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- Creating Opportunities for Learning and Experience
Creating Opportunities for Learning and Experience
This page contains some information as of September 30, 2023.
The LY Corporation Group (the "Group") believes that a wealth of learning and experience is the driving force behind individual growth as well as the sustained growth for the entire Group. The Group creates a lot of opportunities for learning and experience through various initiatives, such as the corporate university "LY Academia," and "AI Academia," which was established to develop AI talents within the Group.
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Human Capital Development and Training
Training Results
*According to a research by the "Kigyo to Jinzai" ("Companies and Human Resources") editorial team of SANRO Research Institute, Inc., companies in Japan spent JPY29,904 per employee for education and training in FY2021.
The information contained herein is current as of September 30, 2023.
Yahoo Japan Corporation ("Yahoo Japan")
Yahoo Japan aspires to become a "People Development Company" which supports the sustainable transformation and growth of employees so that their performance can be improved. In Yahoo Japan, the company and the employees do not have a vertical relationship, but are equal partners, and the basic premise is that "Freedom and responsibility are two sides of the same coin." Based on the wish that the employees and the company grow sustainably together, and the belief that all employees have unlimited potential, Yahoo Japan supports the employees to learn from experience so that these learning experiences will lead to their individual growth.
People Development Company
Under the vision of becoming a "People Development Company" as the company's approach to its human resources, Yahoo Japan takes steps to ensure that it provides a work environment where each and every employee can continue to grow, freely demonstrate their capabilities, and work independently and voluntarily to provide better services and businesses that solve the problems of the users.
One specific example is 1 on 1 meetings held once a week for around 30 minutes between the supervisors and their direct reports. Another is the human resource development charts prepared to encourage each employee to voluntarily look into their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as the experiences they will need to get to their expected careers in three years' time. Furthermore, career-focused human resource development meetings are held periodically by multiple persons in the employee's division to look at the growth and career of each employee and to discuss career path that best suits the employee.
To provide a growth opportunity for the employees to challenge themselves and gain new experiences, Yahoo Japan has a self-application transfer system called, "Position Challenge!" available to employees who meet certain requirements to apply for any internal positions as well as internal open recruitment.
Yahoo Japan works to build an environment where employees can access a wide range of online training content offered by various divisions in the company whenever and wherever they need learning.
LINE Corporation ("LINE")
LINE provides programs that encourage each employee to take on challenges and support career autonomy in order to create "WOW," a value standard that LINE constantly pursues.
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Structure of Trainings
| Name of training/measure | Details |
|---|---|
| LINE Yahoo Academia | LINE Yahoo Academia was established in 2023 for the employees of LY Corporation and its group companies. This is an extension of Z Academia for employees of Z holdings Group through Yahoo! JAPAN Academia, which was a corporate university of Yahoo Japan Corporation. LY Academia was established to develop leaders and to create a cross-sectional connection of employees to accelerate the growth of each employee. It aims to become a base camp where employees learn from each other. In addition to classes participated by top leaders, the Academia offers programs that can be participated by any employees, including a class for female leaders, which was first offered by Yahoo! JAPAN Academia in fiscal 2019. In order to create a place where employees can learn from each other, Z Academia has a certified instructor system since fiscal 2021 whereby employees become lecturers. In July 2021, we launched “AI Academia”, which provides learning opportunities specializing in AI, and in 2022, we launched “Sustainability Academia”, where employees can learn about sustainability. |
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Yahoo Japan
In order to support the employees' growth in a manner that best suits each employee, Yahoo Japan has a structure in place to periodically hear from employees to find out their independence and challenging spirit as well as the evaluations from others and give feedback.
| Name of training/measure | Details |
|---|---|
| 1 on 1 meeting | 1 on 1 meeting is held once a week (around 30 minutes) between the employee and his/her supervisor. 1 on 1 meeting is held for supervisors to help solve the challenges that the employees are facing and to support the fulfilment of the employees' goals. It facilitates the employees to self-reflect and efficiently rotates the cycle of experiential learning. In a remote work environment during COVID-19, it is essential to understand and confirm the physical condition of each employee, and 1on1 plays an important role in this regard. |
| Third-party meeting | In this meeting, not only subordinates, but also members and managers who are involved in the same business operations provide feedback from various angles to support the growth of managers. They summarize and communicate what they would like the managers to continue to do or improve in terms of organizational management, attitude, and behavior. The objective is not only to know oneself objectively and grow as a person, but also to deepen mutual understanding between managers and members and enhance organizational strength. |
| People development meeting | In this meeting, direct supervisors and managers from divisions related to the employee gather to discuss the medium- to long-term growth policy of each employee, based on the human resource development charts. The meeting is held to support the future career formation of each employee according to the employee's growth stage and the direction of his/her career. Specifically, after discussing what kind of experience would be best for the employee in the most recent year, the supervisors provide each person with experiences that promote awareness of his or her own potential and growth, as well as training suggestions. |
| Position Challenge! | This is a self-application transfer system where employees who meet application requirements, such as at least two years of service, can declare their wish to challenge something new in Yahoo Japan. Throughout the year, at any time, these employees can apply to a position that is open to recruitment for mid-career hires. |
| Development of AI human resources | To achieve the goal of Z Holdings Corporation, "Towards a World-Leading AI Tech Company from Japan and Asia," Yahoo Japan focuses on the development of AI human resources. Every month, e-learning on data utilization is conducted for all employees to strengthen data education. In addition, Yahoo Japan has established a "Data Award" to promote data utilization and share examples of data utilization. Yahoo Japan is working on measures to encourage all employees to take a data-driven approach, including measures to promote the acquisition of related qualifications. |
LINE
In addition to supporting the visualization of team conditions through data, LINE provides a system that can be used for improving organizational strength and team building.
| Name of training/measure | Details |
|---|---|
| Onboarding support | In addition to the orientation, "supporters" are assigned to new employees to give support during the onboarding period so that new employees will be able to quickly fit in and demonstrate their true strengths in the new environment. |
| Internal open recruitment | This is a transfer system whereby LINE employees can nominate themselves when they wish to take on a new challenge in LINE. The system is open throughout the year to enable flexible career choices, providing opportunities for every employee to gain new experience and pursue self-growth at any time of his/her career. |
| Personality diagnosis | Personality diagnosis based on the Five Factors & Stress theory is introduced. The results of each employee's diagnosis are used for management and team building. |
| Pulse survey | The pulse survey is conducted once a month with all employees. The results help visualize the organizational status of each team and are used for management. |
| LEAP (LINE Employee Advancement Program) | This program discusses growth issues, careers, and assignments for each individual member based on the needs of each department with the goal of capturing and proactively raising the best talent cross-sectionally. |
| Community for employees interested in enhancement of organizational power and management | This is an online community of employees, both in managerial and non-managerial positions, who are interested in enhancing the organizational power and management. The members exchange information useful for management and hold voluntary study sessions and workshops. |
Trainings
The information contained herein is current as of September 30, 2023.
Yahoo Japan and LINE have a variety of training and development programs that encourage employees to develop their skills in line with their growth.
Trainings for All Employees
Yahoo Japan
| Name of training | Details |
|---|---|
| Learning Navi | Learning Navi is an online system that enables employees to upload and download training content, such as seminar videos/materials and e-learning materials, with ease. Using Learning Navi, employees can access a variety of learning content, from mandatory information security and compliance training to technical knowledge required for their jobs, seminars on the latest technologies, and proficiency tests, at any time according to their schedules. |
| Meeting facilitation training | This training teaches the basics of facilitation so that productivity of meetings can be enhanced. |
| Career self-control workshop | This is a workshop for employees to self-reflect their own career and to think about future workstyle. |
LINE
| Name of training | Details |
|---|---|
| LINE Class | LINE Class carries various online learning content available at LINE and enables employees to learn anytime and anywhere at their own pace. From mandatory compliance training to seminar and study session archives, employees can choose the learning content according to their objectives from a wide variety of content. |
| Business upskilling | Employees are encouraged to participate in external online and offline training programs according to their challenges and subjects of their interest. The training program fees are paid by the company in full. |
| Internal IT onboarding training | In this training, employees learn the outline, basics of how to use, and internal rules relating to LINE's globally adopted internal systems. |
| Learning portal | Employee volunteers give lectures in a variety of internal study sessions, ranging from "How to Write with Clarity" and "How to Convey Messages Clearly" to "Code readability session," and "Planning WorkGroup." Employees can participate in seminars and workshops of their own interest. |
Training for New Employees
Yahoo Japan
This training teaches the right attitude as a member of society, basic business manners, and necessary frame of thinking as an employee of Yahoo Japan. Programs to enhance specialized skills are prepared for engineers and designers.
In addition, senior staff will train the new staff on the job in the assigned departments. New staff will learn as they experience their respective jobs in their assigned posts.
LINE
General Training
New employees learn the right attitude as a member of society, basic business manners, and necessary frame of thinking as a LINE employee.
Trainees also participate in a cross-functional hackathon to get firsthand experience of the LINE style of product development and what it is like to work in a team.
Training by Job Types
After the general training, new employees go through a function-based on-the-job training program to acquire and further skills required for their assigned jobs (engineering, planning, sales, etc.). With the support of mentors, they learn the jobs expected of their assigned posts, through actual day-to-day experience.
Training for Managers
Yahoo Japan
| Name of training | Details |
|---|---|
| Management portal | The portal encompasses information and training necessary for managers to fulfill their management duties. The topics covered include the "Basics of management practice," "Understanding of goals and management systems" "Human capital development," "Organizational development," and "How to control labor management risks." |
| Training for newly appointed managers | Kick-off meetings are held for newly appointed managers in which the management directly convey their message. Various programs are prepared so that newly appointed managers can learn the necessary knowledge and skill sets on themes such as harassment, diversity, organizational development, information security, compliance and mental health as well as skills to conduct managerial duties such as 1 on 1 meeting, a cornerstone of Yahoo Japan's human capital development. |
| Organizational development program | In this program, those in managerial positions in each organization learn how to identify the root causes of their organizational problems, based on the quantitative results from the pulse surveys and the qualitative information gathered from day-to-day organizational operations. They also learn, as the next step, how to formulate actions to solve the organizational problems. |
| Career and self-awareness training | Easy approaches that can be used in 1 on 1 meetings are taught to support the autonomous career formation of direct reports. (e.g. theory on careers, framework to promote the self-understanding of direct reports, etc.). |
| Service manager training | Yahoo Japan has service managers responsible for services and products. Various programs are prepared so that all service managers can contribute to the growth of their services and work to a high standard. |
LINE
| Name of training | Details |
|---|---|
| Leadership, vison, and story telling | A program for learning the mindset and skillset necessary for leaders, as well as how to formulate and convey the vision effectively. |
| Team building | A program for learning the frame of thinking necessary for team building, as well as what leaders should do to enhance the psychological safety in their teams. |
| 1on1 | A program for learning how to conduct effective 1 on 1 meetings, as well as the basic approaches of 1 on 1 meetings and coaching. |
| Goal setting, evaluation, and evaluation feedback | A program for learning the basic actions, theories, and principles of goal setting, evaluation, and evaluation feedback. |
| Support for member growth | A program for learning what leaders and managers should do to promote the members' growth and learning through experience. |
| Effective use of surveys | A program for learning how to read the personality diagnosis results of each member, pulse survey results, etc. and utilize them for better management. |
| Retrospective | A program for learning more effective ways of reviewing to make the learning activities more meaningful for the team. |
| Custom-made support programs | Programs tailored to the specific management needs of each department are offered to support organizational management. |
| Lectures by guest speakers | Various other training programs are provided as needed, including training on the themes of harassment, diversity and inclusion, recruitment, etc. |
| MAP (Management Assist Program) | MAP is held for managers and above as a place to share best practices in management and to inform managers of systems and new mechanisms/efforts before the information becomes available to members. |
| Other | Trainings on topics such as harassment, diversity & inclusion, recruitment, are conducted as needed. |
Training for Specialized Skills
Yahoo Japan
| Name of training | Details |
|---|---|
| Technical training for new entrants | Training that teaches Yahoo Japan's original technologies and development rules necessary for development in Yahoo Japan is in place for all new engineers. This training is taken directly after the engineers enter Yahoo Japan, thus the engineers can start their jobs with an understanding on the development methods employed in Yahoo Japan. In addition to this training, trainings on basic technologies that are generally used are also provided to the new engineers who joined the company as fresh graduates. *Other trainings to acquire special skills are prepared so that the engineers can exert their maximum ability in their assigned posts. |
| Technical training | A training lineup is prepared for engineers to learn technologies in line with overall corporate strategy (e.g. PaaS, CI/CD) and technologies original to Yahoo Japan which act as the basis in providing Yahoo! JAPAN services. |
| Development camp program | Yahoo Japan holds development camp programs geared towards engineers to share and succeed technologies and to solve common issues. Participants succeed technologies related to architectural design and conduct cross-organizational reviews in this program. |
| Hands-on training to acquire practical techniques to counter cyber attacks | Yahoo Japan holds a hands-on training on security called "Hardening" every year. The trainees experience cyberattacks they may encounter in the services of Yahoo Japan. |
LINE
| Name of training | Details |
|---|---|
| Project management training | Numerous training courses related to project management (risk management, project visualization, etc.) are provided twice a year. The training videos are also distributed through the internal video viewing system (LINE CLASS) so that the courses can be taken at any time when the schedule permits. |
| Internal knowledge-sharing communities | There are several internal communities where team managers can gather, share their knowledge and issues, and discuss solutions. Sometimes managers from different teams engage in discussions in a small group. There are also voluntary study groups organized by project managers and product managers beyond the framework of the organization. |
| OJT program | The program is offered as part of the onboarding process for newly hired engineers and is designed to familiarize them with the organizational structure of engineer jobs as well as in-house development tools and development processes at LINE. |
Activities for Technology Pursuits, Dissemination, and Exchange In and Out of the Company
The information contained herein is current as of September 30, 2023.
Yahoo Japan
| Tech seminars | Employees take the lead to introduce the latest moves in the Internet industry and technical trends (e.g. AI, big data) and report their participation in technical conferences and academic conferences in and out of Japan. |
|---|---|
| Support to attend top conferences | Yahoo Japan supports engineers to participate in top-level international conferences and large-scale conferences in order to learn state-of-the-art technologies and information in the world. |
| Participation in W3C, a consortium that promotes standardization of various Web technologies | Yahoo Japan participates in W3C*, a consortium that promotes standardization of various Web technologies. |
| Networking with global tech companies | Networking events are periodically held with engineers working in global tech companies in Silicon Valley, etc., and active technical discussions and information sharing sessions are held in these occasions. |
| Official member of the IAB Technology Laboratory | Yahoo Japan contributes to the development of a sound digital marketing market in Japan by discussing fundamental and common issues with other global companies and by sharing the knowledge acquired. |
*An international consortium where members work together to further its vision "One Web", enabling all people to handle data equally in all environments. For this, the consortium provides information on WWW technologies, establish and promote technical specifications, implement prototypes of new technologies and develop technologies that are interoperable, such as software and tools.
LINE
| Tech Verse | A technology conference is jointly held with Yahoo Japan to actively exchange the technology information between the two companies. |
|---|---|
| Unlimited access to technical books | Employees are free to read a wide array of technology books, such as O'Reilly Online Learning. |
Learning Support/Learning Programs
The information contained herein is current as of September 30, 2023.
Yahoo Japan
| Name of program | Details |
|---|---|
| Manaby | Yahoo Japan has an internal website called "Manaby" where it puts together online learning contents for creators so that they can learn anywhere and anytime at their own pace. Creators can choose from various learning materials that meet their needs such as archives of seminars and study sessions, and e-learning. |
| In-house TOEIC Exam | TOEIC IP exams can be taken in-house and Yahoo Japan will cover the test fees. From fiscal 2019, Yahoo Japan has improved the convenience by preparing an environment so that examinees can take the exam from all offices under the same condition. |
| Support for obtaining PhD* | Yahoo Japan supports employees to obtain PhD in the data platform and science research areas in Yahoo Japan's data platform and science fields. The necessary cost for this purpose will be granted as scholarship to the engineers certified to receive support. |
| Subsidy for technical activities | This is a subsidy system for engineers and designers to enhance their technical capabilities. A maximum of 60,000 yen for every six months can be used to purchase books, apps, software and licenses, to participate in seminars and study sessions, or to study English, etc. |
| Invention incentive system | When various problems of the society are solved using the Internet and technology, the ideas and inventions produced through such process may be protected by patents. Yahoo Japan proactively files patent applications for ideas created by employees working as "Problem Solving Engines." Incentives are paid to the employees who created such ideas so that employees will be motivated to "come up with ideas in order to solve the problems of the society." Also, the patent filed ideas that are valued to be highly innovative are awarded in the company. Through these measures, Yahoo Japan encourages the employees' efforts to create even better ideas. |
| KURO-OBI (Black belt) System | Yahoo Japan assigns KURO-OBI (black belt) to talented employees with expertise and support their activities. KURO-OBI is defined as "a forerunner with outstanding knowledge and skills in a specific field" who can make contributions through awareness activities in and out of the company using their specialist skills, and who can contribute to the growth of specialist skills in the company. When appointed as a KURO-OBI, one-time reward and an annual budget are granted. In their own fields, the assigned will pursue activities that contribute to the growth of specialist skills in the company as well as extend information and exhibit technical skills out of the company. As part of the awareness activity, internship by KURO-OBI and meetups are occasionally held. |
| OSS developer certification program | This is a program which certifies selected employees as developers for OSS (open source software) which is strategically adopted by Yahoo Japan. Time used for developing specific OSS is regarded as work hours and a maximum of JPY 1 million budget is granted for the certified employees to work as OSS committers. |
*Research areas: Natural language processing, image processing, voice processing, machine learning, information retrieval, recommendation, context awareness, HCI, large-scale distributed processing, HPC, virtualization technology, statistical modeling, semantic web
LINE
| Name of program | Details |
|---|---|
| Language skill support | To cater to different needs of diverse LINE personnel, English/Korean/Japanese language lesson fees are 100% borne by the company (certain conditions apply). |
| TOEIC | Employees can take TOIC IP exams up to once every three months at the company's expense. |
| Security qualification examination support | This program is designed to raise employees' security awareness, and LINE provides subsidies to employees for the security examinations. |