Blogs and Articles from Third Way Forum Membrs

・ Most Japanese people still hesitate to bring up family issues or private matters at work due to their Gaman(tolerance/emotional suppression) culture.

・ Also, it is because many Japanese don’t want to be seen as making an excuse to avoid something at work.

・ The collective corporate culture and the obsessive pursuit of quality, customer service and dedication to work have made it unlikely for the Japanese to prioritize private issues over company needs.

・ There is also a sense of virtue that many Japanese find in the sacrifice of individual needs. The Japanese often expect to see a huge volume of sacrifice for any success and victory. Hence many Japanese people still tend to see that it is necessary to sacrifice either career or family.

・ However, it is obvious that one’s wellbeing dictates one’s performance at work. That’s why work life integration has been promoted all over the world. Most global companies want well-rounded leaders who are fulfilled both on professional and private fronts.

・ Now due to the work from home practice under the pandemic, some Japanese people feel more “allowed” to talk about their family and private issues at work.

・ Young Japanese people also think that it is not cool to spend all their energy at their corporate jobs because the company can no longer guarantee life-long employment and especially because more companies are encouraging employees to find their 2nd jobs. More and more young Japanese people tend to split their private life completely from their company.

・ There are two totally different schools of thoughts. The first one is to regard employees as independent freelancers. So they deliver what they are paid for. No need to share their family issues or private problems with the company unless it is an emergency. The second one is to regard the company as a big family where people share their family issues and private matters that are hindering them from their peak performance and support each other. The first approach can not help those who have performance issues due to their family issues. The second approach may sound nice but sometimes people within the family may feel constrained with too much pressure just like some young people in Italian/Greek immigrant families in North America are complaining a lot about their lack of free time over the weekend due to so many family events.

・ The challenge is the fact that different people have different needs. Diversity of employees means diversity of support needs. Supporting working mothers could mean less support for other female workers. Encouraging vacation consumption and less overtime could mean taking away happiness from those people who passionately love their current work.

・ Business leaders today need to understand that the diversity of people drive the diversity of support needs and respond with proper support according to each person’s needs.