Embedded Files
ユーワークス（2001年設立、正社員12名、パート・アルバイト8名）は大学・研究機関向けIT支援業務（売上の65%）、医療機器用ITシステム開発（同20％）、民間企業向けITシステムの設計・開発・保守（同15％）を行っています。社長の吉本英治さんは友人が設立した同社に05年1月に途中入社、PR会社で磨いた営業力を買われて10月社長に就任しました。当時は大手のシステム開発会社の3次、4次下請でしたが、女性社員が妊娠しても取引先の都合で休みを取れないなどの問題がありました。東日本大震災のとき、福島県出身の社員が実家の親と連絡が取れなくなり、一週間の休暇を申請、だが、彼が担当する取引先が「納期があるので、絶対に来てほしい。休むならお金は払えない」と言ってきました。怒りでこの会社との750万円の契約を切りました。このままでは働き方が縛られ、社員の生活を守れない！脱下請けを決断、１～2割程度の売上げのあったつくば市の大学や公的研究機関からの直接受注を増やしました。これらの顧客は、基本的に夜間・休日勤務はしないので、ユーワークス側も夜間・休日対応は不要。特殊な仕事が多いため既存のITパッケージの適用やその成果の他分野への転用が効かないなど、大手のシステム会社には魅力がなく、同社が入り込む余地が十分あると考えました。結果、2014年には下請けをゼロにでき、直接受注により売上数量も単価も上がり、利益率は大きく向上しました。残業もなくなったので、これを看板に、結婚や出産を終えた直後で人生に真剣に向き合っている２５～２８歳の層をターゲットに本格的に採用活動をし、優秀な人材を獲得しました。
ベトナムを視察した2015年にまた転機が訪れます。このとき、ラボ型オフショア開発をやっている企業を訪ねました。オフショア開発とは情報システムなどの開発を海外事業者に委託することですが、受託型オフショア開発の場合、顧客は受託企業に仕事のプロセスすべてを任せるのに対し、ラボ型オフショア開発は顧客に開発スタッフを紹介、顧客が選んだスタッフを雇用し、仕事は顧客の指示のもとに行う。受託型オフショア開発にありがちな品質不安やコミュニケーションの行き違いが防げます。この企業の技術者との面談を通じ、東南アジアには優秀な人材が豊富なことを発見、東南アジアに負けるとの危機感を覚えました。吉本社長は当初この企業の顧客になることを考えましたが、経費を考えると自らラボ型企業を設立したほうが得策と判断し、ミャンマーのヤンゴン市に他の日本企業5社と共同出資でラボ型オフショア開発を請けるInnovasia MJ社を設立（2017年）、ユーワークスは同社の顧客にもなり、2名の専属スタッフを確保しました（他社用にもう2名スタッフがいます）。ミャンマーに設立したのはベトナムではすでに競争が激しいことと同社近くの情報関係の専門学校の紹介人材の中にヤンゴンの一流大学の出身者を見つけたためです。彼がInnovasia MJ社用の立地場所、4人の現地スタッフも確保し、MJ社の取締役兼技術者として日常業務の責任者となってます。こうして、ユーワークスはアジアに人材基盤を構築しました。
2015年には医療機器産業にも進出しました。本社所在の湯島には医療機器メーカーの多いことに気づき、文京区役所や地元金融機関を通じて接触、医療機器用システム開発で世界先端事業にも参加、働き甲斐も向上しました。2015年以降売上と利益率はさらに上昇、IT・医療・アジアの組み合わせで多様な事業展開が可能となり、2019年1月には経営指針書のバージョンアップも予定しています。
***
Youworks (established in 2001, 12 full-time employees, 8 part-time workers) provides IT support services for universities and research institutes (65% of sales), IT system development for medical devices (20%), and designs, develops and maintains IT system for private companies (15%). Yoshimoto Eiji, the president, joined the company established by his friend in January 2005, and was appointed president in October in recognition of the sales ability he experienced at the PR company he worked for before. At that time, the company was a third and fourth subcontractor of a major system development company, and there were problems such as being unable to take time off due to the needs of the business partner even when a female employee became pregnant.
At the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake, an employee from Fukushima Prefecture lost contact with his parents and applied for a week's leave. However, the customer he was in charge did not allow it stating, "We have a deadline, so we definitely want him to come. If he takes a leave, we can't pay." President Yoshimoto was angry with this and ended the contract with the company for 7.5 million yen.
He thought that if he continued to work as a subcontractor, he would not be able to protect the lives of his employees, so he decided to quit the subcontractor work. Therefore, although sales were about 10 to 20%, he decided to increase the number of jobs ordered directly from universities and public research institutes in Tsukuba City. Since these customers basically do not work at night or on holidays, Youworks does not need to work at night or on holidays either. Also, since there are many special jobs in this field, it is not attractive for major system companies, such as the application of existing IT packages and the diversion of the results to other fields, and he thought that there is plenty of room for Youworks to enter. As a result, in 2014, he was able to reduce the number of subcontractor works to zero, and as direct orders increased the sales volume and unit price also increased to greatly improving profit margins. Since no overtime work was necessary, he took it as the strong point of his company and started full-scale recruitment targeting to those at the aged 25 to 28 who are serious about their lives immediately after marriage and childbirth, and acquired excellent human resources.
A turning point came again in 2015 when he visited Vietnam. He visited a company of lab-type offshore development. Offshore development stands for the outsourcing of information system development to overseas businesses. In the case of contract offshore development, the customer entrusts the entire work process to the contractor, while in lab-type offshore development, the development staff is introduced to the customer, the staff selected by the customer is hired, and the work is also directed by the customer. By doing so, he can prevent quality insecurity and communication misunderstandings that are common in contract offshore development. Through interviews with engineers of the company, he found abundant talented human resources in the Southeast Asian countries, and he felt a sense of crisis that he would lose to Southeast Asia. At first, President Yoshimoto thought about becoming a customer of this company, but considering the cost, he decided that it would be better to set up a lab-type company himself, and he jointly invested with five other Japanese companies in Yangon, Myanmar to establish the Innovasia MJ as a contractor for offshore development (2017). Youworks became a customer of the company and secured two dedicated staff (also two more staff for other companies). The reason for establishing it in Myanmar is that Vietnam is already fiercely competitive and that he happened to find a graduate of a prestigious university in Yangon among the human resources introduced by an information-related vocational school near the company. He has secured a location for Innovasia MJ and four local staff, and is responsible for daily operations as a director cum technical staff of MJ. In this way, Youworks has built a human resources base in Asia.
In 2015, he also entered the medical device industry. He noticed that there are many medical device manufacturers in Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, where the head office is located, so he contacted them through the Bunkyo Ward Office and local financial institutions, participated in the world's most advanced business in the development of medical device systems, and the company members felt worth working there. Since 2015, sales and profit margins have further increased, enabling diverse business development by combining IT, medical care, and Asia. He plans to upgrade the management guidelines in January 2019.
I .経営の特徴
事業はソフトウェア開発で、大学・研究機関向けIT支援業務(売上の65 % )、医療機器用ITシステム開発(同20 % )、民間企業向けITシステムの設計・開発・保守(同15 %) を行っている。特に、専門度の高い研究内容の理解が必要な科学技術領域のシステム開発を得意としている。学生時代の同級生で創業、吉本社長は2005年1月に途中人社、PR会社で磨いた営業力を買われて10月社長に就任した。
当時は大手システム会社の3次、4次下請だったが、2011年の東日本大震災をきっかけにつくば市などにある公的研究機関や大学との直接取引を開始、2014年には下請取引をゼ 口にした。2015年には本社のある文京区に多い医療機器メーカー向けの開発にも進出した。
開発するシステムは特定顧客の特定ニーズに基づくもので他に転用できず、しかも専門的ニーズに対応するには関連論文を読むなど手間がかかるものが多い。JAXAから請け負っている、「はやぶさ2」が取ってきたデータを世界中の関連研究者がシェアするテータベースシステム開発がその例だ。このような特殊ニーズに対応する一品生産的な開発は、柔軟性に欠ける大手企業では困難である。このため、価格競争に巻き込まれず、利益率が上がり、従業員の年収も平均年齢30歳台で400万円台という高収益・高賃金を達成している。
コロナ禍の影響だが、感染に不安のある派遣業務は一切やっておらず、また公的機関からの仕事はスパンが長いので、1, 2年前から受けているものが売上に加わるなど、売上は増加した。
当社は専門的能力を持つ人材で構成されているが、アジア人材の活用にも積極的で、15 年にベトナムのラボ型オフショア開発を請けている企業で優れた人材を目にしたのをきっかけにミャンマーのヤンゴンに同タイプの企業を日本企業5社との共同出資で設立した。ラボ型オフショア開発とは海外顧客の選んだスタッフを顧客が直接指示して開発業務を行うもので、
受託型オフショア開発にありがちなコミュニケーションの行き違いを避けることができる。当社は、顧客としても同社を活用している。国軍によるクーデターが起きたミャンマーだが、インタビュー時には現地法人との連絡に支障はないようだった。
Ⅱ.労働に関するマネジメントの特徴
1.業態の転換とワーク・ライフ・バランス
脱下請け
当社は東日本大震災をきっかけに下請企業から独立企業への革新に成功、これにより労働環境も大きく変わった。
大手システム開発会社の3次、4次下請をしていたために、女性社員が妊娠しても取引先 の都合で休みを取れないなどの問題があった。東日本大震災では、福島県出身の社員が実家の親と連絡が取れなくなり、一週間の休暇を申請、だが、彼が担当する取引先は、納期があるので絶対に来てほしい、休むなら金は払えない。納期の迫っている3月に休むとは何事だという姿勢だった。吉本社長は大災害が起きている中、家族の安否を確かめるのも許さないとは狂っていると怒りを覚えた。埒があかないので取引先に震災(金曜日)後の月曜日に出かけたところ、社員は電車が満足に動かない中、早朝からタクシーを予約するなど、全員出勤していた。何が何でも出社するというマインド・コントロールにかかっているようで気味が悪く、このような企業からは離れたいと思った。結局、この会社との750万円の契約は打ち切った。
取引先の理不尽さが取引打ち切りを選択させたが、そもそもは下請企業としての立場の弱さが理不尽を許し、社員をこのような苦境に追い込んだと感じ、脱下請けの思いが昂じた。
また、当時4 , 5人の社員全員が独身で、いざというときには徹夜で乗り切るようなことを平気でやっていたが、一斉に結婚。従来のようには行かなくなったことも、労働時間をコントロールできる脱下請けを後押しした。
当社は大震災後3年かけて脱下請けを達成、社員は皆18時くらいには退社するようになった。(なお、当社はみなし労働時間制をとっている)。ただし、専門的な職種によくあるように、帰宅しても「あの課題はどうすべきか」というようなことは考えているという。意識して社員のワーク・ライフ・バランス向上を目指していたわけではない。大震災時の怒りを覚える取引先の態度・下請企業の立場の弱さの露呈などが脱下請けを推進し、結果としてワーク・ライフ・バランスが向上した。
IT業界で残業の多い理由
吉本社長によるとIT業界で残業が多いのは重層的な下請構造にある。取引先から発注の見込みを伝えられ、人員を確保していても、より上位の取引先との関係が絡むので実際の発注は遅れる。しかし、納期はそれと共に延されるわけではないので、残業で対応することになる。また、要求仕様がよくわからず、Aパターン、Bパターンが考えられるがどちらかを尋ねても重層構造を昇って降りてくるまで時間がかかる。納期までの時間が短くなり残業をせざるをえない。
当社が顧客と直接やりとりできるようになって分かったのは、納期をがっちり守ってほしいという顧客は案外少ない。「これこれの事情で、ちょっと1週間ぐらい遅れるんですけど、いかがですかね」と言えば、多くの場合、「ああ、それは仕方ないよねと」と言ってくれる。こういう交渉は普通にできるという。重層的下請構造は頂点の元請けには都合がよいが、しわ寄せが末端に行くシステムであり、当社はこの構造から抜け出すことができた。
2 .社員は会社のために生きているのではない
根底にある思想
ワーク・ライフ・ノヾランスの向上を目的として立てていたわけではないが、吉本社長にはワーク・ライフ・バランス重視につながる経営思想があるように見える。上記で震災3日後に無理して全員出社している企業を見て気味が悪いと思った。その奥には「一人ひとりの社員は会社のために生きているわけではない」という考えがある。「どちらかというと一人一人の社員の人生のために会社が何ができるかという話だと思うんですよ」と言う。この思想が従業員のワーク・ライフ・バランスを支えていることは間違いないだろう。それだけでなく、次のような形で当社の経営のあり方や人間関係にも影響している
完全オフィスレス
当社では2020年2月から部分的なテレワークを始め、2021年1月から完全オフィスレスに移行した。一部の人が出社し、社長に近いところにいると、その人が得をするのではという社員の声があり、すべての社員の環境を同一にするため執務の場としてのオフィスは廃止した。リモート手当を出し、家で仕事をしにくい人はホテルのリモートワーク用のサービスなどを利用してもらう。完全オフィスレスはコロナ禍が終わっても貫く。コロナ禍や緊急事態宣言などで経営を振り回されるのでなく、主導権を取りたいこと、どの地域に住んでいる人材でも採用できるので求人難対策になること、また、人材を地方に置き地方創生に役立ちたい思いもある。
しかし、これにより企業の持つコミュニティ機能は失われる。吉本氏によれば人はコミュニティに属する欲求があるが、日本人は企業のコミュニティに依存しすぎていた。そもそも企業に何もかも求めるのはおかしい。人は複数のコミュニティを持つべきで、通勤時間が無くなった分、地域社会へ貢献する。そのような企業になろうと言っている。なお、社員の情報交換が産み出すナレッジの創出はzoomがあれば大丈夫だと言う。
完全オフィスレスは人に見られていないと仕事ができない人には向かないが、自律心の強い人には向いている。後述のとおり、当社はすでに自律者集団的な特徴を持っているが、それが一層強まることになる。
経営理念の「浸透」
「わたしたちは『科学技術と人の営みとの調和』を図り、心豊かな社会を実現します」「わたしたちは知性と感性を磨き、広い視野と行動力を備えた『頼もしい集団』を目指します」「わたしたちは『会社の発展と関わる全ての人々の幸せ』の一致を追求します」。これが当社の経営理念である。しかし、吉本氏は経営理念は社員に「浸透」していないと言う。理由が興味深い。人間の価値観はそう変わるものではないのに、理念の「浸透」とはマインド・コントロールで価値観を変えるようなものに思える。朝礼などで理念を唱和する企業があるが、あれは嫌だ。当社に入社する人は理念に共感しているからであって、経営理念の「浸透」で価値観を変えたわけではない。ただ、人は自分で価値観を変えることはある。当社の理念に価値観が合わなくなった人が辞めることはある。
社員はパートナーと考えている。人は企業のために存在するのではないから仕事上のパートナーではなく、一緒に人生を歩む上でのパートナーだ。社長と従業員は役割上の分担にすぎない。その表れか、吉本社長は「吉本さん」と呼ばれている。
わが社は4, 5人から出発し20人を超えるようになったので、運営の制度化も必要になっている。しかし、これを嫌う古株もいる。そのために子会社を創り、そこで昔ながらのやり方で仕事をしてもらっていると言うが、これは組織を人に合わせるものである。
以上のようなことの中にも、「社員は会社のために生きているのではない」という思想が現れている。
3.面白く、自律的な仕事
学生が戻ってくる
2017～19年度の採用者数は8人で、うち中途採用者が7人を占める。中途採用と言ってもいわゆる第2新卒である。当社でアルバイトしていた学生が、知名度に魅かれて大手企業に就職する。給与は大手と同じだが、知名度では負ける。当社が必要としている創造的な専門人材は大手も欲しており、新卒採用に関しては苦戦する。しかし、大手に就職した学生 が2, 3年もたたないうちに戻ってくる。 専門的なエンジニアは試行錯誤を伴うクリエイテイプな仕事をしたがるが、大手企業では決められた枠組みの中での繰り返しの仕事が多く、創造性発揮の機会がないからである。
一サラリーマンではない
脱下請けによって顧客と直接取引する当社は、顧客と企画段階からかかわり、SEの全員がシステムの企画提案、システムの設計、実装、テスト、納品に至るすべての工程に携わることができる。ただし、1人のSEに担当を丸投げするのではなく、チームで担当し、チームは同時に複数の案件に取り組む。1人に丸投げしないのは、家庭の事情や病気で仕事を休んでも他がカバーできるようにするためである。
企画段階では創造性が必要で、関連する科学論文を読むなど知識を蓄積し、提案を行う。最終工程まで担当し、顧客の直接の反応に接することもできるので達成感を味わえる。仕事は一人の裁量の範囲が広く、自律的に進められる。納期に関しても顧客に必要な時間を説明し納得してもらうことができる。当社での勤務経験者によると、一サラリーマンというよりは、自立したITコンサルタント兼工ンジニアとして開発をプランから動かしているイメージだと言う。
当社では学生アルバイトにも研究開発色の強い、普通の企業では任せないような仕事を行ってもらう。この楽しい記憶があるので戻ってくる。第2新卒は大手企業で訓練を受けているので、その分助かる。
経営計画は幹部が作成
規模の小さい企業では従業員も経営計画策定に参加し、従業員の自律性発揮に寄与しているケースがあるが、当社も規模は小さいが経営計画は幹部が決め一般社員の参加はない。当社は専門人材によって構成されている。専門人材は経営管理的業務への興味は薄く、専門分野での能力向上、キャリアアップを目指す。このため、専門人材は現業を自律的に遂行する一方、経営計画等経営管理には関与しないということだろう。中小企業では従業員の経営計画への参加と計画には参加しないが実務での広い裁量労働━━という2様式で従業員の自律性の発揮が見られる。
4.経済的報酬は動機付けにならない
吉本社長は給与の引き上げを目標に掲げるようなことには違和感があると言う。給与水準が低くないということもあるが、社員で、給料が上がるからもっと働くという人はいないと思っているからだ。専門職の人たちが大事にしているのはキャリア形成である。従来の賃金体系は社員間の年齢でバランスをとるような年功序列的なものだったが、同じ歳は同じ給料というのは能力差を考慮しない逆の不公平感もあるので職務給にし、人事評価制度も 社労士によるひな型をもとに幹部で話し合って1年かけて作成した。職務給については以前から意識していたが、人事評価制度の構築が面倒だった。しかし、幹部会でうまくはできないかもしれないが、やらないよりやったほうがいいということになった。
これを作ってよかったのは、キャリアを形成する上で今の自分に何が足りないかを判断する基準ができたことだ。自分は何を伸ばさなくてはいけないのかが明確でないとすごく働きづらいことは分かっていたが、しつかりとやっていなかった。制度を作ったら、若手社員の1人が「賃金どうのこうのの話ではなく、上司との面談のときに話の共通基盤ができたことがすごくありがたいです」と言ったという
5.適正規模を目指して
柔軟な面談制度
当社では上司と部下との面談は1週間に1回以上は行う。社長と社員の面談も2, 3か月に1回は行う。社長からは「何か困っていることない?」と言う調子で聞く。話の内容は仕事上、生活上のこと様々だが、上司との関係の悩みが多い。社長は一切どの現場にも関わっておらず、社員にとっては多分、何かよく分からないけど「会社にいるおっちゃん」みたいな「部外者」的立場にいるので、上司との関係も打ち明けやすい。面談日が決まっているわけではなく、給与明細を渡すときとか、今、テレワークなのでたまに出社してきたときなどに行っている。
食事や飲みながらやるのが好きな人もいれば、かしこまってやるのが好きな人もいるので合わせている。相手を見ながら変えられる規模なのでしつかりと制度化はしていない。このように柔軟にできるのが中小企業のよさだと思う。
適正規模は30人
組織の適正規模は30人程度だと思っている。人数が少ないと、責任ある仕事をするには家庭で何かあっても休むことができない。プロトタイプを開発している間は多少の欠陥は問題にならないが、本格稼働で使われるようなものにそれは許されない。しかし、家庭も大事で、社員が板挟みにならないように補い合うために30人ぐらいまで規模拡大が必要だ。補い合うためには年齢構成もバラバラの方がよい。30人ぐらいまでなら、今のように「裏方」も社長ひとりでできるから利益率も上げられるだろう。
30名以上になりそうだったら--すでに一つあるが--子会社化する。自分も当分働かなくてはいけないので、社員からすると目の上のたんこぶがずっといるわけだ。それはかわいそうと思うので、うまくいった事業は子会社を創って自由にやってもらうのがよいと思っている。このように、適正規模の30人を目指すのが今の課題となっている。
I. Characteristics of Management
The company's business is software development, providing IT support services for universities and research institutes (65% of sales), develops IT systems for medical equipment (20% of sales), and designs, develops and maintains IT systems for private companies (15% of sales). In particular, the company specializes in system development in science and technology fields that require an understanding of highly specialized research content. In January 2005, President Yoshimoto joined the company founded by his classmates from school days, and was appointed as president in October, thanks to his sales skills that he had honed at a PR company.
At that time, the company was a tertiary and quaternary subcontractor for major system companies, but after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, it began direct transactions with public research institutes and universities in Tsukuba City and elsewhere, and in 2014, stopped subcontracting. In 2015, the company expanded into development for many medical device manufacturers in Bunkyo Ward, where its head office is located.
The system to be developed is based on the specific needs of a specific customer and cannot be diverted to others. Moreover, many of them require time and effort, such as reading related papers, in order to respond to specialized needs.
An example of this is the development of a database system under contract from JAXA to share data collected by Hayabusa2 with related researchers around the world. It is difficult for a large company that lacks flexibility to conduct productive development to meet such special needs. As a result, the company does not get involved in price competition, increases profit margins, and achieves high earnings and high wages, with an average annual income of employees in the 30s in the 4 million yen range.
Regarding the impact of the Covid19 crisis, the company does not do any dispatch work that is worried about infection, and the work from public institutions has a long span, so, sales increased including the addition of items received from one or two years ago. The company consists of human resources with specialized skills, and actively utilizes Asian human resources. In 2015, the company came into contact with excellent human resources at a company that undertook laboratory-type offshore development in Vietnam, and a similar company was established in Yangon, Myanmar, jointly with five Japanese companies.
Laboratory-type offshore development is development work that the customer directly instructs the staff selected by the overseas customer, and misunderstandings in communication that tend to occur in outsourced offshore development can be avoided. The company can also be used as a customer. In Myanmar, a coup d'état by the military took place, but at the time of the interview, it seemed that there was no problem in communicating with the local subsidiary.
II. Features of Labor Management
1. Change of the way of doing business and work life balance
Getting out of being a subcontractor
Triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake, the company succeeded in transforming from a subcontractor to an independent company. The working environment has also changed significantly. Because the company was a 3rd and 4th level subcontractor for a major system development company, there were problems such as when a female employee became pregnant, she could not take time off due to the needs of the client. After the Great East Japan Earthquake, an employee from Fukushima Prefecture lost contact with his parents at home and applied for a week's leave. However, the client he was in charge of had a deadline, so they definitely wanted him to come, and if he takes a leave, they said they can't pay. For them, it was unacceptable to take time off in March when the deadline was looming. President Yoshimoto felt angry that they were crazy for not allowing him to check on his family's safety in the midst of a major disaster. As negotiations with the business partner did not work, he visited the business partner on Monday after the earthquake (Friday), and found that all the employees of the company came to work, by booking a taxi from early in the morning, while the train was not running satisfactorily. He thought it creepy because they were all under mind control that made them go to work no matter what, and he wanted to stay away from companies like this. In the end, the contract of 7.5 million yen with this company was terminated.
The unreasonable attitude of the business partner made him choose to terminate the transaction. But in the first place, he felt the weakness of the position as a subcontractor to allow unreasonable situation to force the employees into such a predicament, and his thoughts of leaving the position subcontractor grew. Also, at the time, all 4 or 5 employees were single, and in case of emergency, they would stay up all night without hesitation. However, they all got married at the same time, and it didn't go like it used to. This work situation encouraged him to quit subcontracting and work in a way that allowed them to control their own working hours.
Three years after the Great East Japan Earthquake, the company could escape from being a subcontractor, and all employees were able to leave the office at around 18:00. (By the way, the company adopts de facto working hours system) However, as is often the case with professional works, even after returning home, he says, they are thinking about "What should I do with that task?"
He did not consciously aim to improve the work-life balance of employees. The attitudes of business partners that caused feeling angry at the time of the great earthquake, and the weak position of subcontractors promoted him to move away from subcontracting, and as a result, the work-life balance had improved.
Reasons for the large amount of overtime in the IT industry
According to President Yoshimoto, the large amount of overtime in the IT industry is due to the multilayered subcontracting structure. Even if they are informed of the prospect of an order from a business partner and have secured personnel, the actual order is delayed because of the relationship with the higher-level business partner. However, the delivery date is not extended along with it, so they end up working overtime. In addition, they do not understand the required specifications well, and though they can think of pattern A and pattern B, but even if they ask a customer which one, it takes time to go up and down the multilayered structure. As a result, the time to delivery is shortened and overtime work is forced.
After being able to communicate directly with customers, they surprisingly came to know that few of them required to meet the delivery date accurately. When he asked a customer, "We are going to be a little late for about a week due to so and so reason, are you OK?", and a lot of the time they responded, "Oh, that's unavoidable."
Such negotiations are normal. The multi-layered subcontracting structure is convenient for the prime contractor at the top, but it is a system where the burden goes to the bottom, and the company was able to get out of this structure.
2. Employees do not live for the company
Underlying Thought
Although he did not aim to improve work-life balance, President Yoshimoto seems to have a management philosophy that leads to an emphasis on work-life balance. As mentioned above, he found it creepy to see companies forcing everyone to come to work three days after the earthquake. Behind this is the idea that "each and every employee does not live for the company." He says, "I think it's more about what the company can do for each employee's life. "
There is no doubt that this idea supports the work-life balance of employees. Not only that, but it also affects the company's management style and human relationships in the following ways:
Completely office-less
The company started partial telework in February 2020 and transitioned to a complete office-less from January 2021.Some employees said that if some people came to work and were close to the president, that person would benefit, so the company abolished the office as a place of work in order to make the environment of all employees the same. The company provides employees with remote allowances, and those who find it difficult to work from home can use the hotel's remote work service. The company will continue to be completely office-less even after the COVID-19 disaster is over. He wants to take the initiative, not to be swayed by management due to the COVID-19 disaster and the declaration of a state of emergency, also it is possible to hire human resources living in any region, as a countermeasure against the difficulty of recruiting, in addition, he also wants to put human resources in rural areas and help with regional revitalization.
However, as a result, the company's community function will be lost. According to Yoshimoto, people have a desire to belong to a community, but the Japanese were too dependent on corporate communities. In the first place, it is strange to ask a company for everything. People should have multiple communities, and they should contribute to their local communities by eliminating the need for commuting time. That's what the company wants to be, he says. In addition, he says that the creation of knowledge generated by employee information exchange can be done with zoom.
Complete office-less is not suitable for people who cannot work without being watched by others, but it is suitable for people with a strong sense of autonomy. As described below, the Company already has the characteristics of a group of self-governing people, and this will become even stronger.
“Penetration” of the Management Philosophy
“We will strive to achieve harmony between science and technology and human activities, and realize a spiritually rich society.”
“We will refine our intelligence and sensibility, and aim to be a ‘reliable group’ with a broad perspective and the ability to take action.”
"We will pursue the unity of 'the development of the company and the happiness of all people involved'."
This is the company's management philosophy. However, Mr. Yoshimoto says that the management philosophy has not "permeated" the employees. It's interesting why. People's values don't change that much, but the "permeation" of an idea seems like mind control to change values. Some companies recite their philosophies at morning meetings, but he doesn't like that. People who join the company are sympathetic to the company's philosophy, and they did not change their sense of values by "penetration" of the management philosophy. However, he thinks that people can change their values by themselves. People who no longer fit the values of the company's philosophy may quit.
He sees his employees as partners. People don't exist for companies, so they're not business partners, but life partners. The president and employees are nothing more than a division of roles. As a result, President Yoshimoto is called "Yoshimoto-san."
Our company started out with 4 or 5 people and now has more than 20 people, so it is necessary to institutionalize management. But some old members don't like it. For that reason, he said, he created a subsidiary, where they work in the old-fashioned way, which is to adapt the organization to people. In the above, the idea that "employees do not live for the company" appears.
3. Interesting and autonomous work
Students come back
In fiscal 2017-2019, eight people were hired, and seven of whom were hired mid-career. Those who were hired mid-career were so-called second graduates. A student who worked part-time at the company finds a job at a major company because of its name recognition. The salary is the same as the major companies, but the name recognition is inferior. The creative specialists that the company needs are also needed by major companies, and they struggle to recruit new graduates. However, students who find employment at major corporations return within a few years. Professional engineers want to do creative work that involves trial and error, but in large companies there is a lot of repetitive work within a set framework, and there are no opportunities to demonstrate creativity.
Not just an office worker
The company deals directly with customers, not subcontractors, and engages with customers from the planning stage, allowing all SEs to be involved in all processes from system planning proposals, system design, implementation, testing, and delivery.
However, instead of entrusting responsibility to one SE, a team takes charge, and the team works on multiple projects at the same time. The reason why they do not leave everything to one person is that if they miss work due to family circumstances or illness, others can cover it.
Creativity is required at the planning stage, and they accumulate knowledge by reading relevant scientific papers and make proposals. They are in charge of the final process and can enjoy a sense of accomplishment because they can directly interact with the customer's reaction. Work has a wide range of discretion and can be carried out autonomously. Regarding the delivery date, they can explain the required time to the customer and convince them. According to a person who has worked at the company, rather than being an office worker, he has the image of being an independent IT consultant and engineer who moves development from planning.
The company asks part-time students to do research and development-oriented work that ordinary companies cannot entrust to them. They have this fun memory and will come back to the company. The second new graduates are trained at a major company, so that helps.
Management plan prepared by executives
In some small-scale companies, employees also participate in the formulation of management plans, contributing to the exercise of employee autonomy. This company is also small, but management plans are decided by executives, and general employees do not participate.
The company is made up of professionals. Specialist personnel have little interest in business management tasks, and aim to improve their skills and careers in their specialized fields. For this reason, it seems that specialists are not involved in business management such as business planning, while they carry out their actual work autonomously. In small and medium-sized enterprises, employees can demonstrate their autonomy in two ways: participation in management plans by employees, and wide discretionary work in practical work, although employees do not participate in the plans.
4. Financial rewards are not motivating
President Yoshimoto says he feels uncomfortable with raising salaries as a goal. Partly because the company doesn't pay low salaries, but because he doesn't think anyone will work more because they get paid more. Career development is important to professionals. The conventional wage system was based on a seniority system that balances the age of employees, but there is also a sense of unfairness that the same age pays the same does not take into account differences in ability. Therefore, the company adopted job-based wages and created a personnel evaluation system over a year after discussions among executives based on a template provided by a social worker. Although he had been conscious of job wages for some time, building a personnel evaluation system was troublesome. However, after discussing it at the board meeting, it was decided that although it may not work well, it is better to do it than not to do it.
The good thing about making this is that each employee now has a standard to judge what they are lacking in shaping their careers. They knew that it would be very difficult to work if they weren't clear about what they had to develop, but they hadn't created a firm system. After creating the system, one of the young employees said, "I'm very grateful that we were able to establish a common basis for discussion during interviews with our superiors, instead of talking about wages."
5. Aiming for an appropriate scale
Flexible interview system
The company holds meetings between superiors and subordinates at least once a week. Interviews between the president and employees are also held once every two or three months. The president asks, "Is there anything you're having trouble with?" The content of the talk is various about work and life, but there are many worries about the relationship with the boss. The president is not involved in any field work at all, and for the employees, the president is probably in the position of an "outsider" like an "old man in the company" although he doesn't really understand what it is.
Therefore, it is easy for employees to confide in their relationship with their superiors. An interview date has not been set. He interviews when handing over payslips, or when employees come to the office from time to time because they are teleworking. Some people like to do it while eating and drinking, and some people like to do it in a formal way, so he adapts.
It is a company scale that can be changed while looking at the other party, so it is not firmly institutionalized. I think the advantage of SMEs is that they can be flexible like this.
Appropriate size is 30 people
He thinks the right size for the company is around 30 people. When there are few people, it is not possible to take a break at home even if something happens in order to do responsible work. A few imperfections don't matter while they're developing a prototype, but they can't afford it when they're in production. However, family is also important, and it is necessary to expand the scale to about 30 people so that employees will not be caught in a dilemma. In order to complement each other, the age structure should be different. If there are no more than 30 employees, the profit margin can be increased because the president can do the "backstage" work alone, as it is now.
Create a subsidiary if there are likely to be more than 30 employees--He already has one-- He himself has to work for some time, so from the point of view of the employees, there will always be an eyesore above them. He feels sorry for that, and thinks that successful businesses should be set up as subsidiaries and let them run freely. In this way, the current challenge is to aim for an appropriate size of 30 people.
Google Sites
Report abuse