Volume 1 Issue 1 ISSN 2186-277X
July-September 2011 JPY 1575 (tax & postage)
Rise Up,
Japan! Japanese HR: Unique and Transforming? 14 The New Manager 18 Background Screening in Japan 21 How to Master the Deadly Art of Change 23 Listen Up! 25 On the Hunt and in Control 26 and more...
THE PREMIERE ISSUE
HR
CONTENTS
PUBLISHER’S MESSAGE
Making History and Being Part of It
4
FROM THE EDITOR
Rise Up, Japan!
6
KNOWLEDGE@WHARTON
Crisis in Japan: What Will the Costs Be?
9
ASK HR
Andrew & Yoshi Respond to Disaster
10
F E AT U R E S T O R Y
Japanese HR: Unique and Transforming?
14
LEADERSHIP
The New Manager
18
HR BEST PRACTICES
The Background on Background Screening in Japan
21
CHANGE MANAGEMENT
How to Master the Deadly Art of Change
23
HR TOOLBOX
Listen Up! Eight Tips to Becoming a Better Interviewer
25
COACHING
On the Hunt and in Control
26
HR LEGAL CLINIC
Employees with Chronic Health Problems
28
L O S T I N T R A N S L AT I O N
Communication: Does It Have to Hurt?
28
H R S U P E R S TA R
Norihide Munakata
29
THE HR AGENDA 1
C O N G R AT U L AT I O N S
Publisher & Managing Editor
Jun Kabigting
Associate Editors
Bruce McLin
Contributors
Tim Bennett Brent Conkle Dana Gallagher Andrew Manterfield Yoshiharu Matsui Jiro Oyama, Attorney-at-Law Alicor Panao David Sweet, PhD Knowledge@Wharton
Design and Production
Alan Rowe Raphy Limbo
Eriko Rowe
Ad Sales and Marketing and Distribution
Jessop Petroski Vu Petersen
Translators
Makito Noda Tomoko Ishii-Kabigting
Printing
Mojoprint
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). 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
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 editorial contributions. Please contact us for a copy of our editorial guidelines and standards. If you would like to republish or syndicate our content either online or in print, please send email to hragenda@jhrs.org for requirements and permissions. The HR Agenda and JHRS logos are registered trademarks and properties of The Japan HR Society (JHRS). © 2011 The Japan HR Society (JHRS). All rights reserved. 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.
2 THE HR AGENDA
“As a university administrator involved in professional development in Japan and the United States for 20 years, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate The Japan HR Society (JHRS) on the launch of The HR Agenda magazine, a new bilingual publication for HR professionals with an interest in Japan. Given the increasing number of international firms in Japan and the increasing number of foreign employees in Japanese firms, the JHRS provides an extremely important contribution in helping internationalize HR practices in Japan and informing the rest of the world about Japanese HR practices. The HR Agenda magazine will be one more means by which that goal is accomplished.” —Bruce Stronach, Dean Temple University Japan (JHRS Academy Partner)
HR
C O N G R AT U L AT I O N S
“On the day of the Great East Japan Earthquake, part-time cast (or staff) at Tokyo Disney Resort distributed souvenir products such as towels and stuffed toys while employees at a Lawson convenience store prepared rice balls to give away to people. On the other hand, in the aftermath of the earthquake and the resulting nuclear power plant failure, organizations went into turmoil, resulting in decreased productivity. Foreign-affiliated companies in Japan took different actions and responses after
“On behalf of the entire team at GPlus Media and Ecentral, I would like to heartily congratulate The Japan HR Society (JHRS) on the launch of this much-awaited quarterly magazine, The HR Agenda. This publication is certain to bring even more importance to the JHRS and offer an invaluable information source for your membership. We look forward to having this new publication help educate and disseminate information on best practices facing HR professionals; especially those with multilingual, multicultural and multinational issues.
the quake. Whatever they were, they were all the result of Human Resources Management (HRM) decisions. In business, with the accelerating speed of globalization, the importance and relevance of HRM is increasing even more, and I am pleased that a new venue to present HRM best practices in a global and timely perspective will be provided in the publication of The HR Agenda magazine. Congratulations again on this sterling achievement!” —Shinya Yamamoto, Partner PricewaterhouseCoopers Japan (Member, JHRS Board of Advisers)
“We commend The Japan HR Society (JHRS) on the launch of their new publication, The HR Agenda. The global human resources and training community can always benefit from the addition of a new voice sharing news, best practices and commentary on our
The entire team here is wishing this publication success and looking forward to reading the inaugural issue.”
constantly changing industry.”
—Peter Lackner, Director GPlus Media Co., Ltd. (JHRS Job Board Partner)
—Chris Proulx, CEO eCornell (JHRS eAcademy Partner)
THE HR AGENDA 3
HR
PUBLISHER’S MESSAGE
Making History and Being a Part of It Jun Kabigting, mba/msie, chr Chief Community Officer, The Japan HR Society (JHRS) That is what you’re holding in your hands right now as you read Japan’s first-ever bilingual human resources (HR)-focused quarterly publication. The HR Agenda is proudly published by The Japan HR Society (JHRS)–a worldwide community of Japanfocused HR professionals. This magazine has taken nearly four years to come to fruition. With its simple beginnings as a membership-only newsletter, The HR Agenda has now grown and evolved into a full-fledged magazine with a simple editorial mandate: “…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.” Interestingly, the launching of this magazine also marks the fourth anniversary of JHRS, founded in June 2007 in a restaurant in Tokyo. As a dedicated community, JHRS has evolved with the times, the needs of our members and the HR profession in Japan. Starting off as a LinkedIn Group, JHRS has now grown to over 500 registered members around the globe. It is considered this country’s fastest-growing bilingual HR association, with the lofty mission of helping advance the practice of the HR profession in Japan. We are hopeful that, with your support and patronage, The HR Agenda can help us accomplish that mission. In putting together this magazine, we have encountered many challenges and difficulties along the way. A lot of them! Some said it couldn’t be done. But we persevered. We have invested not only time
professionals, aptly naming our first issue “Rise Up, Japan!” (Ganbare, Nippon!). Although this magazine is still very much a work in progress, we hope that you will find our initial attempt worthy of reading and recommending to your HR colleagues. We’re hoping to win your support, and that of your companies, to help us sustain this initiative through sponsorships, advertisements and subscriptions. We invite you to take part in continuously improving our magazine by sharing your honest feedback, comments and suggestions with us (hragenda@jhrs.org). After all, this is your HR magazine. We have made history. But let’s not stop there. Let’s make The HR Agenda into tangible proof that Japan’s HR professionals can do it. And do it well.
A PIECE OF HISTORY.
4 THE HR AGENDA
and money but also blood, sweat and tears, and we remained determined and focused on our goal of fulfilling our promise to our members, friends and supporters. However, the biggest motivator for us to forge ahead and do our best to create Japan’s first and only bilingual HR publication was, ironically, the Great Tohoku Earthquake that hit Japan on March 11, 2011. We are all witnesses to this unimaginable tragedy, and, truth be told, Japan is still coming to terms with it. But instead of letting this disaster get us down, we decided to use it as an inspiration to push ourselves and come up with this publication as a testament of our firm resolve to show the world that Japan’s HR professionals are moving forward. It is in this light that we are dedicating this premiere issue to Japan and her people, especially to Japan’s HR
P.S. I would also like to personally thank our pioneering editorial and production teams who labored day and night to make this magazine a reality. And, of course, we give special thanks to all of our initial advertisers for their incredible support and assistance in what we are trying to do with this magazine. Together, we’re making history!
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 Japanfocused. He passionately believes in advancing the HR agenda in Japan through continuing HR education, knowledge sharing and use of HR best practices.