Human Capital Management

Our Five Guiding Principles for Encouraging Diversity and Inclusion

Initiatives for the Practice of Diversity and Inclusion

With the aim of achieving sustainable growth, the Group is developing businesses to promote the use of our services by a broad range of customers—including women and families—and working to have more female employees involved in internal decision-making. With this in mind, we have introduced a quota system with the objective of achieving a female employee ratio of 30%, a female manager ratio of 30%, and the proportion of executive candidates (management positions) aged 35 and under of 30% or more by 2025, and we have established mandatory annual targets. We support diverse workstyles through systems such as childcare leave, shortened working hours, and care for employees returning from maternity leave—this includes maintaining their positions and exempting them from overtime and late-night work—and we are fostering a workplace environment that facilitates good work for everyone.

Moreover, our Group is also proactively employing people with disabilities and rehiring employees once they have reached retirement age. We established an Employment Promotion Committee in 2015 to manage the employment of people with disabilities—who we call “friend employees" within the Group— at all operating companies in Japan. Many of these friend employees are engaged in tasks such as cleaning at factories, and they are also active at Sankosha Laundry Center Co., Ltd., a special-purpose subsidiary responsible for cleaning restaurant employee uniforms. To promote the active participation of seniors aged 60 or over, and in accordance with the Act on Stabilization of Employment of Elderly Persons, each of our operating companies in Japan is taking steps to rehire employees once they have reached retirement age.

Yoshinoya Holdings, Yoshinoya, and Hanamaru set salaries based on a job grade system, regardless of gender, nationality, or age. The difference in compensation between men and women in the same job grade results from differences in the number of male and female employees in the relevant grade and average years of service. We anticipate that promoting the active participation of women and the introduction of the quota system will correct this imbalance.

Note: When an employee's job grade is upgraded, they will be paid a salary appropriate to the position, regardless of gender, nationality, or age.

Revitalizing the Organizational Culture

Yoshinoya Holdings and Yoshinoya assess the organizational culture once every two years, and Hanamaru conducts assessments on a regular basis. Assessing the organizational culture is akin to a health checkup for a company. Visualizing the health of things such as employee motivation, internal communication, and openness reveals issues that must be addressed if the organizational culture is to be revitalized. In FY2022, we formed the Corporate Culture Enhancement Committee to further invigorate internal communication, and launched activities.

Ease of Work

Yoshinoya has complied with Article 39 of Japan's Labor Standards Act since the beginning of the chain's expansion, and has introduced an annual paid leave system for part-time employees. We have introduced a scholarship program that provides loans to subsidize the admission fees and tuition for high school students planning to enter university and who work part-time. Such people who join the Group after graduation and stay for four years will be fully exempt from repayment of the scholarship. If the person joins another restaurant company, they will be exempt from half the full amount. Moreover, employees are given special leave after 10, 20, 30, and 40 years of service as a long-term service award.

Internal Communication

Yoshinoya and Hanamaru hold store managers' meetings (employee assemblies) twice a year, which is attended by employees at the store manager level and above. Even after the spread of COVID-19 in 2020, the meetings were conducted online, affording employees the opportunity to hear directly from upper management.

Yoshinoya regularly publishes roundtable discussions in its internal newsletter, with the president and several store managers participating. It uses this as a forum for direct exchange with the president, changing themes to discuss topics including business philosophy, sales policy, motivation at work, and issues with store operations. We hold work experience programs for store managers with children up to elementary school age as a summer vacation project. Our aim with having the children work at restaurants with their fathers and mothers is to promote an understanding of work and communication among family members.

Wellness Management

We conduct regular health checkups for employees—as well as part-time workers who satisfy certain conditions—as part of managing their physical and mental health. Going forward, we will implement dietary and lifestyle guidance using smartphone apps, in the interest of improving health literacy.

Human Resources Development

We offer educational training and tools tailored to the stage of learning of each individual. In addition to supporting career path realization, we have also introduced a framework for supporting self-study to aid employees in acquiring specialized knowledge and skills. Operating companies and all departments nominate candidates for executive positions and intentionally transfer them to new positions. We also publicly recruit staff for departments at the head office from among all employees—including store managers—and provide opportunities for growth by assigning selected personnel to system and product development roles. In addition, we have created a database of human resources information to aid us in properly allocating personnel, and we are leveraging this in revitalizing human resource exchange within the Group and developing the next generation of leaders.

Training overview (example)

Dispatch to and exchange with external organizations (example)

Diligent Study of Cooking and Customer Service Skills

Yoshinoya restaurants have developed online video training tools. Not only can the cooking and work processes be checked repeatedly, but the videos also help foreign part-time employees to understand operations. We hold contests for employees working at restaurants to improve their operational skills. Yoshinoya holds the Beef Bowl Preparation Skills Grand Championship, where employees put their beef bowl preparation and serving skills to the test, the Team Service Contest, where employees match their customer service skills against one another, and the Kitchen Master Championship, where employees compete in practical operations that respond to menu diversification. Hanamaru also conducts an annual Operation Contest, where staff can display their overall skills in food presentation and customer service.

Global Human Resource Education and Training

For the Yoshinoya Holdings Group, which operates its food service business on a global scale, securing talented foreign nationals is vital in expanding the provision of food that caters to a broad range of values. We do not view foreign employees as short-term labor. Just as we do with Japanese employees, we want them to acquire the skills needed to become management candidates through store manager positions. To this end, we are promoting education and training in Japan. We are regularly sending store managers in Japan abroad on language study programs in the interest of building a pool of global talent.

Identifying and Training Next Generation Management Teams

In FY2021, we established a Human Resources Council comprising Yoshinoya Holdings executive officers and above, and are working to identify and cultivate the next generation of management by nominating and intentionally placing personnel who will be candidates for executive positions to new positions and through the active promotion of younger employees. For candidates selected from among managers as the next generation of management, we will operate programs such as the in-house interview program and interactive real-team training within the company. In parallel with these, we provide opportunities for employees to broaden their horizons and gain the knowledge and connections necessary for executives, such as participation in cross-industry exchange training and industry-academia collaboration programs, and study at business schools.

Career Development Support

We are actively promoting the transition of part-time employees at our restaurants to full-time status. We hold monthly employment conversion tests for part-time employees who are willing to work full time, and always provide career advancement opportunities. Following conversion to full-time status, employees will be able to acquire the skills a businessperson needs through store manager duties and standardized training, with the objective of becoming candidates for executive positions.