DEI（Diversity, Equity & Inclusion）

Initiatives to Promote DEI（Diversity, Equity & Inclusion）

The Sompo Group promotes DEI（Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion） as one of the key initiatives essential to the Group’s growth.

Our DEI initiative aims to achieve the following from three perspectives (employee, business, and society):

a.)Employee Perspective: Create a culture that respects self-motivation and individual differences; encourage dialog; promote a greater sense of pride; support the development of individuals so they can feel more rewarded.

b.)Business Perspective: Empower diverse individuals and improve the quality of decision-making. In this way, we will build resilience and the ability to create value.

c.)Social Perspective: Create a workplace and society where all people, including minorities, can confidently play an active role.

We will practice DEI so that all employees are respected regardless of gender, disability, nationality, or age. Our DEI respects each employee and encourages dialogue to leverage their talents and strengths. Our DEI enables us to stay ahead of the changing times to create new value. In this way, we will embody SOMPO’s Purpose.

We established the DEI Task Force in 2013 to promote DEI throughout the Group. With this as a driving force, we will add diverse human resource perspectives to the various services offered by the Group.

In addition, we will create an environment in which all employees can demonstrate their individuality and strengths and thus work with a sense of contribution to the team. We will achieve our goals from the above employee, business, and social perspectives.

The Sompo Group promotes MY Purpose, an initiative to strengthen the diversity and individuality of its employees. MY Purpose explores each employee’s raison d'être that drives them to live a fulfilling life.

Close the Gender Gap

To close the gender gap, we are building a corporate culture and environment that supports women's career development by implementing various events. For example, we offer Group-wide and company-led training programs and workshops for female employees to raise awareness and encourage them to be more proactive in their career development.

The Group aims to increase diversity in management decision-making. We recently set numerical targets for the proportion of female executives, general managers, and team leaders to exceed 30% by 2030. We have succession plans for 91 key positions, including the Group CEO. The target for female candidates in the succession plans is 50%. As of April 2024, Sompo Holdings has five female executives, including three outside directors, one executive officer, and one corporate officer.
Sompo Japan has six female executives, including one outside director and five corporate officers. Sompo Japan's female managers account for 25.5% of the Group.^*

• Sompo Japan previously defined managers as "team leaders who evaluate subordinates" and had largely achieved the 30% percentage target for female managers. By changing the definition of manager to "management positions with higher decision-making authority," Sompo Japan will continue to promote efforts to achieve the 30% target for women in management positions.

●External Recognition

March,2014Awarded “Diversity Management Selection 100” by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (Sompo Japan)

January,2015Awarded “Corporate Activity Award” by the Tokyo Stock Exchange (Sompo Holdings)

December,2016Awarded “the Prime Minister’s Award” at Commend Leading Companies Where Empowering Women (Sompo Japan)

April,2018Awarded “the Grand Prize” at the 3rd Working Women Empowerment Award by Japan Productivity Center (Working Women’s Empowerment Forum. Sompo Japan)

November,2018Awarded Tokyo “Jisa-Biz Promotion Award (Work Style Category)” (2nd total since FY2017. Sompo Japan)

March, 2021Selected as “NADESHIKO BRAND 2021” by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Tokyo Stock Exchange （Continuously from 2017. Sompo Japan and Sompo Holdings)

June, 2023Received Two-Star Eruboshi Certification from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Sompo Himawari Life Insurance)

• The names of companies are listed in current company names.

Employment of People with Disabilities

The Sompo Holdings Group employs people with disabilities throughout Japan and is focusing on creating inclusive work environments to stabilize their employment. As of October 1, 2024 Our Group's employment rate for people with disabilities is 2.57%.

Sompo Japan has a support system in place to create an inclusive workplace for people with disabilities. For example, it provides a guidebook for managers and arranges disability consultants across the country who provide support to employees with disabilities.

● SOMPO Challenged Inc. to boost jobs for people with disabilities

Our Group is promoting the employment of people with disabilities aiming to provide them with stable opportunities to realize their talents and gain a sense of fulfillment through work and to harness their diversity in innovation that is essential to the growth of the Group. We established SOMPO Challenged in April 2018 as a certified special-purpose subsidiary^* to further promote the stable employment of people with disabilities throughout the Group and to create an environment in which they can work with vitality. SOMPO Challenged plays a leading role in boosting jobs for people with disabilities in our Group.

*A company approved by the Japanese Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare as satisfying certain conditions stipulated in the Act on Employment Promotion, etc. of Persons with Disabilities , that gives special consideration to the employment of people with disabilities

Sompo Holdings Joins “The Valuable 500” to Promote Disability Inclusion

The Valuable 500 was founded in January 2019 by a social entrepreneur, Caroline Casey, at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting (Davos 2019). The Valuable 500 aims to encourage business leaders to achieve innovation so that people with disabilities can demonstrate their potential to add value to businesses, society and the economy. The Valuable 500 pursues support from 500 business leaders across the globe, who already have initiated disability inclusion efforts and those about to embark on such initiatives.
We joined this initiative and made the Group’s commitment to action.

Sompo’s Commitment to the Success of People with Disabilities

(1) Basic Policies

• We view DEI as one of the key initiatives essential to the Group’s growth. We will focus on creating systems and a corporate culture where all employees can play an active role while maximizing their diverse strengths and where the workplace is rewarding.
• We will promote the employment of people with disabilities to provide a stable supply of opportunities for them to exercise their abilities and achieve self-fulfillment in their professional lives. We will create new value as part of the diversity of our workforce.

(2) Action and Commitment
Under the policies mentioned above, we will commit ourselves to the following actions:

1. We will ensure and improve the accessibility of people with disabilities regarding the various services provided by the Sompo Group. At the same time, we aspire to provide the highest quality services that contribute to security, health, and wellbeing.
2. Our management committees will set and promote the employment rate of people with disabilities.
3. We will focus on creating a workplace where people with disabilities can play an active role. Each of our business teams will appoint a member who will assist employees with disabilities to provide necessary support suited for the level of disability.
4. We aim at creating a workplace where employees of all fields, all levels, with various origins can work with no discrimination and maximize their abilities to the fullest extent. To this end, we will carry out DEI workshops, including understanding people with disabilities.
5. We will proactively announce that the Sompo Group is driving the job creation for people with disabilities.

● Universal Manner Certificate Training

In fiscal 2023, we held "Universal Manner Certification" workshops for Group executives. Universal Manner is a way of thinking and acting toward diverse people, including those with disabilities. By systematically learning and mastering this practice, we can provide customers with "reasonable consideration" and valuable products and services based on correct understanding. We believe this will lead to greater understanding and respect for people with disabilities among our colleagues.

Employees’ Efforts to Create an Inclusive Society

Mr. Ryu Inomata has congenital heart disease and is an employee of the Human Capital Department of Sompo Holdings. In addition to his regular work at Sompo, he promotes "Help Mark" ^* as one of the first Help Mark directors established by Nagano Prefecture.

• Help Mark
  This mark indicates to others that the person has a disability and needs consideration.

Mr. Inomata is involved in a variety of other activities.
Since FY2019, he has been a lecturer on human rights education for the Nagano Prefectural Board of Education, visiting elementary, junior high, and high schools to lecture on diversity, helping each other, and living one's own life. Since fiscal 2022, he has been a part-time lecturer at Nagano College of Nursing, teaching classes for students who want to become associate nurses.
Mr. Inomata also runs a YouTube channel, "Living With Heart—A Way of Life for Everyone," to raise awareness about congenital heart disease and provide related information for fellow patients. He is also involved in editing educational videos posted on the website of “NPO for Family and Baby Wellness.”

• YouTube channel: Living With Heart -- Our Way to Live
• NPO for Family and Baby website (in Japanese)

Going forward, we will continue to promote DEI by accepting and utilizing diversity to enhance the happiness and satisfaction of employees, and linking DEI to the sustainable growth of the Group to enhance our corporate value.

Empower and Respect LGBTQ＋

The Sompo Group established an "LGBT-ally Community" to build an employee network, mainly led by Sompo, Japan. Community members work together to create an environment and culture where everyone, including LGBTQ+ individuals, can thrive and feel rewarded in the workplace. The community encourages sharing information, exchanging ideas, hosting social events within the company, and participating in external events. To create an environment conducive to LGBTQ activities, we have "gender-neutral toilets" in the headquarters building and training facilities and an "anyone's changing room" in the headquarters clinic.

Sompo Japan continuously promotes LGBTQ+ initiatives by holding employee study sessions, offering e-learning programs, and providing educational materials and workbooks to all workplaces. Sompo Japan is a member of LGBT Finance and has sponsored the LGBTQ+ event "Tokyo Rainbow Pride" since FY2019.
In fiscal 2024, SOMPO Holdings and Sompo Japan co-sponsored the 2024 Tokyo Rainbow Pride and participated in a booth exhibition.

Previously, our benefit programs (e.g., allowances, condolence money, congratulation, condolence leave, and access to various welfare facilities) were available to employees with opposite-sex spouses. The system was revised to allow employees with same-sex partners to use this system by considering their partners as spouses.

• We use LGBTQ+ as a general term for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGIE) minorities.

Promoting diverse work styles that enable each and every employee to play an active role

Sompo Group has been promoting work style innovations since 2015 to create a friendly workplace where diversified people can increase productivity through effective time management.
We have also been promoting New Work Style Innovation since 2020 to realize diverse work styles for our employees.

Work-Life Balance

To improve the quality of employee output, it is essential to focus not only on skill development but also on the physical and mental health of each employee. Good physical and mental health and a fulfilling private life are the foundation of a dynamic workforce. A dynamic workforce means a vitalized company, which is why we make the flexibility to balance work and private life a high priority.

●Career Transfer Program

Sompo Japan and other group companies have a career transfer program in which an employee can change his/her work place to a difference branch when there is a compelling reasons and when certain conditions are met. This program can be used by those who are in the positions that would not require job relocations but need to relocate their residence due to unavoidable circumstances.

●System Supporting Employees during Pregnancy, Post-childbirth and Childcare

With the aim of supporting the balance between work and one's responsibilities to home and children, we have established systems related to vacations, leaves of absence, and work styles, including maternity leave, a postnatal childcare leave system (colloquially known as “paternity leave”), a childcare leave system, and reduced working hours for childcare.
The childcare leave systems at Sompo Holdings, Sompo Japan and other Group companies are available until the child reaches the age of 2 years and 1 month, and include up to a total of seven days of paid "short-term childcare leave" for both men and women.
In addition, reduced working hours for childcare are available in principle until the child reaches the end of the third year of elementary school, and several different work hour patterns are available. Furthermore, we have established a system that makes it easier for both men and women to take childcare leave and to balance work and childcare. For example, if there are unavoidable circumstances due to a child's illness or disability and the Company deems it necessary, employees may choose to work shortened hours until the end of the fiscal year in which the child reaches the age of 18.
To further promote the participation of men in childcare, including support for balancing work, parenting and childcare leave for men of which we recommend one month or more, we started from FY2023 to hold Group-wide training sessions targeted at those concerned and at the management level.

●Forums to Support Employees on Childcare Leave

We organize forums to help employees who are on childcare leave smoothly return to work in Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, and Fukuoka and via a video conference. In addition to the employees who are on childcare leave, their supervisors and colleagues attend the forum. This helps relieve anxiety about returning to work by creating a more inclusive business environment. In consideration of the COVID-19 pandemic, in FY2020, the forum was held video and online.

●“Amore Support” for Employees on Childcare Leave

We have extensive support tools to create a workable environment for all employees. For example, we use “guides for pregnancy, childbirth, childcare,” “tips for one-on-one interviews with employees on childcare leave,” and the “guidance for supervisors who have a staff member on childcare leave.” We regularly provide information about the company’s important policies.

●Support for Nursing Care

Long-term nursing care has become a common issue due to the rapidly aging population in Japan. To help employees balance their work and care responsibilities, we expanded the options to offer a long-term family care leave (up to 365 days in total), nursing leave, shift work for nursing care and reduced working hours. We also held a seminar for balancing work and care responsibilities.