President’s Message to New Employees of 2020 (Summary)

1. Introduction

I would like to congratulate all new staff on joining Mitsui Chemicals. On behalf of the company, I warmly welcome you all.

Under normal circumstances, I would address you all in person at the initiation ceremony, but unfortunately the need to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus means that I have to speak to you online.

Many of you will have had your graduation ceremonies canceled. Mitsui Chemicals has introduced teleworking, primarily for head office staff, along with other measures to restrict travel to and from our offices and plants. Your training is one of the activities affected as a consequence. With this pandemic looking set to affect the whole world for some time to come, the business environment surrounding our company is uncertain.

While today’s message is coming to you on video, I hope that I will have the opportunity to speak to you all face to face in due course, when the situation permits.

2. The Role of Mitsui Chemicals

First of all, I would like to tell you all about the role that we at Mitsui Chemicals should play.

Since embarking on our 2008 mid-term business plan, the Mitsui Chemicals Group has pursued a triple bottom line management approach that incorporates the perspectives of the environment and society in addition to the economy. This shift was based on a keen awareness that we will be unable even to survive – let alone fulfill our mission – unless we, as a public entity of society, give serious thought to the question of sustainability, rather than follow the kind of market supremacist approach to management that focuses solely on increasing our own profits.

At the same time, we are seeing dramatic progress in such advanced fields as digital technology and biotechnology. Society has great expectations of chemical manufacturers such as us, hoping that we will be able to address numerous social challenges, including climate change and the problem of plastic waste, and thereby achieve a circular economy and a sustainable society. Terms such as SDGs and ESG must therefore be our watchwords.

Chemicals will have a bigger role than ever to play in combating major risks that appear out of nowhere, like the current scourge of the coronavirus. I am confident that we have tremendous potential to meet these expectations.

As such, I want to work with all of you in considering how we can mobilize the Mitsui Chemicals Group’s huge potential and make a contribution as we negotiate the upheavals unfolding simultaneously on a global scale.

Today, I have three key messages for you as you take your first steps as working members of society.

3. My Key Messages to You

(i) Safety is the top priority

The first thing I want you to remember is that safety is the top priority. This is our basic stance as people who provide the world with products and services that we have created. I would like every member of the Mitsui Chemicals Group – not just those working on the factory floor – to become people who consider not only their own health and safety but also the health and safety of the organization and of society as a whole.

(ii) A company is a functional organization

My next key message to you is that a company is a functional organization, not a social club. A company is a place where we pursue our objectives by mustering the combined strength of people with a diverse array of talents, operating under set rules. It is a place where both you and our organization will grow through the reciprocal efforts of the company and of each and every one of you.

I would like you to take every opportunity to hone not only your specialist knowledge but also your own unique personal strengths. I believe that it will take a group of strong individuals to create the new world of tomorrow.

(iii) Growth comes from the cycle of try, learn, reflect

The third thing I want you to take away today is that you should pursue growth from repeatedly trying things, learning things and reflecting on what you have learned.

Learning does not stop once you leave formal education. Unlike at school, there is no single right answer in the workplace. That is why anyone can fail. But it is fine to fail. I want you to try things, learn from your failures, reflect on them and keep taking on those challenges tenaciously time and again. What awaits you as a result of that process will undoubtedly be both your own growth and that of the organization.

4. Conclusion

You should not feel hesitant about speaking up just because you are a new employee. Please voice your opinions openly. Keep taking on challenges and making discoveries every single day so that you can develop outstanding insight, creative imagination and a powerful ability to get things done.
I have high hopes for your achievements and will be supporting you.