HUMAN RESOURCES Dynamism and Diversity “Once perceived as bureaucratic and slow to change, Human Resources changed dramatically during the NISSAN 180 period. Now, in fact, people occasionally say that we’re changing too rapidly. That may be true, but a positive dynamism is emerging as a result, and Nissan is stronger because of it.  The impetus for many of the modifications comes from top management. Mr. Ghosn, for one, takes a direct and abiding interest in this area of operations. There is also a cross-functional team dedicated to organizational issues that recommends changes to HR policy. And because half the people on our HR staff come from other companies, many suggestions are coming from within as well. The latter is very unusual for a major Japanese company such as Nissan, and is a direct result of a new policy we call Mid-Career Scouting, which actively seeks talent  from outside Nissan. All of these activities are indicative of the dynamism that is creating such diversity at the Company. There is no doubt that diversity is a key theme in our HR evolution. We are currently focusing on three areas in particular: women in the workforce, Mid-Career Scouting, and embracing other cultures. We are working to provide more opportunities for our female employees (please see the Diversity feature on p. 57). Renault, which has a number of female executives—including many with families—has served as a great example for us. Unfortunately, that kind of work-home balance is still rare for women both inside and outside the executive ranks in Japan.  The second area mentioned, Mid-Career Scouting, is still an uncommon practice at Japanese companies. We have found great value, though, in the insights people who have experience in other corporate cultures bring to Nissan, and we are able to learn to take advantage of  those insights.  The third area, embracing other cultures, became a more pressing consideration after the Alliance. Suddenly we had many foreign executives working at Nissan headquarters, and the majority of communications were in English as well as Japanese. As a result, more employees, including non-management staff, are being assigned to work outside of Japan. In addition, proficiency in English is now a prerequisite for all managers at Nissan. These efforts to promote diversity are transforming our corporate culture. One of the most interesting developments of NISSAN 180 was the advent of the Career Coach system, which we imported from our Alliance partner, Renault. In a modern business structure, HR is in charge of structural and system functions such as compensation. The Career Coach system provides career development for the individual employee. There are five career coaches at this time, one for each of the major functions. Their collective task is to identify people of high potential and create career plans for them. In a sense, they work outside of HR, although they report to me. The coaches gather once a month for the Nissan Assignment Committee, headed by Mr. Ghosn, to report on their activities.  Employees at Nissan also have the chance to control their career paths through our internal “self-career” system on the Company’s intranet. Managers can search for employees registered on the system for open positions they have and proactively post job vacancies on the open- entry system portal. Although the open-entry system has a longer history, the self-career system began in early fiscal 2005 in Japan. We plan to expand both these programs on a global basis.  Nissan Annual Report 2004 56 OUR WORK HITOSHI KAWAGUCHI Senior Vice President Nissan Management Institute zen