Sanpo-yoshi Communication

President's Column] Reform of Work Styles

Since January of this year, we have been working on a "work style reform" in our sales department, and we ask our employees to leave the office at 7:00 p.m. unless there is something unusual going on. In the past, it was normal to work until around 8:00 to 9:00 p.m., so going home at 7:00 p.m. requires a considerable improvement in efficiency. On top of that, we have introduced a cloud-based service that allows us to capture overtime pay on a minute-by-minute basis. Although employees are allowed to work overtime early in the morning at their own discretion, we rarely see early overtime except for certain sales representatives. Even so, almost all employees have been going home by 7:00 p.m. since January of this year, when the program started. What was the point of staying late until now? I thought to myself. Of course, it is obvious that the number of customer visits has decreased. We have also increased the number of sales support personnel.

In conclusion, I think the biggest factor was the strong awareness that we would return home by 7:00 p.m. I think that many of them really wanted to go home early. Although there are some negative effects, such as a decrease in the amount of communication, I think it is generally accepted by the employees in the sales department.

From my own personal experience, I have always believed that one should perform in quantity while young, and that this should be converted to quality through experience. This view has not changed. I feel sorry for young people who cannot do hard work in their growing years. However, I try to think of it as a game change to compete with other companies in a competitive arena, with perfect compliance with labor laws and regulations, paid leave, and childcare leave for men, while also improving pay and benefits.

Under these conditions, we must provide our employees with opportunities for growth while not lowering, but rather improving, the value we provide to our customers. DXing and other efficiency improvements are essential to this, but I am petrified that they are not evolving as fast as I would like. On the other hand, however, perfect compliance with labor laws has also given me courage. Now, I do not feel guilty at all, so I make tough demands to my employees in a fair and dignified manner. We are still in the middle of the road, but we will continue to devote ourselves to the task.