Working Environment

Sysmex Smart Work: employee comments

“I can conduct meetings smoothly with overseas locations in different time zones.”

“Sysmex carries out business on a global scale, so there are times when I have online meetings in the early hours of the morning or late at night with overseas clients and colleagues in different time zones. On such occasions, I arrange my working hours flexibly using Sysmex Smart Work, like working in the office from 9:00 to 13:00, going home to rest a bit, and then taking part in meetings with overseas parties.

A flexible working style like this is helpful for maintaining my work-life balance as well. For example, if there is something I have to attend to, I can interrupt my work for an hour or two to take care of personal affairs and then return to work. For members who live far from the office, this system also eliminates commuting time and enables them to work comfortably from home.

The way my team communicates has changed significantly as well. As a result of implementing an online platform, we can speedily and smoothly report on the start and completion of work, share information and do other tasks without going to the office, which also leads to greater productivity.”

“I have more time to spend with my child.”

“As my commuting time is rather long, working remotely has increased the amount of personal time I have, and I feel that this has enriched my daily life. I am especially happy that the time I am able to spend with my child has increased. I work remotely on days when my child has lessons or practice. I make use of the ability to step away from work during working hours to not only deal with sudden illness, but also when I have to attend events like a school observation day or a parent-teacher meeting. My child seems to be really happy with this working style, as I am able to greet him at the front door with a warm welcome home when he comes back.

Conducting in-house meetings, training, and briefing sessions online is now mainstream. As long as I am able to properly share and confirm key elements, such as the work schedule and procedures, working remotely does not hinder the progress of work. In addition, as using the flextime system allows me to avoid the rush hour, the stress I used to feel when commuting has been greatly reduced.

This system makes me want to work even more enthusiastically and energetically by allowing me to have an enriched life.”

“I can choose flexibly depending on my work.”

“Sysmex Smart Work has huge benefits as each and every person has the flexibility to adjust their working hours and location depending on their work on any given day. In my case, for example, there are times when I conduct continuous testing of equipment as a part of development work and have to work late into the night. When this happens, the following day I change my work schedule depending on how my work is progressing and go to the office just before noon or work remotely from home.

Furthermore, I routinely make use of the flextime system to go to the office at a time when I can avoid the morning rush hour. Some of the more senior members in the company make use of the “early bird commute,” which enables them to go to the office early in the morning and leave early in the evening. People around me make good use of flextime and working remotely, establishing a work style that best suits them.

I go to the office when the team needs to have a discussion, and work from home for meetings that mainly involve analyzing test results and making reports. It has become my routine to either work onsite or remotely depending on the type of work I’m doing. Actually, when I am having a discussion onsite, there are many occasions when a good idea will come to me from conversations with the people around me. On the other hand, routine reports and consultations can be adequately handled remotely, such as via the chat function of the online platform or in an online meeting. It is precisely because of this kind of flexible working style that I have been able to efficiently proceed with my work.”

“Significant improvement in work-life balance.”

“I call on hospitals that are assigned to me as a part of my sales activities. It has become more common for me to start my work at home in the morning and then go straight from there to visit my clients. Moreover, after a client visit, I can do the follow-up paperwork at home without dropping by the sales office. By making use of such systems as “go straight to/from,” flextime, and working remotely, I can optimize my time and efforts. I am able to engage in a work style that best suits my work, which in turn reduces overtime, and has provided me with more personal time than ever before.

Just the other day, I was staying overnight near a hospital and I used flextime to finish work early. This gave me the chance to enjoy some sightseeing, eat some delicious local food, and even take a hot spring bath. I feel that taking some personal time to feel refreshed increased my productivity as well.

With regard to communicating with my team, times when team members are in the office vary, depending on each individual. But using the online platform, the routine reporting and exchange of information are carried out smoothly. We are able to properly engage in direct face-to-face consultations and reporting at monthly team meetings and sales office meetings. By effectively balancing the use of onsite and remote work, our teamwork is better than ever.”

Support for self-development

In order to support each employee’s career development, Sysmex provides a wide variety of training programs and support systems.

Examples include: taking in-house TOEIC lessons, business skills e-learning, English e-learning, support for acquiring public qualifications, outside business school, dispatch to universities, etc.

Support for self-development: employee comments

“Although I’d had many opportunities to read publications written in English, I felt I was not good at speaking it. In my second year in the company, I began to have more opportunities to work on projects together with colleagues of different nationalities or overseas research partners. Consequently, I signed up to take online English conversation lessons so I could express myself more smoothly.

At Sysmex, if the amount of time you spend on learning reaches a specified number of hours, the company will subsidize from half to the entire cost of the lessons (depending on the program). Furthermore, we are allowed to spend up to 15 minutes a day during working hours on self-study. I used my 15 minutes in the morning after arriving at the office to take English conversation lessons. I also studied vocabulary, grammar, and listening comprehension during my commute to and from work. Before I knew it, I no longer felt it was one of my weak points and found myself being able to carry on a conversation in English smoothly.

At the recommendation of the company, some of my senior colleagues are attending business or graduate school outside the company. I would like to proactively make use of this system to improve my skills or deepen my expertise.”

Cafeteria Plan (self-selection)

Each employee can choose from among a wide variety of welfare measures in accordance with their life or career plan and receive an allowance of a specified amount.

Examples include: support for medical costs and healthcare, childcare and nursing care, self-development, use of sports facilities, travel expenses incurred during paid leave, etc.

Cafeteria Plan: employee comments

“The Cafeteria Plan, which can be applied not only to medical costs or support for childcare and nursing care but also to the use of travel or sports facilities, can be used throughout the year. To apply to use this plan, all that needs to be done is upload the receipts or credit card statements, etc. Ease of use is one of the best points of this plan.

Support related to the use of sports facilities or self-development is recommended by the company for promoting good health and career enhancement. I have used this plan for the monthly fee at my gym and yoga lessons, green fees for golf, which I play with colleagues who entered the company at the same time I did, as well as for court rental fees for futsal, a sport I just began playing. Support is also available for fees related to self-development, covering such costs as the purchase of textbooks for studying English and English conversation lessons.

Of course, allowances are provided for typical treatment, such as going to see a dentist, but allowances are also provided even when I am just feeling a bit under the weather, so I feel reassured that I can go to the doctor’s without hesitation. When I take paid leave to go on a trip with friends, I can receive some assistance with accommodation expenses and even theme park entrance fees. Making use of this program enables me to enjoy a little luxury when I want to recharge.”

Medical examinations

In addition to regular medical examinations, the company carries out a thorough physical examination for employees and medical screening for cancers that are specific to women. For employees whose work involves the handling of infectious substances, the company conducts its own medical examinations twice a year which include tests for Hepatitis B and C, in addition to special medical examinations stipulated by law. These medical examinations are aimed at the early detection and treatment of diseases.

Health consultation

To enable employees to feel at ease when consulting about their physical well-being or worries they may have at their workplace, both internal and external consultation systems are available. The contact desk for health consultations at each office, where an industrial physician is on duty, can arrange in-person, online or telephone consultations.

Mental health management support

Mental health examinations, which are conducted to check the mental health of employees and understand the circumstances behind any harassment, are carried out once a year by the company, and efforts are made to look for patterns which may help in making improvements to the workplace. In addition to setting up contact desks where employees can have interviews with industrial physicians or public health nurses, the company provides an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to support the mental health of employees, making it possible for them to consult with external professionals should they need help.

Facilities

Technopark, our R&D base, has an in-house daycare center called Sysmex Kids Park. This facility provides not only regular childcare services but can also be used on a temporary basis when childcare by a family member is difficult, such as when an employee’s spouse who works part-time becomes unable to care for a child, or a child’s guardian becomes sick, or there is a funeral, etc. The Solution Center, which is our services and support site, has sports grounds and tennis courts, and a gymnasium with fitness equipment on its premises.

Technopark was opened in 2008 under the concept of “creation of knowledge and its inheritance” as a venue for taking over the intellectual properties that we have accumulated to date, adding new development technologies and making them evolve ever further.

In order to resolve various issues arising in clinical settings, functions for providing solutions for service and support, marketing, and logistics are consolidated at the Solution Center to provide comprehensive support to customers.

i-Square ensures the stable delivery of high-quality, high-value-added instruments with a “made in Japan” cachet under the concept of “manufacturing high-quality products through a combination of people and technology.”

GCC was opened in 2015 as a venue where people of diverse cultures and values can get together, engage in deep discussions separated from their routine work or positions, and expand their network.

This office is the largest in size among all of our branches and sales offices and integrates domestic marketing with other information.