CFO (Chief Financial Officer)
Recruit and select.

"We propose a plan to reform Euglena

Everyone on the spot was surprised. Our board of directors. The main speaker is Kyoko Ozawa, who became the first CFO (Chief Future Officer Our at the age of 17 (second year high school student).

In October 2019, nine Euglena Future Summit, which is also composed of members under the age of 18, were appointed, centered on Ozawa. Since then, the members Euglena should do and what it can do to create a sustainable future, and "build a mechanism that allows consumers to take environmentally friendly actions without being aware of it." We have come to the conclusion that we should aim and have moved toward implementation.

When there were many, discussions were held many times a week, urging the board to implement a number of measures, including reducing the use of plastics. As a result of repeated meetings both inside and outside the company after a resolution of the Board of Directors, we finally agreed on the goal of "challenge to reduce the amount of petroleum-derived plastics used in products by 50% by 2021" and already exist. It has decided to abolish PET bottle products and implement measures to allow consumers to choose whether or not some products have plastic straws. Originally, the idea of abolishing PET bottles was also in-house, but it could not be taken because of the impact on sales. That thought was realized by the 17-year-old CFO and his friends.

Matoba, who is involved in the recruitment and selection of CFOs and also plans and manages the Future Summit, recalls, "The seriousness of the summit members, including Ozawa, moved the company."

State of the 1st Future Summit (held in December 2019)

Our challenge determined from the proposal by the CFO

Matoba who joined the company as a new graduate in 2018. When I was a student, I majored in developmental environmental studies at the University of East Anglia in the United Kingdom, and continued to think about environmental issues and poverty issues. Euglena because he "sympathized with the idea of facing social issues head-on."

Matoba, who was assigned to the Corporate Planning Division and was in charge of IR (Investor Relations), will be selected as the person in charge of the "CFO recruitment project limited to 18 years old and under" in the second year.

The project was triggered by the fact that Akihiko Nagata, Executive Vice President, visited an elementary school in 2019 and learned that children are highly interested in the future of the earth. "It's strange that there are no future parties in the discussion of the future." From that question, an unprecedented project of members under the age of 18 participating in company management began to move.

"It has been conveyed that the management team, including Nagata, is seriously thinking about proceeding with this project. In Europe and the United States, teenagers are seriously tackling environmental problems, but in Japan I was convinced that there should be many young people who are aware of the problems in the future of the earth. "

Matoba when I was a student

Recruitment activities that are unprecedented in the past will be known to the world through "one-sided advertisements in newspapers."

Considering the recruitment age of 18 years old or younger, it seems that the approach centered on the Web and SNS is more efficient than newspapers. But there was a clear aim.

I envisioned that newspaper advertisements would create "family conversations." Our recruitment of CFOs would be a new opportunity to think about sustainability at home, rather than simply delivering information to young people.

As a result, this newspaper advertisement became a hot topic on the Internet and became widely spread.

Recruitment announcements are not the only ingenuity. In the selection process, within 1200 characters, "what you are interested in among the 17 goals of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and what Euglena I set up the task of writing.

The emphasis was on the novelty of ideas and the enthusiasm to work with Euglena At the time of selection, we did not look at age, gender, name, or address, and decided only on the content of the application. He wanted only his thoughts on the future of the Earth based on the SDGs and the actions he wanted to take for that purpose.

CFO Wanted Newspaper Advertisement

In the second year of joining the company, I felt uneasy.

"It's an unprecedented mission and an abstract project to have future generations participate in company management discussions. What is the requirement for success, and what happens a year later, this project will be successful. I couldn't see it at first. "

Under such circumstances, recruitment started on August 9, 2019, and 511 applications were collected by the end of the same month of the recruitment deadline. It was the joy of Matoba that many young people, from elementary school students to high school students, gave their awareness and thoughts to the problem. "I thought about what I could do with you. I started to feel more like a person who works with the project, not just as a hiring manager," he recalls.

Matoba read the contents of all the application subjects together with other members involved in the primary selection, and narrowed down 511 candidates to more than 30 candidates for the secondary interview. The interview was scheduled for three days, from morning till night, and I met everyone.

"The interview was a really energetic time. People who gave a presentation while showing the created materials on a tablet, people who took a questionnaire at school in advance and brought data, and a picture of their thoughts on the future. Some people have a charisma that makes me feel that "this kind of person will become a future entrepreneur", and I was able to meet various personalities. "

The members of the Future Summit will be decided by the interview. Furthermore, the final candidates for the CFO were narrowed down, and Izumo, the president and CEO, and Nagata, the vice president, proceeded to the final interview.

It was Kyoko Ozawa, a second-year high school student at the time, who was selected as the first CFO.

From left: Nagata, first CFO Ozawa, Izumo

"Ozawa has a broad perspective, charisma that makes him think that he is an opinion leader, and the strength of his core that anyone can talk openly without being afraid. The footwork that connects problem awareness to action was also attractive. "

As Matoba commented, Ozawa was interested in the issue of nuclear power plants in Fukushima and once visited the site.

"I am aware of the problem and act face-to-face." "Not only do I get information from the media, but I also go to get information myself with the question,'Is this really correct?'" Izumo and Nagata also evaluated such attitude and entrusted the CFO.

And, in fact, Ozawa and the summit members changed Euglena

"Talking only about'what's going on in 2030 or 2050'is like not trying to do anything. Now you have to decide what to do and move on."

Matoba, as a member of a team working with the CFO, said he repeated such conversations with management and Ozawa. The short-term and clear goal of "Challenge to reduce the amount of petroleum-derived plastics used in products by 50% by 2021" introduced at the beginning was set by the company, "What are we doing now?" It is the result of continuing to think about.

"The meaning of the CFO recruitment project and its subsequent activities was to" don't just think "of the younger generation. I don't have the right to vote or work for a company. Even the younger generation. I want you to make good use of us as a medium and convey your thoughts. If you can move society in that way, it will be a great power for Euglena

The project with the first CFO, which started in October 2019, will soon reach a break. Matoba is renewing his mind toward recruiting the second-generation CFO, which has just begun.

A place to talk at the Future Summit

Second generation CFO recruitment page

Posted in August 2020