OCT-DEC 2011
CONTENTS
PUBLISHER’S MESSAGE
The Global Imperative for Japan-focused HR Professionals
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Jun Kabigting JHRS COMMUNITY NEWS
Overcoming Nature’s Wrath: Crisis Management for HR
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The HR Agenda F E AT U R E S T O RY
Transnational HRM: An Interview with Mitsuhide Shiraki, Ph.D., Waseda University
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The HR Agenda HR LEGAL CLINIC
My Company Hasn’t Paid Me: Employee Rights and Legal Steps
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Jiro Oyama, Attorney-at-Law LEADERSHIP
Let’s Get Engaged! Understanding 5 Characteristics of Engaged Employees
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Hiroyuki Akaso CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Creating Chemistry in International Communication
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Hideki Ikeda ASK HR
Becoming More KokuSaiTeki国際的 (Internationally Intelligent)
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Andrew Manterfield & Yoshiharu Matsui HR BEST PRACTICE
Best Practice in Talent Assessment
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Dan Harrison, Ph.D. KNOWLEDGE@WHARTON
Ranking Employees: Why Comparing Workers to Their Peers Can Often Backfire
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Knowledge@Wharton HR TOOLBOX
Sexual Harassment Prevention for Japanese Assigned to Work in the U.S.
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Rochelle Kopp EDITORIAL
Japan’s New Global Spirit: The Yamato Damashii大和魂 Challenge
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Annette Karseras
To provide up-to-date and relevant sources of HR information and resources affecting and influencing the HR profession in Japan, and to become a bridge between Japanese and non-Japanese HR management systems so that we can facilitate the exchange of information and HR best practices, standards, and HR body of knowledge.
The HR Agenda Mission 1
Magazine Information The HR Agenda magazine is Japan’s first and only bilingual human resources (HR)-focused magazine, published quarterly by The Japan HR Society (JHRS) and produced by the HR Learning & Publishing Division of HR Central K.K. (The JHRS Secretariat).
Publisher
The Japan HR Society (JHRS)
Managing Editor
Jun Kabigting
Editor in Chief
Annette Karseras
Associate Editors
Hiroshi Okamoto
Bruce McLin Masanobu Sawada Design and Production
Boon Prints
Ad Sales, Marketing, and Distribution
Jessop Petroski Ryohei Kawai
Translators
Makito Noda Tomoko Ishii-Kabigting
Editorial Assistant
Marc Cillo
Subscriptions Please send subscription requests to hragenda@jhrs.org with your name, mailing address, and preferred mode of payment, or subscribe online at: http://www.jhrs.org/hr_agenda/subscribe We accept all major credit cards, PayPal, and bank transfers (bank fees to be included in the remittance). Domestic Single issue (print): JPY 1,575 (tax & postage included) Annual subscription–4 issues (digital only): JPY 3,150 (tax incl.) Annual subscription–4 issues (print & digital): JPY 5,250 (tax & postage incl.) International Wanted: International Distribution Agents. Email us at hragenda@jhrs.org. Call for Contributors and Writers The HR Agenda magazine welcomes contributions. Please contact us for a copy of our editorial guidelines and standards hragenda@jhrs.org. If you would like to republish or syndicate our content either online or in print, please email hragenda@jhrs.org for requirements and permissions. The HR Agenda and JHRS logos are registered trademarks and properties of The Japan HR Society (JHRS).
Office
c/o HR Central K.K. (The JHRS Secretariat) Shinagawa Intercity FRONT Bldg. 3F, Desk@ MB28 2-14-14, Kounan, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0075 JAPAN
Telephone
+81 (0)50-5806-9821
Fax
+81 (0)44 767-8021
For ad sales/marketing: advertising@jhrs.org For comments, suggestions, or other inquiries: hragenda@jhrs.org
Websites
www.jhrs.org | www.jhrs.org/hr_agenda
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©2011 The Japan HR Society (JHRS). All rights reserved. Image Source wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FukuzawaYukichi.jpg http://myriam-musing.blogspot.com Disclaimer The positions and opinions expressed by contributors in this magazine are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position or views of The Japan HR Society (JHRS), its general membership, its Secretariat, advertisers, friends, or supporters. We are not liable, in whole or in part, for the accuracy or truthfulness of any data, statistics, or information found in any of the published articles or advertisements herein. Further, any advice, opinions, or views found herein should be considered for informational purposes only and are not meant to substitute for competent legal and/or financial advice from qualified legal and financial professionals.
OCT-DEC 2011
PUBLISHER’S MESSAGE
The Global Imperative for Japan-focused HR Professionals Jun Kabigting, MBA/MSIE, CHR Chief Community Officer, The Japan HR Society (JHRS)
With the launching of our first issue, we made history. And this is just the start. In this issue and our succeeding issues, The HR Agenda, as Japan’s first and only bilingual HR-focused magazine, will do its best to offer a very unique platform for Japan-focused HR professionals worldwide to share best practices, learn from each other, and contribute to JHRS’ mission in helping advance the practice of the HR profession in Japan. To help achieve this mission, JHRS and The HR Agenda are proud to welcome our new Editor in Chief, Annette Karseras, who aims to help us make this publication a truly intercultural HR magazine. Fittingly, in this issue, we focus on a theme that we believe is the next logical step for Japan after rising from the devastation of the 3/11 earthquake: GLOBALIZATION. For us, this is no longer an option. It’s an imperative for Japan and her people to survive and thrive in the new global marketplace. You will read articles contributed by both Japanese and non-Japanese authors on how Japan-focused HR professionals can help their organizations win on the global stage. Don’t miss reading our feature story “Transnational HR Management” and other columns included in this issue. They’re worth your time…GUARANTEED! We are also pleased to become the Media Partner-of-choice for two international HR-related gatherings, namely, The 4th GOLD Symposium on Diversity & Inclusion on October 28, 2011 at the Tokyo American Club and the Offshoring, Outsourcing & Shared Services Summit Japan on November 1011, 2011 at the Westin Tokyo Hotel. For more details about these events, please refer to their advertisements in this magazine. Free copies of this magazine will be given away to all event participants. We hope that by supporting these events, we can further help support Japan HR’s global imperative. * * *
Ku d o s t o t h e o r g a n i z e r s a n d participants of the recently-concluded SHRM 2011 Annual Conference and Exposition held in Las Vegas from June 26-29, 2011. I had a very rare opportunity to represent the JHRS Community and became one of its session speakers where I discussed Japanese Management 101: Understanding the Japanese Way of People Management. It was a very wellattended session with 90-95% of the 290-seating capacity filled (refer to the picture collage of this event presented in the middle part of this magazine). It made me realize that there is indeed an earnest interest from the global community to understand and demystify Japanese Human Resource Management (HRM) practices. My only regret is that my session was the only Japan-related session in the entire 3-day conference attended by 18,000+ delegates. However, in my private meeting with SHRM representatives, they are keen on having more speakers from Japan in their next annual conference in Atlanta, Georgia where former US State Secretary, Condoleezza Rice, is expected to give the Key Note Address. I encourage all JHRS members as well as other Japan-focused
HR pros to attend and represent Japan in the world’s largest gathering of HR professionals. I can assure you that it’s an experience worth having as an HR pro to help you become more global in the truest sense of the word. Email me (jun@jhrs.org) if you need guidance in applying as a session speaker or if you are interested in becoming a JHRS Delegate in this Conference. See you all in Atlanta in 2012! * * * Be heard. Influence others. Get published. As a new and pioneering publication, we invite contributors for future issues of this magazine (hragenda@jhrs.org). At the same time, I would also like to ask for your support in helping us continue publishing The HR Agenda. There are many ways to do this: become a paid subscriber (digital and/or print) or a JHRS member, advertise in the magazine, become an article contributor, spread the word about JHRS and The HR Agenda, or even donate to JHRS to help cover the costs of publishing this magazine. Whatever way you decide to help, you are helping us advance the HR agenda in Japan. After all, this is YOUR magazine!
Jun Kabigting is managing director of HR Central K.K. and an adjunct professor with Temple University Japan Campus. He has more than 20 years of experience across the entire HR value chain, most of them Japan-focused. He passionately believes in advancing the HR agenda in Japan through continuing HR education, knowledge sharing, and use of HR best practices.
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OCT-DEC 2011
JHRS COMMUNITY NEWS
Overcoming Nature’s Wrath: Crisis Management for HR The HR Agenda
On May 11, 2011, The Japan HR Society (JHRS) invited experts in Human Resources and Crisis Management to take part in a panel discussion on crisis management in Tokyo, Japan. The discussion was held following the tragic Great East Japan Earthquake which killed thousands of people and destroyed billions of yen worth of property early this year. Natural calamities are realities of life. While we cannot prevent them, we can prepare to minimize damage to lives and properties. Preparedness is every individual’s most effective weapon against the wrath of nature. Planning during calamities and emergencies is vital not only for the government but for every person, community, and business organization as well. Emergency planning is defined as the critical path to preparedness. It is a process achieved through consultation, equipping, training, exercise, and critiques. It involves the charting of an emergency plan which outlines the systems in place to enable people to respond in as calm and professional a manner as possible. Just as the government prepares its own crisis or emergency plans, so must companies. It is imperative that company managers equip their employees through information dissemination and education to keep them fully prepared for any emergency. Plan, Educate, and Prepare Companies must have a strategic plan in case of calamities and emergencies especially during earthquakes, tsunami, flash floods, and typhoons. Management experts say that each company should have a “Business Continuity Plan (BCP)” ready to be strictly implemented within the organization on these occasions. According to the panelists, the plan must have these four key components:
If employees are knowledgeable about handling calamities, and have expectations about worst scenarios in advance, they are more likely to make a faster recovery. 1. Number one is establishing a core team to spearhead action at the first sign of trouble. According to Takeshi Mitsuoka, HR Manager for International SOS Japan, a company specializing in emergency medical evacuation, the roles of each team member must be clearly defined and each person must be prepared to commit wholeheartedly to their specific role. 2. Eric Kung, Chairman and CEO of Human Dynamic Asia Pacific, an Asia-based people management solutions company, mentioned effective leadership and decision-making competency as another key component. Leadership must be able to make wellinformed and effective decisions on all possible problems that may arise during emergencies in order to guide their employees toward the best way of dealing with the situation. 3. Effective information dissemination was a third key component, raised by Dr. Linda Semlitz, Clinical Director of
TELL Japan (Tokyo English Lifeline) which offers personal and professional counseling in English and Japanese. All members of the organization, she said, must be trained to handle emergency situations using a “problem-solve-cope” mentality to enable them to continue to be effective in spite of the emotional intensity and trauma of natural disasters. 4. Finally, Mark Hirowatari, CFO of globally-renowned brand Avon Japan talked about constructing a strong after-crisis plan of action. Company leaders must have a clear-cut plan to facilitate the recovery of both the business and the employees, especially when they have suffered considerable damage. The speed of the recovery process will depend to a great extent on how well employees have been educated in handling crisis situations. Rise, Rebuild, and Restart After a calamity, the most pressing concern is recovery. Companies and all their employees must recover to enable the business to continue. For this to happen, company leaders must be empathetic towards the employees’ experience and provide a humane solution, Kung said. If employees are knowledgeable about handling calamities, and have expectations about worst scenarios in advance, they are more likely to make a faster recovery. Company leaders must have a clear plan for recovering from a calamity, rebuilding areas destroyed, and restarting operations. This will not only help each person overcome personal tragedy more easily but will also get the business back to normal more quickly. How soon companies recover after a calamity dictates the speed of the nation’s recovery overall. Reviving businesses is a great challenge after such overwhelming destruction, but knowledge about how to handle the impact of nature’s wrath will lighten the task.
Buy the DVD at the JHRS Online Store (www.jhrs.org/store)
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