Michiko Noda, Executive Officer and CHRO (Head of Human Resources Development), Sompo Himawari Life Insurance Co., Ltd.

What insurance companies look for in students is hard work and honesty.

Michiko Noda, Executive Officer and CHRO (Head of Human Resources Development), Sompo Himawari Life Insurance Co., Ltd.

■ Profile
She joined Sompo Himawari Life Insurance Co., Ltd. as a sales clerk at the Nagoya branch, and after being transferred to the Tokyo head office, she was mainly in charge of internal business reform.
As a manager, he has been involved in a variety of tasks including systems, internal audits, sales, and public relations, and has been in his current position since 2023.

Sompo Himawari Life Insurance Co., Ltd. continues to support the health of its customers every day. Michiko Noda, the company's Human Resources Development Manager, says, "I actually had no experience in human resources before I became the Director of Human Resources Development." However, it was her experience in a variety of occupations that led to the creation of an operational health management and in-house career system, and the unique development of human resources. We asked her about how she got to where she is today and her aspirations for the future.

During my two years at junior college, I was immersed in part-time work. It wasn't my goal to earn money, but rather my strong curiosity to experience different workplaces and occupations. Outside of class hours, I worked in restaurants, as an event staff member, and at a cram school. I still have fond memories of building relationships with people from a variety of occupations during this time. However, I had never done clerical work, so I aspired to become an office worker. Therefore, during my job search, I chose a general office job rather than focusing on a specific industry or line of work.

■Changing jobs from a trading company to a life insurance company

One day while I was job hunting, I saw an advertisement for a trading company related to Nagoya Railroad from the window of the train. Without knowing what kind of work they did, I was somehow attracted to the company and applied, and was successfully hired as an office worker.
I really enjoyed my work, but I was employed as a contract employee. I wanted to eventually become a full-time employee, so I was thinking about changing jobs. At the time, life insurance companies were expanding their business, and I had a good image of insurance companies, so I thought about working for a life insurance company. Among them, I decided to join Sompo Himawari Life Insurance Co., Ltd., which I had a connection with.

After gaining experience in various professions, he was appointed as the head of human resources development.

When I first joined the company, I handled administrative matters at the sales branch, but after a while I began to provide administrative guidance to other sales branches.
I also used my experience in reviewing the overall administrative process to transfer to the systems department and take on the role of internal auditing, which confirmed the validity and functionality of company rules.After that, I was transferred back to the sales branch, this time to take on sales responsibilities, and experienced a variety of different jobs, just like I did in my student days.
During these experiences, I had many opportunities to experience firsthand the challenges faced by each department and the connections they make with others. I believe that it was these experiences that led me to move to the HR department and be appointed CHRO.

■ Healthy inside and outside the company

We believe that the appeal of our company lies in the fact that we are able to support health both inside and outside the company. For example, we currently offer our customers the "Health Challenge! System." This is a system in which if you successfully quit smoking within a certain period of insurance coverage or improve health-related indicators such as blood pressure and BMI, your future insurance premiums will be discounted. Additionally, this is an unprecedented service in which you can receive a "Health Challenge Bonus" equivalent to the difference in premiums retroactive to the date of contract. Since its launch in April 2020, approximately 20,000 people have successfully taken on the challenge in the four years since.
Within the company, we support the health of our employees on a daily basis by promoting health through activities such as smoking cessation seminars, hiking, and health-related events, as well as by partially subsidizing the cost of vaccinations.
As a result of continuing to provide this kind of health support, we have been selected as one of the White 500 companies in the Health and Productivity Management Excellent Corporations 2024 (large corporation category) for eight consecutive years.

■Supporting the future of employees: "Himawari My Purpose Career System"

Our company has a career system called the "Himawari MY Purpose Career System."
This system, which began in April 2024, consists of five courses: the "Other Department Challenge Course," which allows employees to challenge themselves in other departments; the "Scout Course," in which employees are scouted by other departments based on their skills, achievements, experience, and thinking; the "Management Challenge Course," in which employees aim to become managers such as section chief or branch manager; the "Own Department Challenge Course," in which employees aim to achieve their own vision within their own department; and the "General Course," which is a job rotation system.
Employees can choose and express their preferences for courses that align with their "MY PURPOSE," which is their own life goals and the meaning of their work.
In all courses, we are very conscious of each employee's MY Purpose. For those who want to try a different department, we ask them what they can do in that department to achieve their MY Purpose, and for employees who express a desire to stay in their current department, we ask them to state what they want to do, rather than just staying there for no particular reason. By making employees conscious of MY Purpose, they can think independently about their careers, and we believe that if they can work in a department that aligns with their MY Purpose, their own performance and the company's productivity will improve significantly.
In order to ensure the smooth running of this system, as the head of the Human Resources Development Department, I am not only responsible for planning, internal coordination, and sharing issues, but also for supporting and coordinating the entire system.
We are also currently creating a training system to help employees who are transferred to other departments to become familiar with the work and teams at their new departments.
I am also involved in many other tasks that involve people, such as creating the health management system mentioned earlier, acting as the final interviewer for recruitment, and checking salary payments. My previous experience in clerical work may be of great use in being able to be involved in such a diverse range of tasks.
My goal for the future is to make our personnel system more stable. We are still considering specific measures, but I would like to make it possible for all employees, including those with disabilities, to find more fulfillment in their work. We have also put in place a system that allows employees with serious illnesses such as cancer to continue working while undergoing treatment, so I would like to be a company where anyone, regardless of their condition, can work with peace of mind. At the same time, I would like to be able to give back to our customers by providing them with "health."

■ Achieving your purpose requires hard work and sincerity

We are focusing on recruitment activities in order to achieve our company's purpose of "Towards a future filled with peace of mind, safety, and health."
During our recruitment activities, what we look for in students is that they work hard and be honest in everything they do. Insurance companies don't provide tangible products like newspapers. Therefore, the key is how much trust they can gain from their customers. I think it will be difficult to work with people who are not willing to proactively seek out customer needs and provide useful information, or who are willing to identify and improve issues in order to achieve our purpose. We would like to see people who are always thinking about what they can do for themselves and others join us.
To assess their hard work and sincerity, I ask students about their experiences overcoming difficulties during the final interview. Stories about overcoming difficulties are realistic and convey a person's way of thinking and personality. If they are talking about real experiences, even if I dig deeper, I get back specific anecdotes and logical explanations, which I find extremely useful in discerning a person's true nature.

■Towards realizing our purpose, we turn failure into success, becoming friends who grow together

When I was job hunting, I was pretty careless about it (laughs). However, I really enjoy my current job and find it rewarding. However, I sometimes think, "If I had done this in the past, my life might have been different," but I don't regret it either. I don't know what the right answer is, but student days are a part of life, and they pass by in the blink of an eye. I want you to enjoy each moment to the fullest.
Furthermore, our company's health management is still in its infancy. We continue to grow through repeated failures and successes, so if you are a student who is not discouraged and will work with us towards our purpose, please apply to our company!

Interviewed by Student Newspaper Online on May 20, 2024 by Ryusei Nishiyama, a fourth-year student at Musashino University