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Communication:Environmental Communication with Stakeholders –Environmental Education/Awareness Building–

The core goal of our employee training is to ensure employees are well aware of their responsibility as global citizens and can serve as driving forces of the company’s sustainable environmental management.

To realize sustainable environmental management with the full participation of all employees, clear instructions from top management and the active involvement of each division are essential. But also important is to give each of the employees opportunities to learn how to be proactive in pursuit of sustainable environmental management in their own operations. While sustainable environmental management is indeed a corporate act, it is also an act that can be realized only by the actions of individual employees. The outcome of sustainable environmental management activities of the Ricoh Group, therefore, greatly depends on the awareness and recognition of our 100,000 plus employees around the world. Through training and awareness-raising sessions, Ricoh employees learn to become good global citizens, good Ricoh Group employees, and specialists in sustainable environmental management, and proactively encourage as many people as possible to join them in pursuit of sustainable environmental management.

NEW
Enrich employee's environmental knowledge
–Encouraging employees to take the Eco Test–

  • Japan/Ricoh Group

As of 2014, the Ricoh Group encourages its employees, primarily personnel engaged in planning, marketing, design, procurement, production, sales and services, to take the Eco Test (the Certification Test for Environmental Specialists) organized semiannually by the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry. This initiative is aimed at strengthening the Group's business capabilities related to the theme of the environment. The test is expected to motivate employees to develop more advanced environmental knowledge, which they can then utilize effectively in offering relevant proposals and developing new businesses involving this theme. We support applicants for the Eco Test by assisting with payment of the fee and organizing preparatory group training sessions.

In 2014, a combined total of about 260 Ricoh employees took the semiannual test. Out of those, 221 passed, representing a success rate of around 85%, which far exceeds the national average of 50.5%. In 2015, a total of about 350 employees took the test in the first half of the year, with around 90%, receiving a passing grade.

We have received favorable feedback from successful applicants, who generally share the view that taking the test provided them with a valuable opportunity to improve their environmental knowledge and related business capabilities. For example, for one person engaged in procedures relating to a series of environmental regulations (including RoHS, REACH, WEEE, and Type I Label), learning their backgrounds and history has reportedly provided a deeper understanding of them, leading to an enhanced capacity to discuss those regulations. Another employee involved in providing solutions to emerging markets is now more confident in offering proposals for reducing environmental impact at clients' sites.

In addition to providing test applicants with pre-test support, we are planning to launch follow-up programs, such as holding workshops for certified personnel to build their capacity to make effective use of their enhanced knowledge in developing business. We will continue working to enrich employee's knowledge and capabilities relating to the environment, thereby further advancing our sustainable environmental management throughout the value chain.

image:A seminar held one month before the test day given by an invited external expert (Ricoh Ohmori Hall)

A seminar held one month before the test day given by an invited external expert (Ricoh Ohmori Hall)

image:An employee receiving a commendation for getting the best score of all candidates at a division

An employee receiving a commendation for getting the best score of all candidates at a division

Environmental education programs for employees

  • Global/Ricoh Group
Example screenshots from our e-learning courseExample screenshots from our e-learning course

Ricoh Group employees can take environmental e-learning courses through the in house LAN system*. The curriculum includes “Companies’ Missions in Global Environment Problems,” and “Activity Cases in Respective Divisions.” To help every employee incorporate sustainable environmental management perspectives into their day-to-day operations, many case studies of environmental activities are included in the course materials. We upgraded the course curriculum in fiscal 2010. In addition to the existing three focus areas: energy conservation and prevention of global warming, resource conservation and recycling, and pollution prevention, a new section focusing on biodiversity was included in the course subjects. The additional section is designed to explain the meaning and importance of the consideration for biodiversity conservation in the course of our business activities. The e-learning courses offer an intermediate program for the managers and staff in charge of environmental promotion at each business division, so they can learn how to effectively incorporate environmental perspectives into the daily operations of their respective divisions, how to evaluate the outcome of sustainable environmental management, etc.

* Outside of Japan, the courses are offered on compact disk.

Organization of environment-related specialized training courses

  • Japan/Ricoh Group

In efforts to expand the network for sustainable environmental management, our sales personnel, as the customer’s primary contact for business, should be able to provide our customers with accurate explanations on global environment issues and the Ricoh Group’s activities in sustainable environmental management. With this recognition, in September 2009 the Group launched environmental training programs designed specifically for sales personnel. Using presentation tools on the intranet, these programs provide training on themes ranging from the current status of the global environment and the ideal society pursued by the Group, to our efforts to reduce environmental impact and to conserve biodiversity. The training, currently focusing on sales managers, will be expanded to cover other levels of employees in the sales division.

Environment-related specialized training courses

Name of course
Noise (basic)
Recyclable Design
Safety of Supplies(Former name:Safety of Supplies(advanced))
Environment-Related Laws and Regulations
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) (basic)
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) (application)
Ricoh Group’s Chemical Substance Management System (outline)
Thermal Designing for Electronic Equipment—WBL