the recruiting department, anyone can participate. "It is used for a variety of tasks, such as project members in head office departments and those in charge of planning and running Job Fest. To make it possible to balance side jobs with main jobs, we have a rule that the workload of side jobs must be less than 20% of the total, and activities must be limited to approximately once a week."
On the other hand, the cross-border experience involves activities outside the company. "Weekly secondment" and " There are two programs: "One Teacher a Week" and "One Teacher a Week." The former involves Idemitsu Kosan employees being seconded to local companies once a week to help revitalize the Nagato Yumoto Onsen area. From April 2023, the seconded employees will be working remotely to solve problems and improve operations using data analysis. The latter, "One Teacher a Week," involves employees being sent to a public junior high school in Chiba Prefecture, with which they have a partnership, to give special lessons to students and support teachers and staff in improving the efficiency of their work. "Both programs have a high level of satisfaction for both the seconded employees and the host companies. For our employees, it seems to be a good opportunity to gain new perspectives and points of view through encounters and learning in different environments. Collaboration with a variety of stakeholders both in Japan and overseas is essential to pushing forward with business structure reforms. I think it is also helping to foster that mindset."

Once a week teacher program (What is the synergy created by Idemitsu PERSON and teachers? "Once a week teacher program" launched! | ACTION | Idemitsu's Goals and Actions for 2050)

Connecting employees' current location with their future

The third Job Fest will be held in July 2025. "At last year's Job Fest, we were able to create a certain form of 'festival' that employees could easily participate in. However, we must not lose sight of the original purpose of the event by making it just another festival. Therefore, this year we will once again emphasize 'getting to know Idemitsu' and create a booklet summarizing the work of the exhibiting departments so that participants can better understand the work content of each department, and distribute it at the venue. The detailed version will be available to view online. In addition, we will distribute interviews with employees working at overseas bases online, which will provide an opportunity to 'get to know' our overseas business, and we hope that it will also encourage employees at overseas bases, who have a relatively low participation rate, to participate."
Idemitsu Kosan's journey to make Shaping Change has only just begun. Personnel policies that support employees' independent career development will be rolled out with the involvement of even more employees in the future. "I think that for many employees, they are only halfway through the stage of 'thinking' about their own careers and then 'taking action'. At last year's Job Fest, I was impressed to hear a veteran employee say, 'I wish we had had an event like this when I was younger.' I would be delighted if this event serves as an opportunity for employees to think about their own careers and further envision themselves thriving at our company. Beyond that, there is sure to be a future where the company can grow sustainably."

ANOTHER STORY

Transfer to the Human Resources Department,
This was an opportunity for me to reexamine my career vision.

At the time of the first Job Fest, Chino was in the Corporate Planning Department. After that, he was assigned to the Human Resources Department, which was an unknown field for him, and something changed. "After transferring to the Human Resources Department and working on planning events such as Job Fest, I was impressed by the opportunities to interact with employees who had clear career visions and were working to realize them. I myself had never really thought deeply about my career path until then, and I was sometimes worried about what kind of career I should envision in the future. After transferring to the Human Resources Department, I obtained a national career consultant qualification in the hope of getting to know myself and getting hints for my future career. I learned that it is important to take unexpected events in a positive way and try to use them to grow as much as it is to acquire skills and experience independently." Learn about the work of other departments, think about it, and act. Chino has experienced that process himself, so he can give back to employees through his work in the Human Resources Department.

*As of July 2025