IKUSA Inc. (Headquarters: Toshima-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Daiki Akasaka; hereinafter IKUSA), which revitalizes internal communication through "play," conducted a "Survey on Employee Retention Measures and HR Budgets" targeting 200 employees working for companies with over 1,000 employees, over 10 billion yen in sales, and listed on the Standard Market or higher.

As employee retention, engagement improvement, and hiring difficulties become increasingly important management issues, this survey clarifies the retention measures that major corporations consider "effective" and the hurdles that impede their implementation.

Details of this survey can be found here.

Survey Results Summary

Most effective retention measure: "1-on-1" at 54.0%, followed by "Revitalization of Internal Communication" at 51.5%, "Company-Wide Events" at 48.5%, and "Team Building" at 43.5%

Measures deemed "effective" are also "important but not sufficiently addressed" - "Team Building" is highest at 38.0%

Biggest reason for not being able to address them: "Lack of company-wide recognition of importance" at 47.9% (exceeding "budget difficulties" at 35.6%)

Biggest hurdle to acquiring budget: "Difficulty in numerically proving ROI" at 39.5%

52.5% of companies clearly separate and secure hiring and retention budgets, with a total of 76.5% considering the ideal retention budget to be "30,000 yen or more per person per year."

A total of 89.5% believe that "dedicated departments and annual budgets for retention will become commonplace."

Effective Retention Measures: "1-on-1" at 54.0%, "Team Building" Also High at 43.5%

When asked about measures considered effective for employee retention (multiple responses allowed), "1-on-1" was the most frequent at 54.0%, followed by "Revitalization of Internal Communication" at 51.5%, "Company-Wide Events" at 48.5%, and "Team Building" at 43.5%. Measures that promote dialogue and interaction among employees were concentrated at the top.

These significantly exceeded "Review of Evaluation and Reward Systems" at 24.5%, suggesting that opportunities for daily relationship building and communication are seen as more key to retention than systemic aspects.

"Team Building" is the Most "Important but Not Sufficiently Addressed" Measure at 38.0%

Notably, the measures deemed effective were also listed as "important but not sufficiently addressed." "Team Building" was the highest at 38.0%, followed by "1-on-1" at 36.5%, "Company-Wide Events" at 34.0%, and "Revitalization of Internal Communication" at 34.0%.

This highlights the "gap between ideal and reality," where measures expected to be effective are not being implemented sufficiently.

Biggest Reason for Not Being Able to Address Them: "Lack of Company-Wide Recognition of Importance" at 47.9%

More prominent than budget issues as a reason for not being able to address these measures was "internal awareness and recognition." "Lack of company-wide recognition of importance" at 47.9% and "lack of company-wide priority" at 45.4% exceeded "difficulty in securing budget" at 35.6%.

This suggests that a lack of company-wide consensus is a barrier to implementation, even before cost issues.

Budgeting Hurdle Also "Difficulty in Numerically Proving ROI" at 39.5%

The biggest hurdle in acquiring an annual budget for retention measures was "difficulty in numerically proving cost-effectiveness (ROI)" at 39.5%. "Internal culture that believes it should be handled by front-line self-effort" followed at 29.5%.

Both stem from the difficulty in visualizing the effects, and it is essential to devise ways to visualize results and incorporate them into management decision-making to budget for retention measures.

Discussion: Retention Measures Start with "Company-Wide Consensus" and "Visualization of Effects"

This survey revealed that while major corporations have a high willingness to invest in retention, implementation is hindered by "disparities in company-wide recognition" and "difficulty in visualizing effects."

Team building and company-wide events that deepen relationships among employees are expected as effective means for improving retention and engagement. Therefore, designing initiatives that are not one-off events but are undertaken company-wide while visualizing their purpose and effects is essential for future organizational development.

A Step Towards Company-Wide Retention Measures

An effective approach to these challenges is experiential internal events that are undertaken company-wide. We would like to introduce a case study of an internal event held by Meiko Network Japan Co., Ltd., which we supported.

The "Meiko Group Hachamecha Grand Meeting 2023," a company-wide event held in anticipation of its 40th anniversary, was a large-scale event with over 1,000 participants. We supported the planning and operation of "Chambara Gassen" (sword fighting battles) and "Kakuzuke Battle" (ranking battles), as well as the opening and closing ceremonies, and participant satisfaction was approximately 90%.

In a separate survey of 620 participants in company events supported by our company, 88.8% responded that they "became more positive about the company/team," and the overall event satisfaction was 99.5%, with an NPS of +23.7. This addresses the hurdle of "difficulty in proving ROI" by visualizing the effects numerically.

We support initiatives to improve retention and engagement, including company-wide consensus building and effect measurement. Companies considering team building or anniversary events through internal events are welcome to contact us.

IKUSA's Comprehensive Catalog is available here.

Survey Overview

Survey Name: Survey on Employee Retention Measures and HR Budgets

Survey Objective: To clarify the status of employee retention measures and the reality of HR budgets in companies.

Survey Period: March 2026

Target Audience: Employees working for companies with over 1,000 employees, over 10 billion yen in sales, and listed on the Standard Market or higher.

Number of Valid Responses: 200

Survey Method: Internet survey

*Proportions may not add up to 100% due to rounding to the second decimal place.

*The "Reasons for Not Being Able to Address" (Q7) were calculated based on 194 respondents who answered that there were measures they could not sufficiently address.

*When quoting or reprinting the results of this survey, please cite "Survey by IKUSA Inc."

IKUSA Inc.

IKUSA Inc. is a company specializing in experiential events and training, with the slogan "Find the problem, solve it with play." Through unique play activities such as "Chambara Gassen" and "Nazotoki" (mystery solving), we support the resolution of social issues such as team building, regional revitalization, and disaster prevention. We plan and operate over 100 types of original programs annually for companies, local governments, commercial facilities, and educational institutions, with over 1,400 events held. More than 560,000 people from over 3,000 companies have experienced them.

Mission: To create opportunities, places, and companions for people all over the world to play. Purpose: To enhance the value of play. Company Name: IKUSA Inc. (English Name: IKUSA Inc.) Established: May 29, 2012 Tokyo Headquarters: Ko-sen Bldg. 4F, 3-20-21 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo Osaka Office: Shin-Osaka Nishiura Bldg. 805, 2-7-38 Nishimiyahara, Yodogawa-ku, Osaka Nagoya Office: 6-1-8 Okutecho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Tohoku Office: 1-13-32 Honcho, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi 302 Fukuoka Office: Toyo 1-8-26, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka Sapporo Office: La Chouette Kita 106, Kita 7-jo Nishi 8-1-11, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido Officers: Representative Director Daiki Akasaka Business Activities: Event Business / Training Business / Business Party Business / Digital Marketing Business / Facility Management Business

IKUSA Inc. Service Site List

IKUSA.jp: https://ikusa.jp/ Chambara Gassen: https://tyanbara.org/ Shanaiundokai.com: https://shanaiundokai.com/ Nazotoki Concierge: https://nazotoki-concierge.com/ Asobi Bosai Project: https://asobi-bosai.com/ Business Game Training.com: https://business-game-training.com/ Bizmeshi: https://biz-food.com/ SDGs Compass: https://sdgs-compass.jp/ Asobu Shain Kenshu: https://asobu-training.com/ IKUSA ARENA: https://arena.ikusa.jp/

[Contact for Service Inquiries] TEL: 03-5960-0193 Email: [email protected]

[Contact for Media Inquiries] IKUSA Inc. Public Relations: Kotsunoya Email: [email protected] TEL: 03-5960-5193

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  • Source: PR TIMES
  • Category: Survey結果