Human Resources Management

Key Talent Management and Strategically Critical Position Successor Plan

We define people who will take on strategically critical positions, such as next-generation management candidates who will reform our business portfolio from the viewpoint of resolving social issues, and path finders who can reform businesses with novel ideas for solution-based business models in view of global expansion and M&As, as “human resources who can create businesses linked to social issues by collaborating with customers and partners.” Acquiring, developing, and retaining such talents is an urgent issue in terms of our HR strategy to achieve the Mitsui Chemicals Group VISION 2030. To strategically acquire and develop such talents, our Group has adopted and implemented key talent management as a shared framework on global Group-wide level.
Our corporate governance guidelines position key talent management at the center of the system for planning the successors for future management, including senior managers (such as sector presidents and CxOs.) The scheme is designed to select future management candidates at an early stage and strategically train them according to the clearly defined credentials required of a management executive. We hold Divisional and Company-wide Key Talent Management Committee meetings every year. Through these meetings, we select next-generation management candidates and create development plans tailored to individuals, including assessments, creating skill development opportunities, and strategic appointments. In particular, HR requirements for management candidates have been redefined in 2022 to achieve VISION 2030 and important initiatives have been implemented to select candidates more appropriately and to devise more effective training plans.
Strategically critical positions for implementing each strategy (mainly general managers and higher, and presidents of major affiliates) and positions for which strategic training and assignment should be promoted (to train management candidates for the future generation) are being identified and approved by the company-wide human resource development committee, and successors are being planned for such positions. The committee also creates career development plans concerning these positions. We have identified some 120 strategically critical positions and training positions across the world and are actively acquiring suitable human resources from inside and outside the Group to fit into these positions.
The progress of key talent management and successor plans for strategically critical positions is periodically reported to the Board of Directors, so that the Board can periodically and objectively monitor the progress of developing a talent pipeline for the future, and actively make suggestions to fulfill the human resources pool that will lead to the Director Nomination Committee, thus creating a framework with strong capabilities for the whole Group.

Key Talent Management Process

Key Talent Management System

*1The proportion of group employees who are future sector president candidates for Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. headquarters

*2The proportion of group employees who are future general manager candidates for Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. headquarters

Qualification and experience required for management candidates

Experience required of a management executive

Five axes	Description
(1) Management perspective	- PL in multiple business divisions (business responsibility in different areas) - Management of subsidiaries, etc.
(2) Business restructuring	- Restructuring of at-risk businesses
(3) New business development	- Planning and execution of new business models - Novel business creation (market, products, or customers) etc.
(4) Company-wide projects	- Staff management in relation to company-wide issues - Creating long-term plans - Major M&A and alliance management, etc.
(5) International experience	- Managing overseas companies

Progress and Future Prospects

Successor coverage rate/number of diverse executive officers

The successor coverage rate^* shows the percentage of secured successor candidates against the number of positions strategically critical to achieving company-wide strategies. The rate is regularly monitored. Today, many companies are working on succession planning, namely devising plans for successors. To understand the situation quantitatively and guarantee its effectiveness, we have set the successor coverage rate as a non-financial indicator in VISION 2030, which we disclose to the public. We have also set a target value for the number of diverse executive officers, including women, non-Japanese, and people of mid-career recruitment, to continuously and steadily develop successors while paying attention to their composition. Executive officers recruited in April 2022 include women, non-Japanese people, and people of mid-career recruitment as part of our diversity initiatives at the management level.
Going forward, we will continue to work on talent management measures, accelerating them with business measures according to the needs of society and the times.

*Successor Coverage Rate:
The number of successor candidates for strategically critical positions / The number of strategically critical positions.

Successor coverage rate for critical positions