Updated on May 29, 2026 Talent Development
- Global Talent Development
- DX Talent Development
- Initiatives in Japan
- Career Development
Global Talent Development Program
The Kuraray Group has been implementing the Global Talent Development Program since 2007 with the aim of developing talents who can play active roles worldwide, and approximately 1,225 of employees have participated until 2025. Global Team Training (GTT), which aims to develop global leadership among section managers, has been held 23 times with approximately 460 participants to date, and the network among alumni has greatly contributed to promoting communication across borders within the Kuraray Group.
Our traineeship program is another successful example, where we send some of selected employees to the overseas companies for a three-month period. More than 120 people have participated, and many of them have been engaging in achievements as global talent later, such as being assigned abroad.
In recent years, we have also launched new initiatives such as the “English language skill development program.” and the “Short Term Expat Policy,” and we will continue to expand programs in the future.
We have set a target on the ration of senior managers class taking global leadership training as a KPI for the development status of the leaders who are able to work with diverse background, such as language and culture.
KPI, Target, and Result for the Kuraray Group's Global Talent Development Program
| KPI*1 | Targets | Result in 2024 | Result in 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ratio of senior managers class taking global leadership training*2 | 60% (FY2030) | 45% | 47% |
*1 Includes employees of overseas.
*2 The number of senior manager level positions is counted as 300 globally.
Executive Candidate Development
"Kuraray Leadership Program" is designed to systematically develop the executive candidates and create its talent pool, thereby contributing to medium- to long-term business operations. Participants are selected from senior managers and section managers with considering the diversity (job family, nationality, gender, etc.).
Every year, executive members, including the president, review the development plan and status of each participant, and provide programs such as "Tough assignments", “Executive Coaching”, "Dialogue sessions with external executives," "External Executive management programs", and “Workshop to understand Kuraray’s DNA” for the purpose of gaining management perspective and expanding business horizons. The number of participants in this program is used as the preparation ratio for candidates of general managers.
KPI, Target, and Result for the Kuraray Group's Executive Candidate Development
| KPI*1 | Target | By 2024 | By 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ratio of senior managers class taking global leadership training*2 | 200% (FY2030) | 130% | 170% |
*1
*2
Includes employees of overseas.
The number of prospective graduates of the Kuraray Leadership Program for the number of General managers equivalent positions.
DX Talent Development Program
The Kuraray Group has been conducting DX Talent Development Program as a global measure since FY 2023, as we believe it is vital to cultivate a culture and environment in which all employees are constantly adapting to the digital evolution.
We have established three classes based on digital literacy—Gold, Silver, and Bronze—and conducted a training curriculum corresponding to each class. By the end of FY 2025, the culture of tackling solutions for challenges, improvements on business processes, and innovations in business with IT skills become common in the Kuraray Group. While as the number of its graduates was increasing, we got many requests for getting more practical skills. With the target achievement on Bronze class, we have decided to go to the next step and reorganize the program.
KPI, Target, and Result for DX Talent Development Program in Japan
| KPI* | Target | Result in 2024 | Result in 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of participants per class (Achievement rate against the target) Gold class Silver class Bronze class | 180 (FY2026) 1,200 (FY2026) 5,700 (FY2026) | 82 (46%) 471 (39%) 5,938 (104%) | 124 (69%) 889 (74%) 6,117 (107%) |
* Includes employees of Group companies in Japan
Initiatives in Japan
In Japan, the Kuraray Group plants and companies plan and implement their own talent development programs and provide their employees with finely tuned support for skill development and career-building. Training is open to regular as well as part-time and contract-based employees.
We also have an incentive system under which we furnish grants for acquisition of certain public qualifications by employees for their own self-improvement.
In 2020, we launched the talent development project Kuraray PRIDE as a mechanism to strengthen our business creation capabilities. The project includes training exchanges with other companies, and classes in which employees introduce Group divisions, various lectures by outside speakers, and among other content. Some lectures are filmed and translated into English for sharing with the entire Group.
・Kuraray Company-wide Training System
| Hierarchical training | New employee/young employee training
|
|---|---|
New employee/young employee follow-up system
| |
| Training for promoted personnel |
| Selective training | Executive candidate Development |
|---|---|
| Global talent development program | |
| Production field leader training (Basic) Production field leader training (Specialist) Production field master training | |
| DX Talent Development Project |
| Business skill/Mindset training | "Kuraray PRIDE" to strengthen business creation capability
|
|---|---|
| Interpersonal communication skills training | |
| Assessor training | |
| Education on digital transformation skills | |
| Education on compliance | |
| Education on labor management | |
| Education on intellectual property | |
| Program per job type |
| Self-selective training | Autonomous Learning Program for Achieving Career Development (ALPACA)
|
|---|---|
| Language training programs | |
| Education by correspondence, e-Learning | |
| MBA scholarship programs |
| Career support training | Training for career design by self |
|---|---|
| Career advisor system |
Career Development
・Mechanism to Support Autonomous Career Development
At Kuraray, we have introduced a "Self-Directed Career Development Support System" aimed at fostering an organization where each employee actively engages in building their career and works with vitality.
As part of this initiative, we conduct "Career Design Training" for employees classified with their age group.
From the start of the program in 2015 until 2025 (with training for Job/Location-Specific Track beginning in 2017), approximately 2,500 employees have participated in the training.
After the training, certified career advisors conduct interviews with participants and their supervisors (optional for part of the employees) to support the promotion of self-directed career development.
・Time Spent on Competence Development
The table below shows the average time per person for the Talent Development Program that is implemented (Kuraray Co., Ltd., unconsolidated).
| 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1) Total hours employees spent in competence development | 71,601 | 88,139 | 89,016 | 90,006 |
| ・Hierarchical Training | 40,678 | 46,487 | 45,772 | 46,717 |
| ・Selective Training | 15,252 | 18,673 | 18,550 | 19,024 |
| ・Global Talent Development Program | 3,721 | 11,375 | 12,996 | 10,675 |
| ・Business skill / Mindset Training | 3,128 | 1,616 | 1,776 | 3,584 |
| ・Self-selective Training | 3,190 | 1,668 | 2,034 | 2,406 |
| ・Career Support Training | 5,632 | 8,320 | 7,888 | 7,600 |
| 2) Average hours spent per employee | 16.8 | 19.9 | 19.5 | 19.1 |
| Numbers of Employees | 4,251 | 4,427 | 4,569 | 4,715 |