Human Resources Development , Fair Evaluation and Treatment Human Resources Development , Fair Evaluation and Treatment

Approach to Materiality in Training and Development

Every employee clearly understands their role and need to enhance their individual skills in order to improve corporate value. We recognize training and development as an important CSR theme based on these needs.

Supervising division	Human Resources Department
KPI	Average annual training hours for each employee
FY2018 target	To enhance training reflected in the character of every employee who joins the company each year and the policies of society as a way to cultivate the fundamental skills of junior employees.
FY2016 result	Training hours: 12,249h; 2,245 per AT (including provisional training); Average 5.5h
Boundary (scope)	Advantest Corporation (non-consolidated) in Japan
Relevant policies	Human Resource Development Policy
Relevant commitments	-
Responsible department/division	Human Resources Department
Relevant complaint processing policy	Handled based on surveys condcuted after training is held
Assessment	△

The Human Resource Development Policy

To enhance corporate value, we need to ensure that employees clearly understand their role and make the effort to develop their capabilities. We expect our employees to show initiative with respect to refining their skills, and at the same time we encourage them to effectively leverage their respective strengths in the global business arena as part of our team.

Moreover, exceptional management ability to harness combined group capabilities plays a crucial role in our turning innovative ideas into products and delivering them to the market.

Our human resources development efforts are based on the three policies outlined in the illustration below, in line with the Human Resource Development Policy established in April 2003.

Focusing on the three policies of developing an adventurous spirit among our workers, providing our workers with a cosmopolitan outlook, and upgrading management skills, we conduct human resources development to produce a professional workforce capable of navigating the global business environment. Through this policy, Advantest actively supports employees who work consistently to refine their skills, acquire greater expertise, and broaden their knowledge.

Education and Training System and Implementation Status

Advantest has prepared a training program that anyone can participate in, and where a wide range of topics can be learned, from basic knowledge up to the latest technology trends. In addition, to ensure that this training program adapts to the changing environment, we continue to consider further improvements.

With the development of globalization, in order to adapt to the changes in the wider business environment, we worked to develop a human resources education system in line with the above-mentioned human resource development policy. To make this training even more effective, we are forging and implementing new programs, including the expansion of our global training program. New programs will be delivered by specialists to make them more effective, and we will selectively use in-house or external lecturers depending on the program content.

We plan to restructure our education system by factoring in opinions from overseas as well as those from Japan, thus giving it a more global perspective.

In fiscal 2016, a total of 1,686 employees received training of some kind, and the average number of training hours per employees was 5.5 hours for 12,249 hours of total lesson time. (These figures exclude initial training for new employees )

Training category	Target	Number of trainees	Lesson time (hours)
Career Training	Managers, General employees	175	2,625
Business Training	Managers, General employees	317	3,044
Technical Training	Managers, General employees	355	1,896
e-learning	Managers	17	850
English	Managers, General employees	69	1,656
External Seminars	Managers, General employees	224	1,120
TOEIC	Managers, General employees	529	1,058
Total		1,686	12,249

Development of Engineers

We place particular emphasis on educating engineers, with the aim of ensuring that our products continue to underpin leading-edge technologies.

We have created a training program accessible to every employee of the Group and covering a wide range of subjects, from basic knowledge to the latest technologies.

In fiscal 2016, approximately 292 engineers participated in the various technology seminars that were provided. The program now includes seminars hosted by Advantest’s senior engineers. For example, one of the seminars featured a lecture on design quality by an employee in charge of design, thereby shedding light on the basic technologies required to maintain and improve product quality based on the speaker's first-hand experiences. The program acts as a means of imparting not only technical knowledge but also Advantest’s “corporate DNA” to successive generations.

New Employee Education and Training

Advantest’s training program for new employees starts with three weeks basic business training covering the basics of working life. After that, the new recruits are put into one of two occupation-specific training regimes, depending on whether they have been hired for engineering or administrative job assignments.

Engineering employees undergo “basic technology training” to learn the basic knowledge required, starting with the basics of design and then the methods for using products, quality assurance, and intellectual property etc., and go on to learn the necessary skills as Advantest engineers through “"manufacturing training” to learn the necessary skills as an Advantest engineer through “practical development training” that offers hands-on experience in development and launch of new product production. New administrative employees do training in the three fields of sales, production, and management, to get an overview of the Group’s business and how the divisions are interrelated.

By having new employees experience various areas of company operations in this way, we are able to ensure that they will clearly understand their own roles, and will recognize the importance of teamwork with other divisions. Our training period for new recruits acts as a key formative phase in their professional development as Advantest employees.

Fair Evaluation and Treatment

We evaluate and develop career of the employees by reflecting with the goals set at the beginning of the period, communicating with superiors during the period as necessary, and evaluation interview at the end of the year. This interview is carried out for regular employees and part of contract and temporary staff.

The Advantest Resource Management System (ARMS)

At present, our overseas sales ratio is over 90%, and among our 4,638 employees, more than 40% (2,063) are in overseas affiliated companies, making Advantest a global company. Given this structure, we introduced the Advantest Resource Management System (ARMS), a unified human resources system, in April 2012. ARMS promotes cooperation among multiple bases around the world, as well as smooth personnel exchanges and transfers.

Under ARMS, the unique job classification systems decided on by Group companies in each country have been replaced by a new 10-level job system that is common to all. In this system, job levels 1 to 6 are for general employees, while levels 7 to 10 designate management positions. There are two management paths in this system: one for “people managers”, who manage budgets and deal with staff merit and labor issues, and one for “functional managers”, who tend to business and ensure that operations are carried out properly. Line managers with subordinates are assigned to the first path, and all other specialists are assigned to the second. With these two lines for advancement, we ensure that diverse personnel have opportunities to develop as managers.

We also apply common global rules to our pay scale, including basic pay and bonuses. Previously, for example, bonus payments in each country mainly reflected the performance of Advantest’s subsidiary or affiliate in that country, but under the new system bonus payments reflect the Company’s consolidated earnings. Starting in fiscal 2012, we have applied a new system of evaluating employee performance. No matter where Advantest employees work, they can now be evaluated and rewarded according to a common global system, with every employee receiving an evaluation/cultivation interview at least once a year.

Five years have passed since we introduced our global human resources system, during which time efforts have been made to increase the number of employees seconded from Japan to overseas postings and the number of personnel exchanges with overseas affiliates; this system has contributed to invigorating the organization and improving corporate performance.

Meanwhile, the new human resources framework offers labor management flexibility in setting up working hours, telecommuting arrangements and other job specifics, so that managers can more aptly address such matters directly in accordance with the laws and regulations of their respective nations and in line with local employment practices.

Starting from fiscal 2014, we have established a global personnel database, which is effectively utilized for project team composition and smooth personnel changes on a global scale. Beginning in fiscal 2015, we began using a new global personnel evaluation system to replace the existing personnel evaluations. In the future, we will be setting up human resource development schemes with a worldwide reach, promoting employee diversity through active efforts to hire and promote employees with differing backgrounds, and taking decisive steps toward forging an employee recruitment strategy that accords with the business strategies of our operations in diverse countries.

In the spirit of establishing ourselves as a truly global company going forward, Advantest will continue to work hard to create a professional business environment where every member of a diverse Advantest Group workforce can make the most of his or her individual capabilities.

Pension system

Domestically, Advantest employs a point system to determine retirement benefits. We have also introduced a prefunded company pension system with defined benefits. Management of pension assets is entrusted to the Advantest Corporate Pension Fund. Retirement benefits are divided into lump-sum payments, which are paid by the Company, and the pension fund portion, which is paid out according to years of service. In both cases, Advantest shoulders 100% of the cost.