Focusing on the back office that supports PayPay’s growth, the series “Hidden Impact Makers” offers a glimpse into the behind-the-scenes workings of PayPay that are usually out of sight. In this first installment, we spoke with Kaori Sugiyama-san from the HR Planning Department about the HR policies of the PayPay group.
Kaori Sugiyama
Leader of HR Planning Team, HR Planning Department, HR Division
Sugiyama-san started her career at a major retail company as a store manager before transitioning to HR, where she was responsible for revising HR systems. Drawn to the role offered by the HR Planning team, she joined PayPay in October 2020, attracted by the company’s unique HR systems built with a startup mindset.
Contents
Unchanging Pillars for Change: HR Policies
The HR policies introduced here are the fundamental principles that underpin PayPay group’s HR system design and operation, serving as the compass for our HR strategy.
Specifically, they are built on three pillars: “Speed,” “Pay for Performance,” and “Diversity,” with “Simple” as the core element to achieve these goals.
To achieve overwhelming business growth and contribute to our users, speed is paramount. We believe that generously rewarding high performers who drive innovation and lead the business ultimately benefits our users. Attributes such as nationality, gender, age, and other personal characteristics are irrelevant to us. Our HR policies aim to create simple and clear systems that enable each employee to perform at their best.
For example, our HR policies are reflected even in the interface for inputting evaluations. We believe that creating an environment where every detail is seamlessly integrated drives individual innovation and growth.
Commitment to Being a Perpetual Venture
Five years have passed since PayPay’s founding, and our business growth continues to accelerate. While welcoming many new colleagues and expanding our organization, we also felt concerns about whether our venture spirit was wavering or if we were developing symptoms of “big company syndrome.”
So, from September 2023, we began revisiting and redefining our HR systems and the underlying principles. Through discussions with executives and management, as well as interviews with high performers within the company, we spent six months formulating the HR policies mentioned above.
Naturally, HR systems should evolve with the company’s growth and the times. The question is, what should change and what should remain constant? In my previous job, I experienced a company that once pioneered its industry as a rough-and-tumble venture but eventually became a “normal” company. PayPay’s HR policies and the resulting HR systems reflect our commitment to continue growing as a perpetual venture.
Innovation and Growth Begin with People
The PayPay group aims to build new infrastructure and create new services in the financial sector, which is the lifeblood of society, ultimately crafting a future beyond imagination. We are at a crossroads: will we become the overwhelming number one, or just “one of them”? We choose the path to becoming the world’s number one FinTech company.
Currently, we are still a venture with no established identity. To create a future beyond imagination and contribute to our users and society, both our services and business must continue to grow non-linearly.
Innovation and growth begin with people. We look forward to meeting individuals who lead innovation, working with cutting-edge technology and talented colleagues brimming with a venture spirit, and taking on challenges with excitement every day.
In the next issue, “PayPay’s Unique HR System that Rewards High Performers”, we will continue to hear from Sugiyama-san about PayPay’s distinctive HR systems.
Current job openings
*Job openings and employee affiliations are current as of the time of the interview.