Case Study - Sumitomo Life Insurance Company
Company Name
Sumitomo Life Insurance Company
Industry
Insurance
Number of people
Approximately 10,000 people
assignment
-
Promoting independent career planning
TOPICS
Sumitomo Life Insurance Company defines well-being as living a better life for each individual, and in light of the arrival of an era in which people will live to be 100 years old, we aim to become an "indispensable insurance company group" that makes a tangible contribution to well-being, which aims to realize happiness and fulfillment of the mind and body of people.
In fiscal 2021, we will launch the Human Resources Mutual Development Headquarters, with the pillar of "human resources mutual development," which aims to enhance people's value and grow together. We are working to create human resources and organizations that can respond flexibly to the new era and enable each employee to continue to take on challenges for the future autonomously.
We spoke with Sato and Inoue from the Human Resources Department/Human Resources Development Office about the behind-the-scenes system that supports Sumitomo Life Insurance Company's human capital management.
*Department names are as of the time of the interview in March 2023.
Our company exists because of our customers, so our management philosophy is based on providing the best possible service from the customer's perspective. To achieve this, we believe it is important that our employees are fulfilled and satisfied.
We define well-being as a virtuous cycle in which helping our customers achieve the "happiness of living better" contributes to society, while at the same time providing motivation, challenges, and growth for our employees.
In order to achieve well-being, it was essential to create an environment where employees could easily access learning so that they could plan their careers independently, so introducing SmartSkill Campus to our in-house training was a major first step.
We hoped that this would encourage our staff to further develop themselves, so after the system was implemented, we first wanted to increase the login rate, and then the attendance rate.
After holding hierarchical training within the company, we introduce your company's (REVIC Global) content to employees as learning materials that they can use independently.
Sometimes listening to training once is not enough to fully understand, so video content that can be easily accessed at any time is extremely useful.
For new and young employees, I think the site is packed with content on basic business etiquette and skills that they will want to acquire as members of the workforce, and for mid-level employees, I recommend team management content, as they will be in a position to drive the organization.
Our vision for well-being
Please tell us about what you are aiming for with well-being as your goal.
Please tell us the meaning behind the phrase "human resource co-development."
In this era of rapid change, past success stories may not necessarily be applicable in the future. Therefore, I feel that it is difficult to develop people by relying solely on experience.
As it will become necessary for older employees to learn from younger staff, especially in the digital area, we have adopted the phrase "human resource co-development" to express our belief that it is important to increase opportunities for dialogue and build relationships in which each party complements the other's shortcomings.
Background of SmartSkill Campus
What challenges did you face when implementing SmartSkill Campus?
What points did you focus on when selecting a vendor?
After comparing conditions with other companies, taking into consideration the functionality required to achieve what we wanted, the balance between the number of users and the cost of implementation, we decided on your company (REVIC Global) as we expected the best cost-effectiveness.
The solid support system has also been well received within the company, and although it was initially introduced within the scope of the Human Resources Department, we plan to expand it to all employees, including sales staff, who are in a different department. We are very satisfied because the dedicated person in charge understands our needs and provides original proposals, such as customization, to meet those needs.
Another deciding factor was that your company (REVIC Global) has a wealth of content that can be used by both veteran and junior employees.
How to use SmartSkill Campus
How are you using SmartSkill Campus?
What effects have you seen since implementing SmartSkill Campus?
We have received feedback from employees on reduced working hours that they are happy to be able to watch videos on their smartphones even outside of working hours. We believe that if employees have this experience even just once, it will lead to continuous learning.
Thanks to increased awareness of self-development, in fiscal 2022, more than 2,000 employees took advantage of subsidies for self-development expenses.
About REVIC Global's solutions
What do you think about REVIC Global's services after actually using them?
When running the organization, various questions and concerns arise, but since we hold regular monthly meetings, we are really grateful to be able to receive advice at each meeting.
If I have any questions about how to use SmartSkill Campus, I can always ask via the chatbot, and it's also helpful that dedicated staff members respond quickly.
Please tell us about your future plans.
We would like to further increase awareness of SmartSkill Campus, so that people will think, "SmartSkill Campus = a place where you can get useful information."
We believe that it will be necessary to update the content to meet the needs and flexibly change the way we use SmartSkill Campus, so we will continue to work towards establishing e-learning with your continued support (REVIC Global).
Sumitomo Life Insurance Company
Collaborative human resource development to become an "indispensable insurance group" that contributes to well-being
What kind of people are you looking for in employees in order to achieve well-being?
We believe that we need human resources who can accept diverse values and flexibly respond to the changes of the times and take on new challenges. To achieve this, it is necessary for employees to take the initiative in their career development and continue to learn. For this reason, we are taking various measures, and e-learning is one of them.
At the beginning, I was worried because the number of views wasn't increasing as expected, but your company (REVIC Global) advised me that "It's important not to have the purpose of watching the video." By following that advice and sending out fresh and useful information for employees at the right time, the number of views increased and we received a lot of feedback.
In addition, the "logical thinking" content is the most popular among all the contents. It is a field that has few opportunities to learn during working hours, but I think it is the foundation of business skills for all employees.
In addition, we hold "Yukatsu Seminars" every month using web conferencing tools, inviting leading experts in each field to give lectures on a wide range of topics, such as work methodology, deepening expertise, and fostering a social outlook. For employees who were unable to attend on the day, we provide archived sessions on SmartSkill Campus, which have been very well received.
By regularly announcing this content via in-house e-mail newsletters and connecting the information with lines rather than dots, we have been able to manage it effectively.
Until now, the general concept of insurance products has been "contingency coverage to prepare for risks," but we aim to go beyond that concept. By providing new value by reducing risk itself through insurance products that encourage customers to take part in health promotion activities, we aim to become an insurance company group that contributes to well-being.
