Ricoh 2011 Annual Report Download - page 34

ANNUAL REPORT 201133
Sustainability
Business activities deeply imbued with respect
for human rights
At the Ricoh Group, two thirds of our employees are non-Japanese and
we operate in many countries around the world, each of which has its
own unique cultural values and customs. It is, therefore, imperative that
as well as upholding fundamental human rights, we respect local cultures
and customs in each country and region in which we do business. Based
on this recognition, we have clearly declared our principles of respect for
fundamental human rights—a prerequisite for mutual understanding—
and the elimination of discrimination on the basis of race, religious
faith, gender, social position, citizenship, sickness, handicap, etc. in our
Code of Conduct. We have accordingly developed related policies and
tools and provided employee education according to job class (from new
entrants to managers) as well as e-learning programs. As the next step,
we are working on new initiatives to reaffirm the importance of human
rights, examples of which include a meeting for stakeholder dialogue on
the theme of human rights in March 2011.
● Human rights-related provisions of
the Ricoh Group Code of Conduct (excerpt)
[Respect for human rights]
• The Ricoh Group does not discriminate on the basis of race, religious
faith, gender, social position, citizenship, sickness, handicaps, etc.
(Basic Policy)
• Officers and employees must respect all fundamental human rights,
and must not engage in any actions that ignore human rights such
as discriminatory language, violence, sexual harassment, power
harassment, etc. (Actions)
• Officers and employees must not make improper demands for labor.
Again, they must not employ children under the legal working age of
the country or region concerned. (Actions)
The Ricoh Group Diversity Promotion Forum
The seventh Ricoh Group Diversity Promotion Forum was
held on February 8, 2011. The invited speaker, Ms. Sandy
Smith, Senior Vice President of Human Resources & Education
at InfoPrint Solutions, talked about how her company is
promoting the “Diversity and Inclusion” program, taking
diversity initiatives one step further to welcome minority
employees into the workplace, learn about how their
backgrounds inform their perspectives and ways of thinking,
and incorporate such understandings into day-to-day decision-
making and practices. InfoPrint, a joint venture between IBM
and Ricoh, is known for its advanced employee diversity
programs, which are part
of the DNA passed down
from IBM. The company is
headquartered in the United
States, a country that is no
stranger to issues relating to
minorities, whether they be
ethnic groups, transgendered
people or war veterans. The
speech was followed by a
lively discussion among the 60 or so Ricoh Group employees
participating in the forum.
Ms. Sandy Smith
SVP,
Human Resources & Education,
InfoPrint Solutions Company
Respect for people ISO 26000: Human rights/Labor practices
Building a diversity-friendly culture
At the Ricoh Group, we have been making continuous efforts to provide
opportunities for employees to take on loftier goals and thereby realize
their own professional growth and self-actualization. In addition to our
ongoing efforts to further improve our human resources management
system, we have developed easily accessible employee education
programs and constructed mechanisms and a culture that facilitate
the development of our employees’ capabilities. Toward the successful
implementation of our growth strategy, we are also working to achieve
optimal employee training and optimal use of our human resources to
accelerate our global expansion and aggressively attract and retain high-
caliber talent for our newly launched and rapidly growing businesses.
The Ricoh Group is promoting workplace diversity together with work-
life balance. This is because we fully recognize the growing importance of
the creation of a diversity-friendly workplace, where employees can realize
their full potential regardless their nationality or gender, or in other words
developing an effective diversity management system, as our business
has expanded globally and thereby we need to have an even deeper
understanding of different culture and personal values.
● Human resources-related programs
[Human resources development]
• Human resources development programs designed for seven
HR categories • Goal evaluation system
• Career development support programs
• Job type-based certification programs on specialized fields
• Early development programs for prospective managers
• Global Executive Summit
[Promotion of diversity and work-life management]
• Employee survey on work-life balance management
• Study group for female managers • Mentoring program
• Career development forum
• The Ricoh Group Diversity Promotion Forum • Childcare leave
• Reemployment of former employees who resigned for parenting or
family care reasons
• Nursing care leave for employees with sick or aged family members
• Volunteer leave
and more