"Until Materiality Was Created ～Feelings at the Time and the Future～

"Future Stories" is a series of interviews with employees from our Group about initiatives that lead to a Space for your Smile future.

The Group is promoting Sustainability Management based on its sustainability policy of Space for your Smile, and has identified nine material themes and materiality formulated by management and employees.

This time, we will share some of the interviews we conducted with executives and employees who were involved in the identification of materiality, and we will see the real voices of the members about how they felt at the time and what they think now.

―――Members interviewed this time (*Positions as of November 2022)

From left to right: Mr. Mitani, Mr. Taniguchi, Mr. Kobayashi, Mr. Kubota (TV screen), Mr. Hori, Mr. Moriai, Mr. Kamo

―――Activities to identify materiality began in 2020. Please tell us how you felt when you were initially assigned as a materiality specific member.

Mr. Taniguchi: Personally, I have always been concerned about environmental issues such as global warming. As I learned about sustainability, I realized that it was a very important issue when I thought about what our children and their families would be like in the next 10, 20, or 30 years.

Mr. Kubota: In the training I took before, I learned that sustainability initiatives are progressing around the world, especially in the Nordic countries, based on the assumption that only companies that work on sustainability will survive in society. After that, I proposed to the company that we should promote the SDGs as well, so I thought that it was time for (sustainability activities) to begin.

―――Has your thinking changed as you worked on identifying materiality?

Ms. Hori: I began to look at the business from the perspective of "solving social issues." I think there is still room for us to work on linking our operations with sustainability, and to be more aware of sustainability in our current and new businesses.

Ms. Kobayashi: I felt that the only thing we could do as the Information Systems Department was to use low-power servers to reduce CO2 emissions, but I was very glad that I realized that the work of my department was useful in a wide range of ways, such as initiatives that lead to the active participation of human resources (IT support).

Mr. Taniguchi: Being involved in the identification of materiality has made me think that it is okay to think about our company's issues from various perspectives, not just from the standpoint of the department to which I belong.

―――How should we connect materiality with each business?

Ms. Mitani: Although materiality has been identified, there are no uniform rules that specifically require this to be done, so I think it is important for employees, who are the main actors, to be aware of sustainability and make decisions from time to time.

Ms. Moriai: I think it is important to have people understand little by little that the businesses they are currently working on are contributing to society in this way. For example, we report on the progress of materiality once every six months, and I would like each department to take advantage of such opportunities to be aware of whether the business is contributing in some way.

―――Please tell us your thoughts and thoughts for the future.

Mr. Taniguchi: We have a Sustainability Promotion Department, but I believe that if we become a company that does not need to be promoted and where we can talk about sustainability as a normal conversation, we will become a company that can further contribute to society.

(Interview date: November 15, 2022)

Going forward, the Group will continue to evolve its initiatives for material issues and materiality, and actively promote Sustainability Management to achieve further results. We will take these issues seriously and fulfill our responsibilities to the environment and society. At the same time, we will continue our efforts to increase information dissemination and transparency so that many people will take an interest in our initiatives, and to connect empathy.