From litter picking to cherry blossom viewing, Tochigi finds opportunities to engage local people.
People from GKN Driveline Tochigi in Japan have been engaging in various CSR activities, one of which has been to have newly recruited staff help in the local community of the site by cleaning the area. In April, with the cherry blossoms around the area in full bloom, 12 new graduates started out at the site. This is a common time for new graduates to start with GKN Automotive in Japan, as their fiscal year begins in April.
Approximately 1000 employees from the local area commute into the Tochigi site. The site thought it would be a good idea to have the 12 new graduates spend an hour of their working days cleaning up the local community with which the site has close connections.
The graduates helped clean up the area, introduced themselves to the community and engaged with local people. Some were even able to talk about the possibilities of a career at GKN Automotive.
Some of the graduates commented on how they were happy to be given an opportunity to engage with the local community, as they weren’t from the area, while others were simply happy to be making a positive impact on the area. The graduates were both thanked by the locals for cleaning up the area and congratulated for being accepted onto the graduate programme.
The area surrounding GKN Driveline Tochigi is very picturesque during the cherry blossom season. To make the most of this, the site invites guests of all ages to visit. A local nursery is among those to visit, with the children thoroughly enjoying themselves running around the grounds, exploring and looking for wildlife. The director of the nursery expressed her gratitude towards the site, and stated that she would love for the children to return in the future.
Members of the local community who share the same neighbourhood as the site were also invited to visit on the weekend. The site held what is called a “hanami”, cherry blossom party, and everybody had a great time.
The site believes that this was a great opportunity for it's people to engage with the local community, as this provided an opportunity to talk in detail about what it is that the site does, and even the possibility of a career at GKN Automotive. Both site visits were a great success, and the site intends to host more in the future.