Talent Policy and Development

Positioning of the Human Resources Management Policy

• The Brother Group Global Charter
• The Brother Group Principles of Social Responsibility

In recent years, the environment surrounding employees and organizations has changed dramatically through not only globalization but also shifts in society's values and needs.
Under these circumstances, it is critical for the Brother Group to continue being the company chosen by customers with the spirit of "At your side." and to foster a corporate culture in which employees can work with even stronger motivation. To accomplish these goals, Brother Industries, Ltd. (BIL) formulated a "Human Resource Policy" in FY2023. Based on this Human Resource Policy, we will promote initiatives to "strengthen the talent foundation to accelerate business portfolio transformation" as set out in the Management Foundation Strategy of our Medium-Term Business Strategy "CS B2027". The Group also aims to realize the Brother Group Vision "At your side 2030" and to achieve eternal prosperity. Furthermore, the Group is implementing talent development and various other personnel measures, including a new personnel system, to enable employees to maximize their abilities.

Based on the Human Resource Policy, BIL believes that it is important for the organization and its people to work together to achieve eternal prosperity, with each of the diverse individuals constantly taking on challenges. To promote this sustainable growth, Brother Industries, Ltd. (BIL) takes a generational approach by classifying employees into four tiers from an employee lifecycle point of view.

As part of this reform, we have revised our human resource system in FY2023 to encourage all employees at BIL to take on new challenges in an autonomous manner. In addition, with this new human resource system, the switch was made from the previous position-based grading system^*1 that placed emphasis on experience to a role-based grading system^*2 that places emphasis on the role played. In addition, in line with the change to the role-based grading system, the evaluation and compensation systems have also been revised.

1. A system that places importance on experience and grades employees based on their individual abilities and capabilities
2. A system that assigns grades and benefits based on the weight of the role (position) an employee assumes

Role-based Grading System and Compensation System

In April 2023, BIL transitioned from a position-based grading system to a role-based grading system and changed its compensation system accordingly. In the revised system, emphasis is placed on the roles employees are responsible for, with compensation determined according to those roles.

Under the conventional position-based grading system, compensation increased with years of service, making it difficult to reflect the great achievements of younger employees in their compensation and requiring a certain amount of experience and period of service for promotion.
Under the newly introduced role-based grading system, grades and compensation are determined according to the role that each employee assumes, regardless of length of service, age or other factors. This will reduce the seniority-based elements and enable the early promotion of outstanding talent, including fast-tracking the promotion of younger employees who are bringing about great results and contributions.
Under this system, BIL will assign roles and provide compensation according to ability so as to encourage "true autonomy and efforts," as stated in the Human Resource Policy, and "properly reward achievements and contributions," thereby maximizing organizational strength.

Evaluation System

BIL also reviewed its evaluation system in conjunction with the above transition to a role-based grading system. The revised evaluation system reduces the number of rating levels in order to better differentiate each rating. Furthermore, to ensure that we place emphasis on results while also fairly recognizing what led to such results, including the willingness to take on challenges and the efforts made, we have changed the system to one that maintains the two evaluation pillars of "achievement / contribution evaluation" and "competency evaluation^*" while ensuring that goal setting and evaluations are conducted in accordance with the role of the employee being evaluated.

In addition, based on the results of the Employee Engagement Surveys, BIL has reaffirmed the importance of "goal setting" as a factor to increase employee engagement. Accordingly, in addition to the introduction of the new evaluation system, BIL, since FY2023, has changed to a "goal-setting" system that can further encourage employees to take on new challenges.

In addition, BIL has created and published a new Role Definition Chart for each position and role, distributed videos and learning materials on the approach to goal setting and personnel evaluation, and conducted training programs for evaluators and employees in order to deepen all employees' understanding of the new evaluation system and enable them to set goals and conduct evaluations with a common understanding.

After the evaluation is determined, feedback is provided on the evaluation results to inform employees of their strengths and challenges so that they can set their own goals for the following fiscal year. The results of the evaluation are reflected in salaries and bonuses for a highly transparent compensation system. This transparent system helps supervisors and subordinates to enhance mutual understanding and acceptance, thereby properly rewarding achievements and contributions and encouraging employees in "true autonomy and efforts."

• A method that conducts evaluation by setting evaluation criteria and items based on the common thinking and behavioral characteristics of employees who have produced excellent results.

Extension of retirement age and choice of retirement age

Once the role-based human resource system described above becomes firmly established, BIL will shift the retirement age to 65 for employees who will turn 60 years old in FY2029. This extension of the retirement age will be incrementally implemented starting in FY2026. In conjunction with the extension of the retirement age, the Brother Reemployment System will also be revised to encourage senior employees to take on new challenges and to promote their success.

By extending the retirement age and introducing a consistent employment and compensation system up to age 65, we believe we can more appropriately evaluate and reward the roles and achievements of senior employees who have experience, knowledge, and skills they have cultivated over many years.
And, in conjunction with the transition to a retirement age of 65, BIL introduced a flexible retirement age system. For more information on the flexible retirement age system and the promotion of active engagement by senior employees at BIL, please visit the following website.

BIL is continuously working to foster diversity and enhance engagement in order to "strengthen the talent foundation to accelerate business portfolio transformation" as set out in our Medium-Term Business Strategy "CS B2027." BIL has also introduced various systems to support diverse work styles and work-life balance to achieve "Respect for Diversity," which is set forth in the Human Resource Policy.

For more information, please visit the following websites.

• Respect for Diversity
• Comfortable Working Environment
• Employee Engagement

BIL is actively investing in talent development in order to "strengthen the talent foundation to accelerate business portfolio transformation," as set out in our Medium-Term Business Strategy "CS B2027." Furthermore, to support the "true autonomy and efforts" stated in the Human Resource Policy, we provide growth opportunities so that employees can autonomously chart their own career paths and constantly take on challenges to establish and improve their individual expertise.

Key educational activities

BIL supports each employee to grow in his or her own way and build an autonomous career while utilizing his or her own skills and strengths. Examples include a career ownership program for employees at milestone ages to review their experiences and to visualize their future visions; extension training that accepts employees who wish to participate to learn various skills; and an overseas dispatch training program designed for young employees to gain experience overseas early on in their careers. BIL also provides e-learning options as an opportunity for self-development and subsidizes full or half tuition costs upon completion of a specified course.

In addition, BIL offers more than 20 training programs for new managers, including those on harassment, human rights, and compliance programs, in addition to management training. Besides these programs, we started one-on-one meetings between supervisors and subordinates in FY2017, to encourage the growth of employees, and the meetings are currently being conducted for 80% of the employees.

For details, please see the educational system diagram below.

• Education system (Brother Industries, Ltd.) [PDF/356KB]

Career development support

Career ownership

The Brother Group is strengthening support for employees' career development based on the concept of "career ownership." "Career ownership" refers to employees taking control of their own careers and growing autonomously. We believe that enabling self-directed career development will allow employees to face work with a more positive and energetic attitude, which will in turn lead to improved employee engagement and greater results, ultimately resulting in greater value for our customers.

We also provide training titled the "career ownership program," which encourages employees to reflect on their own careers. In FY2025, we expanded the age range of employees eligible for the program and increased the number of training sessions, providing more opportunities for employees to reassess their careers. Furthermore, we reviewed the training content in light of longer career spans resulting from the extension of the retirement age, thereby supporting employees of all generations in proactively shaping their own careers.

Career counseling

In order to support self-directed career development, BIL has offered a career counseling system since 2022, which allows employees to meet with internal or external consultants to speak about career-related matters. During the meeting, employees can reflect on their work experience to date, consider their strengths and values, and consider their future careers from multiple perspectives. By having such meetings at milestone ages, employees are able to broaden their perspectives regarding their careers.

In FY2025, we launched the "self-career dock" program, which provides career counseling to employees in their second to fourth years with the Company. Through consultations with internal career consultants, employees clarify their strengths and values and confirm their desired future direction. Through this initiative, we aim to raise career awareness among new employees from an early stage after joining the Company, leading to autonomous career development.

Investing in the development of leader talent

Authentic Challenge & Leadership Program

BIL has been implementing a program to support employees in taking on new challenges since FY2014. From FY2025, to further strengthen the development of management personnel, the program was upgraded and renamed the "Authentic Challenge & Leadership Program." The program provides opportunities to hone leadership skills through sessions designed to acquire the management literacy required of leaders and deepen self-understanding and through dialogues with experts active in a wide range of fields. As a final output, participants formulate their vision of the leader they aspire to be and what they wish to achieve in the future into a "Challenge Commitment," which they present to top management as a declaration of their commitment.

By FY2025, a total of 258 employees had completed this program. In addition, proposals from program graduates have led to the creation of new products and services that contribute to the growth of the Brother Group, including the deburring machine "Deburring Center DG-1," the spot cooler "PureDrive (This website is available only in Japanese.)," and the handwritten note-taking app "BuddyBoard (This website is available only in Japanese.)," which is team-friendly.

External training program

BIL implements an external training program aimed at developing next-generation leaders. In this program, participants attend external training to learn the skills and mindset required of leaders and also broaden their horizons and gain higher-level perspectives through interaction and discussions with employees from other companies. From 2017 through FY2025, a total of 263 employees participated in the program.

Female leadership development training

In FY2022, BIL launched the female leadership development training program for potential female managers.

This training program is designed to help female employees envision their unique leadership styles, identify challenges such as balancing work and family life, recognize factors that hinder their motivation and limitations they unconsciously impose on themselves, think of solutions to these challenges, and thereby broaden their career possibilities and perspectives.

From FY2022 to March 2026, the training was conducted six times, with a total of 120 female employees participating. Participant comments have included the following: "The program was very skill-enhancing and boosted my confidence" and "I gained new insights from the comments and feedback from other participants."

Global Leadership Training in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Africa Regions

Brother International Corporation ("BICJ") holds an annual Global Leadership Training program for its sales facilities in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Africa regions ("AP"). The program aims to develop the next generation of global leaders who embody the values and corporate culture of the Brother Group. Sales facilities in AP nominate participants who are expected to play a central role in the Brother Group in the future. When the program was launched in FY2014, new sales facilities were being established one after another in AP, and connections across the facilities were weak. As a result, fostering an understanding of Brother's DNA and corporate culture was identified as a key challenge in maximizing the overall strength of the Group across AP. Although the program initially began with only three sales facilities, the number of participating facilities gradually increased due to highly positive feedback from participants. Over approximately 10 years, it expanded to include all 16 facilities in AP. Each year, approximately 20 participants attend the program, and by FY2025, approximately 200 employees have completed the program in total. The program comprises a wide range of components, including 360-degree feedback, leadership lectures, and dialogue with top management. It also fosters cross-border networks among leaders and enhances the participants' ability to perform their roles from a global perspective. The final presentation session, attended by BICJ top management and the heads of each AP facility, also contributes to boosting participants' confidence. Another distinguishing feature of the program is the active involvement of management from its inception. The program has been recognized as effective in developing future successors and improving talent retention, and is positioned as part of the Group's long-term human resources strategy.

Training programs for new managers

In addition, BIL offers more than 20 training programs for new managers, including those on harassment, human rights, and compliance, in addition to management training.

Employees develop a broad perspective and high expertise through various experiences

Since FY2008, the Brother Group has conducted the "trainee program," a training program that sends trainees from BIL to the group companies outside Japan and vice versa, aiming to foster talent who have a broad vision, high expertise, and the ability to respond to global business challenges.

This training is designed for young employees selected based on Brother's talent development plan to receive on-the-job training ranging from three months to one year in line with the training plans formulated beforehand by both their dispatchers and receivers. The initial focus of this program was to provide trainees with training associated with their area of expertise. However, in FY2015, it started offering training to help trainees gain new knowledge through experience outside their specialty. Such training, for example, includes giving an opportunity for developers to visit customers with salespersons to directly listen to the needs and usage conditions of the customers.

Also, in FY2018, a short-term external training program was started for young engineers to learn at manufacturing or repair sites outside Japan for one month. This short-term external training program has been providing an opportunity for developers to broaden their perspectives by learning about operations that differ from their usual scope of responsibilities to strengthen collaboration with overseas manufacturing facilities and by directly visiting customers to pinpoint their barriers that they face.

In FY2025, the trainee program and the overseas short-term external training program dispatched a total of 24 employees from BIL to Group companies in Asia, Europe, and the U.S. and received a total of 29 employees dispatched to BIL from Group companies outside Japan.

I am normally responsible for the development of machine tools. This time, I was dispatched to India as a trainee to conduct research on peripheral equipment for machine tools used in the Indian market. Specifically, through interviews with local manufacturers and customers, I worked to identify challenges in selecting appropriate equipment and reducing operational problems.
Through my activities in India, I was able to gain firsthand insights into actual usage environments and customer needs that are difficult to fully understand from Japan and to deepen my understanding of the issues occurring locally and the factors behind them. I also realized that the specifications required for products and peripheral equipment vary significantly depending on the country, market, and operating environment. I learned that even slight differences in specifications can lead to different challenges. At the same time, witnessing local staff and expatriates sincerely addressing customer needs taught me the importance of gaining an in-depth understanding of the frontline.
Going forward, as a developer, I will more proactively incorporate feedback from the frontline and customers, visit local sites to deepen my understanding of actual usage environments, and contribute to product development that meets diverse market needs.

I was dispatched from BIPH, a manufacturing facility in the Philippines, to BIL as a trainee to enhance my equipment development capabilities. During my assignment, I was involved in the launch of equipment used to manufacture inkjet printer head components, gaining hands-on experience across the entire equipment development process, including machine adjustments, quality confirmation, and equipment evaluation. Ultimately, the equipment I worked on met BIL's quality requirements and was shipped for installation at the manufacturing facility.

At the development site in Japan, a thorough process was in place to build quality into the equipment by conducting necessary checks and verifications at each stage of development. From this experience, I learned the importance of advancing development through step-by-step checks and evaluation at every stage to ensure equipment quality and stable operation. Leveraging the knowledge and insights gained through the trainee program, I am currently working on creating equipment design guidelines and educating training team members at BIPH. Going forward, I aim to roll out the equipment development methods learned in Japan across BIPH, thereby contributing to the enhancement of our manufacturing technology capabilities.

Takumi Dojo

BIL's Machinery Business has been conducting a Meister program called "Takumi Dojo" since 2006 with the aim of handing down the craftsmanship of skilled workers to the next generation. In this program, young employees meet twice a week for a year to learn skills and work attitudes from experienced workers. If participants are unable to complete a task, they are asked to repeat the year and try again until they have mastered the skill, with the aim of ensuring thorough skill transfer to ensure product quality. By FY2025, more than 80 employees, including employees of Group companies, graduated from the Dojo.
Through these efforts, we are further raising the level of our manufacturing and building a system that allows us to continue to provide high-quality products in a stable manner.

Onboarding training (development for mid-career recruits)

BIL implements the Brother Onboarding Program for mid-career recruits, aiming to enable them to quickly become successful and produce results.

This training provides participants with the knowledge they need to work at BIL, as well as sessions based on the Brother Group Global Charter, which serves as the foundation for all Brother Group activities, providing an opportunity to learn about the Brother Group's values. This program also serves as an opportunity to build networks among mid-career recruits, and as part of this, it holds "follow-up training," where employees who joined the Company at the same time meet to have face-to-face discussions, and "Talks with the President," where employees can speak with the President in small groups. During "Talks with the President," the President directly speaks about his expectations for mid-career recruits and the direction the Brother Group is aiming for, providing an opportunity for participants to understand the thoughts and feelings of top management and reaffirm their own roles. Mid-career recruits also ask frank questions and offer their opinions, creating two-way communication that fosters understanding of the Company and a sense of belonging.

1. Covers only company-wide training programs conducted by the Human Resources Dept. and the Production Strategy Planning Dept. (OFFJT)
2. The trainee programs were suspended between FY2020 and FY2021 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but gradually resumed from FY2022.
3. Includes training and education programs provided by each department in addition to training programs conducted by the Human Resources Dept. and the Production Strategy Planning Dept.
4. The figure has been revised due to an error. (Revised in September 2026)