My History
Our group encompasses a wide range of businesses, including Human Academy (education), Human Resocia (human resources), and Human Life Care (elderly care), as well as childcare, beauty, sports, and IT services. What sets us apart is that all our businesses are centered around people, true to our name "Human." Originally, we started as a vocational education provider, but our founder had a philosophy that "education is only complete when it supports people in securing employment." This belief led us to create a business model that integrates education with the operation of various industries. Today, we have expanded beyond Japan, establishing entities in countries like the U.S., France, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
My father, the founder, launched the predecessor to our company, "Kyoiku Mirai Co., Ltd.," during my sophomore year in college. At the time, I had no intention of taking over the family business; in fact, I was eager to become independent as soon as possible. After graduating, I joined Nikko Securities (now SMBC Nikko Securities), where I steadily built my career as a sales representative. However, in the winter of my second year with the company, my father unexpectedly asked for my help with the business. Though the company was a fledgling venture in its fourth year, and I had mixed feelings about the request, I was driven by a desire to take on a new challenge and gain experience for my own future entrepreneurial endeavors, as well as a sense of wanting to support my father. That led to my decision to join the company. Upon joining, I worked on setting up the management division, overhauling accounting processes, restructuring the organization, and diversifying the business. In 2002, I established Human Holdings Co., Ltd. and assumed the role of CEO. Although we faced several crises along the way, including periods of business downturn due to external factors, each time we strengthened our organizational foundation, allowing us to maintain stable growth.
The Present
In the past, we focused on expanding our market share in blue ocean markets, where competition was minimal. However, most of our markets have now become red oceans, with fierce competition. The traditional approaches no longer work. Drawing from my experience studying marketing in university, I have incorporated marketing mix strategies into our business management, emphasizing differentiation from competitors. One key initiative is digitizing our sales processes to share the successful strategies of top-performing employees across the company. Data-driven management is now essential for sustainable growth.
Additionally, since 2004, we have introduced the "Value Promise: SELFing," which we offer to all our stakeholders. SELFing encourages individuals to clearly define the person they want to become and work towards self-actualization. Without a clear vision of "who they want to be," people cannot reflect it in their actions. Instead of being pushed to act, those who have a clear goal of "who they want to be" can unleash their true potential. To support this, we provide our employees with a "SELFing Sheet," a tool that helps them define their goals, their role in life, and their career objectives. One male employee set a goal to "become a confident man admired by his colleagues," and as a result, he was promoted to a management position at a young age. When people can clearly define their true aspirations, they tend to make progress in all areas of their lives.
For the Future
Japan is currently facing a critical issue: a shrinking workforce. As a company deeply involved in ""human-related"" businesses, we are committed to helping address this challenge from multiple angles. One approach is supporting the retention of a labor force. We facilitate the arrival of skilled workers and trainees from overseas, providing them with Japanese language education to help them succeed in Japan’s workforce. For those who struggle to work due to childcare or elderly care responsibilities, we support their return to the workforce through our childcare and elderly care services. Another approach is addressing labor shortages by improving productivity. We do this by offering reskilling and IT talent development through our education business, as well as promoting DX initiatives such as RPA implementation.
In any case, for the next generation to thrive in a prosperous society, Japan will need to rebuild itself with the support of international talent. By continuing to leverage the synergies between our education and other business areas, both in Japan and globally, we aim to help each individual become their "best self." We firmly believe that helping people realize their potential is the key to creating a prosperous society, and we will continue to explore solutions that only we can provide.