Group CHRO Message

The Sompo Group aspires to become “a Japan-born, truly global company.” From an HR perspective, This means creating a company where every individual is a professional in their own right.

Our culture began as a homogeneous community, operating under a lifetime employment system. Employees were considered high achievers when they were adept at navigating internal dynamics. This focus produced “cookie-cutter” employees. Naturally, moving toward our aspirational vision will require significant time and energy.

Previously, our talent development emphasized cultivating generalists. We are now making a decisive shift towards fostering an environment where each individual can fully leverage and enhance their expertise. Importantly, this does not mean we seek specialists who consider their mission complete once their individual task is done. Rather, we look for professionals who apply their expertise to the organization’s broader goals with a strong sense of mission — while continuing to deepen their own skills. Ultimately, we strive to be a company brimming with such driven professionals.

Culture: Our Foundation. People: Our Pillars.

In FY2024, we embarked on rebuilding our corporate philosophy system around our purpose. We redefined SOMPO’s Purpose, the very reason for the Group’s existence, so that it serves as a north star for all stakeholders. We also defined “SOMPO’s Values”, which will be cherished by all executives and employees throughout the Group. Based on these values, we revised our Group Common Competencies and embedded them into various systems and standards to ensure stronger adaptation and effectiveness.

These initiatives are not a “one-and-done” effort that concludes once guidelines are established. Instead, as the company continues to operate, these principles serve as a compass, gradually shaping employees’ daily awareness and actions, and over time organically embedding themselves into our corporate culture. Building on this cultural foundation, strengthening talent is essential for creating new value and driving growth. We have positioned “Enhance the Group’s Human Resources” as a core pillar of our Human Resource strategy, and accelerated investments in people through the JPY 30 billion SOMPO Human Capital Fund established in FY2024.

In addition, we are currently defining a clear vision of the professionals we aim to nurture across the Group. Conceptually, the skills and expertise required of employees are structured in two layers: The first layer represents the “Three Rs” (reading, writing, and arithmetic), common to all employees with a focus on English and AI literacy. The second layer consists of specialized expertise tailored to each professional domain.

Employees will hone their strengths and expertise on Sompo’s stage, pursuing self-directed career paths. Anchored by our restructured corporate philosophy, we aim to bring soul into the framework, making Sompo’s culture truly alive.

“Connect and Be Connected” in Human Resource Strategy and Center of Excellence (CoE)

We transitioned to a new management structure in FY2025, reorganizing into two business segments: SOMPO P&C and SOMPO Wellbeing. Each segment now leads its own human resource strategy, enabled by its key Center of Excellence (CoE) concept.

The Sompo Group is accelerating the development of CoE to disseminate best practices and expertise from each domain across the Group. We will empower individuals with expertise, experience, and leadership to guide the Group forward — no matter their country of work or affiliated company.

To spearhead this effort, we have appointed Group Chief Officers for the internal audit and communication domains, effective August 2024, choosing the right leaders from across our organization.

This approach is not limited to executive appointments. The crucial point is to take a Group-wide perspective to identify and appoint the most suitable talent for each position. Through such initiatives, we will bring our “connect and be connected” principle to life within our Human Resource strategy, enabling us to evolve into an even stronger Group.

Sompo’s Work Styles: Built for Growth

While accelerating these initiatives, our work style is a key area we must reassess. As the external landscape shifts dramatically, continued corporate growth requires an agile and flexible organization, which begins with empowering each employee’s work style.

In FY2025, we newly established “Sompo’s Work Styles and Workplaces Principles” and “Sompo Work Style Policy,” aiming to maximize organizational value creation while fostering high performance, growth, and fulfillment for employees. We will balance both in-office and remote work while leveraging the benefits of each.

As a leading example of the above initiative, Sompo Holdings and parts of Sompo Japan’s corporate function will relocate to a new office in February 2027 as the Group Headquarters. The new office will leverage cutting-edge technology to enable highly productive work styles. This marks our first step toward promoting diverse and flexible work styles that support them across the entire Group. By cultivating the future of work, we aim to drive sustainable growth and enhance corporate value.

New Metrics for Medium- to Long-Term Value

Investments in people — whether in talent development or workplace improvements — are expected to deliver high productivity and increased profits over the medium to long term. To measure the impact of these investments, we introduced two new productivity metrics in FY2025: Labor Productivity (value created per employee) and Human Capital ROI (return on investment in people).These metrics reflect our view that spending on talent is an investment, not a cost.

That said, given that these metrics are influenced by revenue volatility from external factors such as natural disasters, they are designed to track medium- to long-term improvement rather than year-to-year fluctuations. We will continue refining these indicators going forward.

To Being a Japan-Born, Truly Global Company

With the new management structure introduced in fiscal year 2025, each business segment is independently executing its own talent strategy. Under the SOMPO P&C umbrella, Sompo International and Sompo Japan Insurance have initiated various collaborations that transcend national, regional and cultural boundaries. The Japanese organization, as it pivots toward strengthened expertise, has much to learn from Sompo International, which has grown by leveraging its employees’ high level of expertise. At the same time, Japan’s long-cherished altruism will remain crucial as we go global.

Through mutual learning and development across the Group, we will foster the growth of each employee and embody Sompo’s values: Integrity, Self-Motivation, and Diversity. By building a Group brimming with professionals, we will realize our vision of becoming a Japan-born, truly global company.