As a foreign-affiliated company, AXA General Insurance is characteristically a merit-based company. I became a manager to lead my team in my 20s. I believe that if you set your career vision and act to achieve it, the company will provide support. Currently, I am trying to create an environment where team members feel encouraged to express their opinions. By providing such an environment, we can acquire a habit of independently thinking about our own roles, proactively learning and acting to pursue career goals. In addition, I believe that improving skills from an early stage will lead to a variety of opportunities.

I joined the company in the same year as Mr. N. I worked in the Claims Department for about six years before moving to the Marketing Department three years ago. I told my supervisor during an interview that I wanted to try out a new department if there was an opening. I was given the opportunity to advance my career in a new field by leveraging my experience and skills.

Although the mainstay business of our company is direct business, we also have the sales channel of agency business. I am in charge of sales to partner companies of the agency business. I find the knowledge and experience I have accumulated in the claims service is useful in my current job. Since some of our team members are from other industries, we actively hold study sessions to share our knowledge on non-life insurance.

My department also holds training sessions frequently. If there is a request for a specific subject or topic from employees, such a request is reflected in the content of training and study sessions in a flexible and timely manner, to help us to develop our skills.

In the Data and Technology Department, when an old system is replaced with a new system, basically all previous technologies are replaced with new ones. Each time a system is replaced, members of the department conduct training to improve our skills. Jobs of IT engineers entail struggling with constantly evolving technologies. I think it is important that we are willing to constantly update our knowledge and skills in order to fulfill duties.

As has been mentioned, there is a variety of company support that encourages employees’ skill improvement and career advancement in different ways. I was reminded that AXA Direct had an environment to help its employees to develop their careers.

If you are exploring your future vision, you may want to take advantage of the internal job posting system, which allows employees to apply for positions in other departments. After joining the company, I worked in the Claims Department for three years. Advancing my career in the department was an option, but I wanted to learn more about the insurance business and so applied for an internal job opening to change my career path to the Partner Business Department. In the current department, I am learning the entire business operation of an insurance company from a multifaceted perspective, including claims services and the concept of compliance. I am glad that I have been able to use the system because I could broaden my knowledge and use it in my work.

I also feel that the interaction with customers I experienced in the Claims Department is useful for my current job. I convey to Marketing members “what customers require from our company,” which I used to hear and sense from the customers as a Claims representative, to reflect their needs in new marketing measures. The knowledge I developed in the Claims Department is now my strength.

Since AXA Direct is part of a globally operating group of companies, I have the opportunity to take international assignments, if I so desire. Besides, it is a challenging and exciting job for me to deliver innovative technology that improves the customer experience and enhances the operational efficiency of our company, in collaboration with other departments, such as the Operation Department.

I think the internal job posting system is a good system. Although we seldom have an opportunity to know what jobs other departments are engaged in, when openings are announced, I would do my own research on the department and their field. It can be a good opportunity for me to consider my own strengths, my current skills and areas I want to learn going forward, which would eventually lead to the development of my career.

It's a good environment to have the programs and support that expand the possibilities for self-fulfillment.

Some people may hesitate to make the first move and apply for a challenging position. There is a mechanism that allows such people to share their career vision with their supervisors at regular career interviews to convey their aspirations to the company. Our company respects employees’ wishes and intentions, so if you have the motivation and aptitude, you will have the opportunity to create your own path.

Mr. T and Ms. Y are both playing pivotal roles after transferring to new departments. Like the two of you, it is important to have the courage to try new fields.

My view of how I work has changed since I got married last year. Before, I sometimes adjusted my work schedule to meet deadlines. Now that I am married and have a family, I now think that it is a reasonable option to leave the office early by taking advantage of the staggered working hours system, or work from home by using the telecommuting system. The change in my life stage has been a good opportunity for me to rethink the way I work, actively adopting different work styles and improving processes to work more efficiently.
At AXA Direct, there are many female employees who have children. They use the telecommuting and staggered working hours systems very effectively. AXA Direct provides the systems that allow its employees to work in ways that suit their respective lifestyles.
By the way Mr. M. You are also using the telecommuting system, right?

Yes, I work from home twice a week. I have small children and my wife works, so I take turns watching the kids. When they are sick, I sometimes take them to the hospital. Even when working remotely, necessary meetings can be handled via Skype, and sometimes as an engineer, I find it easier to concentrate on my work when I work alone. In addition, it takes me an hour to commute from home to the office, so if I work from home, I can spend two more hours on my work, which is very efficient.

An atmosphere where employees can easily take paid holidays is also another characteristic of the company. My department has a no-overtime day twice a month. I feel that the company supports the work style of each employee. Recently, we launched the “Team for Good Work-Life Balance” within the company. Members have been solicited from across all departments and started taking measures to improve work styles while ensuring better performance.

I also recognize the ease of taking paid leave, because so far I have been able to use all of my eligible paid holidays. We take turns to take holidays at a timing each member prefers. As we work as a team and support each other, we don’t have to worry about work when we are on leave. This system has also helped us to work while valuing personal lives.

Based on what you have said, it seems that work-style diversity has taken root in the company. Recently, an initiative called anniversary leave has begun. It encourages employees to take leave, for example, on a wedding anniversary.

That is an initiative our Team for Good Work-Life Balance has devised.

It is exactly a cultural characteristic of our company that such an idea or mechanism is developed from the bottom up.

While various options are available for how we work, members of the Data and Technology Department I belong to are diverse in terms of nationality and values. Our meetings are conducted in a mixture of Japanese, English and French. Since all of us come from different backgrounds, our opinions and views, besides language, are different, which helps broaden our perspective. I usually chat with other members either in French, English or Japanese, depending the person I am talking to. Every day, I experience diversity in my department. How about your department?

My workplace is open and flat. Anyone can proactively express their opinions regardless of age or position, and some of such opinions are reflected in our operations. I think that diversity is embraced in my department as diverse ideas are accepted. In addition, the dress code of our company is business casual, which also reflects a culture unique to a foreign-affiliated company, which respects individuality.

The Marketing Department often works with other departments, and we interact with staff at various positions including the department managers. As our team has adopted a free-address seating , I find it refreshing to sit in a different seat every day. One day, I was surprised to see the company president sitting next to me! This is a testament to our company’s uniquely flat and friendly workplace environment.

Many tasks of Claims members can be completed within the department. In order to promote the importance of diversity and incorporate diverse opinions, we established the cross-departmental “Team for Good Work-Life Balance” in cooperation with other departments, as I mentioned before. I hope this will be a good opportunity for all the employees, regardless of gender and age, to come together and reflect new ideas.

Yes, that’s right. The internal interaction should also lead to the creation of new ideas. I have opportunities to work not only with other engineers but also with members of other departments. I hope to promote diversity within the company and to facilitate actions that will realize One AXA.

There are many different nationalities in the company, and I am often spoken to in English. It's a great place to improve your English skills.

What is unique about our company is the open atmosphere. We are close also to our superiors and address each other by name not by title, regardless of position.

What is characteristic of a foreign-affiliated company is that we have various parties and events on a regular basis, to which all of the employees are invited, to mingle across the departments.

We are implementing many different initiatives and projects primarily for customer first simultaneously at a rapid speed, and all of us have the mindset to keep on moving forward and growing.