■Development of future leaders

We are implementing a program for managers who are driving business growth in each organization, to accelerate their growth into talent who are expected to take on the Global Core Positions over the medium to long term. In addition to the ability to describe and convey the visions and missions that we have focused on developing in our programs this far, we have made advancements in the program for fiscal 2024 with the following points defined as the skills required for leaders.

The program encourages participants to practice skills through real case studies based on major decisions made by OMRON in the past, dialogues with members of management team, and experience learning to plan and implement engagement improvement actions based on the results of the employee engagement survey, VOICE, in participants’ organizations.

Going forward, we will continue to promote the development of future leaders capable of steering the organization toward business growth even amid significant changes in the business environment.

■Development of women leaders

We have been developing women managers and women candidates for managers, under the idea that it is essential to incorporate diverse viewpoints and opinions including those of women, in all decisions including management decisions, in order to enhance corporate value. As a result, the ratio of women in managerial roles at the OMRON Group worldwide reached 20.5% as of the end of fiscal 2024. We regard the career advancement of women in positions closer to the management ranks as our next challenge. To this end, we are implementing a program for women managers across the globe to develop women leaders who have potential to take on the Global Core Positions in future involved in important business decisions.

Under the program, we are holding dialogues with women members of management and introducing curricula that promote career advancement mindsets, with the following three main objectives.

In fiscal 2024, participants in the program engaged in dialogue with management team members under the theme “what OMRON should do to support career advancement of women leaders.” As a result of the cross-regional discussion, common issues were identified, relationships among participants were strengthened, and top management team deepened their understanding of issues unique to women. The program activities thus far are bringing positive results, such as an increase of women leaders who have will to take on top executive positions and the formation of networks of women leaders across businesses and countries. Some participants, who had an opportunity to think about their careers through the program, are taking on challenges for new roles to expand their perspectives for future career advancement. We will continue implementing and evolving the program as an important pillar of OMRON Group’s women leader development.

■Improvement of basic DX skills of all employees

In order for all employees to be able to utilize data and digital technologies at a certain level, we started “DX training” for the acquisition and enhancement of DX skills gradually in each area in fiscal 2023. The training is bringing positive results in areas such as operational reforms.

[Current and Future State of DX Talent in Japan]

Before starting DX training in Japan, we conducted an assessment for visualizing employees’ DX skills to understand the current state. The assessment, which involved 92% of the employees in Japan, revealed the strengths and weaknesses at an individual level, as well as issues faced on an organizational level. For example, by ranking employees’ DX skills and visualizing them for each business, we found that employees tended to have lower DX skills, with the exception of those in digital divisions (divisions where digital technologies are actively utilized in daily operations). In response, we are increasing the skill level of all employees to a certain baseline through DX training. In addition, we will work on enhancement of specialized skills by defining human capital who can lead business DX as “DX specialist talent.” In addition, by promoting not only training but also opportunities for utilization and practice of the acquired skills, we will provide employees with successful experiences and thereby develop human capital who can implement DX in a practical manner. Going forward, we will work on the development of human capital, aiming to raise the ratio of DX specialist talent to employees in Japan to approximately 20%.

■Development of DX human capital through the Generative AI Utilization Promotion Project “AIZAQ”

Considering effective utilization of generative AI as a key for corporate growth, we launched “AIZAQ,” a companywide project, for promoting utilization of generative AI in 2023. In the project, DX human capital are developed through verification of effective use of generative AI in operations for productivity improvement. Employees participate in the project on their own initiative, where they will acquire skills to utilize digital technologies, as well as capabilities to resolve issues in operations independently. The project has been implemented for approximately one and a half years since fiscal 2023. A total of 1,000 employees, accounting for approximately 10% of the employees in Japan, have participated, with nearly 80 themes for operational improvement being verified. The development of DX human capital and utilization of generative AI through the project have contributed to quantitative results such as time saving due to the improved operational efficiency, as well as qualitative improvement such as reduction of psychological burdens and elimination of dependency on particular members. Business process transformation through AIZAQ is leading to creation of customer value. Furthermore, this endeavor contributes to the advancement of organizational culture change, as it facilitates communication across organizations and fosters independent mindsets for project participants through successful experiences.

From fiscal 2025, we will expand the area subject to DX from each organization-driven business process transformation to management-driven transformation of OMRON through resolution of management issues, aiming at further enhancement of customer value. Under the new initiatives, we will address issues within a predetermined budget and time by focusing on resolution of management issues and gaining the commitment of Business Company Presidents and Heads of Head Office Divisions. By driving DX at both the management and individual organization levels, we will achieve development, utilization, and capability enhancement of DX human capital across the entire OMRON Group.

■OMRON’s Strengths and Challenges Identified from the FY2024 VOICE Results

[Strengths]
The survey in fiscal 2024 showed that “empathy for the OMRON Principles” remains the largest strength of OMRON. We regard this as an outcome of various activities in the past to support practice of the OMRON Principles. In addition, it was confirmed that “connection with colleagues, supervisors, customers, and other people around me” served as motivation toward actions for many employees even under the structural reform, representing another strength of OMRON.

[Challenges]
The engagement score *1 of VOICE conducted in fiscal 2024 was 63 points, a decrease from 76 points in 2022. As for the factors that affect engagement, employees found that “there are factors that restrict customer-driven actions in the organization,” and that was confirmed to be a challenge common to the entire company. Since the restricting factors are different from one organization to another, each organization needs to address its own specific challenges. Accordingly, we updated the system to enable employees to identify challenges at the organization level. Challenges identified at the organization level include “insufficient collaboration across organizations” and “insufficient time secured for implementing actions for customers.” Initiatives for resolving these challenges and improving engagement are being promoted in all organizations under the lead of the respective organization heads, in parallel with companywide initiatives for management transformation.

*1 The survey content and indicators for the employee engagement survey (VOICE) have been changed since the fiscal 2024 survey. The score after the change was 66 points. The score of 63 points referred to above is a score converted using the past calculation methods for the purpose of comparison over time.

■Resolution of Organizational Challenges Driven by Each Organization

OMRON operates various businesses, and each organization faces a variety of challenges. To improve engagement, different organizations are working on each organization-driven improvement activities. These improvement activities at the organization level are registered in a platform shared companywide, through which discussions and activities promoted by various organizations are made visible to the entire company. As of September 2025, approximately 1,000 improvement activities are registered in the OMRON Group worldwide. For example, the New Business Creation team identified the large volume of activities which are not directly linked to value for customers such as reporting within the company and preparation of materials, as a factor that restrict customer-driven actions. The team discussed that creation of new businesses requires discovery of customers’ intrinsic issues and new value propositions, and thus the team needs to be engaged in more activities looking outside of the organization. Based on this discussion, the team increased resources and time to engage with customers and markets as an improvement activity. Specifically, the team utilizes generative AI and other technologies that reduce internal materials and meetings to a minimal level, and endeavors to improve business efficiency. Through these initiatives, the team prioritizes securing time for activities that directly contribute to value creation, such as dialogue with customers and demonstration experiments, in a focused manner. In addition, the team is working to accelerate the creation of new businesses and customer value by promoting open communication within and outside of the organization and actively adopting knowledge and technologies from outside of the organization. As discussed above, we are working on the formulation and implementation of each organization-driven improvement activities for challenges specific to organizations. In this way, we are improving engagement and fostering an organizational culture where people can act autonomously.

Evolved points of new TOGA

Through TOGA, which was launched with a new concept, “put employers at the center, bring excitement to employees ,” we will foster connection among employees/organizations and promote transformation toward an organizational culture where people can take on challenges proactively.