In April 2006, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., known worldwide by its Panasonic brand, created a special job description for environmental specialists as part of its personnel system. Employees in the new position will engage in a wide range of environmental tasks within the company such as energy conservation, reduction of the use of chemical substances, and recycling, as well as external public relations on the environment. In Matsushita's domestic operations, about 450 employees will be appointed to this position.

The company has also formulated guidelines on the training of these environmental specialists. Based on these guidelines, in April 2006 the company created a committee for human resource development in environmental positions, and has been working on upgrading the expertise of the specialists through a skills evaluation system and specialized trainings.

The skills evaluation system is based on objective criteria set separately for each job type and business area, in order to facilitate quantitative assessments of employee skills. In April 2006, Matsushita introduced this system company-wide, an innovative model in the Japanese manufacturing industry.

The company hopes that these new initiatives will help boost the quality of personnel engaged in duties related to the environment and enhance the company's environmental management systems.

http://panasonic.net/eco/

Posted: 2007/01/25 12:46:00 PM
Japanese version

TAG Manufacturing industry , System/Law