Creating positive work environment is beneficial for companies

要約

Japanese workers are quitting their jobs in larger numbers. At the end of October, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare issued statistics on the percentage of new employees who resigned within three years of being hired. The average for all industries was 28.8 percent.

In 2011, only 62 percent of the graduating class found jobs. That means nearly 40 percent of young people lag in getting workplace experience early in their careers.

Combined with the high numbers of workers quitting in certain industries, the general level of work experience for young employees has decreased sharply.

Japan prides itself on high-quality customer service, but to keep standards high, young people need to develop those skills. Dealing with customers and colleagues, for example, requires significant experience and supervised practice. In some companies, training has become an expense they no longer can afford, especially when an increasing number of new employees quit soon.

The main reason for quitting and changing jobs is surely overwork. Some companies either do not pay overtime adequately or fail to provide sufficient compensation for “extras” such as commission-based sales.

The presumption of lifetime, or even long-term, employment, is no longer a realistic one for many workers and that makes their workplace more stressful, not less. Even when workers are selfless and self-sacrificing, loyalty to an employer depends on conditions and treatment.

The practice of working employees hard and then discarding them is not a viable one in the long run. Only those companies that manage their employees by finding ways to train and handle them over the long term will find profitability.

Creating a humane and positive workplace environment that makes employees want to stay is not easy, but it is an essential task if the quality of employment is to improve for employees and employers in the future.

日本語の抄訳はウィークリー12月8日号のP18に掲載されています。