Resonac: Adopting a global approach to co-creative HR management and talent development
Explore Resonac’s journey with SAP
Resonac Holdings Co. Ltd. aims to develop as a functional chemical manufacturer and is evolving every day with the purpose of changing society with the power of chemistry. To realize this purpose, Resonac has introduced SAP SuccessFactors solutions and is steadily promoting talent development globally.
| Industry | Region | Company Size |
| Chemicals | Tokyo, Japan | 25,803 employees |
of succession planning completed for 1,300 leadership roles.
of purpose and values per survey results implemented.
Director of Human Resources Development, Resonac Holdings Co. Ltd.
Transforming human resource management to realize purpose
When Resonac was created through the merger of Showa Denko K. K. and Showa Denko Materials Co. Ltd., it seized the opportunity to modernize its human resources management system to strengthen global market competitiveness.
As part of its human resources strategy focused on positioning itself as a world-class functional chemical manufacturer, Resonac aims to create a vibrant workplace culture built on a philosophy of transformation and problem-solving through co-creation.
This initiative required a modern core HR and talent management system that transcended companies and departments. Therefore, to transform its traditional HR system into an integrated global talent management foundation, Resonac made the decision to implement SAP SuccessFactors solutions at the same time as the company integration.
Developing co-creative talent through bottom-up talent reviews
The SAP SuccessFactors Succession & Development solution enables Resonac to formulate succession plans and develop talent reviews for co-creative talent development across its companies in Japan, using a bottom-up approach. The company can now use the solution to create succession plans in each department, evaluate performance and potential, conduct talent reviews that include turnover risk, and create individual employee development plans.
By adopting a bottom-up talent review process in which superiors review the information entered by the current team leader and by providing systematic training to selected candidates, Resonac can discover co-creative talent early and improve planning. This will help it develop the team in a consistent manner.
Additionally, Resonac has been engaged in a transformation process since before the merger and is implementing it in stages. Its goal is to formulate and disseminate management policies, to empower employees to take ownership of themselves and, ultimately, to place purpose and values at the center of its corporate culture. During this process, Hidehito Takahashi, Resonac’s representative director, president, and CEO, and Nori Imai, executive officer and chief human resources officer at Resonac, held town hall meetings and roundtables with employees.
Furthermore, Resonac has developed an original training program called “Co-creative Collaboration Training” that focuses on five important skills for co-creative talent. This program aims to encourage behavioral changes among participants by providing them with feedback once they put into practice what they learned in the training.
Because the SAP SuccessFactors HCM suite aligned with its philosophy and goals, Resonac implemented nine capabilities from the suite at the time of the company integration. To maximize implementation success and gain advanced support, the company used the SAP Preferred Success plan for SAP SuccessFactors HCM.
Director of Human Resources Development, Resonac Holdings Co. Ltd.
Achieving bottom-up talent reviews through HR and CEO alignment
Before implementing SAP SuccessFactors Succession & Development, Resonac considered problem-solving and being highly organized as top leadership traits. Since implementing the solution, its concept of leadership changed, with emphasis now placed on people with skills that help bring out the strengths and potential of team members and give support to them.
By implementing bottom-up talent reviews, awareness of talent development among internal leaders has improved, and value-based discussions have become more prevalent. And by having the CEO lead talent review activities, it is now possible to discover successor candidates early and train them in a planned manner.
With SAP SuccessFactors Succession & Development, Resonac has visualized succession plans and training plans for each department and clarified company-wide organizational and HR issues. Furthermore, of approximately 1,300 leadership positions in Japan, succession plans have now been created and registered for more than 90% of the positions, demonstrating Resonac’s commitment to building a foundation for co-creative talent.
Executive Officer and Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), Resonac Holdings Co. Ltd.
Strengthening talent review activities to compete globally
Looking to the future, Resonac sees three major goals: identifying untapped talent potential, increasing diversity in its talent pool, and maximizing value from the data and reporting capabilities of the SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central solution. The company believes that to be more competitive in the global market, it needs to expand talent review activities globally and acquire overseas talent.
From 2024 onward, Resonac aims to achieve sustainable growth by expanding the scope of its use of SAP SuccessFactors solutions overseas, establishing and permeating talent review activities, and continuing to further strengthen current measures.