Outlines of Kao's activities

The Japanese government has set measures to promote women's success in the workplace as a core growth strategy. To accelerate the initiatives, METI and TSE jointly select and publicize listed enterprises that are exceptional in providing women with opportunities for success in the workplace, including developing work environments in which women are able to further their careers, and grant them the "Nadeshiko Brand" designation. In the selection process, METI and TSE screen enterprises from the entire first section of the TSE by scoring them based on two factors: 1) conducting career support for women, and 2) supporting women in balancing work and family, with an eye on superior financial performance in each industry sector. Kao was selected for the second time, following FY2012-the year the Nadeshiko Brand was established.

Based on the recognition that the dynamism generated by diversity supports business development, Kao promotes Diversity & Inclusion to realize an organization in which each individual's diverse skills, personality, and values are included and mobilized to enhance the company's collective strength. Kao, as a group, has been working to build rewarding workplaces, where each employee can leverage his or her full potential, by fostering an understanding of diversity and an attitude of mutual respect.

Moreover, under the initiatives to utilize women's abilities for corporate activities, Kao evaluates and promotes employees based on their ambition and abilities and not attributes such as gender, resulting in the expansion of roles for female employees. The percentage of female managers in the Kao Group companies in Japan has risen as high as 10.5%.*1 To support work-life balance, the company has developed a variety of support systems and encourages utilization of those systems. The child-care leave system has been utilized by approximately 37% of male employees.*2 The company also implements an appropriate work pace and schedule by establishing "go-home-early" days and special days for promoting use of paid holidays. As a result, the average rate at which paid holidays are used at Kao amounts to 71.0%.*2

Such efforts by Kao are highly evaluated as criteria to be selected for the Nadeshiko Brand designation. With the recognition that diverse human resources produce dynamism to support business development, the company respects the diversity of individual employees and strives to create a corporate culture that allows all employees to fully demonstrate their abilities and passions.

*1 as of December 31, 2013
*2 FY2013 (January to December 2013)

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