Transfer season

[dimwit]

Well it is my least favorite season of the year -transfer season when I am guarenteed to lose 5 to 10 students. I am wondering if anyone has heard of any good justification for transfering workers around every three to five years. It seems to me that the time needed to train workers in their new positions combined with the disruptions to there families is wholy unproductive. So why do companies do it? Any thoughts?

[Taro Toporific]

...I am wondering if anyone has heard of any good justification for transfering workers around every three to five years. ...]

Transfers are done in the hope of burning out and getting rid of employees at Maybe-the-Largest-in-Japan Inc. Basically, 60% of the employees are unneeded. By transferring them enough times, Maybe-the-Largest can trim their staff via attrition without having "firing" anyone.

[Midwinter]

So why do companies do it? Any thoughts?

Like Taro said, only with 100% more incompetance.

Actually, I've always been amazed that salarymen would go along with it, uprooting their lifes and family just for their company. There's value in the ability to say no.

[Captain Japan]

So why do companies do it? Any thoughts?

Like Taro said, only with 100% more incompetance.

Actually, I've always been amazed that salarymen would go along with it, uprooting their lifes and family just for their company. There's value in the ability to say no.

Uproot? At my office, the guy just leaves for wherever. The family stays.

[Charles]

So why do companies do it? Any thoughts?

Like Taro said, only with 100% more incompetance.

Actually, I've always been amazed that salarymen would go along with it, uprooting their lifes and family just for their company. There's value in the ability to say no.

Uproot? At my office, the guy just leaves for wherever. The family stays.

Well, there is an actual logic of sorts behind the

[Midwinter]

So why do companies do it? Any thoughts?

Like Taro said, only with 100% more incompetance.

Actually, I've always been amazed that salarymen would go along with it, uprooting their lifes and family just for their company. There's value in the ability to say no.

Uproot? At my office, the guy just leaves for wherever. The family stays.

You're absolutely right! My bad. I didn't mean to apply normal, responsible thinking to a situation that obviously requires none.

[Taro Toporific]

Via the Japan SAQ (Seldom Asked Questions)

Being a teacher in Japan, I have long known that school teachers (at least in public schools) in Japan are obligated to change schools after working at one school for a certain number of years. But I have never known why. I always thought that was strange, but found it even stranger when I found out that my friend's wife, works for the city government where they live, also has to change positions every few years, a situation that results in a lot of people not knowing how to do their jobs. Finally, I just talked to a grocery store clerk I have chatted with for the last couple of years who says that she also has to move because she can only work at one branch of the store for three years. Any reason for all of this? - Question submitted by "Deep Blue"

A. There are several different reasons for this practice. In the case of teachers and civil servants, it is apparently to prevent corruption and keep people on their toes. Moving people around every few years is thought to help prevent them from becoming complacent or establishing long-term relationships with individuals which may lead to favouratism or corruption. In addition, it also helps to stop people from getting bored and bringing down the morale of others, becoming lazy, or organizing to fight against management or the administration. In the case of company employees, the reason for frequent transfers is to give them a grasp of how every department in the company operates, helping them to create contacts and learn how to deal with different departments. When workers become managers, it is very useful for them to have worked in different sections of the company. Thanks to Sarah Cardenas, Naoyuki Maruya, Terry V., Mark Elsley, Mark Baldwin, and Dylan for helping with this question.

[cstaylor]

organizing to fight against management or the administration

This is the real reason.

[dimwit]

So it is in place to prevent civil servents from being corrupt (which it doesn't) and give company workers a broader range of skill (which it also doesn't). Have there been any studies looking at the cost involved in transferring workers both in time wasted retraining and the physical uprooting of workers? How do companies rationalize it?

[Captain Japan]

One of the funnier conversations I've had a with salaryman was over this. He joined the company (construction) in the mid '80s. He started in the domestic section. At some point he was asked to fill out a survey. One of the questions was: Are you interested in English? He checked the "yes" box. Within a month he was transferred to the international division and soon after that he found himself on a project in the middle of nowhere in Africa (I think it was Mali). At the time he was telling me this (three years ago) we were working on a project in Kiribati in the South Pacific...

In the time between he had lived probably a half dozen countries (getting transferred roughly every three years from project to project). The funny part was that as he told me the story he kept emphasizing that it was all as a result of him checking the "yes" box.

In his early days in the domestic section (roughly around the time of the bubble) he was on a project site in Chiba. He said one of his most important jobs was to ensure that the site dormitory refrigerator was stocked with booze. He said there were the phone numbers of quite a few liquor stores taped to the front of refrigerator.