About CANADE
Mizuho publishes the "Human Capital Report" to comprehensively explain how we will create value together with our customers, the economy and society through "Enhancing Human Capital" and "Transforming Corporate Culture". For details on our various human capital initiatives.
Further information
Human Capital Report
Breaking away from traditional HR management
At Mizuho, we regard human capital as the source of value creation, and CANADE is the foundation for the continuous enhancement and enrichment of our personnel. CANADE, which was created in partnership with employees, is a shared HR framework across five group companies and it encompasses two aspects: a commitment to strategic HR and an emphasis on employee narratives.
The first aspect — strategic HR — involves the alignment of business strategies with HR strategies. Specifically, it involves enabling individual business divisions to take the lead in their HR management as well as promoting strategic talent acquisition and development across business areas.
The second aspect — employee narratives — is the cornerstone of achieving strategic HR. It involves initiatives that encourage our employees to take greater initiative in designing their own individual careers and to direct their growth.
We believe that engaging in human capital management, guided by this CANADE framework, will connect the growth of individuals with business advancement, enhance Mizuho's capability to create value, and ultimately lead to the realization of our corporate identity.
Breaking away from traditional HR management
CANADE introduces new systems and operations that break with traditional practices such as seniority-based HR management and company-led HR operations. As we have just completed the transition to CANADE, efforts are still ongoing to disseminate the idea of breaking with the previous seniority system, to instill role-based and performance-based compensation, and to encourage employee independence through the presentation and provision of career paths. The aim, as we take steps to improve in these areas, is to enable all employees to maximize their potential through CANADE and to create a virtuous cycle between the growth of individual employees and increased corporate value.
Mizuho's perspectives on changes brought on by the transition to CANADE
Employees perspectives on changes brought on by the transition to CANADE
Developing management candidates
Mizuho publishes the "Human Capital Report" to comprehensively explain how we will create value together with our customers, the economy and society through "Enhancing Human Capital" and "Transforming Corporate Culture". For details on our various human capital initiatives.
Further information
Human Capital Report
The AOI Program enhances the quality and quantity of management candidates
AOI Juku enhances the conceptual and execution capabilities essential for management talent
To increase our corporate value, Mizuho needs management talent who can set a clear direction for the entire company, identify pressing issues, and lead the organization toward solutions. At the same time, we recognize the difficulty of spontaneously producing such management talent in a rapidly changing business landscape. Consequently, we have instituted a program for fostering leaders who have the conceptual ability to envision the future of the entire business and the execution to drive the organization as a whole. With the consistent operation of this program, we are beginning to see tangible results in the steady output of management talent.
The AOI Program enhances the quality and quantity of management candidates
Mizuho launched the AOI Program, a management candidate development program, under the direction of the Group CEO in FY2023 to promote the growth of management candidates through a systematic training cycle. AOI stands for the Aspiration to be a future member of our management team; the Optimism to see that negativity is an emotion, while positivity is a choice; and the recognition of Ignorance, because the more you learn, the more you realize how little you know.
The AOI Program is progressing steadily, but we will continue to review and make improvements as necessary to ensure sufficient candidate numbers for specific business areas, such as promoting strategic reassignments, to achieve an optimal talent pool across the company.
AOI Juku enhances the conceptual and execution capabilities essential for management talent
Part of the AOI Program, the AOI Juku in-house training program facilitates the acquisition of the mindset (self-awareness and preparedness) and skills necessary for management talent, aiming to strengthen management candidates' conceptual and execution capabilities.
AOI Juku provides opportunities for direct dialog with the Group CEO and other members of the management team so that participants can learn to better understand and reflect on themselves. For FY2024, we added an alumni program that encourages participants to continually improve themselves through friendly competition as well as a mentoring program in which AOI Juku graduates nurture the next generation of business leaders. The aim of these new programs is to provide enriched opportunities for continuous and multifaceted growth.
Building a talent portfolio to implement growth strategy
Mizuho publishes the "Human Capital Report" to comprehensively explain how we will create value together with our customers, the economy and society through "Enhancing Human Capital" and "Transforming Corporate Culture". For details on our various human capital initiatives.
Further information
Human Capital Report
Toward an HR management system led by business divisions
Stable recruitment of talent to support business areas
Mizuho business divisions, to achieve their strategies, are taking the lead in managing their own flexible HR recruiting, from both internal and external talent pools. We believe that allowing individual divisions to accelerate their own strategic HR initiatives leads to optimal personnel allocations, which aids the achievement of business strategies and ultimately increases the corporate value of Mizuho as a whole.
We will make further operational improvements to the construction of our talent portfolio, such as spelling out the personnel requirements of each business area and the career paths that meet those requirements as well as improving HR training and recruiting practices through employee career development and other programs.
Toward an HR management system led by business divisions
Our HR management system led by business divisions is still in its early stages, and there is room for improvement in terms of operational knowledge and optimal personnel allocations across the entire company. Accordingly, we are continuing with measures to enhance operations in order to bolster human capital for the group. These measures include organizing useful HR data (using Tableau) for business divisions and forming consensus on overall optimization through the Human Resources Strategy Council.
Stable recruitment of talent to support business areas
We have set priority-focus areas within our business portfolio in line with our target business models and have set KPIs for the talent who will drive the realization of growth strategies in these areas. Thanks to independent HR management by business divisions, we are making steady progress on securing talent in each area and reaching the KPIs. In FY2025, we will continue efforts to enhance in-house training systems and mid-career recruiting in order to secure the necessary talent to realize our business strategies.
Retail business in Japan
In our retail business in Japan, where we are focused on improving customer experience and supporting the doubling of asset-based income, we will review our digital, remote, and in-person approaches, move forward full digitalization of office procedures, and transform branches from places for administration into places for consultation. In light of the increasing importance of personnel who have knowledge and experience in face-to-face consulting and who are capable of supporting asset formation, management, and succession in a customer-oriented manner, we are putting emphasis on personnel development and have set a KPI for number of employees with personal consulting qualifications.
Corporate business in Japan
The corporate business, where we are aiming to enhance the competitiveness of Japanese companies, calls for the insight to delve deeper into industry trends and client needs and the creativity to design growth narratives with corporate clients. We are focusing in particular on the area of business succession, which requires specialized knowledge and practical experience. We have set a KPI for the number of in-house certified personnel who can support business succession and are strategically assigning personnel to this area. Similarly, in the area of support for startups/innovative companies, we have set a KPI for the number of in-house certified personnel in order to systematically develop personnel with experience in providing support in leading-edge technology fields and expertise in responding to the needs of companies at different stages of growth.
Sustainability-related business
In the area of sustainability and innovation, to respond to the various sustainability challenges our large corporate and other clients are facing, we will further increase the number of environmental / energy sector consultants at Mizuho Research & Technologies. On the other hand, advancing sustainability in the wider community requires action not only by large companies but also by the small and medium-sized enterprises that make up the supply chain. Because of this, we have set a KPI for number of sustainability management experts as well and are working to ensure employees obtain the knowledge necessary to conduct sustainability transformation discussions with a wide range of corporate clients as they acquire relevant qualifications.
Global business
We are evolving the global Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB) business model in the US and EMEA and expanding our transaction banking and capital markets business in Asia. In order to strengthen our business in each of these markets, we need to secure local personnel who are familiar with the market, to which end we maintain a high ratio of local personnel in management positions at our offices outside Japan.
At the same time, we must secure a sustainable pool of personnel from Japan who have international experience and can work together with local personnel. In training early career employees, we will increase the number of new international assignments, set the assignment period to two years, and provide opportunities for employees to gain one year of practical experience in banking and one year in internal management, allowing us to build a sustainable portfolio of talent with international experience.
Digital transformation
At the group level, digital transformation is a priority area of our medium-term business plan, and in Japan we are in need of personnel who have advanced expertise in digital transformation and technologies and can facilitate business transformation for our clients and Mizuho. As part of securing such digital transformation personnel, we have set a KPI for the number of these employees and are developing our personnel, mainly at Mizuho Research & Technologies and Mizuho–DL Financial Technology. In tandem, to expand the base of employees with knowledge on digital transformation and technologies, we have also set a KPI for the number of digital transformation basics personnel, and we are working to raise the general level of knowledge through our digital transformation employee development program.
Second and third lines of defense to support business
One of the priority areas of the medium-term business plan is maintaining stable business operations, which support our growth strategies and corporate foundations, and by extension all that Mizuho represents. With Mizuho being called on to implement deeper and more sophisticated governance, securing expert personnel in the areas of risk and compliance management and internal audit—the second and third lines of defense—is becoming increasingly important, and we have set the enhancement of these areas as a KPI.
Further information
Human Capital Report List of data (Human capital supporting growth strategies) (PDF/6,886KB)
Elevating individual employees' capabilities
Mizuho publishes the "Human Capital Report" to comprehensively explain how we will create value together with our customers, the economy and society through "Enhancing Human Capital" and "Transforming Corporate Culture". For details on our various human capital initiatives.
Further information
Human Capital Report
Career Development Management encourages employees to achieve career independence
Support system for considering careers together
Active investment in employee self-development
System that gives opportunities for considering careers together
For Mizuho to realize its sustainable growth strategy, it is crucial that each employee proactively seeks to grow by taking steps to improve their skills and abilities toward their desired career. We are investing in learning and providing opportunities for growth through our Career Development Management as a way to support this attitude of self-motivation among our employees. Furthermore, to enhance the middle management segment, which encourages our employees to challenge themselves, we operate training programs in which middle managers can obtain comprehensive training on the roles, knowledge, and skills demanded of management.
Recognizing the need to further strengthen initiatives that help our employees with career shaping, we are working on presenting concrete career paths, improving systems that assist their self-development, and disseminating information to expand the use of these programs and systems.
Career Development Management encourages employees to achieve career independence
Mizuho promotes Career Development Management as a way for each employee to achieve the career that's right for them. Career Development Management is a mechanism that encourages our employees to achieve their aims through a cycle of understanding yourself, learning about career fields and examples, considering careers together, pursuing self-development, building careers together, and growing through work. In FY2024, we created the Funds for Learning and the Funds for Qualifications to further support employees engaged in self-development. Additionally, to provide more opportunities to build careers together, we expanded the scope and roll out of the Job Challenge Program to all of our employees. The Job Challenge Program allows them to apply for positions of their choice even in the absence of an internal job posting. Through these initiatives, our employees are steadily building careers that align with their individual aspirations.
For enacting Mizuho's corporate identity through career independence cycle
Support system for considering careers together
In order for our employees to take concrete action toward building careers that align with their individual aspirations, it is important for them to understand what opportunities for growth are available at Mizuho and to consider what they want to achieve. Across our five core group companies, we provide tools and opportunities for our employees to consider their careers together with Mizuho and three programs to understand what opportunities are available for them. The programs appear to be widely used, having reached 6,000 users, but this figure represents just over 10 percent of all of our employees. To encourage greater use of the programs, we are working to enrich the programs' content, improve their usability, and promote awareness of the programs.
We have established a support system consisting of career interviews with managers and career advisors (approximately 30 people) who are permanently assigned to HR departments, to provide our employees with opportunities to reflect on their strengths, challenges, and career perspectives through dialog.
Three programs to learn about career opportunities
Active investment in employee self-development
Mizuho revamped our self-development support programs in FY2024 and set up the Funds for Learning and Funds for Qualification. These funds support employees in undertaking any form of self-directed learning or qualification aimed at acquiring the knowledge and skills to build their careers.
It is more important than ever that all of our employees engage in reskilling and upskilling, given the rapid changes in the technology and business landscape. To maximize the support we give to employees who intentionally pursue self-development, we have increased the amount of monetary support we provide and implemented programs that aid diverse learning opportunities.
The specific programs are the Funds for Learning, which provides up to 300,000 yen per year per employee to support any learning necessary for their current duties or future career development, and the Funds for Qualification, which offers a maximum of 200,000 yen per qualification as an incentive for employees who obtain qualifications recommended by the company.
These improvements have led to a 1.4-times increase in users of the programs compared to FY2023.
Overview of the Funds for Learning and the Funds for Qualification
Change in the number of users of the self-development support programs
System that gives opportunities for considering careers together
At Mizuho, our employees can expand their career paths by leveraging the knowledge and skills gained through self-development and by building experience in successfully taking on challenges in new posts. To enrich the opportunities for our employees to take on such challenges, we expanded the scope and roll out of the Job Challenge Program in FY2024 to all employees. The Job Challenge Program allows our employees to apply for positions of their choice even in the absence of an internal job posting. As a result, the number of applicants in FY2024 rose 1.5 times, in conjunction with the existing internal job posting system. Looking at the figures by age finds that the number of applicants over 40 increased significantly, indicating that employees of all ages, not just early-career employees, have a strong willingness to take on new challenges.
Overview of internal job postings and the Job Challenge Program and number of applicants
Number of applicants (by age) to internal job postings and the Job Challenge Program
Fair evaluation and compensation; appointment and selection independent of seniority
Mizuho publishes the "Human Capital Report" to comprehensively explain how we will create value together with our customers, the economy and society through "Enhancing Human Capital" and "Transforming Corporate Culture". For details on our various human capital initiatives.
Further information
Human Capital Report
Details of employee evaluation and scheme for supporting employee development
CANADE, launched in FY2024, is an HR framework designed to further motivate all employees and promote their growth by providing compensation commensurate with their roles and achievements. Specifically, with the introduction of CANADE, we moved to a role-based wage system in which salaries are determined by the difficulty of an employee's role and the degree of responsibility held. Additionally, we removed the department or branch performance from the factors that determine bonuses. Now, bonuses are determined by the entire group's performance as well as the individual's achievement of personal goals and contribution to business performance.
Under the CANADE framework, we can appoint and select the most suitable talent for achieving business strategies, regardless of seniority or years of experience. Business divisions began flexible personnel appointments at their discretion in FY2024, the first year of the CANADE framework. At the same, we advanced initiatives for sustainable enhancements to our organizational capabilities, such as intentionally assigning important roles to early-career and mid-level employees from the perspective fostering the next-generation of leaders.
The introduction of role-based compensation has allowed us to offer competitive renumeration to mid-career hires. This has increased our presence in talent markets, specifically markets for expert talent in specific fields.
Details of employee evaluation and scheme for supporting employee development
Specific mechanisms in the employee evaluation system
Mizuho's evaluation system is an opportunity for our employees to reflect on their actions and performance, with one aim being to tie this reflection to growth. Specifically, we conduct two types of annual evaluations — performance evaluations and action evaluations — for all employees. The evaluations include feedback to the individual on their specific performance as well as their strengths and areas for improvement. They also include dialog regarding action plans toward building careers.
Performance evaluation
Performance evaluations involve employees setting their own personal achievement targets, as part of their organization's targets/goals and in view of their role, at the beginning of the term and then evaluating their level of achievement at the end of the term. In this system, each individual's achievement of their targets leads to their organization realizing its targets and goals and, thus, increasing the overall corporate value of Mizuho.
To ensure our employees are comfortable that the evaluations will be fair and to enable them to move ahead with initiatives that contribute to their organization, we put priority on dialog between employees and managers, so they are on the same page at the beginning of the term regarding specific achievement levels. Frequent, effective, and flexible dialog between employees and managers continues throughout the term toward the achievement of personal targets. Routine communications are established to check the progress toward targets and to consider improvements to task execution.
Action evaluation
Action evaluations assess employees' capability to carry out their role without assigning rankings. The evaluations include the individual's knowledge, skills, and specific abilities and how well the individual puts Mizuho's Values, based on the corporate identity, into practice. Action evaluations are combined with growth communications, which take place at the start and mid-point of each term, as described below, to provide opportunities for growth. The evaluations also assess how well our employees follow compliance rules as they perform their duties, as a means of instilling awareness of and adherence to legal compliance in daily operations. The actions and level of compliance of individuals determined through the action evaluations are factors in determining their role-based compensation for the following fiscal year.
Feedback
Mizuho shares feedback about the evaluation results with our employees to ensure they feel the results are fair and lead to their further professional development. After the annual evaluations, managers provide feedback to all their team members on the evaluation results, the rationale behind the results, and the individual's strengths and areas for improvement. This includes dialog directed at encouraging further growth by the employee. We also conduct employee surveys to collect feedback from our employees and to improve the quality of organizational operations. The surveys allow us to ascertain how well the feedback was implemented and how our employees feel about the evaluations and the feedback process. The survey results are shared with department / branch managers. Aside from conversations at the beginning and end of each term, routine communications take place with our employees regarding task execution and achievement of personal targets as well as their personal development and careers.
Results of employee survey on feedback
As a result of ongoing improvements to the feedback sessions, the survey results showed an upward trend in FY2025.
Systems to support employee growth
Mizuho intentionally creates routine opportunities for managers and their team members to talk to encourage our employee growth. We also make use of 360-degree feedback to encourage middle managers to adapt their mindset and actions.
Communication for employee/career talks
The CANADE HR framework emphasizes employee growth through the development of necessary knowledge, skills, and specific abilities and through independent career-building. To better realize career independence, we have set up opportunities for dialog between individuals and their managers that are principally focused on their growth. Specifically, the employee and manager agree on an action plan based on the individual's strengths and areas for improvement at the start of the fiscal year. Then, over the term, PDCA cycles are put in effect by means of frequent communications during the fiscal year.
Annual career talks are also held as part of Career Development Management mentioned in the previous chapter (see page 13). During career talks, the employee and manager find agreement on self-awareness and career aspirations, which can lead to personnel allocations and training.
360-degree feedback
Adaptation in mindsets and actions by middle managers is critical to Mizuho's growth, as middle management is at the heart of organizational operations and is the main entity that drives employee growth. To this end, Mizuho employs 360-degree feedback to give middle managers an opportunity to reflect on their own strengths and weaknesses. This leads to managers putting Mizuho's Values into practice through improvements in their management skills and daily work execution and through changes in their mindsets and actions.
Supporting success for every employee
Mizuho publishes the "Human Capital Report" to comprehensively explain how we will create value together with our customers, the economy and society through "Enhancing Human Capital" and "Transforming Corporate Culture". For details on our various human capital initiatives.
Further information
Human Capital Report
Ensuring diverse perspectives at the management and decision-making level
Creating places where individuals from all backgrounds can come together and thrive as themselves
Having a workforce with a multiplicity of values and perspectives, including genders, nationalities, and backgrounds, is essential for Mizuho to drive innovation and create business value. It is also essential to ensure equal opportunities and foster an inclusive environment where employees from diverse backgrounds can challenge themselves and thrive. By continuing to be an organization where all employees can perform their best in their own way and feel a sense of fulfillment and pride, we will create new value for everyone associated with Mizuho and for society as a whole. To achieve this, Mizuho actively promotes the empowerment of every employee across the Group and globally. Metrics that gauge employee empowerment show steady progress.
Roadmap for supporting success for every employee
Ensuring diverse perspectives at the management and decision-making level
We believe that incorporating a multiplicity of perspectives and values into everyday business operations leads to the creation of business value. At Mizuho, we have identified ensuring diverse perspectives at the decision-making level as an important theme and are promoting initiatives to achieve this.
Establishing a foundation for the advancement of women in Japan
Companies in Japan are required to promote more active roles for women in the workplace under the Act on the Promotion of Women's Active Engagement in Professional Life. Mizuho is continuing to focus on the provision of stretch assignments and enhancement of networking to reach a ratio of 30% female managers by the early 2030s. In FY2024, we laid the groundwork so we can implement systematic, data-driven measures by visualizing employee data by organization, sharing issues among management, and strengthening alignment between business divisions and the HR division. We are also steadily increasing the percentage of new female graduates hired, which is an important indicator for the long-term promotion of the development and advancement of female employees.
Career development support for female employees in Japan
Fine-grained support tailored to women's issues at different stages of life is necessary in order for women to manifest all their abilities and feel a sense of fulfillment and pride in their work while achieving a balance between work and private life. We launched career support programs for female employees in FY2016 as part of these support efforts.
The improvements in skills and the changes in attitudes among female employees and management as a result of the programs have fostered a culture in which women can thrive. And through motivational efforts at various levels of the organization, we have formed a pool of female employees suited for managerial candidates. This initiative has helped increase the ratio of women in management positions, set as a KPI, including the new appointment of 100 women to general manager or equivalent roles in FY2024.
Overview of Mizuho's career support programs for female employees
Descriptions of career support programs for female employees
Initiatives to promote the advancement of women in new graduate hiring in Japan
We are focusing on activities to hire more new female graduates to establish a foundation for women to thrive in the medium and long term. To communicate the benefits of working at Mizuho, we enriched the content on our online recruiting pages to introduce role models and provide information on Mizuho's organization and systems. We also hold roundtable discussions for women prior to joining Mizuho, where they can have real interactions with our employees and gain a better understanding of the company's appeal and work environment.
*See the online recruiting pages for each company for more details.
Development of action plans based on the Act on the Promotion of Women's Active Engagement in Professional Life
Mizuho has developed action plans aimed at creating environments in which all employees can enjoy diverse and flexible work styles and female employees can thrive at all levels of the company, based on Japan's Act on the Promotion of Women's Active Engagement in Professional Life. With these action plans in place, we have been working to achieve targets.
Promotion of employees hired outside Japan
In order to maintain and improve the percentage of local hires in management positions outside Japan, we have established training programs and succession plans for local hires outside Japan, and we conduct training for senior executives in collaboration with management at the head office in Japan. At the same time, we promote placing Japanese employees with work experience in posts outside Japan that require handling global issues in order to enhance the global responsiveness of the head office in Japan.
Initiatives for the advancement of employees with advanced expertise regardless of nationality
The advancement of local hires in countries outside of Japan with in-depth insights and advanced expertise is essential to meet the sophisticated needs of Japanese and non-Japanese clients alike.
Mizuho recruits a wide range of talent from both Japan and other countries as well as runs training programs to maximize their abilities and provides environments where employees from all backgrounds can thrive globally.
We offer short-term training to local hires outside of Japan as well as the Global Mobility Program,*1 which supports career development across operational sites. For employees in Japan, we provide opportunities to nurture their global responsiveness through language training and work experience outside Japan, and we encourage collaborations that respect the contributions of employees hired outside of Japan.
*1 Global Mobility Program: a scheme for international transfers intended to provide employees hired outside Japan with career building opportunities and appoint appropriate international resources according to business needs.
Securing and retaining mid-career hires in Japan
Mid-career recruiting led by individual business divisions has allowed for more flexible recruiting activities focused on priority areas. As a result, in FY2024, around 40 percent of all new hires, including new graduates, were mid-career hires.
As a result of our enhanced efforts in order to retain talent and promote their early success, such as thorough orientation during the onboarding process and follow-up support for each hire by career advisors, mid-career hires have made up 17% of our management positions.
Creating places where individuals from all backgrounds can come together and thrive as themselves
It is important to ensure diverse perspectives and values in decision-making processes in order to achieve robust results. Equally important is to build foundations on which our employees can connect with each other and with the company based on trust and respect, allowing our employees to take on challenges and thrive as themselves.
Our aim at Mizuho is to develop workplaces where everyone can work comfortably and take charge of their own growth. We are committed to creating environments where every employee demonstrates their many strengths and maximizes their specific abilities. Such environments promote the activation of wide-ranging networking in which our employees broaden their perspectives.
Initiatives to assist work / childcare balance
Balancing childbirth and childcare with work is a crucial part of creating supportive work environments. To this end, we have introduced systems that go beyond legal requirements, such as nursing care leave and reduced working-hour programs that can be taken until children enter middle school, and flexible work styles that are not restricted by time or location. We aim to empower our employees to balance their careers with their life stages without giving up their careers. We are also committed to promoting understanding throughout our organization through various measures, such as ongoing training to further employee understanding about work / childcare balance and creating specific training programs and guidelines for management.
At Mizuho, approximately 1,000 employees start taking childcare leave each year. It is now the "norm" to balance work and childcare while continuing to work. With the elimination of job classifications based on the previous HR system, we shifted our approach to measures that balance work and childcare in FY2021 from "taking advantage of childcare support systems while continuing to work" to "balancing work and childcare while pursuing a long-term career that aligns with one's individual aspirations and growing professionally through work". We realigned our training programs and revamped our support measures from this new perspective.
Overview of support programs for childbirth and childcare
Initiatives encouraging male employees to become involved in childcare, resulting in workplaces where all employees can work comfortably
At Mizuho, we have set a KPI to maintain the percentage of male employees who take childcare leave at 100% in Japan, in line with the Act on Childcare Leave, Caregiver Leave, and Other Measures for the Welfare of Workers Caring for Children or Other Family Members (Childcare and Family Care Leave Act). To reach this target, we have introduced various measures to change the attitudes and behavior of all executives and employees, such as providing five days of paid childcare leave and having managers inform male employees whose partner has given birth about our childcare leave programs and check whether they intend to use the programs. And since July 2019, the presidents and CEOs of the five core group companies have participated in the Declaration Encouraging 100% of Eligible Employees to Take Paternity Leave established by the Work-Life Balance Co., Ltd.
We hold information sessions for all employees and seminars led by outside experts for employees who have had children, those seeking childcare leave, and managers to learn about the significance of men taking childcare leave. We also send congratulatory emails to employees who have had children and their managers, among other initiatives to encourage male employees to participate in childcare. Additionally, we strive to address concerns that may dissuade men from taking advantage of childcare leave by introducing role models and sharing other information. To further encourage male employees to participate more in childcare, we recommend that male employees take one month or more of leave or leave of absence for childcare purposes in line with a policy established in July 2024 that male employees in general should take a minimum of 10 days for childcare. In conjunction with this, we hold information sessions to promote employee understanding, have established the Parental Leave Manual for Men, and have enhanced efforts to create environments in which men can confidently take leave for childcare by sharing information on leave status with department / branch managers. By encouraging men to take an active role in childcare, we aim to drive attitude and behavioral changes related to work style reforms, operational efficiency, and corporate culture transformation. This, in turn, helps foster workplaces where everyone can achieve a career that aligns with their individual values and aspirations.
Corporate Day Care Services
Employees are eligible for child places at more than 500 child daycare centers in Japan. We support our employees' smooth return to work by providing them with more options for daycare centers located near their home or on the way to work, to let them select one that suits their individual work/life circumstances.
Support for work/family care balance
No employees quitting the company due to family care responsibilities". The programs include family care leave exceeding legal requirements, reduced/flexible working hours for family care and seminars and manuals designed to relieve worry and anxiety.
Overview of support programs for family care
Initiatives for LGBT+ and other sexual minorities
Mizuho has continually prioritized initiatives to provide work environments in which LGBT+ employees can thrive as themselves. Based on the Act on the Promotion of Public Understanding of the Diversity of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (LGBT Understanding Promotion Act), Mizuho works to create an environment in which all employees have a deep understanding of sexual orientations and gender identities (SOGI). Through various initiatives, SOGI awareness among our employees has steadily increased, and interest has grown. Some employees, however, who have gained understanding and appreciation for SOGI now feel anxious that their words or actions might unintentionally hurt others. To address these concerns, we implemented measures in FY2024 that included experiential and action-oriented activities.
While we are seeing changes in employees' attitudes and behaviors, the elimination of unconscious biases remains a work in progress. We will continue our awareness-raising efforts to ensure our organization is one where every employee's SOGI is respected.
Initiatives to help employees with disabilities thrive
To realize workplace environments where employees with disabilities can demonstrate their skills and individuality, it is important to both support individual employees and cultivate greater understanding among their colleagues. We held a talk event in FY2024 in which employees with disabilities described their work styles and ideas to further understanding of employees with disabilities. Comments from participants — such as "I realized that although I believed I understood employees with disabilities, I actually did not fully appreciate their circumstances" and "I learned that consideration for people with disabilities is important not only for them but also for everyone else" — indicate that the talk event helped deepen understanding among our employees.
Initiatives to promote understanding of unconscious biases
Unbiased decision-making and business operations are essential to ensure equal opportunities and encourage employees to stay true to themselves. Mizuho has been raising awareness about inequalities resulting from unconscious biases by providing employees with educational content and information.
For example, we provide unconscious-bias training to all employees to help them recognize their own unconscious prejudices and stereotypes and integrate measures to counter unconscious biases into their thoughts and actions. We also issue training and manuals to eliminate biases against LGBT+ individuals and people with disabilities. In FY2024, we distributed awareness-raising leaflets to all employees on the theme of microaggressions (small acts of unconscious discrimination).
Some group companies provide annual unconscious-bias training for employees who are interested. In FY2024, the training covered how to deal with microaggressions in the workplace and conducted group work. Comments from training participants included "Learning coping methods when you actually face microaggressions leads to improvements not only for yourself but also for your team and organization as a whole" and "Understanding the importance of executing operations with an awareness of unconscious biases is crucial for enhancing psychological safety in the workplace". These comments demonstrated that individual employee's shifts in attitudes contribute to organizational transformations. We will continue to enhance efforts to reduce and eliminate unconscious biases.
Further information
Human Capital Report List of data (Supporting success for every employee) (PDF/6,886KB)
Pursuit of employee well-being
Mizuho publishes the "Human Capital Report" to comprehensively explain how we will create value together with our customers, the economy and society through "Enhancing Human Capital" and "Transforming Corporate Culture". For details on our various human capital initiatives.
Further information
Human Capital Report
Creating environments enabling employees to work healthy and safely
Physical and mental health: Promoting measures to achieve health management in Japan
Financial health: Supporting employees in building assets independently
Work styles: Creating flexible work environments to address employees' diverse needs
Maintaining and improving the physical and mental health of every employee is directly linked to improved employee productivity and engagement and is essential to encourage our employees to take on ambitious challenges. To this end, Mizuho promotes well-being from two sides — physical and mental health and financial wellness — as a means of creating organizations in which our employees can work with enthusiasm at all times. We measure the effectiveness of various well-being promotion measures with a health and productivity management strategy map and take additional steps as necessary.
Creating environments enabling employees to work healthy and safely
The goal of the CANADE HR framework is workplaces where our employees can work comfortably and being themselves. To achieve this goal, it is important that our employees are physically and mentally healthy and can work safely and securely. Through health promotion and occupational safety initiatives, we aim to make our workplace environments comfortable places for all employees to work.
Health and Productivity Management Declaration
Mizuho will strategically promote health and productivity management, aiming to create an environment in which a diverse range of employees can work in a lively manner and to leverage the strengths and personalities of all employees by increasing their motivation and productivity, making them drivers of corporate value enhancement and sustainable growth.
Organizational structure for promotion
The Group CHRO is designated as the person responsible for health management, and the company's HR department and health insurance association work together to establish a health management promotion system. Additionally, various committees have been formed to address critical issues, ensuring consistent execution of processes from the discussion of measures to impact evaluation.
Structure for health and productivity management promotion
Meetings
Ensuring employee safety in emergencies
Mizuho undertakes initiatives to be prepared for emergencies and ensure employee safety as a top priority. In particular, we have developed manuals that outline actions to ensure employee safety. These actions include risk-avoidance behavior, rescue operations, and evacuation procedures, taking into account emergencies such as large-scale natural disasters, conflicts or terrorism both inside and outside Japan, as well as the spread of infectious diseases. We also raise employee awareness of initial responses to emergencies through regular emergency drills and constant reminders of the state of affairs both inside and outside Japan, and by evaluating the effectiveness of the manuals. In addition, we have contracted a safety check service to establish a system to immediately check on the safety of our employees and their families in the case of emergencies.
Physical and mental health: Promoting measures to achieve health management in Japan
As part of realizing our vision with health management, we promote health management measures while determining their results and status with the use of a health and productivity management strategy map that visualizes the links between our targets and measures. We have introduced new tools and systems for mental health, which has been a particular focus in recent years, for the early detection of mental health issues and to enhance support for our employees in their return to work. Absenteeism1 stands at 1.5% and has remained unchanged since FY2022. Consequently, we recognize the need to continue addressing mental health issues while monitoring the effects of the new initiatives over the medium to long term.
- The percentage of employees who have been on sick leave for 30 calendar days or more, excluding paid leave, after the start of sick leave. While striving to improve absenteeism, we recognize that employees should take time off when necessary. At the present time, we have not set a target for the level of absenteeism and will continue to monitor and analyze the factors contributing to absenteeism.
Health and productivity management strategy map
Financial health: Supporting employees in building assets independently
In addition to physical and mental health and wellness, Mizuho focuses on financial wellness, to eliminate our employees' future financial concerns so they can work with peace of mind. In FY2023, we concentrated on creating motivation for independent asset building through awareness-raising campaigns. In FY2024, we engaged with employees with significant interest in and understanding of building assets, with active encouragement from their departments and support tailored to their individual circumstances. We held talk events at branches and offices upon request and presented information based on the needs of motivated employees. We have confirmed that these initiatives have led to employees taking actual steps toward self-directed asset formation. We will continue to measure the effectiveness of these efforts while pursuing greater financial wellness for our employees.
Financial wellness initiatives
Work styles: Creating flexible work environments to address employees' diverse needs
We have established systems and advanced initiatives to reduce working hours so that every employee can thrive while being themselves and feeling at ease at work.
Initiatives for improving productivity
We work to thoroughly eliminate excess work, in compliance with labor laws and regulations, to arrange environments in which our employees can work in good health for many years. We also promote initiatives to raise company-wide operational efficiencies so that we can cut working hours while boosting productivity. One particular focus has been maximizing the use of tablet devices in many work situations, such as promoting paperless documentation, joining online meetings from remote locations using IT tools, and preparing presentation materials for customers both in person and remotely. Measures like these are driving more efficient business operations.
We have implemented a number of initiatives to promote varied work operations and reduce working hours. These include setting designated company-wide days for leaving work on time (summer refresh day, winter refresh day, family day), setting periods for promoting work style reforms, turning off all lights at the end of the workday in head office buildings, and introducing a work-interval system designed to ensure at least 10 hours of rest between the end of one workday and the start of the next workday.
Promoting flexible and diverse work styles
Mizuho aims to enhance the productivity of organizations and individuals through flexible work styles that are not constrained by specific hours or locations, which contributes to the sustainable growth of the company.
Introduction of flexible work hours
We have introduced flexible work hour programs, such as flex time with or without core hours and staggered hours, that our employees use according to the specific work circumstances at their respective department, in order to implement efficient and productive work styles. We have implemented a shortened work hours system that reduces regular working hours by moving back start times or moving up end times, and a shortened workday system that allows our employees to set two days off per week. All employees, in general, are eligible for both systems.
We also have established many work-life balance support systems that exceed legal requirements for employees that have time constraints due to childcare or caregiving responsibilities. In particular, we have enhanced our childcare support system for employees raising children younger than middle school age, providing multilayered assistance through shorter work hours, staggered work hours, and exemption from overtime work, as well as the provision of nursing care leave days beyond those legally required.
Introduction of flexible work locations - Utilizing remote work -
We have introduced work from home system for all employees as well as satellite offices encouraging flexible work styles that are not restricted by "location". We have organized systems that allow our employees to work without coming to the office based on their business characteristics, and established environments that enable time-constrained employees, such as those balancing work and child/family care, to perform to their fullest potential.
Initiatives to promote taking leave
Mizuho has set a KPI target of "80% of paid annual leave taken" as a level to be maintained on an ongoing basis. For employees balancing work and child/family care, we offer a variety of flexible leave options, such as paid half-days off, which can be taken up to 32 times, paternity leave, refreshment leave, self-enlightenment leave, and volunteer leave, encouraging them to flexibly take leave according to their own circumstances.
Complying with laws/regulations and building work environments
Mizuho has been undertaking establishment of supportive and safe work environments where all employees' human rights and the minimum standard of healthy and cultured living are respected.
Ensuring minimum wage
Mizuho ensures that all employees receive salaries exceeding local minimum wages. We monitor annual trends in minimum wage increases and revise wages as necessary based on these trends. For FY2023, we confirmed that our salary standards exceed local minimum wages. Additionally, based on the concept of equal pay for equal work, we have established fair labor standards regardless of the type of employment.
In offices and branches outside Japan, Mizuho ensures that employees' wages meet or exceed the minimum wage as defined by applicable law and is committed to the principle of equal pay for equal work, thereby treating all employees appropriately.
Guaranteed living wages
At Mizuho, in addition to guaranteeing the minimum wage, we strive to provide industry competitive wages that enable our employees to maintain an adequate standard of living.1
Typical initiatives to provide necessary welfare benefits and expense subsidies include dormitories for single employees and housing subsidies to support the livelihoods of early-career employees, childcare subsidies to encourage early return to work and early resumption of normal duties by employees coming back from childcare leave, and enrollment in insurance to support balancing work with treatments for employees who suffer from one of the three major diseases. For international assignees, we set salary levels in consideration of local exchange rates and living costs and arrange mechanisms to cover expenses related to housing, medical care, and children's education.
- The starting salary for new graduates in FY2024 was approximately 165% of the national weighted average of regional minimum wages (approximately 150% of the minimum wage in Tokyo).
Building work environments
We believe it is important to improve working environments so that our employees can carry on working at Mizuho with reassurance. To this end, we monitor, regularly and on an ad hoc basis, compliance with minimum wages and the 36-hour workweek agreement, the status of overtime work and leave usage, and the incidence of workplace accidents. Moreover, company management and employee union representatives discuss working conditions and other work-related issues.
At Mizuho, we have set standard working hours per day or week, and for any work exceeding these hours, we have mechanisms to monitor daily working conditions from the perspectives of legal compliance and employee health. Specifically, we promptly confirm working hours based on employees' computer login and logoff times and we conduct thorough post-hoc monitoring by cross-referencing various data such as other system logs and building entry / exit data with recorded working hours. To prevent excessive overtime and overwork, we issue alerts regarding long work hours through the attendance management system, conduct medical consultations by occupational health physicians with employees working long hours, and provide individual follow-ups by HR departments. We provide appropriate compensation for overtime work and annual leave in accordance with labor laws.
Further information
Human Capital Report List of data (Employee well-being) (PDF/6,886KB)
Corporate culture transformation
Mizuho publishes the "Human Capital Report" to comprehensively explain how we will create value together with our customers, the economy and society through "Enhancing Human Capital" and "Transforming Corporate Culture". For details on our various human capital initiatives.
Further information
Human Capital Report
Clear changes seen in employee surveys
Identifying issues and taking measures led by management commitment
Corporate culture is a key building block for CANADE in instituting strategic HR while emphasizing employee narratives. Only when there is a positive corporate culture can personnel, who are the creators of corporate value, maximize their abilities and talents. Mizuho aims to transform our corporate culture with the goal of achieving a culture in which all executives and employees identify personally with the corporate identity, think and act on their own to embody the identity, and act in unity to provide value to our customers, the economy, and society.
Improving employee engagement through corporate culture transformation is the foundation that supports Mizuho's growth strategies. When each employee with an inherent motivation to contribute is able to manifest their strengths and individuality and to work in a way that feels genuine to them while connecting with others, this then becomes the driver of business growth. A virtuous cycle emerges, as business growth further elevates employee motivation.
To sustain this virtuous cycle, we have to regularly and accurately ascertain the situations our employees are in. For this reason, we conduct periodic employee surveys and take actions based on the findings of the surveys. Over the past several years, Mizuho has identified corporate culture transformation as a key issue and has been actively addressing it. As a result of these efforts, we have observed tangible changes in employee attitudes, which we believe is the outcome of regular communication of messages from management and engaging in dialog with our employees on the frontlines of our business.
Clear changes seen in employee surveys
Since FY2023, we have been taking consistent measures to encourage each employee to identify personally with our corporate identity and to revitalize internal communications, and we began to see signs of changes because of these measures. However, in FY2024, we got a true sense of solid and lasting transformations in the corporate culture and in the attitudes and actions of our employees. Evidence for this is the inclusion score, a KPI, on the employee survey. The score has surpassed the medium-term management plan target, and the engagement score is a step away from reaching its target as well. Scores for other KPIs have also shown steady improvements.
Percentage of positive responses to KPI questions
Identifying issues and taking measures led by management commitment
Scores for many questions on the employee survey improved, indicating the positive impact of efforts to date. Nevertheless, there are areas where no improvement was seen or where scores remain low. An analysis of the scores identified and classified the following four issues, which are now being taken up by the group.
Understanding and implementing strategies
We have been consistently communicating messages from management and working to deepen employees' understanding of our corporate identity, as a means of further sharing our corporate identity and management's approach to strategies. We have seen changes in how our employees accept these messages after repeated dialog sessions between management and employees at town hall meetings and on-site visits.
We held workshops and other events for department / branch managers to further instill our corporate identity within the organization. As a result of these initiatives, we have seen a heightened awareness and growing movement toward changing the organization for the better, such as department / branch managers identifying personally with Mizuho's Purpose and Values and taking the lead in engaging in dialog with members of their organizations.
We have verified some positive outcomes after our initial focus on fostering alignment with Mizuho's Purpose. Therefore, we have shifted our focus to fostering alignment with Mizuho's Values while continuing with multi-layered initiatives.
Improving communication
We have implemented various measures aimed at fostering a corporate culture in which our employees can take the initiative in challenging; building a sense of unity through mutual recognition of personalities from diverse backgrounds; and revitalizing internal communications.
Organization development initiatives taken since FY2022 to stimulate employee-employee relationships and to boost organizational vitality tie in with a greater sense of fulfillment at work and the fostering of a sense of unity within organizations. We also support independent employee actions to enhance interaction among our employees and to revitalize internal communications, through such means as employee-led projects and the use of internal social media platforms.
Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement in employees' acceptance and perceptions of unity. Therefore, we will continue to pursue our initiatives while monitoring their results through employee surveys.
Achievement of career goals
We held information sessions in FY2024 to hear opinions from our employees and answer their concerns regarding career independence, as a means to further disseminate the CANADE HR framework, which encourages employee development and growth and rewards their contributions. The information sessions aimed to promote further understanding and awareness through bi-directional communications (See the section on Careful dissemination of the new HR system through conscientious dialog, P. 20.) We have also focused on enhancing the systems that support our employees in taking on new challenges and on strengthening middle management. (See the sections on Career Development Management encourages employees to achieve career independence, P. 13, and Upskilling for middle managers, who foster career independence, P. 18.) While we have seen steady improvements in scores as a result of these efforts, we have yet to reach satisfactory levels. We recognize the need for career support tailored to our employees' career aspirations and individual circumstances.
Productivity and resource sufficiency
Improvements to facilities, IT infrastructure, and other resources are essential elements supporting the work of our employees. Accordingly, we have been moving ahead sequentially with initiatives such as upgrading office equipment, replacing computers, and introducing IT tools. We strive to provide our employees with information about the state of these improvements, but the effects of these initiatives and the tangible benefits for our employees have yet to be realized. We will push forward with necessary initiatives while ascertaining the situations at each organization.
Issues identified from the employee survey and examples of initiatives taken
