Employee Relations
Policy and Approach
In January 2023, the Sunstar Group established the Sunstar Global HR Mission Statement aimed at improving the well-being of Sunstar’s employees and realizing sustainable growth of our businesses. It expresses our common global vision for human resource management, and is the basis for all our human resource measures. By referring to this statement, we will realize human resource management that continues to create new value.
Sunstar Global HR Mission Statement
HR Vision
- Create a vibrant work environment where employees are highly motivated and that is comfortable to work in
- Create a team that respects diverse values and continues to evolve with changes
HR Mission
- Enhance the well-being of individuals and organizations
- Support the transformation to highly competitive and autonomous professional team
- Promote teamwork management that brings diverse strengths of individuals together
HR Strategy
- Enhance engagement
Maximize employee engagement by pursuing comfortable work environments and rewarding work - Enhance organizational and individual competencies
Support employee driven their career development, developing the expertise of each employee, and realizing the growth of the organization - Drive transformation
Draw out the potential of a diversity of individuals, and thoroughly implementing human resource management linked to business strategies, leveraging successor training plans
Creating a Workplace that boosts Employee Productivity and Happiness (Policy and Approach)
We aim to maximize employee engagement by creating an environment where employees can thrive and grow, exchange ideas and feel safe to discuss issues, and be certain that those will be taken seriously. We have a responsibility to provide a safe, healthy, and productive environment to employees, and in return we expect employees and visitors to our premises to comply with all safety rules and laws.
Major Initiatives
Taking steps to increase employees’ motivation (Global)
To improve employee safety and productivity, we support diverse work styles that allow employees to flexibly set their working hours and locations, taking into account business characteristics, working environment, and employees' personal circumstances, to the extent possible under business conditions and local laws.
In Japan, work-from-home and full-flexible work schedules with no core hours have been officially implemented. We support diverse work styles, including the adoption of a free dress code and a free seating system in the office. We have begun conducting an annual employee engagement survey in Switzerland, the U.S., Singapore, and Japan with more to come. We continue to implement initiatives to maximize employee performance by utilizing survey results.
Employee assistance programs (Europe, Americas)
We provide support to our employees to help them navigate personal and professional issues impacting their lives, including counseling, referrals and resources for them and their families in Europe and the Americas.
In addition, we regularly conduct seminars and webinars for our employees on a range of topics, including diversity and inclusion, conflict resolution, managing workplace stress, and other work/life issues.
As work-from-home and flexible working policies are implemented worldwide, we continue to hold webinars to ensure seamless communication and collaboration among teams.
Promoting healthy lifestyles among our employees (Policy and Approach)
Major Initiatives
Offering free health guidance and check-ups for our employees (Japan)
We provide employees with comprehensive annual health check-ups, dental examinations, and follow-up care by doctors, public health nurses and dental hygienists as well as we health guidance camps at the Sunstar Mind-Body Kenkodojo, an in-house welfare facility for new employees and those requiring specific health guidance.
Promoting healthy lifestyles at the office (Global)
We have a handful of programs to promote the physical and mental well-being of our employees across all our offices.
In Switzerland we hold weekly Pilates sessions, while in Germany we organize sporting events and provide exercise videos that show employees how to more effectively move their bodies. In Japan, on top of doing the “Sunstar Workout” every day at our offices to improve leg and lower back health, we also organize seminars on women’s health issues.
Thanks to this type of initiatives, Sunstar has been named a “Certified Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organization” for the eighth year running, and was also selected among the “White 500,” as one of the top 500 firms in this area after 2023 in Japan.
Diversity and Equal Employment Opportunities (Policy and Approach)
We believe diversity is a key pillar in our Human Resources approach, and leveraging it can accelerate growth and innovation in our company. We aim to build an organizational culture where employees respect each other’s individuality and diverse backgrounds. We ensure equal opportunities and fair treatment to all employees and job applicants in all aspects of the employer-employee relationship, including recruitment, hiring, training, promotion, transfer, demotion, compensation, benefits, layoff, and termination. We do not tolerate any discrimination on the basis of race, color of skin, disability, country of origin, religion, beliefs, age, marital status, citizenship, military experience, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other personal characteristic. We also demand the same standards from our customers and business partners. Sunstar complies with all applicable laws and regulations that guarantee equal employment opportunities and the elimination of discrimination wherever we operate.
Sunstar group employees by area
(as of December 31, 2023)
A total of 3,933 employees work at the Sunstar Group in 22 different countries. Of the Group’s workforce, 45% work in Japan, 22% in Asia, 14% in Europe, and 19% in the Americas.
Global gender equality ratios per career level
(as of December 31, 2023)
Female employees make up 39% of Sunstar’s total global workforce; they account for 26% of management positions, and 11% of executive positions.
All employees
Managers
Executives
Major Initiatives
Promoting teamwork and diversity workshops (Europe, Asia, Japan)
The company holds its “Sunstar Connect” event in Europe every year, aiming to deepen mutual understanding between corporate cultures and further deepen communication across borders.
In our Global Headquarters in Switzerland, Sunstar celebrates the International Women’s Day annually to discuss relevant issues women face in the workplace. In 2024, invited a professor to give a lecture as part of the event.
We also hold workshops in Singapore to deepen understanding of the culture of Japan, where the company originated, and, in 2023, we held such events in Bangkok and Jakarta for new employees.
Promoting and respecting diversity (Asia)
At Sunstar, we work to honor diversity and respect different customs and values. In Indonesia, we have a prayer room within the office for Muslim employees. We have also built facilities equipped with a multi-purpose room, which can be used both as prayer room and as a meeting room.
In Singapore, where employees from many different nationalities work together, we organize employee trainings and workshops annually to improve internal communication as part of our efforts to promote diversity and inclusion.
Labor-management councils and roundtable conferences (Global)
In Japan, we hold regular meetings intended to foster cooperation between labor and management and encourage inclusive company management in which everyone plays a part. During these meetings, participants discuss solutions to business challenges and ways to improve workplaces.
We have similar frameworks in other countries to match systems specific to those nations.
Supporting Employee Growth (Policy and Approach)
We believe that the development of employees leads to higher employee engagement and accelerates global growth. We provide growth opportunities for all employees and require all employees to be involved in the education of their co-workers.
We annually evaluate our employee's performance based on tourcorporate motto, our Fundamental Management Principles, and the Guiding Principles for Employees. We commit to conducting highly transparent and fair evaluations across the board. We believe this approach leads to the growth of both employees and the organization as a whole. In order to continue providing the Sunstar Group’s corporate value globally, we are committed to actively communicating and strenghtening our corporate philosophy within the organization.
Major Initiatives
Sunstar Global Four Awards (Global)
Since 2016, we recognize and acknowledge Sunstar’s employees contributions through the Sunstar Global Four Awards. We present awards to Sunstar Group employees across the world in recognition of activities that have made a significant contribution to the Group’s growth or corporate value based on an understanding of our corporate culture, philosophy and management policy. The aim of this initiative is to nurture ingenuity among employees and encourage them to become involved in the company’s management. Besides receiving a monetary prize, employees are also given the opportunity to present their projects to the Sunstar Board and Executive Committee and travel to a selected location among our global presence.
Promoting a common understanding of the corporate culture and interaction among employees (Global)
We implemented the “Sunstar Connect” program in Europe to deepen the common understanding of our corporate culture and improve collaboration across different countries. In 2022, we held a special global online event to celebrate our 90th anniversary. A diverse range of employees from all around the world shared video messages with each other, which increased the sense of unity among our global workforce.
Promoting cross-collaboration to become a truly global company(Global)
We are promoting cross-regional collaboration and employee development through multiple initiatives worldwide.
We are leveraging e-learning platforms to accompany employees in their learning journey across the Americas, Europe and Japan. We are also further accelerating employee development and education through the Sunstar Summit, an annual global business transformation event. We are also proactively promoting networking and exchange among our employees by, for example, sending trainees across to different regions.
Implementing an E-Learning Platform (Europe)
Sunstar has implemented an innovative new e-learning platform in Europe. Linking up with Bookboon Learning, the platform enables employees to access self-study contents in the form of audiobooks, electronic documents, and virtual classrooms.
Enhancing opportunities for self-development (Japan)
In Japan, we are promoting diverse employee education programs, with the dual objective of ensuring the wellbeing of both employees and the organization, and of transforming our workforce into an autonomous and highly competitive group of professionals. We seek to create a corporate environment that facilitates innovation; to this end, the company is developing educational programs for self-development, so that employees can proactively bring about change with high levels of ambition and expertise.
