The entrance ceremony was held on April 1. President Yoshiya Miyabe gave a speech to the new employees as follows:
Introduction
I’m Yoshiya Miyabe, the President of Kanematsu Corporation.
Congratulations to all of you on joining Kanematsu Corporation.
I’m very pleased to be able to welcome you to our company. Kanematsu’s future is in your hands.
Focusing on diversity
Today we are welcoming 43 new members to the company. Fortunately, we have been able to recruit many female and foreign employees, and graduates of overseas universities this year as well. Kanematsu places importance on diversity, and the reason behind this is that we have a corporate culture that values each and every employee’s talent and humanity, regardless of nationality or gender. The rich sense of humanity that your seniors also possess is our company’s precious asset, and thanks to which we have been able to create many businesses to this date.
Responding to a new era
As you all know, the world we live in today is changing faster and has entered into the unpredictable era. Recently, the much-talked-about generative AI has been applying rapidly. Environmental problems are getting more severe and the world has steered its way toward decarbonization. In addition, we cannot foresee geographical risks. The environment surrounding our company is also changing significantly with increasing speed.
For over 130 years since our founding in 1889, we have conducted business activities with a pioneering spirit and creativity to contribute to social and economic development, adhering to our Corporate Principle. Over our long history, we have had many eras where the future seemed uncertain, like the one we are in now. However, we have a track record of being able to adapt to many changes until today, leveraging the Corporate Principle that has been inherited. I’m confident that we will be able to cope with the new era as long as we have the courage to change, placing our unwavering philosophy as the axis, in the years to come. I hope you create unprecedented new value by maximizing your ability acquired by combining the flexible mindset, individual characteristics, and wisdom of you with various backgrounds.
New Kanematsu
Today when you joined the company on April 1, 2024, marks a significant milestone for the Kanematsu Group, too. We completed the previous “future 135” medium-term business plan and have just started our new plan, “integration 1.0.” Kanematsu, our Group companies, and our organizations will develop growth strategies aiming for big goals and work on them as a team.
Along with the new medium business plan, we implemented our renewed employee performance evaluation methods starting today, to transform ourselves into an organization that encourages employees to take on new challenges. In the industry of trading companies where human resources are our resources, it is important that each unique member of our company understands their role and demonstrates their appropriate ability for the role. In order for this to happen, we need each employee to have an independent mind. I hope you will become such a person who is willing to take on challenges.
Closing words
I would like to close my speech with a bit of advice for you. I always say:
“Taking action is what counts.” Some of you may already have an idea of what kind of work you want to do at Kanematsu, while some of you may be yet unsure about what you want to do. In real life, there are many situations where you have to do things reluctantly, not being assigned to the job you hope for. However, I think it’s important to “start from what you can do now and where you are, in other words, take action at any rate.” When taking action, always respect and be sincere to those around you and put your heart into it. By continuously following this attitude, more and more people--both in and outside the company--will want to work with you, and these people will eventually become your irreplaceable assets. Once you can build such relationships, you will be able to enjoy your work very much. I do believe that this attitude will allow you to lead an abundant life with no regret.
Once again, congratulations on joining Kanematsu. Let’s stay healthy and enjoy our work together. I look forward to your future performances, and this will conclude my speech.