Kewpie, a century-old company, has introduced the Self Career Dock career development program for all employees. Based on its medium-term plan, it has revamped its human resources policy to emphasize autonomy and challenge while expanding its recruitment of external talent.
Building on more than a century of history, Kewpie is pursuing a new shift in its human resources strategy. In 2024, it introduced the Self Career Dock career development program for all employees, combining career training with external career counseling sessions. This increased employees’ motivation to learn, and training hours rose 1.6-fold year on year.
Based on the Medium-Term Management Plan for fiscal 2025-2028, the group has introduced a new human resources policy that moves away from the traditional model of “careers provided by the company” and emphasizes aligning individual self-realization with the company’s corporate philosophy. It strongly calls for autonomy and challenge, positioning people who can shape their own careers rather than wait for instructions as the core of organizational growth.
As it gives greater definition to its desired talent profile, the group is advancing initiatives that emphasize not only the permeation of its corporate philosophy but also the overlap between individual values and that philosophy. To respond to the growing diversity of its workforce in Japan and overseas, it is introducing job descriptions, or documents setting out expected roles, and strengthening support for career autonomy.
In recruitment, the company continues to conduct mid-career hiring on a scale comparable to graduate recruitment, while increasing organizational diversity by bringing in external candidates at the head-of-function level in specialized areas such as digital transformation and finance.