Introduction

In May 2024, I was appointed to serve as the director in charge of administration from my former post as director in charge of customer experience (CX) creation for our business in Japan.
AEON MALL needs employees who co-create with stakeholders and revitalize our communities if we are to remain rooted in those communities, earn the trust of our customers, revitalize neighborhoods, and become the dominant mall in each area. Human resources are the greatest resource a business has access to. Therefore, we must develop human resources who think, act, and deliver results independently. We intend to maximize the power of our human resources to create value that is unique to AEON MALL in our local communities.

Our Ideal Vision for AEON MALL Human Resources

Human Resource Issues

I feel that the creative thinking needed in our company has stagnated a bit. We must always think about how to find problems and issues in an ever-changing environment.
In addition, learning from the experience of acting on one’s own, creating one’s own community, and giving shape to one’s own ideas is also important. We can form virtuous circles by involving the people around to create a successful experience that leads to the next step in the process.

People Are an Important Strength

Diversity Management

AEON MALL is home to a large number of mid-career employees with diverse backgrounds and careers. Our corporate culture is one of our strengths in the context of human resources. Our culture diverse values that include the perspective of the customer and viewpoints from various specialties and experiences, as well as the free exchange of opinions. We put this culture to good use in the balanced and energetic business activities characteristic of AEON MALL.
In terms of work styles, the ratio of female managers as of the end of fiscal 2023 was 22.6% and the percentage of male employees who took childcare leave was 100%.
We received high praise from outside third parties, including certification as a Platinum Eruboshi company that welcomes women in the workforce. Meanwhile, we believe there is room for improvement in the interaction between locally hired employees at overseas subsidiaries and employees in Japan. We have an overseas trainee program for young Japanese employees to experience working overseas.
However, we are rarely able to provide opportunities for locally hired employees overseas to experience work in Japan. To cultivate overseas those will be responsible for management in their home areas, we must establish an education system that provides global-scale experiences.

Fostering Human Resources for Community Co-Creation

The AEON MALL business is built on the vitality of the communities surrounding our shopping malls. Tendo City in Yamagata Prefecture is famous for its shogi (Japanese chess) pieces. The town goes all out for the annual National Shogi Tournament for elementary school students and younger,which is held at AEON MALL Tendo. AEON MALL Tendo employees, in cooperation with Tendo City and the Shogi Federation, originally planned this tournament, which has since spread to malls nationwide. Having people in the community willing to think and take action on the ground is very important.
The experiences of thinking, acting, and solving local issues leads to the growth of employees who will be core drivers of community co-creation. Nothing is more rewarding to an employee than receiving a “thank you” from the community and customers. This is the best part of the job at AEON MALL.
We develop human resources who are motivated for community co-creation and contribute by ensuring the human resources strategy supports management strategy.