Diversity & Inclusion

We are implementing initiatives for all DNP Group employees to help make inclusion the norm.

To effectively advance these initiatives, we conduct employee surveys and other means to understand how well D&I has been adopted (D&I perception level), and then develop specific measures based on the results.

In order to foster a psychologically safe workplace culture that values diverse ideas and opinions, we held e-learning courses in fiscal 2021 and launched unconscious bias training for all DNP Group employees in Japan in fiscal 2023. 

This training was aimed at helping employees recognize and address their own unconscious biases, and we aimed for all eligible employees to complete it. It was first provided to those in higher positions who have the greatest influence in the workplace, such as the DNP President, executives, and presidents of each Group company, and then rolled out by rank. In fiscal 2024, the training was made available to all approximately 30,000 DNP Group employees. 

Starting in fiscal 2025, we continue to provide the training for those who have not yet completed it and for newly assigned managers. 

As a next step, in fiscal 2026, we implement workplace-level training aimed at raising awareness and promoting behavior change across the organization.

DNP has been holding Diversity Week every February since fiscal year 2020, with the aim of encouraging each employee to voluntarily engage in D＆I initiatives and fostering behavioral change. The event opens with a message from the president, and a wide variety of programs are prepared during the period. Through participation in the event,employees not only deepen their understanding of the year's theme, but also are encouraged to translate that understanding into action. 

Approximately 13,000 people, roughly one-third of the DNP Group's employees, participate in the keynote speech in real time.

Additionally, the event provides an opportunity to promote D&I in each workplace by having division heads (who serve as chairpersons of each division 's D&I Promotion Committees) and the presidents of Group companies announce their commitments.

Our efforts to date have revealed that participation rates at our sales and manufacturing sites are lower than at our headquarters, and that there are challenges regarding interdepartmental collaboration. With this in mind, in fiscal 2025, 27 employees from sales and manufacturing sites across the country joined as project members from the planning stage to encourage participation from a wider range of locations.

In order to create new value at the DNP Group, we have positioned the promotion of D&I in the workplace as an important management issue. Under the leadership of the chairperson of each division’s D&I Promotion Committee, we have established a system in which D&I Promotion Leaders take responsibility for addressing workplace issues. 

In fiscal 2024, we expanded eligibility for the training to our Group companies. We also reviewed the content of the training and restructured it in fiscal 2026 as the Priority Development Program for D&I Promotion to further strengthen our D&I initiatives. 

D&I Promotion Leaders are assigned to the general manager level and serve a three-year term.

For DNP to continue to provide new value and create a better future, it is important to further increase diversity in management and avoid the negative effects of homogeneity. To address this issue, DNP aims to increase the ratio of female executives to over 30% by 2030, and is working to create a pipeline to develop the next generation of female leaders. This initiative is also incorporated into the action plan based on the Act on Promotion of Women's Participation and Advancement in the Workplace, and we are systematically implementing training for female employees at each rank and reforming our organizational culture to continuously develop female employees involved in organizational decision-making.

At DNP, we are continuously working to foster an organizational culture that respects individual differences and leverages the diversity of our employees in order to create value that meets the needs of the diverse people living in our society. 

As part of these efforts, we have been working since fiscal 2019 to deepen our understanding of the circumstances facing LGBTQ+ individuals and to create a workplace environment where everyone can work with peace of mind. We are promoting initiatives that take diversity into account, such as making the disclosure of gender on recruitment documents optional and extending benefits to same-sex partners and common-law partners.

■ E-learning for all employees

We provide all employees with e-learning courses that address workplace issues faced by LGBTQ+ individuals, explain basic concepts about all bodily sexes, gender identities, sexual orientations, and gender expressions, and highlight the necessity and significance of preventing SOGI (sexual orientation and gender identity) harassment.

■ In-house activities

We take advantage of opportunities such as Pride Month and Diversity Week to conduct awareness-raising activities through seminars and other events.

We are continuously promoting interactive initiatives, by holding dialogue sessions for LGBTQ+ people and their supporters (allies) and establishing an internal community.

In addition to our internal initiatives, we are engaging in activities in collaboration with external partners to communicate DNP’s philosophy and actions to the outside world. 

In fiscal 2025, we collaborated with external partners and NPOs to plan and develop products centered on the theme of diversity, and we also participated as speakers at conferences organized by external organizations aimed at promoting understanding of the LGBTQ+ community.

We also support Pride House Tokyo, an NPO that disseminates information about sexual minorities, and participate in other related initiatives.

Over long years, DNP has been promoting efforts throughout the entire Group for recruitment, settlement, and support of the active participation of people with disabilities with the aim of creating workplaces where these persons can play active roles in keeping with the basic concept of “normalization,” which helps create a society in which all people live equally comfortable lives regardless of any disabilities. To further promote these initiatives, in February 2019, we established DNP Business Partners Co., Ltd. primarily employing people with disabilities. In October of the same year, this company obtained certification as a special subsidiary from the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare. We will support the employment of people with disabilities by the Group companies and expand cross-organizational operations within the Group to create opportunities for many more employees to actively participate.

■ Training

In fiscal 2024, we implemented Disability Inclusion Training (for managers and hiring managers) to teach specific measures for recruiting and retaining people with disabilities, taking into account the current challenges each workplace faces and aiming to increase the employment rate of people with disabilities in the future. In addition, before an employee with a disability is assigned to a workplace, the employees in that workplace watch a 10-minute video as an opportunity to deepen their understanding of disability inclusion. Promoting mutual understanding supports the retention of employees with disabilities.

■ In-house activities

We conduct awareness-raising activities to deepen understanding of disabilities through events such as the Service Dog Experience Event - Learning about Inclusion Through Service Dogs.

In February 2024, we opened Hotto Work, an in-house disability inclusion community. This increases the sense of security for employees with disabilities and employees who have family members with disabilities, and helps create a workplace where each employee, regardless of disability status, is recognized for their individuality, abilities, and ways of thinking, and can thrive.

In July 2020, we joined The Valuable 500, a global initiative that promotes the active participation of people with disabilities, in support of their ideas and initiatives.

DNP has established the “Return to work from childcare leave program.” This system aims at creating an environment in which employees can take leave for childbirth and childcare with a sense of reassurance, smoothly return to their workplaces, and balance their work with household duties while deploying their capabilities.

We provide seminars on a regular basis for employees to think together with their partners about balancing work and childcare, share their current anxieties and concerns and visions for the future, and build a vibrant career even during childcare. We offer two seminars: the “Pre-Mom and Dad” seminars for those expecting a baby within one year and their partners, and the “Dad and Mom Doing Childcare” seminars for those on maternity leave/childcare leave, or raising children three years of age or under, and their partners.

We support employees and their families in balancing work and childcare even after employees return to work through various systems that include assistance for babysitting fees, assistance for childcare facility fees, nursing care leave, and special leave for life support.

We provide information in a handbook which is a compilation of basic knowledge, programs, reference cases, etc. about nursing care. We are enhancing support tailored to the life stage of each employee, such as a family care leave system that allows each employee to take leave an unlimited number of times up to 366 days per each care recipient and enables them to have periodical consultations regarding nursing care.

By having each employee understand their own nursing care risks and acquire the necessary knowledge in preparation for emergencies, we aim to deepen understanding between the employee and the workplace and achieve a balance between work and nursing care. In fiscal 2024, we introduced a support system with the aim of reducing leave of absence or resignation due to nursing care.

In 1997, DNP increased its recruitment of women and expanded the scope of their work. It has been promoting Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) since then with the goal of developing a corporate culture that enables diverse human resources to play active roles. In 2016, we established the Diversity Promotion Office within the Employee Relations Department in the head office and the Diversity Promotion Committee in each business unit and Group company. We converted the then-Diversity Promotion Office (currently the D&I Promotion Department) into an independent, dedicated organization in June 2018 in our continued efforts to eliminate the gender gap and leverage the diverse strengths of all employees, including persons with disabilities, LGBTQ+, senior and non-Japanese employees.