Nacht Wins Grand Prize in "Career Ownership Management Award 2026" for Transformation in Talent Acquisition and Development (SME Category)

Nacht Inc. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Yuki Adachi; hereinafter "Nacht") announced that it has won the Grand Prize in the Transformation in Talent Acquisition and Development category (SME division) at the "Career Ownership Management Award 2026" (organized by the Career Ownership Management Award 2026 Executive Committee; hereinafter "this Award").

Nacht's Initiatives

Since its establishment, Nacht has achieved rapid growth driven by SNS advertising and influencer marketing, reaching 31 billion yen in sales this fiscal year. To achieve its vision for 2040 – "Group sales of 200 billion yen, 3,000 employees, 50 subsidiaries" – it is essential to evolve beyond the traditional advertising agency framework into a "business creation marketing company" that generates its own businesses.

However, behind this rapid growth, "over-reliance on individuals" due to individual aptitudes became a challenge. Sustainable growth is impossible with only short-term P&L expansion. Therefore, Nacht prioritized building "durability" to continuously generate P&L, specifically an "invisible balance sheet" (unified philosophy, creation of autonomy, reproducibility of growth, chain of enthusiasm, trust balance). Last year, HR was redefined as a complete shift from "management" to "value creation." The company redesigned its "talent supply infrastructure" to integrate recruitment, development, placement, evaluation, and culture, undertaking company-wide HR reforms.

[Specific Initiatives]

Brand & Recruitment: Implemented brand and recruitment rebranding, internalized the SNS recruitment advertising team, and formulated a recruitment strategy for the 2027 graduating class.

Development & Leadership: One-month intensive marketer training program, executive-led leadership program, and enhanced onboarding for mid-career hires.

Organization & Engagement: Internal agent system, reverse mentorship, video distribution by the CEO, and company-wide disclosure of survey results.

Systems & Infrastructure: Introduced four selectable work styles, fully transitioned to HR tech, and reorganized into an amoeba-style organization (compressed to 5 layers).

[Results of Reforms]

Structural & Operational Results:

Expanded HR personnel to 40, achieving complete internalization of SNS recruitment.

Established a data-driven growth support and placement utilization system (Talent Project Unit).

Elimination of over-reliance on individuals through a cycle of "culture-fit recruitment → individual growth → results → standardization."

External Evaluation:

Ranked 1st in the "Great Place to Work (Mid-sized Companies Category) Ranking 2026."

Numerical Data (Comparison of 2026 vs. 2027 graduating classes):

Number of contacts with job seekers: Approx. 1,000 people → 10,000 people (10-fold increase)

SNS recruitment method: Monthly accepted offers increased from 1 (October 2025) to 10 (February 2026).

Judges' Comments:

"Nacht has re-evaluated the over-reliance on individuals and inconsistencies in development that arose during rapid growth, not as issues of individual aptitude, but as structural challenges where business growth depends on 'human coincidence.' The company's approach of not separating recruitment, development, placement, evaluation, and culture into individual systems, but rather redesigning them as a comprehensive 'talent supply infrastructure,' and clearly articulating the philosophy of accumulating an 'invisible balance sheet' that forms the foundation for continuous P&L generation, not just short-term P&L expansion, is highly insightful. What is crucial is that, as demonstrated by the culture-fit judgment through complete internalization of SNS recruitment, the company is striving to create a reproducible model where individuals who fit the organization join, chart their own growth paths, achieve results through challenges, and leave a lasting impact on the organization.

Nacht aims to transform individual growth from accidental success experiences into collective organizational strength. In this process, their serious commitment is evident in how they respect individual career aspirations while also fostering relationships, trust, and an environment conducive to challenges. The consistency of their career ownership management is reflected in their shift from leaving human growth to 'individual responsibility' to 'company-designed and individually chosen' growth, and connecting this accumulation to recruitment competitiveness and business growth. Expectations for further deepening and dissemination are high."

This award recognized Nacht's approach of treating over-reliance on individuals due to rapid growth as a structural challenge, redesigning everything from recruitment to evaluation as an integrated "talent supply infrastructure," and its management stance of accumulating intangible assets (BS).

Nacht will continue to pursue a reproducible system where individual growth is not left to "chance," and everyone can chart their own unique path and take on challenges. We will transform the aspirations of each individual into organizational strength, accelerating the sustainable group development towards our 2040 vision.