“Hiroyuki Nidome joined Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. (Daiichi Sankyo) in September 2023. With 15 years of experience working in human resources at an airline company and at a consulting firm, he is currently working for the Sustainability Department’s Sustainability Planning & Management Group in the Tokyo headquarters. Since joining the company, Hiroyuki has led a project to disclose sustainability information for the entire Daiichi Sankyo group of companies (DS Group) as part of Daiichi Sankyo Europe's response to EU regulations.”
Striving to be thoroughly involved in non-financial matters that contribute to medium- to long-term corporate value
“Non-financial capital” and “non-financial value” may be unfamiliar terms to many. They refer to forms of capital and value, such as human or intellectual capital, that ultimately lead to the creation of corporate value without the addition of financial capital itself.
Non-financial capital and value may be difficult to visualize, but they are some of our greatest and most unique strengths, and I believe that they are paramount in medium- to long-term corporate growth.
While working on human resources at an airline company, I realized that people shape medium- to long-term corporate growth, and later, while working at a consulting firm, I was involved in formulating broader, non-financial, value creating strategies. I found the experience of contributing to the cultivation of the company’s strengths over the medium- to long-term particularly satisfying, and I wanted to be more deeply involved, not only in the formulation of strategies but also in their execution.
I joined Daiichi Sankyo because its medium- to long-term vision resonated with me, and its determination to follow through with its Vision was particularly attractive. On average, drug discovery takes anywhere from 9 to 17 years from research to commercialization. Daiichi Sankyo works to create value over the long term—one or two decades from now—rather than only thinking about sales in the near future, and I wanted to work from a long-term, non-financial perspective.
Making Daiichi Sankyo's strengths clear
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD*), which aims to improve corporate measures for sustainability information disclosure, came into effect in the EU in January 2023.
The CSRD requires companies to disclose their sustainability information in addition to reporting their financial information to further formalize the disclosure of information on corporate sustainability. Daiichi Sankyo in Japan, along with its EU headquarters company overseeing all its European affiliates, will consolidate information from the entire DS Group in preparation for its 2026 CSRD disclosure in collaboration with various departments across the group.
DS Group companies must disclose information on a new range of topics. For example, they must disclose information on human resources, such as the achievement level of human resource investment and employee diversity, and environmental efforts, such as their levels of greenhouse gas emissions.
While these new rules on disclosure are driven by social demand, they can be considered an opportunity for us to recognize and address important topics in sustainability from the perspective of our company and society at large.
*CSRD: Directive aimed at companies of a certain size in the EU, and companies with subsidiaries of a certain size in the EU, requiring that they disclose sustainability information.
Considering Daiichi Sankyo's future in proximity to management and investors
One of my other important responsibilities is to hold ESG* briefings for institutional investors and securities analysts. Although it was the first time in my career to hold such briefings, I was closely involved in the early stages, deciding on the general flow of the briefing and who would act as the company’s spokesperson.
In response to requests we received from investors last year, we focused on explaining the extent of human capital, including personnel training and our organizational structure. In preparation for this, I discussed the details directly with the management team, which was a valuable opportunity to learn about their ideas on human capital in depth/p>
*ESG: Short for Environment, Social, and Governance. The ESG briefings explain investment activities and management/business activities that address ESG issues.
Several departments across the DS Group are involved in work related to the non-financial information of the group, from one overseeing a factory in Germany and the United States to one regulating compliance. We do not simply ask them for existing information but strive to improve each department’s system for data collection on sustainability information. Involving people from different sections can be difficult, but everyone with whom I interact is so friendly that being a relatively new hire is not a concern.
This environment provides me with opportunities for growth and occasionally for a pleasant surprise, such as when Daiichi Sankyo was selected and awarded as “the SX (Sustainability Transformation) Brands*” for 2024. I am proud to have been part of the application process despite having only recently joined the company.
Before joining Daiichi Sankyo, I imagined that pharmaceutical companies would be rigid, and their work would be siloed. However, as it turns out, the tasks available to me are very varied, and I am often given the opportunity to take on new challenges.
- Hiroyuki Nidome, Daiichi Sankyo Sustainability Department
*SX Brands: A group of progressive companies that enhance their ability to create a source of funds for growth in a sustainable manner through SX to realize the improvement of corporate value is selected. In 2024, 15 companies were selected as SX Brands.
Feeling the company grow as it becomes a worldwide group
Although I have only worked for Daiichi Sankyo for just less than a year and a half, I see the number of employees steadily increasing, and the company as a whole growing and gaining a worldwide presence. I am also collaborating with DS Group members from all over the world on the CSRD project, for which I am currently responsible.
I have an MBA obtained outside Japan, and I have a certain amount of experience communicating in foreign languages. Nevertheless, facilitating meetings with employees from a variety of backgrounds remains a challenge for me. My daily global meetings still make me nervous, but it’s very satisfying when things go well!
The CSRD, being an entirely new directive, still holds many unknowns. However, as a challenging project requiring collaboration throughout a company-wide system, it is very interesting.
Visualizing non-financial strengths and channeling them into company growth
If I were to state one of Daiichi Sankyo's strengths, I would say “the power of its people.” All employees have strong determination to realize our Purpose, and I believe that this determination has made our innovative pipeline possible. My ultimate goal is to keep identifying other non-financial areas that could strengthen a company in the future and contribute to its growth.