Individual Matters
Companies put diversity, equity, and inclusion at the center of return-to-office policies
Offices in Japan have seen a revolution over the past two years or so, with the pandemic having ushered in the need for remote work. Despite being largely unfamiliar with the practice, companies across the country stepped up to the challenge. But, as living with Covid-19 has become standard, many businesses have back-pedaled or adapted their approach as they navigate a return to the office. Others have come to see the new normal as an opportunity to reflect on where, when, and how employees work, to foster greater productivity, and expand their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts.
The ACCJ Journal spoke with leading companies in various industries to explore the lessons they have learned from the pandemic vis-à-vis work and what the future might hold for employees in Japan.
Starting from Behind
When Japanese enterprises were slow to respond to the government’s request, in February 2020, to allow 70 percent of employees to telework to help contain Covid-19, they came under fire. Critics said companies’ working cultures were outdated and being held back by a focus on presenteeism and physical administration tools such as hanko (seals).
A study by Tokyo-based brand consultancy Riskybrand Inc., however, shows that Japan was simply behind the curve. Only five percent of the country’s workforce was practicing telework pre-pandemic (compared with 32 percent in the United States and 27 percent in the United Kingdom), making remote work an abrupt switch for Japanese companies.
Still, many were able to implement the recommendation quickly. According to a Riskybrand survey of some 1,700 businesspeople in Japan, in May 2020 almost 40 percent were working remotely at least three days a week, of whom 20 percent were doing so daily. The larger the company, the more extensive the implementation, with 30 percent of large organizations (those with more than 3,000 staff) offering telework compared with 14 percent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), defined here as having fewer than 50 employees.
Managed talent services provider MESHD, a brand of Tokyo-based HCCR, was among those to respond swiftly. On the declaration of Covid-19 being a pandemic, the enterprise shifted from office-based work to a compulsory work-from-home model across its Japan and India offices.
“On the whole, the company responded positively to the changes, and we saw no visible dips in performance and limited impact on team dynamics,” said Chief Executive Officer Sean Travers. “We felt the team was working as effectively remotely as they [had been] from the office.”
“Covid-19 and the workstyles adopted to mitigate it have boosted understanding of, and a desire for, greater DEI in business.”
Following the government’s first state of emergency declaration, healthcare company Novartis Pharma also introduced remote work for all staff, unless it was absolutely necessary for them to go to the office or attend critical customer visits. To support employees affected by the closure of schools and childcare centers, Novartis provided additional childcare services until the end of 2020.
Coca-Cola (Japan) Co., Ltd., meanwhile, encouraged employees to work remotely in the early days of the pandemic, before closing its office for a time in March 2020 and asking all staff to telework. On reopening, the organization capped office attendance at 25 percent to ensure employees were allowed to access the office for critical work of specific needs.
From those early days, the uptake of remote work by companies with white-collar workers has continued to rise—and increasingly so with the emergence of the highly contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus. By fall 2021, 52 percent of enterprises in Japan were offering telework, according to statistics portal Statista.
Office Allure
With Japan now well into the third year of the pandemic, many companies are returning to the former status quo.
In a survey of 6,500 companies by Tokyo Shoko Research, Ltd., 27 percent of those offering telework during the height of the pandemic had stopped doing so as of June, up from 21 percent in October 2021. Only 29 percent of those surveyed now offer the option of remote work, down from 37 percent in October 2021. Large enterprises were more flexible (57 percent offered telework) compared with 24 percent of SMEs.
And it is not only companies that are trying to go back to the former normal. About one-quarter of those offering teleworking said only 10 percent of their staff were using the option as of June 2022.
The reasons for this are unclear, especially as 80 percent of employees surveyed by Teikoku Databank Ltd. in February 2022 said they wanted to continue teleworking, citing reasons such as saving time on commuting, having freedom to care for family members, or gaining greater work–life balance.
But the past two years have shown that teleworking can pose difficulties for some groups, including those without an adequate office setup or a conducive working environment at home, which may make returning to the office appealing.
From the early days of the pandemic, EY Japan recognized that not everyone would have the ideal environment for telework and supported staff financially by purchasing display monitors, microphones, and other equipment for their use at home.
The company’s DEI leader, Megumi Umeda, said the move acknowledged the potential of remote work to “enhance the workforce by welcoming working mothers, people with disabilities, and others who have limitations on their workplace and working hours.”
Patrick Jordan, vice president of human resources for Coca-Cola Japan & Korea at The Coca-Cola Company, also found that not all staff were equipped—physically, mentally, or emotionally—to work from home, noting that the company’s implementation of telework was “a great learning experience” regarding employee needs.
“While we wanted to ensure the safety of our employees from Covid, we also recognized we have to ensure their safety in many other ways, such as mental health,” said Jordan, adding that staff with medical concerns or who were uncomfortable working at home were allowed to return to the office, while undertaking thorough infection control measures.
For MESHD’s Travers, only a few months of telework brought to light issues for new hires. “New joiners were really struggling with their onboarding,” he said, noting that he “underestimated the impact of them not being in the same room as senior members” who could guide them in phone interactions, exchanges with fellow employees, day-to-day queries, and so on.
Learning Lessons
As the advantages and disadvantages of telework have become more apparent, so too have some successful approaches to future workstyles. Many companies have been finding out more about what employees want and giving them the choice to work in ways that suit them, all the while offering a hybrid work model.
Coca-Cola removed the office’s staff capacity rate of 25 percent in June and monitored attendance to see if there were any changes. When the number of staff working in the office didn’t rise, leaders had a sense of validation, believing that staff “didn’t want to return, didn’t see value in returning, or were not sure how to return,” explained Jordan.
However, the subsequent introduction of flex guidelines, to enable teams to choose how to work virtually, has resulted in an organic increase in attendance to 30 percent capacity. This shows that “clearer instructions are needed to help people settle into a more balanced hybrid way of working,” he added.
He also pointed out that survey data is critical for gaining better understanding of the desirable elements of hybrid working, as well as people’s concerns about working at the office or at home.
Flexibility is also key at Novartis. The company offers a framework called Choice with Responsibility, which was implemented in July 2020 in the belief that the pandemic would last longer than the world anticipated.
“This evolving framework asks employees and leaders to continue redesigning the way we work and make the best choices for high-impact hybrid work—not just for the individual but also for the team,” explained Chanel Leitch, country head of people and organization for Japan at Novartis.
Novartis has a new space for individual work which can be easily converted for small group discussions or medium-sized group short meetings.
While the company continues to restrict the number of staff working at headquarters to 50 percent of each division at any one time, other limitations, such as the number of face-to-face attendees in meetings, have been relaxed to give staff autonomy over their workstyle. As a result, “each employee is now used to making sound decisions as to how they can best produce outcomes as an individual and a team in a hybrid working environment,” said Leitch, adding that the approach is “a key driver of engagement and continued retention.”
Similarly, EY Japan’s recent people survey also shows that continuing to offer telework options has resulted in improved engagement and inclusivity.
Since introducing this workstyle in 2018, the company launched its Flex and Remote Program in 2020 as a commitment to employees. EY Japan has promised to continue offering staff flexibility regarding where and when they work, regardless of the Covid-19 situation.
“Each person’s schedule is unique, considering the needs of the individual, the project they are working on, and the needs of the client and the team,” and therefore requires flexibility, Umeda said.
A new volunteer program was implemented to provide financial support to employees who wanted to move outside central Tokyo and work remotely from the suburbs. This supports employees desire to live outside Tokyo and contributes to the larger community.
Big Picture Thinking
Looking ahead, the future of work is likely to focus on how and why people work, as much as where and when they work. For many companies, the pandemic has shone a light on what work traditionally has been and has prompted or accelerated discussion on what work could be after some out-of-the-box thinking.
“As an organization, we need to think about the reasons we want our team to spend time together in the office,” said Travers. “It needs to go beyond just working at your desk.”
Indeed, with staff now able to conduct meetings online and do “deep work” and other individual-based tasks remotely, companies are keen for office-based time to focus on interactive activities, such as mind mapping and team building.
Coca-Cola has redesigned one floor of its headquarters as the Coke Collaboration Center, an experimental initiative to encourage teamwork via hot desks, lockers, meeting spots for different groups, and phone booths for individual or remote meeting participation.
EY Japan’s Umeda agrees that the role of the office has changed, noting that it should “become a collaboration space for colleagues, clients, and business partners, not a workspace.”
And, given that online employee social events “could never really be a substitute for an in-person, on-premises event,” office time should also be used for staff to spend time together and build relationships with each other, said Travers. For MESHD, a key reason for the hybrid work model is to forge a strong company culture and sense of community via employees’ in-office time.
Jordan agrees, noting that “the need for social interaction is very important.”
To encourage it, Coca-Cola has begun offering events at the office such as free lunches in the cafeteria, a summer festival that includes employees’ family members, and a bar serving alcoholic beverages.
“Each employee is now used to making sound decisions as to how they can best produce outcomes as an individual and a team in a hybrid working environment … the approach is a key driver of engagement and continued retention.”
Most important though, Covid-19 and the workstyles adopted to mitigate it have boosted understanding of, and a desire for, greater DEI in business.
EY Japan’s Umeda said people’s own challenges during the pandemic had made them “recognize the importance of inclusiveness, equity, and respect for others.”
The Novartis Choice with Responsibility framework has enabled the company to further embrace diverse needs and “look for ways to progress in building an inclusive environment,” said Leitch.
And at Coca-Cola, the hybrid work model is fostering inclusivity. “Returning to the office is all about inclusion,” said Jordan. “Each [employee] has developed personal habits which interact with their professional habits … so we need to be mindful of each individual’s needs and not treat everyone the same.”
MESHD’s Travers also has staff front of mind. The pandemic has enabled him to “come to the realization that it’s the employees who will dictate the future of work, irrespective of companies establishing regulations,” he said.
Indeed, the pandemic has increased employees’ willingness to change employers if they are not satisfied with their workstyle. In June, the JLL Workforce Preferences Barometer found three out of four of the 4,000 office workers surveyed would reconsider their involvement with their company if they wanted greater work flexibility.
Setting up suitable work models and fostering DEI has, therefore, never been so important for recruitment and retention.
Certainly, Travers notes, companies investing “time, money, and resources into their employees’ skills, emotional wellbeing, and job satisfaction will reap the rewards in the future.”
