Sanpo-yoshi Communication

Learning the Story of the Company’s Founding: A Slightly Unique “Theater-Based Training Program for New Employees”

It is now the season when hydrangeas are in full bloom. I hope you are all enjoying busy yet fulfilling days. I sincerely hope that by the time this column is published, the global situation will have improved.

Well, it’s hard to believe that three months have already passed since we welcomed our new team members in April. In this post, I’d like to tell you about the somewhat unique training program our new employees are participating in.

On June 19, our company held a “theater performance” featuring our new employees. (As of the time of writing this column, it hasn’t taken place yet.) You might be surprised to hear, “Why would new employees at a printing company put on a play?”

Actually, this training program involves new employees casting themselves in a play based on Marushin’s history—including its early days—and the many dramatic challenges the company has overcome over the years. Squeezing in rehearsals between their daily job training sessions, they have spent just under three months intensively rehearsing while exchanging ideas with one another.

It’s easy to learn about “the company’s history” through classroom lectures. However, what kind of mindset did our predecessors have as they approached their work back then, and what hardships did they overcome to build trusting relationships with our customers? It is precisely because “theater”—an approach that allows them to vicariously experience these things through their own bodies and words—that we expect Marushin’s DNA to be deeply engraved in their hearts through all five senses. Furthermore, through the process of creating a single performance together as a group, the bonds and unity among the new hires will grow stronger and more resilient.

There is one more thing about this presentation that we value above all else: we invite our former colleagues who have retired from the company.

After the play, a social gathering is held to bring together young new hires and senior employees across generations. The new hires listen intently as their senior colleagues share real-life stories of past hardships—such as “Those were really tough times back then” and “Even so, we all pulled together for the sake of our customers”—as well as updates on their current lives.

Quite literally, these are conversations with the very people who lived through the “story of the early days” that we just performed. There, we find inspiration and lessons that go beyond words.

The fact that we are able to create packaging and labels for our customers and run our packaging materials business today is by no means something to be taken for granted. Marushin exists today only because of our alumni, who worked tirelessly to support us during our early days, and above all, because of our “customers” and “suppliers”—the vital pillars who have continued to trust and support Marushin over the years.

We must cherish with a grateful heart the concept of “Den-to-ho-on” (Gratitude for Tradition), which is essential for a sustainable company. This theater workshop is a truly valuable opportunity not only for our young employees to learn about Marushin’s origins, but also to experience firsthand the “great debt of gratitude” we have received.

Feeling the weight of history and having taken up the baton passed down by our predecessors, our new employees will now be assigned to your respective workplaces in earnest and begin their roles as account managers. Some of them will also be serving as sales representatives. They still have much to learn, and there may be times when they cause you some inconvenience, but we would be grateful if you could watch over their future challenges with both warmth and high standards.

Together with our new employees, our entire company will work as one to contribute to the growth of your business, moving forward steadily, one step at a time. We sincerely ask for your continued guidance and support.

 

Marushin Corporation
Representative Director Yoji Hiraki