In April 2022, we established a Sustainability Committee , chaired by the President, Chief Executive Officer and composed of management meeting members (executive directors, full-time Audit and Supervisory Committee members, general managers of each department, and Presidents of subsidiaries). This committee plans and implements action items, evaluates the previous fiscal year’s action plan, regularly reports and makes recommendations to the Board of Directors with respect to its deliberations, and reports to the Risk Management Committee as necessary.

The Board of Directors and the Risk Management Committee discuss and oversee mainly measures and action items based on the reports and recommendations received from the Sustainability Committee.

• Organization chart (as of May 28, 2024)

Having examined the social issues affecting Okinawa Prefecture, as well as issues in the Group’s business, and then ordering them according to priority, we identified six key issues (materiality).

Climate change governance and risk management are integrated into overall sustainability governance and risk management.

We take very seriously the increase in the average global temperature driven by climate change, as well as the associated changes and risks of disasters in society. We are therefore taking measures to fight climate change. As part of our measures, we have identified short-term, medium-term, and long-term risks and opportunities brought about by climate change and conducted a scenario analysis.
For our analysis, we referenced both the 1.5°C scenario and the 4°C scenario. We have taken into account the expectations of the international community to pursue efforts to limit the global average temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, as seen in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report and the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP).
Referencing reports from governments and international agencies regarding future forecasts, we conducted an exhaustive review of the transition risks (policy and regulatory, market, reputation), physical risks (acute, chronic), and opportunities (products and services, markets, resilience) arising from the appropriate measures taken to fight climate change.

[Risks]

[Opportunities]

With a view to realizing a sustainable society, we have established, and continue to manage, environmental indicators, including greenhouse gas emissions. We have set a target of reducing our Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 40.0% by 2030 compared to 2017, in order to approach the global objective of holding the increase in the global average temperature to less than 1.5°C.

• *Period of calculation: Same as fiscal year (March to February)
• *Scope of calculation: Consolidated SAN-A Group companies
• *Market-based values used for Scope 2 emissions. Please note that we intend to gradually gain an understanding of Scope 3 emissions and take steps to reduce them with the cooperation of our stakeholders.

The greatest strength of the SAN-A Group is its human resources, and the kind of people we seek are those who resonate with our corporate philosophy. In our recruitment activities, we carefully tell them about our philosophy and history, and aim to recruit individuals who resonate with our philosophy. Even after they join the Company, we focus on educating them to instill our philosophy throughout the organization.
We believe the Group’s purpose in society is to safeguard people’s lives as a community lifeline, nurture people with rich hearts by creating spaces where people can gather, and contribute to the development of local culture.
We aim to be a company that shares in happiness by bringing joy to our customers, letting our employees shine, and growing together with the community. Together with employees who resonate with our corporate philosophy of “virtuous ideas” and “self-reliance,” we will work towards achieving sustained improvements in corporate value.

(a) Human resource training
For the purpose of instilling our corporate philosophy in our employees—which are key to the ongoing provision of our social value and long-lasting corporate management—we actively conduct employee education and training sessions for all of our employees, including regular employees, partner employees (part-time), and casual staff. We are committed to improving the capabilities of our human resources, and last year we resumed in-person training sessions to enhance practical skills through workshops and study sessions (including study visits within and outside of Okinawa and analysis-based study sessions). By strengthening both the mindset of employees through philosophy training and skills through practical training, all employees can work hand in hand to enhance their highly effective organizational capabilities.

(b) Workstyle reforms
Since 2001, we have convened personnel improvement meetings composed of executive directors, full-time Audit and Supervisory Committee members, and general managers of each department to address various challenges with the aim of creating a comfortable workplace environment for all employees. We are proactively responding to changes in the operating environment while cherishing the values the Group wishes to protect. For example, we are improving employee benefits, offering more annual paid leave, reducing overtime hours, lengthening the average years of service, implementing mental health measures, and promoting the use of IT. We are committed to realizing a conducive working environment. For example, in February 2024, we launched a project spearheaded by the General Manager of Sales Dept to improve employee turnover and the retention rate.

(c) Active adoption of efficiency equipment
We aim to allocate more time to customer service and improve working styles by actively adopting the use of efficiency equipment, such as self-service checkout registers, tablet-based ordering systems, robot waiters, and digital shelf labels.

(d) Human resource development
- Introduction of talent management system
In March 2024, we introduced a talent management system based on the idea of centrally managing information on each employee’s capabilities and skills so that such data can be utilized in business management.
- Discovery and nurturing of next-generation leaders
In 2023, we established the Human Resource Development Committee in order to discover and purposefully nurture the next generation of leaders and successors. Starting in 2024, we will be launching an in-house initiative presentation program for A-level management employees who hold positions of leadership in the Company. With this program, we will aim to discover young human resources and invigorate the management team by linking it to the performance evaluation system.
- Internal job-posting scheme
In order to respect employee initiative, enliven the organization, and drive business growth, we launched an internal job-posting system in 2021. To date, we have offered changes in the types of jobs, including assignments to the Electric Data Processing Dept and secondments to Lawson stores in Okinawa. Going forward, we will continue to create an environment in which employees seeking personal growth can take on new challenges.
- Recruitment
With the goal of medium-to-long term personnel development, our employee recruitment strategy since 2010 has been focused mainly on the hiring of new graduates. We also have expectations for our partner employees to step up and fill bigger roles in the Company, so we have continued to offer them the chance to become regular employees by sitting an internal promotion exam. Given all the significant changes in society, in January 2024 we started hiring mid-career employees with the aim of better adapting to the changing operating environment and achieving stable business growth. Moving forward, we will accelerate our efforts to strengthen both new graduate and mid-career hiring, recruit and train a diverse workforce, and drive further business growth.

(e) Workplace compliance and harassment prevention
With the aim of developing a healthy internal environment where employees can work with peace of mind, in February every year as awareness month, we hold study sessions, internally disclose how certain matters have been dealt with, and raise awareness about periodic surveys and consultation hotlines.

(a) Active participation of human resources
We aim to create an environment where all employees can unleash their full potential and continue to work with enthusiasm. In 2016, we launched a “Women’s Empowerment Project” to tackle various challenges with the use of subcommittees, particularly in the areas of changing mindsets, PR activities, and improving the workplace environment. In 2021, some male employees signed up as project members. The project is working to develop various personnel systems based on the idea that all employees, not just women, can shine in their roles.

Furthermore, we aim to be an organization brimming with teamwork, where employees can support each other and continue working with peace of mind, irrespective of gender or changes in life stage.

(b) Employment of people with disabilities
Our personnel development policy is to create workplace environments that are conducive to growth by believing in the growth of an individual and respecting them for who they are. By matching job placements with the characteristics of every individual’s disability, we currently have more than 200 people playing active roles on the front lines of our operations. Moreover, we have assigned several disability specialists to the department in charge of recruitment. They collaborate with third-party organizations (such as support centers) as part of a long-lasting support structure, from training through to job retention.