SUSTAINABILITY Employee Relations

Personnel System

Lawson's Human Capital Concept

Developing human resources who think and act on their own to lead the growth of the company

Figure for Sustainable Company growth

In practicing ESG-based management, the Lawson Group positions employees, who are the most important capital resource for realizing happiness in communities and high store productivity, as human capital and aims to realize the Group Philosophy and Vision by enhancing human capital.
To maximize human capital, we promote the human resource strategy and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) as part of our management strategies.
At Lawson, to realize the Group Philosophy, we focus on fostering autonomous human resources who are capable of thinking and acting on their own initiative, as well as developing next-generation management human resources who can lead transformation and growth.
In terms of fostering autonomous human resources, the development-oriented personnel system is in operation. To create a culture where individuals act proactively, the personnel system promotes role clarification through the role-based system, which defines roles and responsibilities, and the introduction of the job-based grading system for managers. In addition, a new open-application system called the “career challenge system” has been introduced. We have also introduced a “Behavior and Skill Evaluation System” to assess actions (processes) that lead to results, and by combining this with performance evaluation, we determine treatment based on the two evaluations, thereby fostering the development of human resources.
In addition, we use a Career Development Sheet to help each employee clearly plan their future career path and have them look back on their past career and current position to clearly declare what they wish to become in the future. We also conduct interviews to support their individual growth and career development.
In developing the next generation of management human resources, aimed at fostering leaders who can drive transformation and growth, we discuss development plans for general managers and their successor candidates at the Next Generation Development Committee, with the management taking responsibility for leading the development. We will also continue to develop and hire human resources for tech and for digital transformation (DX) to pursue the concept of “Real × Tech Convenience” as one of our medium- to long-term management strategies.
To maximize the abilities of each employee and enhance our corporate value, we aim to become a company that offers job satisfaction and use this as the basis for formulating various human resource measures and are working to review and implement new personnel systems.

Overview of HR strategy and key initiatives

Overview of HR strategy and key initiatives

Strengthening points, initiatives, and key indicators for human capital initiatives

Strengthening points, initiatives, and key indicators for human capital initiatives

Role-based System

We operate a compensation system in which role grades and salaries are determined according to the scope of responsibilities and the roles to be fulfilled.
The system is based on individual merit, regardless of gender, length of service, nationality, etc.

Job-based grading system (management positions)

Through “role descriptions,” the roles and skills required for each position are clearly defined and disclosed company-wide.
The job-based grading system is structured as a matrix combining “grades” that correspond to individual skills and “job sizes” that correspond to the difficulty of each position.

Career Development Interviews

We employ a Career Development Sheet to ensure employees' ability to determine their own career paths, and individual employees are also asked to specify their goals for the future in light of their personal histories and current positions. Interviews are conducted to support their growth as individuals (4,072 employees were interviewed in fiscal 2024).

Flexible Employee System

In fiscal 2018, we introduced a flexible full-time employee system, which allows employees with reasons such as childcare, nursing care, or cancer treatment to limit their work location and work hours if they need to limit their work beyond the statutory or existing systems.
In September 2024, the system was revised and expanded to include management positions. The scope of eligibility was expanded to include treatment of illness, fertility treatment, recurrent education, and side jobs, and the previous reduction in pay for cases limited only to full-time work at a fixed location was abolished.

Active Senior Employee System

In March 2021, we raised the mandatory retirement age to 65 and introduced the active senior full-time employee system for employees aged 60 and above. This system allows employees to choose from multiple job courses. At the same time, we are conducting career design training for employees who have reached the age of 53.

FA (Free Agent) System

This system is intended to encourage employees to take on ambitious goals.
Employees who meet certain conditions acquire FA rights and can be transferred to the desired job type and place of work.
Starting in fiscal 2024, we have enhanced the eligibility criteria for acquiring FA rights to increase opportunities for challenging new careers.

Career Challenge System

In fiscal 2024, we introduced the Career Challenge System, which enables employees to file applications with the aim of helping them continuously learn toward achieving their desired career and providing the desired careers to employees who are highly motivated to take on challenges, thereby pursuing employee growth and job satisfaction.
Successful candidates are able to further improve their knowledge and skills during the learning period designated by their department and become able to work in a new department.

Varied Work Shifts

We have a system in place detailing the job contents of 21 different work shifts. Each employee can choose 4 shifts according to their work, enabling them to work according to a variety of flexible schedules.

Employee Award Program

Fostering a culture that encourages autonomous and proactive challenges, and praises outstanding achievements and good initiatives that support colleagues

In order to create new customer value, it is necessary for each and every employee to take on challenges on their own initiative and autonomously.

At Lawson, we are working to foster a culture of praise through award systems such as the President’s Award and the Lawson’s Way Award (presented by each company, headquarters, or division), as well as by using the Thank you Card to express gratitude to colleagues.

  • Employee Award Program

President’s Award

The department manager nominates people who took on a challenge with an innovative idea or teams that achieved extraordinary results and the President selects the winner and awards them at the corporate morning assembly.
In fiscal 2024, 38 President’s Awards were given out in total.

  • President’s Award

Lawson’s Way Award

From fiscal 2025, the “Lawson’s Way Award,” a commendation system by each headquarters, company, and division, was newly established. Each organization sets evaluation criteria, evaluation periods, and recognition opportunities, and efforts are made to praise GOOD challenges that cannot be rewarded through bonuses.

Developing the Next Generation of Leaders

Next Generation Development Committee Meeting

Since fiscal 2016, the “Next Generation Development Committee Meeting” has been held on a regular basis to discuss plans for the development of the next generation of management leaders and department manager candidates. Employees at the management level serve as training leaders, creating training plans for department managers, the target personnel, and nurturing them through consultations and other means.
Since fiscal 2021, the committee meeting has been used to find female department managers and management leaders by appointing at least one female department manager candidate out of three.

Lawson Management School

To further develop the Group, in January 2023, we opened the Lawson Management School, where the president directly served as a lecturer with the aim of promoting awareness as a business manager and demonstrating further leadership among section managers (mainly branch directors nationwide).
The School was also opened in fiscal 2024 for follow-up purposes and has been well received by participants in each session.

Policy on Executive Compensation

Our basic policy as a company is to design a compensation system for directors that is linked to shareholders’ profits through incentives to increase corporate value, sustainable growth and performance improvement, and to provide sufficient and appropriate compensation for the duties performed by each director.




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