Community Empowerment Season: How Rakuten employees are creating social impact
Rakuten is committed to driving positive change in society by empowering local communities through employee action.
One initiative at the forefront of this effort is Community Empowerment Season, a new program launched this year that has already made significant strides in supporting communities around Japan. Rakuten Today sat down with Akiyo Hosokawa of the Social Impact Group, who shared some insights into this latest endeavor.
What is the Social Impact Group?
“The Social Impact Group is a team within Rakuten’s Sustainability Department,” Hosokawa explains.
“Our vision is to maximize social impact through co-creation with diverse stakeholders. We primarily work on various initiatives to advance society and foster positive innovation within the company, leveraging the power of both employees and external stakeholders, such as NPOs and government organizations.”
Among these initiatives is Community Empowerment Season.
Community Empowerment Season: Helping employees maximize social impact
The program, spanning four months from June to September, aimed to provide Rakuten employees with opportunities to learn about and participate in various empowerment activities that connect with society.
“During the four months, we organized over 30 diverse initiatives, including lunchtime seminars, volunteer activities, and donation opportunities.” Hosokawa explains.
Employees could participate in agricultural volunteer work, idea workshops with high school students, and other activities that benefited the community and enriched their own experiences.
So, how did this program come about?
“The primary idea was to foster a culture of social contribution within Rakuten,” Hosokawa remarks.
A key aim was to create opportunities for employees to connect directly with society.
“At Rakuten, many employees resonate with our mission of ’empowering people and society through innovation,’ but sometimes find it difficult to see how their work is directly connected to society or how to create social impact. So, our team wanted to provide opportunities to learn from external stakeholders and engage in direct connection with various communities.”
Another goal behind the program was to shine a spotlight on the empowerment actions taking place within Rakuten.
Rakuten has over 70 businesses, and many teams are engaged in initiatives that advance society beyond the scope of business. “We wanted to create opportunities to highlight these various undertakings,” Hosokawa adds.
How cross-functional collaboration and creativity shaped the program
Launching an agenda-packed program with weekly initiatives was no small feat. Hosokawa shares some insights into the focus areas that helped the Social Impact Group turn the program into a success.
“We involved many people from different business units in the planning process. This helped us to connect various empowerment actions happening within the company.” Aided by this diverse mix of employees and a wealth of ideas, Hosokawa and the team were able to roll out an initiative nearly every week during the four-month period.
A great deal of effort was also dedicated to branding the initiative. The team collaborated with Rakuten’s Creative Design Strategy Department (Rakuten Design Lab & Communication Design Team), an organization that oversees Rakuten’s design efforts, to produce creatives that were displayed at all of Rakuten’s locations nationwide.
“With full support from the Creative Design Strategy Department, we developed the core of the project and the communication strategy, focusing on engaging and enjoyable creative content.”
The power of employee volunteering
Employee volunteering was a cornerstone of Community Empowerment Season.
At Rakuten Group, employees can take five days of volunteer leave per year. “This system, which started in March 2020, supports employees’ voluntary volunteer activities to foster a corporate culture that empowers society,” Hosokawa explains.
“We believe we can create a new volunteer culture, which connects employees and communities over the long term.”
Akiyo Hosokawa, Social Impact Group
“Volunteering enables employees to build new skills and connections,” Hosokawa notes.
“The significance lies in the interest in the experience itself, the opportunity to gain experiences not possible in regular work, and the creation of new horizontal connections among employees. We often hear that people make friends through volunteering and continue to stay in touch afterward.”
Volunteer leave can be used to participate in official volunteer programs planned by the Sustainability Department, or for participating in activities organized by non-profit organizations that employees wish to join.
This system is still in its early stages, so Hosokawa emphasizes that “Community Empowerment Season was launched with the hope of laying the foundation for a culture of volunteering.”
Creating translated picture books with Shanti Volunteer Association
One standout volunteer activity during Community Empowerment Season saw Rakuten employees from various branches come together to create translated picture books that were sent to children in Laos, Myanmar, and other countries across Asia*.
This initiative is part of the Shanti Volunteer Association’s international cooperation programs, which aim to provide local children with valuable educational resources.
“Picture books are cherished by children worldwide and employees were delighted to contribute. The sessions allowed them to make a meaningful impact and also provided flexibility to join, even during breaks. We believe it’s important to offer a variety of opportunities to let employees participate.” Hosokawa says.
Learn more about how Rakuten empowers local communities in this initiative where Rakuten employees collaborated with Setagaya-based Sanno University for the Global Communication Camp Advanced.
Looking ahead: From Japan to worldwide
After a successful first run of Community Empowerment Season, Hosokawa talks next steps for creating a new volunteer culture from Rakuten.
“I heard that the term ‘volunteer’ only became widespread after the Great Hanshin Earthquake in 1995. Japan’s volunteer culture is therefore only about 30 years old, and there is still room for progress,” Hosokawa notes. “At Rakuten, a global innovation company, we believe we can create a new volunteer culture which connects employees and communities over the long term.”
The team also has an ambitious vision for future impact.
“We plan to continue Community Empowerment Season next year and aim to strengthen collaboration with Rakuten’s overseas offices and branches going forward,” Hosokawa says.
As the Social Impact Group continues to build on the success of Community Empowerment Season, Hosokawa will continue cultivating a new volunteer culture at Rakuten, driving impact within the community and beyond.
*Books translated:
・THE THREE BEARS: Holp Shuppan
・How Do Dinosaurs Learn to Read?: Komine Shoten
・GRANDMA’S CAKE: Fukuinkan Shoten
・The Map of Good Memories: Holp Shuppan
・Good Tooth Brushing: Kumon Publishing Co., Ltd.
