Financial Outlook (Future Financial Performance)

We are striving to help create a sustainable society by empowering diverse talent, fostering innovation, and ensuring respect for human rights and fair business practices through our entire value chain.

“At Ricoh, we embrace and respect the collective and unique talents, experiences, and perspectives of all people. Together, we inspire remarkable innovation. That’s how we live the Ricoh Way.”

This statement affirms our commitment to all forms of diversity and values, working together as one global team.

We established the Global DEI Council, which the CEO and CHRO lead. Its 11 members include our female European region head and representatives from other regions. Throughout each year, the council discusses issues within the Group and drives initiatives to ingrain diversity in the culture. In fiscal 2023, the council focused on equity, which was also the theme for International Women’s Day 2023. The council delved into this concept within the Group, reaching a consensus on the need to intensify efforts to ensure that it consistently upholds that principle, and led the implementation of initiatives.

The Ricoh Group has long advocated remote work as a flexible job option. In 2019, we conducted a company-wide trial of remote work, which eased the transition during the pandemic. We promote new work practices across our organization to enhance employee self-direction, a crucial element in our evolution into a digital services company.

In fiscal 2017, we embarked on company-wide work-style reforms as part of an ongoing drive to address a range of challenges and create comfortable working environments. Employees can choose their own hours and locations based on their job descriptions and responsibilities. This endeavor has enhanced work satisfaction by changing attitudes and the corporate culture and enables people to take on new challenges. The core concept for these reforms is enabling work-life management. We gauge the effectiveness of these efforts through an annual Work-Life Management Awareness Survey for all Group employees in Japan. This survey measures satisfaction and fulfillment levels across all aspects of life, not just work. More than half of those responding to the 2023 survey reported satisfaction with their professional and personal lives. Also, around 90% of them indicated that their productivity had remained stable or improved from a year earlier.

An in-house second job program that we introduced in fiscal 2019 allows employees to devote up to 20% of regular working hours to internal projects that they want to explore. The TRIBUS business co-creation program supports internal and external entrepreneurs and start-ups. Employees can propose business ideas through the program and more than 400 have taken part as supporters. The program has become integral to fostering a challenging, innovative culture.

Worldwide, we offer hybrid work combining office attendance and remote work in line with job roles and responsibilities. The goal is to enable teams to optimize performance and results. In some countries in Latin America, for example, we are experimenting with four-day hybrid-based workweeks as part of efforts to explore new ways of working.

We rolled out a childcare leave and shorter working hours program in fiscal 1990. This was before the Japanese government enacted the Childcare Leave Law. Our goal was to help employees balance their work commitments and childcare and eldercare obligations. We update our programs to better cater to employee needs and changes in the social landscape. We create workplace environments that make these initiatives more accessible.

One key initiative has been to encourage men to participate in childcare. Since fiscal 2019, almost 100% of eligible male employees have taken childcare leave. As they become more engaged in childcare, workplace dynamics and attitudes are gradually changing.

To drive change further, we rolled out measures for managers. For example, we incorporate diversity management in 360-degree evaluation* criteria and offer seminars to encourage awareness and behavior shifts.

These efforts have led to nearly 100% utilization and return-to-work rates for women taking childcare leave. Notably, since fiscal 2015, the average length of service for women has surpassed that of men.

“Love your neighbor” is pivotal to the Spirit of Three Loves, founding principles that epitomize our respect for human rights. As a global company, we respect human rights by complying with national regulatory requirements as well as international norms.

In April 2021, we introduced the Ricoh Group’s Human Rights Policy in line with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. We shared this policy in Japanese, English, and eight other languages with all major Group companies worldwide. We encourage suppliers and business partners to adopt and implement this policy.

We aim to step up efforts to respect human rights and reduce human rights risks by supporting the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark* methodology. One ESG target is the top score in the information and communication technology sector.

1. Assess human rights impact

In fiscal 2023, we conducted these assessments for 58 non-production companies, based on which we plan to reevaluate outstanding human rights issues (see table below).

2. Prevent and mitigate adverse impacts

We issued the Ricoh Group’s Guide to Respecting Human Rights in August 2024 in keeping with our ongoing commitment to preventing and mitigating adverse impacts.

3. Track: Interviewing employees

In October 2023, we interviewed employees at two production sites in Thailand to assess improvements in human rights risks identified in previous assessments.

4. Disclose information: Reporting to management through the ESG Committee

In February 2024, we presented our human rights risk reduction measure plans to the ESG Committee, which approved these initiatives based on ongoing due diligence.

We are a member of the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA). We uphold ethical practices in line with international guidelines on human rights, labor, and environmental standards across our production facilities and among suppliers and business partners. We constantly elevate our efforts.

We set annual internal targets through fiscal 2025 for around 290 key suppliers. The metrics are signups for the Ricoh Group Supplier and Partner Code of Conduct, low-risk ratios in ESG risk assessments, and ratios of suppliers setting decarbonization targets and collecting conflict minerals surveys. We are accelerating progress by implementing PDCA cycles.

We monitor compliance with the Ricoh Group Supplier and Partner Code of Conduct by asking suppliers who have signed the agreement to complete ESG risk self-assessments. We increase the low-risk supplier ratio by supporting and encouraging certain suppliers to make necessary improvements. That ratio among key suppliers reached 76% in fiscal 2023, exceeding our target of 70%.

As well as undertaking our own decarbonization initiatives, we collaborate with suppliers to advance their efforts. We accordingly survey progress among key suppliers in setting decarbonization targets. In fiscal 2023, around 53% of these suppliers had set such targets.

We established this vehicle for suppliers to report Ricoh Group director, officer, or employee violations of laws and regulations, the Ricoh Group Code of Conduct, or contracts.

As a good corporate citizen, we respect the culture and customs of the countries and regions in which we operate. By working in partnership with employees and collaborating with like-minded partners, we identify priority areas and take action to contribute to a sustainable future for the planet and society.

Total expenditure: ¥567,743,000 (including donations, donated goods, and employee participation)

Number of participating employees: 51,200

Percentage of expenditure benefiting business activities: 71% (such as in terms of contributing to business opportunities and building relationships with customers)

Case studies of activities in priority areas