Tokyo: Some domestic Japanese companies have successfully improved their business performance by creating working conditions that better motivate their employees, including four-day workweeks and allowing them to have second jobs.
One such company is Aki Co., located in a mountainous area of Kunisaki, that manufacturers and sells kits of cardboard pieces that can be assembled into various 3-D objects. Aki converted an idle primary school building into its current office building.
“First, we create three-dimensional computer images of products, and then use precision lasers to cut cardboard into elaborate components,” Aki President Yuki Matsuoka, said. “No one else is likely to create such exquisite articles.”
Born in Kunisaki, Matsuoka graduated from an art university. Aki has grown into a company that enjoys popularity both at home and abroad. In fact, about 20 per cent of total sales comes from overseas.
Aki is unusual not only for its products — it operates under a four-day workweek system. The company’s 13 employees work 10 hours a day from Monday through Thursday. Company meetings, which were considered a waste of time, were abolished, resulting in a boost in employee motivation.
Since the introduction of the four-day workweek in June 2013, the company’s sales have risen nearly 30 per cent. “If we worked under the same sense of time as that in urban areas, we couldn’t make a living in a provincial area,” Matsuoka said. “I have tried to improve productivity and shorten work hours so my employees can use the spare time for local community activities and raising their children.”
One company even encourages its workers to take outside jobs, although most companies prohibit dual employment. The company is En Factory Inc, an internet-related service firm based in Tokyo.
Kenta Kato, president of the company, said, “I don’t say my employees should have just any side job. I recommend them to do side work that can give them a chance to think about business management. Doing so fosters their initiative and a sense of professionalism, and improves their business sense.”
In fact, half of the company’s 22 employees enthusiastically work at side jobs, such as production and sales of pet supplies, and management of social networking services inside other companies. One of them, Takahito Yagami, 35, manages websites for disseminating information mainly about his home city, Futtsu.
He said he wanted to pour more energy into his side jobs. “I’ll work in businesses that can contribute to my home city and are rooted in the local community,” he said.
The number of company employees who wish to do rewarding work is not small. Recruit Career Co., a Tokyo-based job-placement company that also helps workers who want to change jobs, began a service named “Sankaku” in September 2014.
The service aims to connect employees of major companies and start-up firms. Though the service is still being offered on a trial basis, about 50 companies and thousands of company employees have already registered.
The selling point of the service is that company employees can participate in management of the start-ups without quitting their current jobs. Start-ups display their needs and problems on the website, and registered company employees contact the firms if they think they can help them.
Though the company employees are not paid for their outside activities, Hiroaki Ito, a 30-year-old employee of a major telecommunications company, said, “I was impressed as I knew that people running start-ups are taking risks and working as if they are betting their lives.”
Kanta Akiyama, who developed the system of the Sankaku service, said: “Start-ups lack people with experience and skills. Employees of major companies cannot switch jobs so easily even if they want to test their potential. I thought it would be good to match the needs of the two sides.”
Unlocking people’s motivation can benefit both companies and Japanese society.
