Takanori Yukawa
Director, Human Resource Div.
Human Resources & Administration Office

As a global enterprise, the AGC Group began considering to formulate an employment plan in line with the Group personal distribution plan and placing the right people in the right jobs on a global level from fiscal 2011. In Japan, Asahi Glass has been promoting the employment of women in career-track positions and also foreign nationals to increase diversity in the workplace. In the future, it will become more common for the AGC Group to transfer employees across national boundaries to make better use of its human resources, for example to transfer those employed in Japan to Europe and those employed in Belgium to the United States.
We have been implementing human resource development programs globally and also by country and region. The aim of the global training programs is to develop leaders who can lead the AGC Group from a global viewpoint. These programs also help participants, who have different racial and national backgrounds, deepen their understanding of different cultures and increase solidarity as members of the Group. Training programs are also provided by region and country to develop next-generation leaders on a longer term basis.
In particular for Group companies in Asia, we will employ local people more actively and accelerate the localization of operations. We will develop managerial human resources who can make fair decisions as members of the AGC Group, regardless of their nationality or race.

Dai Jing
Personnel Manager
AGC China

Guan Zhong, a politician during the Spring and Autumn Period of Chinese history said, "If you want to make a profit in a year, plant a grain seed. If you want to make a profit in 10 years, plant a tree. If you want to make a profit on a longer term basis, develop human resources." In today's world where globalization is accelerating and organizations are becoming more flat, it is indeed essential for companies to develop human resources if they want to survive severe market competition. AGC China provides the managers of all Group companies in China with management training with a view to building a common foundation for human resource development at the companies. Managers receiving the training commented, "I would like to learn more about the 5S*1 concept and increase employees' awareness about it," and "I would like to study the coaching methods for training subordinates even more." The top executives of the companies also said that they wanted to help employees develop themselves through the growth of the companies, which would in turn help the companies achieve further growth. In response in 2010, AGC China established a stratified education system to be commonly applied to Group companies in China and provided a range of education programs under the system and in 2011, we plan to further enhance the programs. As a member of the AGC Group, and under the slogan "Our People are Our Strength" which is stated in the Group's management policy, we will continue providing even more support to the companies in China to develop human resources.

*1 Promotion of the 5Ss (seiri [neatness], seiton [orderliness], seiketsu [cleanliness], seisou [cleanness], and shitsuke [discipline])