Management identifies issues, and the company as a whole moves ahead. Ajinomoto & Mitsubishi Estate Co: What we have done to adapt to the “change” described by executives and the millennial generation

“Work-style reforms” are being tackled nationwide in anticipation of impending reductions in the labor force accompanying the declining birthrate and aging population. However, leading companies that have had long-standing success through existing business models are struggling to make this significant change. Ajinomoto and Mitsubishi Estate are making bold work-style reforms. These two leading companies are taking the initiative in their respective industries, and the impact of their taking a scalpel to their ways of working is considerable.

Just how have the two companies reviewed their work styles, and what benefits have they enjoyed as a result? Four people, executives from both companies and two people active in the field representing the millennial generation, gathered for a roundtable discussion. We will search for clues as to how leading Japanese companies should review their work styles and increase productivity.

INDEX

・Both companies are incorporating work-style reforms into their mid-term plans
・Review of how meetings are conducted. Are meetings that aren’t face-to-face effective?
・Will innovation arise from changes in work styles?
・The starting point for work-style reform is the idea of the executive as a flag bearer
・What Gen X and millennials think about each other
・Takeaway

Chiaki Nosaka
Member of the Board and Corporate Vice President , Ajinomoto Co. Inc.

Misato Nakamura
Labor Management Group, Human Resources Department, Ajinomoto Co., Inc.

Junichi Tanisawa
Representative Corporate Executive Officer, Deputy President, Mitsubishi Estate Co. Ltd.

Maiko Ikeda
xTECH Leasing and Promotion Department and Area Brand Management   Department, Mitsubishi Estate Co. Ltd.

Both companies are incorporating work-style reforms into their mid-term plans

The common points between these two companies are that they are participating in MINDS, an organization that promotes work-style reforms established by Microsoft Japan, and that their mid-term plans include work styles and human resources. Why are human resources included in their mid-term plans, and what kind of changes have resulted from changing work styles? We asked executives Ms. Chiako Nosaka and Mr. Junichi Tanisawa.

Tanisawa: Now is a major turning point in which Japanese work styles are changing. What we do, with the real estate industry as our main business, is the business of providing our customers with office space. However, in order to provide value to customers beyond the traditional leasing of space, we must change to take the initiative in adapting to global trends. To that end, our mid-term plan incorporates implementing diverse work styles.
In reviewing the way we work, we moved our head office. By introducing hot-desking and setting up a cafeteria, we first changed the material aspects of the working environment. That alone has changed a lot, but, of course, I don’t think it ends there. For the next step, I would like to think more and pay more attention to how to change soft aspects.

Nosaka: Until June this year, I carried out R&D on seasonings at our research institute for food in Kawasaki. While developing products based on customer needs, I felt strongly that the lifestyles of our customers have changed over the past few years. As lifestyles change together with values, the long-term employment and male-centric thinking that has not changed since the Showa era are unable to provide society with new value. Based on the idea that, if more diverse human resources with varied ideas do not interact, the ASV (an abbreviation of Ajinomoto Group Shared Value) based on our mission of “adopting a global perspective to contribute to food, health and better living tomorrow” cannot be realized, we chose to address this as a business plan.
What we are focusing on in particular is work-style reform and promoting diversity. Work-style reforms have made it possible to reduce the actual total number of hours worked, making it easier for employees raising children to work and making it easier to return from maternity leave. It’s also a pleasant change that men have more opportunities to get involved in housework.
Diversity promotion remains a work in progress. We have set a goal of having 20% female managers throughout the company in 2020. While the goal itself was achieved in the first year, looking at the breakdown, while overseas managed to exceed 30%, Japan did not exceed 8%. The number of female managers is increasing compared to before, but I think this is an issue we must continue to tackle going forward.

Both companies seem to have opted to change themselves in order to respond to changing times and customers. What did you become aware of as you changed your work styles?

Tanisawa: The head office relocation project was carried out by a team of millennial employees from the management team, including President Yoshida and myself. The details were entrusted to the younger employees, and one thing I told them was “I want you to be able to choose the working environment.” Some employees find it easier to concentrate in quiet environments, while others are able to focus in noisier environments. I told them to create an office in which everyone can work easily and can choose for themselves an environment.
Thanks to the hard work of our employees, this was achieved, and a nap room and concentration space were created, resulting in an office that is easy to work in. Although the effects cannot be shown using quantitative values, you can feel the qualitative effects, such as an increase of communication among employees . The executive rooms were removed, and opportunities to come into contact with a broad range of employees increased. Our offices use the 3^rd to 6^th floors of the building, and even the executives try as much as possible not to use the elevators and instead use the internal staircases within the work area.

One thing both companies have done is introduce hot-desking. They spoke to us about what kind of changes this has caused, and its advantages and disadvantages.

Tanisawa: I was told by a young employee that “I am no longer nervous when I speak to you” because the executive private offices have been removed and I sit in a place where everyone can see my face every day.” Before, he used to be nervous when knocking on the door. There is now fixed seating for the executives, but next to those seats are spaces where you can have meetings like in a family restaurant, and so you meet and discuss freely. Consultation with executives is allowed even without an appointment, and so they found free time in my calendar and began to hold consultations with me more and more.
Surprisingly, it is young employees sitting in front of my seat more than the managers [laughs]. Sometimes a young employee I have never seen before sits down in front of me, and this creates casual conversation. It is interesting because this is communication that would not occur were I in a private office. You can normally work on any floor, but the other day was designated as a “shuffle day” and, regardless of the department or floor, we actively moved to locations different from that of our usual work and made efforts to interact with various employees. Seats with a good view from the window seem to be the most popular.

Nosaka: Because I was assigned to head office after the head office adopted hot-desking, I can’t speak for the change, but employees who had returned after some three years overseas were surprised and said that it had become a completely different company. Paperless working was implemented in conjunction with hot-desking. Because we previously had fixed seating, documents that would not fit into the filing drawers were piled up on the desks and looked like they would topple over with the slightest nudge. Now that we only have small lockers to store personal items, having reduced the number of things the office is now very tidy and working efficiency has also increased.

Reviews of how meetings are conducted. Are meetings that aren’t face-to-face effective?

Ajinomoto is now realizing the effects of implementing work-style reforms, but that path is said to have never been easy. What were your secrets to success in adopting work style reforms?

Nosaka: We had a tough time, not because we changed hard aspects such as moving offices but because we changed our work style, a soft aspect. There’s also the story about the documents from just now, but it was difficult to suddenly try to change work styles because the old way of working was ingrained. In fact, we once tried work-style reforms before 2017. At the time, however, these were unable to really permeate, and so, this time, it was addressed by a project task force.
What was effective above all was setting numerical targets. Thanks to setting a quantitative goal for the reduction in total working hours, we were able to reduce these by more than 100 hours per year compared to 2016. By setting goals, initiatives for the whole company and for individual departments could be implemented as specific measures. For example, we reviewed the participants in the company-wide debriefing sessions, which have thus far been held four times a year, and reduced the frequency of these meetings to once per year. Online meetings were also promoted for other meetings.
We also reviewed the remote working system called “Office anywhere.” The system has existed for some time, but applying in advance was cumbersome, and so it was not used much. This was improved in 2017, making it usable with a simple application in advance, and its operation was revised to make it possible to come into work only once a week. Of course, everyone works from home on bad weather days, like typhoons and heavy snow. Besides this, we also implemented email reforms, abolishing emails for recruitment and messages sent to the entire company, making it so that employees go to bulletin boards themselves. This is to prevent inboxes from filling up with unread emails.

Ikeda: It’s amazing that you have promoted remote working to that extent. We are also promoting remote working, which was formalized in the labor regulations from 2019, but we are also considering the significance of meeting face-to-face as the core of what an office provides. I think there is value in accidentally meeting and conversing on account of there being an office and of coming into work. For this reason, all-day remote working currently remains limited to about twice a month. Because our department operates four collaboration platforms in the Marunouchi area, I think that employees often work not only at headquarters but also at the co-working spaces in the facilities we operate, and while there is more freedom of location, it remains worthwhile to meet face-to-face no matter how much remote work progresses, and this is something I wish to keep.

Nakamura: I also feel the importance of meeting in person. I am in a department called the “Labor Policy Group” and meet with all 18 members of the department twice a month. What used to be a face-to-face meeting bringing all 18 members together was changed to an online meeting. However, there were also some new members transferred into the group, and there were also some people who had never met in an entirely online meeting before.
For this reason, we chose to hold a face-to-face meeting once a month. It’s good to talk online once a certain degree of a relationship has been established, but relying on such tools from the outset, I feel that communication instead becomes inefficient.

The millennial generation has an image of emphasizing remote working, but surprisingly, it feels important to meet feet-to-face. What do you feel about the change to hot-desking?

Nakamura: There was fixed seating at the time immediately after I joined the company, and there was an unnecessary tension in feeling that I was always being checked up on, but, upon the introduction of hot-desking, I was happy to have been freed from that. Moreover, workplace efficiency has also been improved by allowing people to select seats and places where they can work freely depending on the day’s work. For example, on days where there are meetings, you can choose seats near to the person leading that meeting, or, if you wish to create a document in silence, you can choose a seat close to the wall. In the past I was like, “I have a dentist appointment so I’ll use a remote office,” but now I think it is more efficient because I can choose a place to work depending on my task.
Moreover, it became easier to work as the distance from Ms. Nosaka became less. To be honest, in the past, she felt like a far-off presence. I’m happy that now she occasionally talks to me about things besides work. My work has become easier through the idea that it’s okay to be a little more familiar.

Will innovation arise from changes in work styles?

The implementation of work-style reforms is not the end, and both companies seem to be continuing through trial-and-error. There seems to be specific effects, but do you feel the benefits of work style reform in a broader sense?

Nosaka: I think that changing the quality

The implementation of work-style reforms is not the end, and both companies seem to be continuing through trial-and-error. There seems to be specific effects, but do you feel the benefits of work style reform in a broader sense?

Nosaka: I think that changing the quality of communication will certainly lead to innovation. Communicating with a wider variety of people than before should give rise to things never seen before. We think it is important to create an environment in which this kind of innovation occurs naturally.
To that end, everyone’s awareness must first further change. People are liable to become unconsciously trapped in conventional ways of thinking. New value cannot be created if we are trapped in conventional thinking. Therefore, in addition to creating an environment in which diverse people can communicate through work-style reforms, such as hot-desking, the management team has begun training to take notice of the mental barriers (bias) everyone possesses, termed “unconscious bias.” This is necessary for a culture in which diverse human resources with different experiences and values accept and respect those differences, and is an important factor in sprouting innovation. I thought it was important to have employees who the management feels have the awareness needed to continuously create innovation. The management, including the president, have had serious issues with work styles and diversity promotion, and I hope the message will be that we will overcome these as a company.

Tanisawa: Our work is city planning. Cities must be things that change. In the case of buildings, one building will last 100 years, but this is not the case for cities. These must be a symbol of change. Now, in addition to major companies, startup companies are also congregating around Marunouchi, but that format is not always the correct answer for city planning. I would like to change the way cities are built to match the prosperity of the times.
Of course, now that companies are congregating, I think it is important to create a city in which both large companies and startups can work easily. I think it is important to continue to create a system connecting large companies, startups, universities, and government.

Ikeda: In regards to city planning, I think that innovation cannot occur if varied peoples do not gather. If only startups gather or only large enterprises, innovation will not occur. Because large companies are also gathered in Marunouchi, I think we must connect startups to large companies. Through this xTECH website (this medium) too, I would like people to think it interesting because it is possible to go to Marunouchi and hear from varied people, and I would like for it to be a medium that may provide an opportunity to get connected.

(bias) everyone possesses, termed “unconscious bias.” This is necessary for a culture in which diverse human resources with different experiences and values accept and respect those differences, and is an important factor in sprouting innovation. I thought it was important to have employees who the management feels have the awareness needed to continuously create innovation. The management, including the president, have had serious issues with work styles and diversity promotion, and I hope the message will be that we will overcome these as a company.

Tanisawa: Our work is city planning. Cities must be things that change. In the case of buildings, one building will last 100 years, but this is not the case for cities. These must be a symbol of change. Now, in addition to major companies, startup companies are also congregating around Marunouchi, but that format is not always the correct answer for city planning. I would like to change the way cities are built to match the prosperity of the times.
Of course, now that companies are congregating, I think it is important to create a city in which both large companies and startups can work easily. I think it is important to continue to create a system connecting large companies, startups, universities, and government.

Ikeda: In regards to city planning, I think that innovation cannot occur if varied peoples do not gather. If only startups gather or only large enterprises, innovation will not occur. Because large companies are also gathered in Marunouchi, I think we must connect startups to large companies. Through this xTECH website (this medium) too, I would like people to think it interesting because it is possible to go to Marunouchi and hear from varied people, and I would like for it to be a medium that may provide an opportunity to get connected.

The starting point for work-style reform is the idea of the executive as a flag bearer

What has surprised me about the conversation so far is your flexibility of thinking, Mr. Tanisawa and Ms. Nosaka. Even if a large company wants to reform its work style, it is not uncommon for the generation that has supported the company for a long time to become a barrier. How is it that the both of you have become able to think flexibly in this way?

Tanisawa: My child is a millennial, and their way of thinking is completely different. It was the same as when I had my job-seeking consultation. The general idea among our generation is that, once we join a company, we will work there until the end, but this generation is considering career plans premised on changing jobs. I was shocked, but at the same time, I learned something. I have enjoyed socializing with young people from the outset, but I think my perspectives have been broadened through interactions with my child.

Nosaka: My career began when I was assigned to the Kawasaki institute more than 30 years ago. Society at the time was male-centric, and, as a woman, there were many matters where I wanted greater mutual understanding. I think this is based on experience of product development created by diverse human resources from different generations and specialists facing customers and working together, which I later experienced in company life.

What Gen X and millennials think about each other

The executives and millennials of both Ajinomoto and Mitsubishi Estate Co were asked to discuss what they expected of each other and what their roles were.

Tanisawa: There is no doubt that the millennial generation will become the center of innovation going forward, and there is also a stratum of young people following the millennial generation that have grown up as digital natives. I hope that millennials will become the bridge between us in Generation X and the digital-native generation. Millennials are good at communication, and I think they are good at work involving people.

Ikeda: The millennial generation are very relieved just by having Gen X executives like Mr. Tanisawa join the team. I think that, even were the millennials to create work-style reforms alone, they would not work well at all. Having executives onboard, sometimes they give opinions, sometimes they disagree, but the contribution made by the sense of security in having them watch over things is great.

Nosaka: We in Generation X are embarrassed to speak honestly about our reasons for working, our reasons for living. In that sense, I think millennials can balance work and life, and can adjust according to their stages in life. In any case, there is no doubt that they will be the driving force for creating new work styles going forward, and so I want you to do your best, with the belief that you are the main protagonists.
We in Generation X were young once, and there were, of course, differences from the old generation. Each generation has its own characteristics and strengths, so I think it is important to create an environment and relationships that allow for working cheerfully together while making use of them. Millennials are earnest, and many are passionate about being useful in society, but, on the other hand, I think they tend to fear friction. If they can venture forth without such a fear, Japan will certainly have a brighter future.

Nakamura: As career options expand, there are many among millennials who have all sorts of ideas. It is not all positive, and there are also many people who are wavering over various options. At such times, I think they want advice rooted in experience from people who are further ahead of them.
With that in mind, the company is now focusing on improving the quality of its communication. It will not end with reforming the current work style, and, in order to further change communication styles, we are about to start “work-style reforms 2.0.”

Ikeda: Similar stories have emerged from Mitsubishi Estate, and I think work-style upgrades are necessary. I feel that the work-style reforms up till now have generally emphasized reducing working hours. However, there are many among young people who want to work more and grow, even if it means working overtime. I would like that kind of thinking to be accepted in terms of diversity.
Also, remote work has its problems; for instance, with fixed seating, seats are arranged in teams with close working relationships, so it is easy to know when team members are around as well as the state of other members, and face-to-face communication is easy, but also communication becomes a little difficult due to hot-desking and remote work. I feel that it is necessary to improve the quality of communication and push work-style reforms to the next stage in order to solve such issues.

The work-style reforms of both companies aren’t complete yet. In order to find work styles that fit the times, it cannot be complete. It’s said that this is a time in which work styles are becoming more diverse, but, if we consider that they will become even more diverse, if we cannot cope with work styles that fit the times, companies will not develop.

What I felt after listening to the stories of both companies is that work-style reforms are not simply about making work more efficient and making it easier to work. It comprises the thoughts of executives as well as people involved in projects about employees and society. It is not simply about imitating other companies, but this may be the beginning of work-style reforms that consider how one wants employees to live and work and what values one wants to impart to society.

Planning：Yohei Azakami
Editing：BrightLogg,inc.
Writing：Kohei Suzuki
Photography：Nobuhiro Toya