Panasonic Wants YOU

[Mulboyne]

As part of its effort to increase international competitiveness, Panasonic (formerly Matsushita Electric) plans to double the number of foreign employees working in Japan from the current 100. They will also standardize training procedures and set up a "gaikokujin mentor system" which will implemented across the whole company having given it a trial run in the head office last year. The mentor system will place new foreign employees under the watchful eye of a manager with extensive international experience. Panasonic will also introduce a review of each employee after two years to try to deal with the fact that they have difficulty retaining employees into a third year. The company believes that they need to make more of foreign talent and need to be more consistent in how they develop foreign employees. (Article in Japanese here)

[kamome]

I turned down a job offer at Matsushit'sa (now Panasonic's) headquarters in Osaka several years ago because they were going to house me in one of those god awful dormitories and wouldn't even let me visit the office once before I accepted the offer. I figured any company that won't show a prospective employee the office layout (even so much as a conference room) has something to hide. But at least they're making an effort to accommodate foreign employees and mentor them. That's one of the risks of working in a J-company - many don't have the ability or the resources to mentor foreign employees or integrate them into the office culture.

[Greji]

That's one of the risks of working in a J-company - many don't have the ability or the resources to mentor foreign employees or integrate them into the office culture.

That's a good point Bird and regardless of all the team play gar-bage that is spouted, the large companies are not big on mentorship,, or training of employees, unless it is a company sponsored training program that you apply for in competition with other employees. A lot of older employees seem to see it as an immediate threat to their job security if they teach someone something about their own job. There may be some help in the at the smaller section level with the old sempai/kohai thingy, but I have seen young employees literally begging for help/assistance and unless it was something that if bungled would get the other workers, or bosses in trouble, the youngsters were left to do it themselves. When they botched it was always considered a "learning experience", even though these would be used as further assignment/promotion impediments. Hence the further feeding of the old "standing nail" syndrome. My place gives major lip service to all the latest training and OJT programs, but to get selected to attend any of the training programs, you gotta have major black book on a boss of importance, or influence i.e. candid snapshots of his latest tryst and so forth.

[amdg]

I turned down a job offer at Matsushit'sa (now Panasonic's) headquarters in Osaka several years ago because they were going to house me in one of those god awful dormitories and wouldn't even let me visit the office once before I accepted the offer. I figured any company that won't show a prospective employee the office layout (even so much as a conference room) has something to hide. But at least they're making an effort to accommodate foreign employees and mentor them. That's one of the risks of working in a J-company - many don't have the ability or the resources to mentor foreign employees or integrate them into the office culture.

Yes. But I'm not sure which side of the fence I stand on with regard to integrating foreign employees. You can set up separate system for them, but that just creates opportunities for unequal treatment and an us vs them office vibe. I've yet to see a good example of this kind of integration.

Where I work I was, until recently, the only foreigner and when I started I made it kind of clear that I wanted to be treated like any other employee. Don't know whether that was a good idea or not - everything is in Japanese from my computer software, to office memos, staff meetings, performance reviews. Everything. I even get shit if I don't show the office manager the appropriate respect when dealing with him. Whether it was a good idea or not, I prefer it this way. I guess it's because of the predictability - I know what to expect in any given situation. If they had a separate system for foreigners anything could happen.

[Greji]

If they had a separate system for foreigners anything could happen.

They have one. They just have told you about it!

[amdg]

They have one. They just haven't told you about it!

Yes I'm paranoid. The only question is - am I paranoid enough?

[fucked]

The real issue is what is the career path.
Are they just needed to be glorified translators and photo op pieces?

Samsung, who is kicking ass in the electronics space big time, does a better job. There Global Strategy Group takes foreigners (esp MBAs) to work in S Korea for a couple of years and then sends them back home (or another foreign country) to local affiliates overseas to be (senior) management there.
Link:http://www.sgsg.samsung.com/home/home.asp

[amdg]

Their Global Strategy Group takes foreigners (esp MBAs) to work in S Korea for a couple of years and then sends them back home (or another foreign country) to local affiliates overseas to be (senior) management there.

Let me be the first to say that this will never happen in Japan's foreseeable future.

[fucked]

Let me be the first to say that this will never happen in Japan's foreseeable future.

And that is exactly the problem (if your Japan),
and the reason Japan is declining as a place of economic interest (if you are any other country/ person).

[kamome]

Yes. But I'm not sure which side of the fence I stand on with regard to integrating foreign employees. You can set up separate system for them, but that just creates opportunities for unequal treatment and an us vs them office vibe. I've yet to see a good example of this kind of integration.

Where I work I was, until recently, the only foreigner and when I started I made it kind of clear that I wanted to be treated like any other employee. Don't know whether that was a good idea or not - everything is in Japanese from my computer software, to office memos, staff meetings, performance reviews. Everything. I even get shit if I don't show the office manager the appropriate respect when dealing with him. Whether it was a good idea or not, I prefer it this way. I guess it's because of the predictability - I know what to expect in any given situation. If they had a separate system for foreigners anything could happen.

I'm not sure the answer is a "separate system". Just something to get foreign employees up to speed on what is expected. An informal mentorship program would be a nice start. Someone in the company/firm who can guide the expat employee or advise him on various internal matters.

I found the main us vs. them dynamic in a J-company wasn't as much about gaijin vs Japanese, but rather it was between employees who came up through the "system", i.e., those who were hired directly from university and put through the company's assimilation program versus those who were lateral employees (anyone who came over from another company or from outside, like foreign employees). This means that some Japanese are also stuck on the outside along with the other gaijin. You can't help the Japanese laterals much, but at least you can help gaijin to participate more fully and learn their job better.

[Greji]

[Mulboyne]

There is often an inconsistency in the way Japanese companies treat their foreign employees. One American guy I knew had a particularly good patron who supported his language lessons and even got his company to sponsor him through Harvard Business School which was a rare gift that few Japanese employees received. When he returned, the work he was offered was undemanding and, after sticking with it for a year or so, he left. The company's reaction wasn't to wonder about how to retain such employees in the future but to scale back on training programmes for the remaining foreign employees on the assumption that they would probably leave too. Of course, this proved to be self-fulfilling.

Some foreign staff continued to have their own decent patrons, especially if they were working overseas where the constraints of head office were not in evidence but then another odd thing happened. Lacking experienced foreign staff, the company began to encourage people who had left the company to return and offered competitive salaries and management positions to those they sought. This meant, of course, that anyone who had stuck by the company out of a sense of loyalty had suffered the backlash when foreign staff resigned and now were in effect being penalized again for not having left. More, of course, decided to resign.

This happened across a range of industries and I recall reading an interview with a Japanese manager who claimed that it was actually a cunning plan: foreign employees were more valuable when they left to get experience elsewhere and then brought it back to the company. Many FGs will have encountered this attitude before. If you stay in a Japanese company for long, or indeed work in Japan for any length of time, there will be people who begin to doubt whether you can still bring any useful foreign perspective to the table.

Of course, it wasn't a cunning plan but rather an opportunistic rationalization to meet some pressing business demands. To this day, I'll be in a meeting with a Japanese manager and he'll bring along a foreign employee. The conversation might turn to someone we both know and the manager will say "Yes, he's really good and doing so well. Of course, he used to work for us so we see him as one of ours". This seems to me to be a crazy thing to say in front of one of your current foreign employees since it sends the message that if he wants to get on in the world and earn the respect of his current colleagues then he should leave as soon as possible. The company might see someone like that as "one of ours" but the feeling is almost certainly not reciprocated. All such episodes serve to show is that a Japanese company hired a good foreign employee, failed to make use of his talents and watched a rival get the benefits of his main revenue-generating years. If we had been talking about a Japanese employee who left to join a foreign competitor, it's unlikely the manager would call such a treacherous dog "one of ours" and try to claim some spurious connection to his subsequent success.

When I worked for a Japanese company, similar things happened to foreigners but also to female Japanese employees. One unmarried girl was sent abroad which was very rare at the time, even warranting a small mention in the press. She returned to Japan and, a couple of years later, she married and left to set up a home. The company reacted by not sending any more women abroad and foreign companies were the main beneficiaries as they lost all their best highly trained female staff within eighteen months.

In one respect, Panasonic's move is good because it makes hiring and training of foreign employees a company priority rather than an ad hoc arrangement which leaves staff at the mercy of the fortunes of their line manager. On the other hand, the idea of doubling the number of foreign staff seems like a measure to counteract their high turnover ratio: if 80% don't stay on into a third year then at least they'll have 20 left rather than just 10.

[amdg]

Nice info Mulb, Greji, and Kamome.

Yes, I may be missing the point, not having any real experience in big corporations. I've only ever worked in small/med law firms where the hoarding of information is the first rule of fight club. In fact, the greatest compliment you can pay someone (besides saying "that guy's a smart motherfucker") is to say "that guy is generous with his time and his knowledge". A youngster starting out in any one of these places should immediately try to find out who that person is in their firm and befriend them. If they exist.


Edit - by the way Mulb, this



is just such a horrible picture. And so perfect.

[kamome]

As much as I hate to say it to you Bird, this is a very astute observation.

Hey, I've been known to make one every now and then!

[Jack]

Fuck me. First intelligent thread and back and forth conversation I've seen in a while on this forum. Don't let me interrupt guys, go on.

[American Oyaji]

Fuck me. First intelligent thread and back and forth conversation I've seen in a while on this forum. Don't let me interrupt guys, go on.

Too late, you already did

But as far as insights to Japanese corporate culture, THANK YOU.
Working here at H-gaisha has taught me a lot, and what you say makes a lot of sense too.

[Greji]

Fuck me.

Hey, I'm no pushover, but I can be made. Call me the next time you're in town.

[American Oyaji]

Hey, I'm no pushover, but I can be made. Call me the next time you're in town.

Yer a sick vidi

[xenomorph42]

I would recommend(those staying long term)to try and start their own business. While this may not be the best idea or solution for everyone, I just think "to hell" with all the bureaucratic BS that plaques this country. I have a business for the last 3 years and I am sooo happy, I took that road.
Less stress, financial freedom and not having to worry about being pigeon-holed constantly in the Japanese corporate world.

[kamome]

I would recommend(those staying long term)to try and start their own business. While this may not be the best idea or solution for everyone, I just think "to hell" with all the bureaucratic BS that plaques this country. I have a business for the last 3 years and I am sooo happy, I took that road.
Less stress, financial freedom and not having to worry about being pigeon-holed constantly in the Japanese corporate world.

You've mentioned the upside to owning a business, but there's a lot of risk too. There's usually a fundamental tradeoff - security and stability of office work (with little upside beyond a straight salary) versus freedom and autonomy of owning a business with high upside (but the constant concern that you don't know where your next paycheck will come from).

I'd be afraid to shoulder the downside risk of owning a business coupled with the unique challenges of living in Japan, but of course there are FG who are doing it and are having various levels of success (i.e., GG).

[xenomorph42]

You've mentioned the upside to owning a business, but there's a lot of risk too. There's usually a fundamental tradeoff - security and stability of office work (with little upside beyond a straight salary) versus freedom and autonomy of owning a business with high upside (but the constant concern that you don't know where your next paycheck will come from).

I'd be afraid to shoulder the downside risk of owning a business coupled with the unique challenges of living in Japan, but of course there are FG who are doing it and are having various levels of success (i.e., GG).

True that, I knew that jumping in feet first, but the constant frustration and the knocking the head against the wall and the stubbornness of the locals helped me that much more to make that final decision. Again, while this might not be for everyone, the risks by far, outweigh the the physical and emotional garbage that you get here in the corporate world.

[samuraiwig]

Good thread. It's depressingly reassuring to hear that others have experienced similar difficulties trying to integrate into / work effectively in corporate Japan.

Anyone willing to share some words of wisdom on how to work around a situation in which a lack of leadership from above is exacerbated by confusion over language/culture/business priority issues at the operational level?

I figure Japanese managers don't like to be asked questions (as mentioned, preferring to rely on underlings to work things out for themselves), but what to do when the ideas presented by the resident dogsbody emanate from the planet gaikoku and simply don't compute...?

[amdg]

[samuraiwig]

[quote="amdg"]You’]

So I have assimilated enough to achieve a superior level of vagueness.

The question is pretty general. I guess I'm curious to know how people have got things done when the hierarchy must be respected but the head honchos lack the will/balls/ability/specialist knowledge/inclination (take yer pick) to make decisions or offer leadership.

[Charles]

..I figure Japanese managers don't like to be asked questions (as mentioned, preferring to rely on underlings to work things out for themselves), but what to do when the ideas presented by the resident dogsbody emanate from the planet gaikoku and simply don't compute...?

You remind me of some of the popular business books that were written back in the early days of the Bubble, trying to emulate Japanese business methods. One in particular, The One Minute Manager, comes to mind. The core message of the book was, when an underling comes to you with a problem, you ask them, "how would you solve this problem?" So they tell you what they'd do, and you reply, "OK, so do that."

[ttjereth]

[quote="samuraiwig"]So I have assimilated enough to achieve a superior level of vagueness.]

Have the cutest girl in the office bring it up to the old oyaji in charge and expect 0 recognition or compensation for it

[Oradea]

Have the cutest girl in the office bring it up to the old oyaji in charge and expect 0 recognition or compensation for it

Have the cutest girl in the office;)

[amdg]

[quote="samuraiwig"]So I have assimilated enough to achieve a superior level of vagueness.]

That was a joke son!

[Mulboyne]

Yomiuri: Workforce welcomes skilled foreigners Foreign graduates pursued by firms that see international staff as key to expansion

An increasing number of foreign university students are staying in Japan to work after they graduate, with Japanese firms regarding such hires as potential assets in their efforts to expand operations overseas. While the current economic recession may slow the hiring of foreign graduates, observers believe the trend is likely to increase in the long run. Siyana Samsudeen joined Fujitsu Ltd. in 2007 after graduating from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Oita Prefecture. The 26-year-old Sri Lankan holds the title of Bridge System Engineer, and liaises with Fujitsu's software development partners in China, India and other countries to ensure clients' requests are properly communicated. "Bridge SEs will be needed more and more, so I think this job has good prospects for the future," she said. Eugene Aksenov joined Fujitsu in 2007 after completing Tohoku University graduate school. Aksenov, a 26-year-old Australian national born in the former Soviet Union, works in the firm's Global Human Resources Management Division, providing clerical support for overseas branches. "I hope to use my multilingual abilities to send messages abroad. One day, I want to work in an overseas branch myself," he said. Kizo Tagomori, head of the firm's human resources recruitment center, said, "There's very little need for foreign staffers on the ground right now, but in five to 10 years there'll definitely be areas where they'll be useful." Such positions could include working in overseas branches to act as mediators with offices in Japan.

The number of foreign students who changed their resident status after receiving a job offer from a Japanese firm--as Justice Ministry Immigration Bureau regulations allow in certain cases--numbered 10,262 in 2007, up 24 percent from the previous year. The 2007 figure was double that of 2004, and triple that of 2002. Prof. Mitsuhide Shiraki, the dean of Waseda University's Center for International Education, said: "The number of Japanese people in the workforce will soon be decreasing by 300,000 to 400,000 per year. For firms to secure skilled personnel, employing foreign graduates will be more and more important." The government hopes to increase the number of foreigners studying at tertiary level in Japan from the current 120,000 to 300,000 by around 2020. A plan drawn up in July calls for improved housing and job seeking support services for foreign students, to be mainly provided via a designated group of 30 universities. Major staffing agency Pasona Inc. this year launched a Web site designed specifically for foreign students, a further indication of the private sector's interest in foreign graduates.

However, some outstanding issues are yet to be addressed. Tagomori noted the dissonance between firms' recruiting priorities and the admissions policies of Japanese universities. While firms seek graduates with math and science majors, most foreign students accepted by universities here are liberal arts students. Shiraki said firms also need to work on their approach to potential foreign recruits, saying: "Japanese firms don't map out the possible career course of a potential employee. This doesn't suit the thinking of foreign graduates, who tend to have clear career goals such as focusing on research or developing their management skills." Japanese firms engaging greater numbers of skilled foreign workers is a recent development, and the success of such partnerships can not yet be fully assessed.