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P U B L I S H E R ’ S M E S S A G EAdvancing HR Journalism in Japan: The HR Agenda Moves ForwardJun Kabigting, MBA/MS/HRMP

J H R S C O M M U N I T Y N E W SThe 5th GOLD Symposium Driving Innovation Through InclusionAtty. Toby Mallen

F E AT U R E S TO RYHiring People with Disabilities: "Not Charity, but a Chance"Stephenie Overman and Annette Karseras

Does HR Belong in the Hiring Business? Jun Kabigting, MBA/MS/HRMP

H R B E S T P R A C T I C EBecoming Future Ready: How Coca-Cola Asia Pacific Used a Future Mindsetto Grow its Local LeadersRadoslava Anguelova

H R TO O L B OXSelection Practices for Expats in Japanese MNCsPranvera Zhaka, Ph.D.

C H A N G E M A N A G E M E N THR as a Business Leader:Going Beyond the Psychobabble & Esoteric NonsenseThe HR Agenda

S E L E C T I O N & S TA F F I N GTune in to the Benefits of LinkedInKumiko Shimotsubo

K N O W L E D G E @ W H A R TO NBeing Last Interview of the Day Could Crush Your Chances

H R L E G A L C L I N I CFree Employer-provided Health Checkups: Is My Privacy Protected?Atty. Vicki Beyer

A S K H RConducting Reasonable Background & Reference Checks Andrew Manterfield & Yoshiharu Matsui

C OA C H I N GGrowing Into Our Potential: Like Bamboo in the WindDaniela Ploberger & Dr. Florian Ploberger

E D I TO R I A LEveryone Counts in the Race for Talent Annette Karseras

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The HR Agenda Mission

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.

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TransitionFinal placement and transition time for program participation

Unique to the Individual

• Transition into end destination role (L4/Director level)

• The end destination should be based on business need, associate performance & potential, associate interest

• Preparation for transition to an End Destination role in the Asia-Pacific market

Supplemental CCRRotation

Experiential learning aligned around participant interest/

business need

Unique to the Individual (4 Months)

• Finance

• Strategy

• IT

• HR

• Business Transformation Office

• Customer Care

Business Leadership Program: The 2-Year Rotational Experience

• Field based experience with intense shadow assignments

–Merchandising –Account Mgr –Distribution –Production

• In-depth overviews of the organization

–CCR financial acumen –CCR operating model –Competitive landscape

& trends

Robust CCROn-boarding

Blending of experiential andstructured learning to ground

each associate in CCR

Foundational for All (1 Month)

• Customer Facing / Sales / Commercial Leadership Experience

–National Retail Sales –FSOP –Region Sales –Commercial Leadership*

• Product Supply Experience

• Marketing / Branding Experience (CCNA)*

• Global rotation through a partnership with BIG or KO Global operating units (90 days)

Core CCR BusinessRotation

Experiential learning core tounderstanding the CCR

organization

Common & Core to the Experience (6 Months Each)

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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).

Publisher The Japan HR Society (JHRS) HRAgenda@jhrs.org www.jhrs.org www.jhrs.org/hr_agenda

Managing Editor Jun Kabigting, MBA/MS/HRMP managing_editor@jhrs.org

Editor in Chief Annette Karseras editor-in-chief@jhrs.org

Associate Editors Hope Dorrien, Hiroshi Okamoto, Masanobu Sawada Contributing Editors Hilda Rosca Nartea, Stephenie Overman

Translators Syra Morii, Masanobu Sawada, Makito Noda Design and Boon PrintsProduction

Art Director Annette Karseras

Ad Sales, Marketing, HR Central K.K.and Distribution advertising@jhrs.org Editorial Team Marc Cillo

Address The HR Agenda 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/Fax +81 (0)50-3394-0198 +81 (0)3-6745-9292

Magazine SubscriptionSubscribe online at http://www.jhrs.org/hr_agenda/subscribe

Japan Domestic Subscription• Digital Version (current issue only): -FREE- • Single Print (Anniversary) Issue: JPY 1,575 (tax & postage included)• Single Print (Anniversary) Issue + Digital Versions (current & past issues): JPY 3,150 per year

(tax & postage included) • Digital-only Version (current & past issues): JPY 1,575 per year (tax included)• Multiple/bulk orders: Email HRAgenda@jhrs.org with your name/company, postal address,

number of copies required, and preferred method of payment. We will send you an estimate of price including postage before confirming your order.

International Subscription• Digital Version (current issue only): -FREE-• Digital-only Version (current & past issues): JPY 1,575 per year (tax included)• Multiple/bulk orders: Email HRAgenda@jhrs.org with your name/company, postal address,

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The HR Agenda and JHRS logos are registered trademarks and properties of The Japan HR Society (JHRS).

©2013 The Japan HR Society (JHRS). All rights reserved.

Cover ImageConcept by Annette Karseras, compilation and design by Boon Prints, READY FOR COMPETITION by Rnl, START YOUR BUSINESS by Ryanking999, START YOUR CAREER by Andresr, BUSINESS MAN READY TO RUN by Leolintang, CURVE OF RACE TRACK by Vichie81.

Article Image SourcesBUSINESSWOMAN IN A WHEELCHAIR DURING A MEETING by Wavebreakmediamicro, SLOLVE DISMATCHING PUZZLE by Eskaylim, Senior Businessman by Ardie Coloma, 5 O'CLOCK by Patrickmcelweephotography, MEDICAL CHECK UP by Odua, BAMBOO WITH LEAVES by Okea, READY FOR COMPETITION by Rnl, START YOUR BUSINESS by Ryanking999, START YOUR CAREER by Andresr, BUSINESS MAN READY TO RUN by Leolintang, RACETRACK by Elenathewise.

DisclaimerThe 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.

THE AGENDA®

Japan,s first bilingual HR magazine published by The Japan HR Society (JHRS)

Jun Kabigting, MBA/MS/HRMP

Chief Community Officer, The Japan HR Society (JHRS)

Originally written in English

The HR Agenda is a truly groundbreaking platform for bilingual HR journalism in the country, while at the same time putting Japan on the global HR publication map. We’ve published eight issues with 104 articles in both English and Japanese, formed seven domestic and international media partnerships, and held four magazine-inspired panel discussions with Japan’s HR thought leaders as well as Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs).

The HR Agenda: An Audacious Initiative from anUnexpected Beginning

As you may know, The HR Agenda made its debut a couple of months after the devastating 3/11 earthquake that hit Japan in 2011. We could have postponed its launching and made lots of excuses that would have been forgivable given the chaotic and desperate situation at that time. Instead we forged ahead and used the opportunity to dedicate its premiere issue to Japan and her people, as a “testament of our firm resolve to show the world that Japan’s HR professionals are moving forward.” (See “Publisher’s Message: Making History and Being Part of It,” The HR Agenda, Jul-Sep 2011.)

It has been two years, and indeed we have moved forward, continuing the march toward achieving our mission as a magazine and as a professional organization. We have covered various themes and areas of HR interest from the macro (Japan’s New Global Spirit and Leaders & Leadership) to the legal (Employment Laws in Japan and Governance & Ethics) and to the avantgarde HR approaches (High Performance Organizations, Diversity & Inclusion, and HR Business Partnering). (Link to past issues)

We have interviewed, dialogued with and featured some of Japan’s foremost HR thought leaders and KOLs from academia and industry. We are very honored to have featured the likes of Hitotsubashi University's Dr. Ikujiro Nonaka, world expert in Knowledge Management (See The HR Agenda, Jan-Mar 2012); Waseda University's Dr. Mitsuhide Shiraki for his work in transnational HRM (See The HR Agenda, Oct-Dec 2011); and Tokyo University's Dr. Takashi Araki, the chief architect of Japan’s Labor Tribunal Court (LTC) system that paved the way for a fast and inexpensive way of resolving labor-related lawsuits (See The HR Agenda, Jul-Sep 2012).

Not to be outdone are the contributions of HR practitioners from a wide range of industries, both in Japan and worldwide, who have generously shared their thoughts, ideas and knowledge with

Advancing HR Journalism in JapanThe HR Agenda Moves Forward

P U B L I S H E R ' S M E S S A G E

This issue marks the second birthday of The HR Agenda – Japan’s first and only bilingual HR magazine and proudly published by The Japan HR Society (JHRS) not only for its members but also for the entire HR profession in Japan and worldwide.

Rise Up, Japan!

T H E P R E M I E R E I S S U E

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 Contol 26

and more...

Volume 1 Issue 1

ISSN 2186-277X

July-September 2011

JPY 1575 (tax & postage)

創刊号

日本式HRは 本当にユニークで、

変化しつつあるのか？ 14

バックグラウンド・スクリーニング

調査の背景 17

管理職になるということ 18

「変化」という恐ろしい技を

どう習得するか 21

よく聞いて！ 23

求職中のメンタルヘルス・マネジメント 24

その他...

がんばれ、 日本！

Volume 1 Issue 1

ISSN 2186-277X

2011年７−９月号（創刊号）

定価1575円（税、送料込み）

THE H

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2011年７−９月号（創刊号）

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status on Facebook and LinkedIn. As more HR professionals go mobile, The HR Agenda will be with them wherever they are.

In our third year, we focus on core HR topics such as Selection & Staffing, Talent Mobility/Expat Management, Rewards & Remuneration, Performance Management and HR2.0/HRIS. If you (or someone you know) are interested in contributing to any of these themes, please refer to the Get Published! ad below and be a part of something truly unique and groundbreaking. Be heard. Influence others. Get published!

The HR Agenda will also continue to be a media partner for domestic and international HR conferences and events, as this is an integral part of our strategy of making the magazine reach a wide HR audience. Please get in touch with us at events@jhrs.org if you (or someone you know) are interested in having The HR Agenda become your media partner for your own HR event(s).

Moving forward, The HR Agenda will continue to evolve as we are just beginning. There is still much to be done, to write, and to advocate and we hope that you, our reader, will be with us and support us as we continue to advance HR journalism in this country in support of JHRS’ primary mission of advancing the HR profession in Japan.

For feedback and comments: hragenda@jhrs.org.

our readers. The scope and breadth of HR topics ranged from Leadership, Change Management, Coaching, HR Strategy, Employee Relations, HR Compliance to Talent & Workforce Management. The magazine has spanned the entire HR value chain of recruit, retain and release.

Of course, we have the regular columns such as the Publisher’s Message where we communicate the comings and goings within the JHRS community and Feature Stories which get to the meat of the issue’s theme. We have AskHR where readers can ask any HR-related questions and our two hosts answer independently, giving you a Japanese and non-Japanese take on an issue; HR Legal Clinic where our panel of legal experts give their views/advice on the matter ; HR Best Practice where we showcase HR practices worth emulating; HR Tool Box for those useful and practical tips for HR; and HR Maestro where we interview seasoned and rising HR pros. Last, but certainly not least, we have the Editorial where our editor in chief puts her best thoughts and critical thinking into writing in the hope of affecting and influencing the HR profession in Japan. Readers have described these editorials as well researched, balanced, and always challenging the status quo. A must read indeed for the progressive HR professional.

All of these ideas converging into one platform effectively makes The HR Agenda a thought leader in its own right, one that has received domestic and global recognition for this reason.

What Lies Ahead for The HR AgendaStarting with the Jan-Mar 2013 issue, The HR Agenda became

available across different platforms from print (Anniversary Issue only) to online and digital delivery such as web, HTML 5, iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod) and Android tablets and smart phones. Magazines can be easily downloaded, printed and shared to others. (See “Walking the Talk: The HR Agenda Goes Hybrid!” The HR Agenda, Jan-Mar 2013.)

To date, the multi-platform delivery model is proving to be very successful as we are now seeing a significant increase in the number of page views, book marks, downloads, sharing and “Likes”

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 Japan-focused. He passionately believes in advancing the HR agenda in Japan through continuing HR education, knowledge sharing, and use of HR best practices.

If you have an idea for an article we look forward to hearing from you. Please send your articles to HRAgenda@jhrs.org. We cannot promise to publish all submissions, but our policy is to reply to all emails we receive. We welcome your feedback on any aspect of the magazine. We would also like to hear what topics you would like to read about in future issues.

The HR Agenda: A Ground-Breaking PlatformAs Japan’s first bilingual HR magazine, The HR Agenda offers an incredibly unique

platform. By sourcing material written in both English and Japanese, funding translation and encouraging bilingual submissions from contributors, we offer a genuinely two-way exchange. For a century and a half Japan has been translating Western knowledge into Japanese. We create a forum where Japanese voices can also be heard in international circles. Our aim is to understand both sides of the coin; all facets of an issue. We want to encourage collegiality through open and sincere dialogue amongst our readers in Japan and overseas, and amongst HR professionals, researchers, and key opinion leaders throughout the world.

Be Heard. Influence Others.

Get Published!

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C O M M U N I T YN E W S Get to know the latest news and updates within the JHRS Community.

Atty. Toby MallenMallen Law Offices

Originally written in English

The 5th GOLD Symposium Driving Innovation Through Inclusion

The 5th GOLD Symposium was held at the InterContinental Hotel, in Los Angeles, California on March 22, 2013. Approximately 250 attendees reflected on the message “Reflect, Renew and Reinvent: Driving Innovation Through Inclusion.” The symposium brought together influential leaders who shared their insights into business advantages gained through the execution of their Diversity & Inclusion strategies. They demonstrated the skills required to be successful 21st century innovative leaders. The audience was a diverse group that included corporate executives, bankers, educators, community service organizations, media and students.

Hiroko Tatebe, Founder and Executive Director of Global Organization for Leadership and Diversity (GOLD), opened the symposium by remarking that today’s business environment is more global, diverse and unpredictable than ever, which creates unique challenges. “Bounce your ideas off others,” she encouraged the audience.

In his keynote speech, Toshihiro Nakamura, Co-Founder and CEO of Kopernik spoke on the topic “Lesson Learned from Innovative Social Entrepreneur” explaining how his organization brings simple technology to communities that face challenges. He

With today’s business environment being more diverse and challenging than ever, people from around the world took time out of their busy schedules to attend the 5th GOLD Symposium that sought to bring discourse to the idea of “Driving Innovation Through Inclusion.”

remarked that countries with diversities have the ability to harness that power.

Renee White Fraser, President and CEO of Fraser Communications who spoke on “Dialogue with Women Executives: The Link Between Inclusiveness and Innovation,” believes that having a diverse employee base is important and that diverse companies enjoy higher returns. “As a result of changing global environments, technologies and workforce composition, corporations must move towards a paradigm that treats diversity inclusively to maintain innovative and competitive advantages.” According to Fraser, “we have to be the agents of change.”

Deborah L. DeHaas, Vice Chairman and Chief Inclusion Officer at Deloitte LLP, shared her passion for diversity and inclusion, describing inclusion as the “overarching umbrella.” “Our clients expect us to bring diversity” she said, and diversity drives innovation.

Yasufumi Hirai, President and General Manager, Cisco Systems GK Japan, also spoke about creating an innovative environment, noting that innovation is being created by people and that collaboration is the key. His collaboration model has three components:

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Atty. Toby Mallen has assisted companies doing business in California for more than 20 years. Often acting in the general counsel capacity, Mallen has helped employers avoid or minimize liability for employment-related claims. With an ability to speak Japanese, Mallen also advises Japanese companies hoping to do business in the United States.

1. Culture, which must resonate with the employees;

2. Business process;3. Technology, which is the enabler

to accelerate corporate structure.

Glenn Llopis, founder of Center for Hispanic Leadership, believes that embracing individuality is important. According to Llopis the 6 core skills needed for 21st century leaders are:

1. Ability to see opportunity2. Crisis management3. Never give up4. Exploration/Innovation5. Leading with leaving a legacy

in mind6. Work with a generous purpose Tracey Doi, VP and Chief Financial

Officer of Toyota Motor Sales, pointed out that we need to recognize that we are in a global economy. She urged participants to embrace uncertainty without fear, to reward courageous acts, celebrate success and create an environment where new ideas are welcome. Doi recommended that associate contributions be valued, teamwork encouraged and that we explore what leaders can do to develop both individually and as a team. She noted that Toyota’s success is based on its people.

The recipients of the GOLD Bridge Builder Award were: Marilyn Johnson, Graciela Meibar and Cisco Systems, GK Japan.

Afternoon break-out groups focused on three areas: Generational differences, people with disability and women in the Asian workforce.

Discover Critical Talent by Engaging Multi-generations

Graciela Meibar noted that there seems to be tension between generations with young people pushing the limits and trying to break barriers. According to Meibar, each

generation has its own style, with the young generation today being technology savvy and wanting everything now. Meibar states that communication between generations is key and lack of communication is bound to lead to repeating past mistakes.

Ellen Chen believes that volunteering outside of the work place is a good way for the young generation to build skills and gain experience different from that in the work place, while Daisy Auger-Dominguez told the audience that many new hires are entrepreneurial with nimble and fluid ideas. She believes that we are now seeing cross-generational learning. (See also Stephenie Overman in Jan-Mar 2013 issue.)

Ability Matters, Not Disability:Innovative Inclusion

Hisako Kaneko told the audience that in Japan colleges are not required to include students with disabilities. High school graduates with disabilities face too many obstacles to attend college. Because of the dearth of college educated people with disabilities, employers who wish to hire employees with disabilities must hire high school graduates. Among the challenges faced by disabled workers is that people look down upon them in spite of the fact that these workers function well in the work place with the aid of technology.

In the United States both federal and state laws prohibit employers from discriminating against employees on a myriad of basis including race, religion, gender, age, disability, marital status, pregnancy, medical condition, sexual orientation, veteran status, and military status. In accordance with laws protecting qualified individuals with known disabilities, the employer must attempt to reasonably accommodate those individuals who are otherwise qualified to safely perform all of the essential functions of the position, unless doing so would create an undue hardship on the employer. The employer should encourage the employees to promptly report every

instance of unlawful discrimination and promptly conduct a thorough investigation of such claims. To avoid employment related claims, employers in the United States need to be aware of the constantly changing employment laws. (See also Feature article on "Hiring People with Disabilities" in this issue.)

Maximizing the Potential of Women in the Workforce: Asian Perspectives

Yoko Okamura, from Japan, told the audience that she came from a culture where it is not okay to ask questions and that innovation and diversity are needed. Kimiko Horii said that she has not seen a commitment to diversity and inclusion within Japanese companies and that how human power is used is critical to the company. Horii advised the audience to focus on three areas: female inclusion in management, work life management and increasing the employment of people with disabilities.

The GOLD Symposium once again brought together people from all walks of life and enabled interesting and informational discourse related to this year’s theme of driving innovation through diversity, leaving its attendees pondering their own commitment to diversity in the workforce.

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Hiring People with Disabilities "Not Charity, but a Chance"

Stephenie Overman & Annette KarserasThe HR Agenda

Originally written in English

People with disabilities often struggle to find jobs. But companies that make an effort to accommodate their needs are learning to appreciate their value.

Employees who have disabilities can make real contributions to the company’s bottom line, “if you pay attention not to the disability but to ability,” says Hisako Kaneko, the chief diversity officer for AXA Life Insurance Co., Ltd.

By offering what Kaneko calls “not charity, but a chance,” AXA has become a workplace of choice – and a winner of the 2012 Toyo Keizai Diversity Management Award for inclusion of people with disabilities.

Making full use of the abilities of people who have some type of physical, emotional or intellectual disability can be seen as simply good use of human resources. Japan has an estimated seven million people with disabilities, six percent of the population. The minimum legal requirement under Japanese law had long been that individuals with disabilities must account for 1.8 percent of a company's total workforce, or 1 person per 56 employees, but that number increased to 2 percent, or 1 person per 50 employees, as of April 1, 2013.

Public policy regarding employment of people with disabilities varies considerably from country to country, according to Mercer's Global Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Practice. Government regulations range from prohibiting discrimination against individuals with disabilities to having quotas for the number of people with disabilities employers must hire. The United States, for example, requires employers to refrain from discriminating against people with disabilities and to accommodate such employees as needed.

According to Mercer, in countries that have quotas, the percentage of persons with disabilities who must be employed varies widely: China, 1.5 percent; South Korea, 2 percent; Germany, 5 percent; France, 6 percent; and Italy up to 7 percent. Many countries require quotas only for companies over a certain size, typically 20 or more employees.

Setting Corporate Hiring ObjectivesFast Retailing Co., Ltd. has established its own objectives for

hiring individuals with disabilities. In 2001 the giant company decided

People with disabilities account for 7.19 percent of UNIQLO's

total workforce in Japan.

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Yukari Yomo, vice president of human resources. “The team found out what kind of lifestyle those people had at work, and we asked what tools and equipment really were useful for them.”

GSK's People Project team submits suggestions for improvements. For example, the team noted that not all elevators had an audio system to provide information for blind individuals.

“This is not coming from the top but from the bottom up. This team's activities have been made very transparent and shared with employees through the company newsletter,” said Yomo.

She notes that a major problem for disabilities employment is that few individuals with disabilities have been to college. This has been slow to change and so few people with disabilities have been able to move far up the career ladder. At the same time, the experience of having a disability can impact an individual's work-life priorities. This may mean the career aspirations of some people with disabilities may be characterized differently than those of people without this experience.

As part of its effort to help, GSK now offers an Orange Internship Program for people with disabilities. It provides them GSK work experience as a step towards getting a permanent job.

Helping other employees work effectively with people with disabilities is also critical to improving their chances for successful employment.

According to Ueki, at Fast Retailing employees have been working hard to acquire new skills, including skills to communicate with deaf employees. “If they can express themselves… customers and teams will be so glad to see that. I am thinking of one hearing impaired man in particular in my department. Once one employee communicated with him, more and more employees have started to communicate with him too – through using eye contact, talking face-to-face, using sign language and gestures, or carefully articulating words. These approaches are very important, when verbal communication is not possible.”

Kaneko says an AXA survey has found that employees who work with people with disabilities support the inclusion of people with disabilities more. “If they work side by side, nearly 90 percent of employees say this is good for the company.”

to start offering opportunities to individuals with disabilities at each of its UNIQLO stores in Japan.

“The policy is for one person with a disability to be hired at each store. We had 500 stores when the program began,” says Toshiyuki Ueki, director of general administration and employee satisfaction.

Promoting disability is an obligation for the company, according to Ueki. “So at each store, the store manager is assigned the task of hiring people with a disability. It is a must, a given – Atari Mae 当たり前.”

“In addition to hiring, store managers have to support, mentor and give direction to the person with disability. This is the store manager's responsibility,” he says. “Communication-wise, it was very difficult at the beginning, but it became natural for store managers and staff to be thoughtful, not treating disabled employees as different, but sharing stories of success and failure that apply to all employees. People with disability usually work six to eight hours per day depending on their physical strength and skills.”

Being mindful of people with disability embodies the importance of our values such as “attentiveness, attention to detail and thoughtfulness” and results in personal growth not only for people with disability but everyone involved, including store managers and other staff, according to Ueki.

Today, “Fast Retailing has 1,041 employees with disability, out of a total of 60,000 employees. At UNIQLO in Japan 97 percent of the 850 stores have people with disabilities, and we are boosting hiring by encouraging large scale stores to hire at least two per store.”

Today, people with disabilities account for 7.19 percent of UNIQLO's total workforce in Japan, far above the minimum required by Japanese law.

Integrating Individuals with Disabilities Successfully integrating individuals with disabilities into the

workforce takes effort on part of all involved.“We have to heighten our sensitivity,” says Kaneko of AXA. For

example, the company has become more aware through working with persons with visual impairment that “an aging society means we have to make it as eye-friendly as possible” for customers and employees.

AXA has also become more aware of the need to improve communications with members of the deaf community, she says. “Their culture is different, because their language is totally different. We need to adapt more.”

GSK (GlaxoSmithKline) Japan launched People Project in 2011 to shed light on diversity, especially about disability” says

Country Quotas Employment of persons with disabilities

Source: Mercer, Forbes, NDA

0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8%

USA

Italy

France

Germany

South Korea

Japan

Poland

China

UK (No mandatory quota)

Netherlands (No mandatory quota. Target 2-5 %)

Hisako Kaneko, Toshiyuki Ueki and Yukari Yomo spoke at a British Chamber of Commerce in Japan event in March, “Diversity Beyond Gender: People with Disabilities.” The panel discussion was moderated by Suzanne Price.

Hisako Kaneko General Manager of the HR Competence Center and the Chief Diversity Officer of AXA Life Insurance Co., Ltd.

Toshiyuki Ueki Director of General Administration and Employee Satisfaction for Fast Retailing Co., Ltd.

Yukari Yomo Vice President of Human Resources for GSK Japan.

Suzanne PriceRepresentative Director, Price Global.

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Does HR Belong in the Hiring Business?

Jun Kabigting, MBA/MS/HRMP

Managing Director, HR Central K.K.

Originally written in English

It goes beyond a simple yes or no answer. If we want to keep a seat at the hiring table it’s time to reinvent the role we play. It’s time to be an enabler of the hiring process, rather than just the gatekeeper.

“HR professionals should get out of the hiring business!”If you are an HR or recruiting professional, I can see you fuming

in anger! But putting pride aside and taking a more objective look at this issue, there are serious grounds for this argument. Nick Corcodilos, America’s maverick headhunter, aptly wrote in his blog giving three main reasons why HR professionals should get out of the hiring business:

✓ HR professionals are not experts in the business of any department compared to members of the department itself, and thus, they are not the best manager of recruiting, candidate selection, interviewing or hiring.

✓ Putting the responsibility of hiring in the hands of the HR department tacitly relieves the real hiring managers of their most crucial management tasks: finding, hiring and training the right talent.

✓ HR has no skin in the game. It doesn't matter who is recruited, processed or hired because HR gets paid regardless. HR doesn’t really have a stake since they will not be the ones working with the people they recruit.

I have to agree that there is some truth to Corcodilos’ arguments. As organizations have become more complex, HR

F E AT U R E S TO RY

willingly (or unwillingly) allowed its role to evolve into that of a mere gatekeeper. Hence, his arguments can’t simply be brushed aside. We, as HR professionals, should look at the mirror and honestly confront these arguments.

If HR professionals wish to remain in the hiring business, we must earn our right to be there in the first place, instead of having a free ticket simply because we are in the HR department. As I have always believed, hiring is, and remains, among the most important tasks, if not the most important task an HR professional does for an organization.

It won’t be easy, as HR professionals need to overcome deeply entrenched values and practices in how we find, attract and retain top talent. We must reinvent the role we are playing at the hiring table.

Earn the Right to be at Hiring TableHR professionals can start by acting as the enabler rather than

the gatekeeper in the hiring process. The HR professional should refrain from being a mere pencil pusher, CV screener or interview scheduler. There are more important things an HR professional can do and trivial functions such as these can be outsourced or delegated to a temporary staffer.

JUL-SEP 2013

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 Japan-focused. He passionately believes in advancing the HR agenda in Japan through continuing HR education, knowledge sharing, and use of HR best practices.

HR professionals should also go beyond the silo mentality where each step of hiring passes through them as a means of process control. HR must focus instead in quality assurance by encouraging hiring managers and recruitment partners to be proactively involved in the entire selection process from interview, assessment and validation, all the way to the final offer.

HR should put in place a robust recruiting methodology

based on best-in-class hiring practices.

Most importantly, HR professionals

need to adopt author and management guru Jim Collins’ assertion that “people are not the organization’s most important asset,” but rather “the right people are.” By doing this, HR would probably earn 50 percent of its right to remain in the hiring business. Simply put, while it is easy to put warm bodies in any position and hope they get the job done, getting the right people for the right job is an altogether different story.

At the end of the day, business expects HR to deliver results not activities, solutions not excuses and superior performance over mediocrity.

HR professionals should put in place a robust recruiting methodology based on best-in-class hiring practices that ensure the right people are put in the right jobs. Specifically, I recommend the following six proven steps, by which HR can find, attract and retain top talent for the organization:

Step 1: Stop writing a traditional job description and start developing a total job performance profile that will help you define what success looks like for this role. Lou Adler, dubbed America’s original headhunter, does a good job in explaining why HR should ban the use of traditional JDs in his article “Why you must eliminate job descriptions.”

Step 2: Develop a talent-sourcing plan and create a compelling job announcement or

advertisement. Use traditional and non-traditional means to reach your talent pool such as social media (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Ping, Pinterest, etc.) and niche job boards. Know where potential candidates gather either passively or actively. Make your job adverts more eye-catching and unique enough to stand out from the crowd.

Step 3: Conduct behavioral or evidence-based interviews. Although it may not always be true, past behavior (or performance) still remains to be the best predictor so far of future behavior (or performance).

Step 4: Conduct behavioral profiling assessment and reference or background checks. There are tons of profiling tools out there in the market but don’t use DiSC, DISC, or Myers-Briggs for this purpose. They can be used as a development tool, but not as a hiring tool. Otherwise, you open your organization to lawsuits. (Related article: “Best Practice in Talent Assessment” by Dan Harrison, The HR Agenda, Jul-Sep, 2011.)

In addition, conduct reference or background checks before you extend any offer to your candidates or make employment conditional to their successful passing of these checks. As the late U.S. President Ronald Reagan once said during the Cold War, “Trust but verify.” Yes, even in Japan, HR professionals should start vetting their employees as the incidence of employee lies and misrepresentations are on the rise.

Step 5: Recruit and close. Candidate closing is more of an art than an exact science. Understand what motivates top talent: the opportunity, the company, the team, the boss and the pay mix. Remember: it’s never the pay alone. Also, recruit from the start to finish. Always do a “trial closing” every step of the hiring process by asking the candidate “What if…” questions. By doing this, you will be able to gauge candidate interests and raise possible issues that may hinder successful acceptance of an offer. Again, recruit to close.

Step 6: Don’t neglect transition coaching and on-boarding. Now that you have successfully made an offer and it was accepted, your work doesn’t stop there. Continue to recruit people to stay with the company. Take an active part in creating their career plans within the company and consider them for succession planning.

Should HR professionals remain in the hiring business? (Join this quick poll) Well, the decision is yours. Will you remain the CV pusher and interview scheduler or will you start earning that right to be at the hiring table? If you want to keep the status quo, then the answer is clear: HR needs to pack up and get out of the hiring business as its mere presence will just create more damage than gain.

How to Hire the Right Talent

13

H R B E S T P R A C T I C E

Becoming Future ReadyHow Coca-Cola Asia Pacific Used a Future Mindset

to Grow its Local LeadersRadoslava Anguelova

Human Resources Director, Asia Pacific Group at The Coca-Cola Company

Originally written in English

Building a “Future Ready” Organization

in Coca-Cola Pacific

In the current world of economic and demographic shifts, a VUCA world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, one thing has become increasingly apparent – the voices questioning the strategic value of the HR

function have become fewer and weaker. This is evidenced by the rising number of HR job opportunities in Asia and around the world, according to agency research data.

At the heart of HR value creation is the ability to capture business opportunities through people strategies

Facing growth in Asia that continues to outstrip the talent supply, Coca-Cola Pacific had to get innovative and create a “Future Ready” global leadership plan. By introducing a Business Leadership Program to develop local talent, tied to leading MBA programs in the US, as well as a direct sourcing model, their plan is set and succeeding.

Business Leadership Program: The 2-Year Rotational ExperienceCoca-Cola Refreshments (CCR)

while at the same time improving business profitability. Staffing, selection and retention – integral parts of integrated talent management – are key levers which HR at The Coca-Cola Company is using to deliver value to the business.

The pace of growth in Asia continues to outstrip the talent supply, creating

TransitionFinal placement and transition time for program participation

Unique to the Individual

• Transition into end destination role (L4/Director level)

• The end destination should be based on business need, associate performance & potential, associate interest

• Preparation for transition to an end Destination role in the Asia-Pacific market

Supplemental CCRRotation

Experiential learning aligned around participant interest/

business need

Unique to the Individual

• Finance

• Strategy

• IT

• HR

• Business Transformation Office

• Customer Care

• Field based experience with intense shadow assignments

–Merchandising –Account Manager –Distribution –Production

• In-depth overviews of the organization

–CCR financial acumen –CCR operating model –Competitive landscape

& trends

Robust CCROn-boarding

Blending of experiential andstructured learning to ground

each associate in CCR

Foundational for All

• Customer Facing / Sales / Commercial Leadership Experience

–National Retail Sales –FSOP –Region Sales –Commercial Leadership

• Product Supply Experience

• Marketing / Branding Experience

• Global rotation through a partnership with BIG or KO Global operating units (90 days)

Core CCR BusinessRotation

Experiential learning core tounderstanding the CCR

organization

Common & Core to the Experience

JUL-SEP 2013

chronic departure risks. The unabating war for talent in the geography is costing businesses loss of productivity and is hurting the bottom line as talent demands high switching premiums.

In this context, we have focused our efforts at Coca-Cola on building local talent with global mindset and retention. I will focus here on two of our main staffing and recruitment solutions:• Talent incubation – building our future

talent pipeline and

• Building internal sourcing capabilities.

Talent Incubation:

Creating a “Future Ready” Organization

In 2011 we launched a new recruitment initiative in partnership with our North America business, focused on recruiting MBA students from Asian countries in leading US universities for participation in a two-year rotational Business Leadership Program.

The program is designed to provide challenging cross-functional rotations in core areas of the business and to build global acumen and understanding of the Coca-Cola business system through extensive coaching, mentoring and development experiences.

At the end of the two year rotational program, participants receive a job assignment in one of our countries of operation in Asia.

Building the pipeline of future organizational leaders is one of the most consequential and long term decisions an executive could make, so, we ensure we are recruiting for “futurability” and the decision making process is robust. In addition to interviews with senior leaders, candidates participate in an assessment day of case studies, presentations and team leadership situations. Their performance is debriefed to determine whether they bring the important attributes which will

position them for success in the program and in our business – strategic thinking, business acumen, learning agility and adaptability, ability and desire to lead, ability to handle difficult situations while maintaining relationships, global mindset.

Internal Sourcing: Nurturing Local

Leaders with a Global Mindset

We nurture our future Pacific leaders throughout the talent lifecycle with signature programs of the Coca-Cola University like Himalaya. Himalaya is a six -month business and people development program aimed at accelerating growth for a cadre of high potential talent in the Pacific with global leadership skill set. The program focuses on three key success factors for 21st century leaders – cross-cultural leadership, positive influencing power and visionary thinking. It combines the 70-20-10 development approaches, including business projects, senior leaders

BUSINESS LEADERSHIP

DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

COMMON LEADERSHIP CURRICULUM

Business Leadership Development

Cross Functional

Outcomes: What are we Trying to Develop?Leaders who:

• Have a broad understanding of the Coca-Cola system

• Have a deep understanding of the respective geographic organizations

• Are customer focused• Have a passion for our brands (and deep

understanding of them)• Have solid leadership / people development

capabilities• Are strategic & visionary thinkers• Understand the competitive & external landscape• Have a global perspective• Are creative & innovative leaders, comfortable taking

risks• Have the capacity to lead and manage change

sharing and feedback and training sessions. The combination of leader inspired and experiential development creates lasting positive impact for the individual and for the business. The majority of project recommendations made by the participants during the program end up in our strategic business plans with direct contribution to the top and bottom line growth.

Direct sourcing model

Our direct sourcing model is another HR solution supporting business profitability and effectiveness with increased quality of hires, shorter times to fill vacancies and lower cost-of-hire. Our dedicated internal recruitment and sourcing experts are focused on pipeline building ahead of positions becoming open. They understand the Coca-Cola business and culture well and are better

able to determine the candidates’ fit. They are also better equipped and motivated to build our employer brand in the market. The internal sourcing team leverages social media, personal and professional networks and talent market intelligence to build robust and diverse talent pools.

A year into this operating model, the feedback from the business and external candidates has been very positive. Close to 70% of hiring managers agree with the statement “The hiring process is handled effectively” and 94% of the candidates agree with the statement “The process is handled in a way that made me feel good about this company.” The job, of course, is not done until we reach 100% on both metrics.

Our time to fill has improved significantly – from an average of 80-90 days and more in the past to an average

Radoslava Angelova has overall responsibility for the strategic human resources agenda in the Coca-Cola Pacific Group and 14 years of experience in The Coca-Cola Company. Prior to joining Coca-Cola, Radi worked for IMB, where she held HR generalist positions at IMB's European Headquarters in Paris and the Emerging Markets Head Office in Vienna.

of 64 days to fill a vacancy. Seventy percent of our external hires today are direct sourced, resulting in 50% reduction of our recruitment spend.

What is more important, we are confident that we are bringing in and nurturing the next generation of diverse talent for our business in the Pacific. We are creating our own leaders.

16 M

ay 9 2013

What's guiding selection of expats at your company – global strategy or short term business needs? Clarity and transparency have to be taken into consideration when selecting a candidate for an overseas assignment. MNCs have to define what is needed for overseas success more clearly says Pranvera Zhaka. They must find an objective way to evaluate the capability of each candidate and ensure that the knowledge and skills of the person making the selection are appropriate.

H R TO O L B OX

Pranvera Zhaka, Ph.D.

Human Resources, Nikon Corporation

Originally written in English

Multinational corporations (MNCs), including Japanese MNCs, must not only select expatriates carefully, relying on traditional best practices to assure that the best people take on these critical overseas assignments, but they must also make clear to expats what is expected of them, connecting expectations to the firm's strategy.

For the above process to work, the role of the assignment must be clearly defined and eventually articulated to the assignee in order to increase his/her commitment to the company and effective performance.

Japanese MNCs’ Selection Practices

To understand concerns surrounding the selection of expatriates, the Global Management Program for Japanese Leaders (G-MaP) at Waseda University studied the selection practices used by Japanese MNCs. Our qualitative multiple case studies included interviews in March 2011 at nine Japanese companies in India and Thailand. Japanese expatriate managers currently working in those countries were asked about the role and clarity of their assignment, as well as selection practices used in their company (i.e. selection criteria, methods and tools).

The findings indicated that while respondents perceived their role as being very important for overseas success generally, neither the role nor the strategic importance of the assignment was clear to them prior to departure.

The findings also suggested that the expatriate selection process at Japanese MNCs is not systematic or strategic, but rather selection is commonly guided by the short-term business needs of a company. Generally, selection decisions are made

Selection Practices for Expats in Japanese MNCs

JUL-SEP 2013

by line/business managers and the role of the human resource department is marginalized. The number of selection criteria and tools employed by companies was very limited. The main selection criteria used were technical/business skills, English language proficiency, and domestic performance. Structured interviews and written tests were not employed.

The Implicit Contract in Long-term Employment Relationships

The economic framework of implicit contract theory may help to advance the understanding of ethics governing expatriate selection practices in Japanese MNCs. The practice of long-term employment, which continues to be a defining characteristic of the employment practices in Japanese companies, is an outcome of an implicit contract between the company and the employees. The two actors have an unwritten agreement according to which the security of an employee (long-term employment and secure income) is ensured in exchange for his/her commitment to the company.

Covered by the implicit contract of long-term employment relationship, a Japanese MNC expects expatriates to commit fully to the company’s best interest, giving them broad-ranging freedom in daily operations of the overseas subsidiary rather than clearly defining in advance the assignment’s strategic role and job description.

Furthermore, the overarching implicit contract between the headquarters and the expatriates that governs their long-term employment security limits expectations about the outcomes of performing individual short-term assignments. Therefore,

poor performance in assigned locations has little relevance or consequence for an expatriates’ future career.

To complement the particular character of employment best practices in Japan, all MNCs can benefit from a selection process which integrates an ethics of clarity and transparency. HR practices that, in addition to established assessments of technical and business skills, include:

1. Clarity of assignment role; 2. Establishment of a transparent selection system; 3. Assessment of relational and intercultural competencies.

Needless to say, people in management and HR positions responsible for making decisions about expatriate assignments need a chance to develop their own competencies related to clarity in order to implement such selection practices effectively.

By using a wider variety of selection methods the best people for the overseas assignment may be found.

These considerations in the selection of expatriates will reduce the financial costs and other hard-to-measure costs associated with expatriate failure. More specifically they will reduce the risks MNCs hold, such as damaged relationships between the company and suppliers or governments and customers. Finally, the motivation and confidence of the expatriate will increase, influencing subsidiary productivity and the overall organization performance. In order to reap these benefits Japanese MNCs need to integrate strategic and systematic expatriate selection practices to ensure overseas assignment success.

Pranvera Zhaka is currently working with Nikon Corporation and is involved in global human resource development. She holds a Ph.D. in economics from Waseda University in Japan.

The expatriate selection process at Japanese MNCs is not systematic or strategic,

but rather selection is commonly guided by the short-term business needs

18

HR as a Business LeaderGoing Beyond the Psychobabble & Esoteric Nonsense

A Conversation with Ric Willmot, Head of Executive Wisdom Consulting Group

The HR Agenda

Originally written in English

Ric Willmot strongly believes it is high time that HR takes into its hands the task of being directly responsible for organisational growth and improving business bottom-line. The role of contributing to achieve the business mission has a distinct, critical and urgent character.

“Management is not a circus. For a trapeze act there is a net underneath, so you know that you are safe. Business isn’t like that. If you make mistakes, people are going to get hurt, employees are going to lose their jobs, customers won’t get what they pay for and shareholders won’t get a return of their investment,” he says. “We need to get results quickly on real, pragmatic, everyday life [issues]. People’s money and lives are on the line.”

In order to deliver more real-life solutions that lead directly to measurable results, Willmot campaigns for a paradigm shift in the HR practice that enables the profession to go beyond the usual people management responsibilities and translate their expertise into strategic, innovative thinking. Given HR’s knowledge base and links across all stakeholders in the organisation, Willmot sees the future of HR in the executive boardroom. In fact, his vision is to see HR directors become CEOs.

“I see HR cutting through the psychobabble and esoteric nonsense and getting straight to the point, [which is] HR proactively and independently coming forward with strategic and long-term

As global businesses brace for a more competitive, challenging environment, human resources leaders are expected to take a more direct and pivotal role in bringing more success for the organisation. Thought leader for strategic business improvement Ric Willmot discusses the path from HR to the executive boardroom in a recent conversation with The HR Agenda magazine. The interview was held in Kuala Lumpur, after the full-day full workshop led by Willmot on Global HR Excellence.

C H A N G E M A N A G E M E N T

initiatives that will help the company grow and reach its vision,” he says.

Taking Risks and Learning from Successful Failures Willmot urges HR to focus on results, outcome, performance

and speed. He considers the following three factors to measure HR success:

1. The ability to develop a culture that helps the organisation achieve results;

2. Implementation of an effective staff tenure, attraction and retention system;

3. Contribution to the enhancement of staff performance.

He relies on key result areas as metrics for HR success. “We need to create structure to achieve what we need to do that individuals can’t do on their own. People are the most important assets of any organisation… HR directors create culture and team people behind [CEOs] 100% to drive and produce,” he says.

Willmot stresses the duality of the HR position: their primary task is to support management in achieving their business purpose through ensuring peak performance among people. "Your job is pinpoint corporate objectives, come back with solutions [and identify the necessary] resources and infrastructure, determine

JUL-SEP 2013

whether we need to extend our budget and if we do, how quickly will we get results for me to be able to pay that back,” he says.

Top 3 Traits of HR Strategic Partners Ric Willmot values the contribution of HR and believes that HR directors and managers should be among the highest-paid leaders of the organisation. Here are the top 3 factors he looks for in a potential HR partner:

1. The insights to frame and dissect a mess and help CEOs focus

on the important core areas. “You become invaluable to me when you come to me with a single point of focus because you already got rid of the fluff.”

2. The intelligence and willingness to tell the truth and challenge the CEO’s perspective. “I have no respect for people who agree with everything I say. I have the utmost respect for people who [challenge me] in a calm, rational and respectful way.”

3. Fierce loyalty to the organisation and all the people in it. “Because if there’s anything that will not happen under my watch, it’s a lot of people getting retrenched… I expect HR to protect the people and support the strategy to make profits that we need to keep everyone employed.”

Ric WillmotHead of Executive Wisdom Consulting Group

Ric Willmot assists organisations to improve performance, profits and productivity. He has recently published a new book, Executive Wisdom for Human Resource Professionals.

As CEO you have to delegate and allow people to successfully fail.

However, he also expects HR to challenge his way of thinking,

provide a different set of options, take risks – and sometimes fail, as a way to advance innovation, ingenuity and self-drive in the organisation. “As CEO you have to delegate and allow people to successfully fail. Give people the ability try something innovative. Give them permission to fail. But once they fail they need to tell you want they learned and plan to do next time. And they can’t make the same mistake twice. I’m happy for you to make successful failures.”

Offering Immediate, Significant Value Willmot gives the following advice to HR professionals in

environments wherein the concept of HR as a strategic partner is still emerging and the view of HR is constrained within its core functions: “Don’t expect anything to be handled to you on a platter... prove to me that you are a valuable resource and I can’t afford to be without you,” he says (see side bar).

Willmot understands that there is still a lot of work to be done in mainstreaming the concept of HR as a strategic partner of the organisation, but he believes that making even the smallest changes today can make a huge impact in advancing this empowered perspective. “Go for 1% improvement every single day,” he says, adding this slow but sure progress will enable the business to be more successful in the long run.

“The more successful an organisation, the better we can look after our people, our clients and our investors; we can invest in more research and development, develop new products and improve our service offers,” he says. The strategic work of HR can improve profitability, reduce expenses, increase retention of staff and develop new markets, all of which will provide a more stable, more rewarding work environment for everyone.

20

Tune In to the Benefits of LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a tool that enables meaningful connections among professionals. Whether it is an individual changing jobs or a company hiring employees, professionals in the field have to find each other. Social media sites that allow professionals to connect to each other irrespective of time and space are ideally suited to personnel matching.

Individuals who want to move up professionally need to demonstrate a true-to-life picture of themselves as a professional. A crash course in the latest resume-writing techniques is not going to cut it. If, having promoted yourself as a professional with certain distinctive abilities, you receive messages from outside your existing network, it means that you have caught someone’s eye. Even if the contact is not directly headhunting you for employment with their company, their interest is a sure sign you are worthy of notice! Without emphasizing an intention to change jobs, you can exchange information with headhunters and follow companies that you are interested in to monitor their hiring trends. These kinds of activities allow you to keep continuously up-to-date with the information you need to take your career to the next level, whenever you are ready.

LinkedIn also offers companies new advantages when hiring. For example, conventional online job portals include no way to cross-check the credibility of job seekers’ profiles or, in return, have potential applicants learn more about the company’s workplace culture. By contrast, LinkedIn provides opportunities for independent, third-party evaluations of both individuals and companies. Taking these opinions into account can help recruiters and internal sourcing teams gain a more rounded picture from which to make their own fair and objective decision about whether an individual would be worth interviewing (see also Editorial in this issue). Individuals and companies can gain a true-to-life professional picture of the distinctive attributes and personality of the other party before an interview takes place. Reducing the chance of employee-company mismatch prior to the interview stage eliminates the initial need to search for a large number of candidates and therefore reduces loss in terms of both time and cost.

The personnel a company is looking for cannot always be found from among the job seekers that have put themselves forward. The fact that LinkedIn is not just a site used by people looking for work, but rather as a networking site that allows companies to approach people who are currently active in their chosen field, is a real innovation. Often it is the people who are successful in their current occupations that companies want to hire, and this is especially true of specialized professions. One way a company can prepare ahead for situations in which it needs to hire

a professional with unique abilities is by creating and maintaining a network of people who have specialized skills.

I urge professionals with the desire to build their career or strengthen their organization to try searching for job or personnel matches on LinkedIn. While LinkedIn does not actively match people to jobs, its role is to facilitate connections among people who want to further their careers and those who want to recruit personnel.

S E L E C T I O N & S TA F F I N G

LinkedIn traces its beginnings to founder Reid Hoffman’s experience of relying on his personal network to receive introductions to people he wanted to meet professionally. It has since become one of the best known social media sites for connecting with business colleagues. More and more individuals are using social networking to open doors to employment opportunities. Companies have also started to use LinkedIn during the hiring process. We asked Kumiko Shimotsubo, author of MokuTeki-Betsu LinkedIn KatsuYo-Jutsu 50 『目的別リンクトイン活用術50』 (Fifty Purpose-Specific Techniques to get the Most out of LinkedIn) to give us the basics.

JUL-SEP 2013

Kumiko ShimotsuboBusiness Writer and HR Consultant

Originally written in Japanese

Kumiko Shimotsubo facilitates an intercultural training program jointly with Numenia LLC. She also leads the “Women in HR” advocacy for JHRS.

21

Being Last Interview of the Day Could Crush Your Chances

Knowledge@Wharton

Sorry, applicants. According to new Wharton research, not only must prospective students or job seekers compete against a crowded field of appealing candidates, but they also must shine when compared to the randomly selected cluster of applicants who have interviews scheduled on the same day.

In their research paper "Daily Horizons: Evidence of Narrow Bracketing in Judgment from 10 years of MBA admission Interviews," Wharton operations and information management professor Uri Simonsohn and Harvard University professor Francesca Gino studied what happened to applicants' scores when they were interviewed at the end of a day and after a series of strong – or weak – candidates.

Their theory was that a phenomenon called "narrow bracketing" affected how those late-day candidates were being judged. Narrow bracketing is when an individual makes a decision without taking into account the consequences of many similar choices.

On a five-point scale, with five being the best score, a similarly qualified applicant who interviewed on the tail end of his top-scoring competition got lower scores overall than what he or she would have otherwise received. Conversely, those who interviewed after a group of weaker competitors got better than expected evaluations. The data covered more than 9,000 interviews.

"If [an interviewer] interviewed four people, and

Interviewers tend to make decisions based not just on overall results but on the results of a single day's small, unrepresentative sample. Fortunately, there may be a low-tech, low risk solution to this problem.

all four have been good, they will think the fifth person is less likely to be good," Simonsohn notes. "Of course, we don't get to see their beliefs [about a candidate], but we get to see how they evaluated the candidate. We wanted to know if they give a lower evaluation [to that fifth person], controlling for everything we know about the person they're talking to. It turned out they do get lower ratings."

Reluctance to Give High RatingsThe hypothesis, Simonsohn says, is that after giving the first

four applicants high ratings, an interviewer may be reluctant to do the same for a fifth candidate if only a certain

percentage of individuals are accepted into a program, or if only some will move

to the next stage of the selection process.

"An interviewer who expects to evaluate positively

about 50 percent of applicants in a pool may be reluctant

to evaluate positively many more or fewer than 50 percent of applicants on any given day. An applicant who

happens to interview on a day when several

others have already received a positive evaluation would, therefore, be at a disadvantage," Simonsohn and Gino write.

By applying the expected overall result of a series of decisions–in this case, knowing the

percentage of candidates accepted into a graduate

school program – to the

JUL-SEP 2013

21

subset of decisions being made in a particular day, the interviewers are exhibiting narrow bracketing behavior.

"These arbitrarily created subsets should have no influence on experts' judgments," Simonsohn and Gino add. "While the merit of an MBA applicant may partially depend on the pool of applicants that year, it should not depend on the few others randomly interviewed that day."

think you're doing a bad job when they see a bunch of [candidates rated as] fives in a row."

A Low-Tech Solution? For interviewees, Simonsohn says his findings aren't going to

be of much strategic help. "There's no magic in this for the user," he notes. "You can't see who you're competing against and often can't control the timing of your interview.”

But companies or universities may be able to control for narrow bracketing, Simonsohn says. He suggests having interviewers enter each applicant's scores into a spreadsheet or database program would help monitor the results of their interviews over time and keep the focus off that day's crop of candidates.

"A spreadsheet keeping tabs on the entire interview process can visually present the distribution of your interview scores, and those scores won't jump out at you as much as several interviews in a row," Simonsohn notes. "It's not very sexy, but it's a low-tech solution and it's low risk."

Simonsohn and Gino's next step is to test their proposed solution in a laboratory setting to see if it has an impact on the narrow bracketing effect.

Editor's Note: A longer version of this article was published February 13, 2013. Abridged with permission of Knowledge@Wharton.

A phenomenon called "narrow bracketing" affected how those late-day candidates

were being judged.

This phenomenon is not confined to the academic admissions world, Simonsohn says. He imagines a similar dynamic playing out whenever individuals are spreading similar decisions out over multiple days, including taking loan applications at a bank or interviewing candidates for a job. (While it is less likely to occur when the process gets down to choosing a single hire, it could come into play in an earlier round that reduces the size of the candidate pool.)

The effect may be unconscious, Simonsohn says, but "it could be very conscious... It could be you don't want your supervisors to

L E G A LC L I N I C

"Ignorance of the Lawis no excuse."

Free Employer-provided Health CheckupsIs My Privacy Protected?

QUESTION:

ANSWER:Originally written in English

The Industrial Safety and Health Act (RouDou AnZen Eisei-Hou 労働安全衛生法) stipulates that employers must arrange for annual physical exams for all of their employees. The purpose of this examination is to ensure that employee health is not damaged by the work and, if an employee has a medical condition, to ensure that the employer can take steps to safeguard the employee’s health in light of that medical condition. Which aspects of the employee’s health are examined can change depending on the nature of the work performed by the employee.

It is often the case that companies with more than 1,000 employees, that are required to have a company doctor, arrange for the results to be submitted only to the company doctor, as a means to ensure both employee privacy and adequate follow up on the results of the examination. In other cases, the results are handled by staff in the company’s human resource department.

Due to increasing concerns about privacy and the requirements of the Personal Information Protection Law, many employers now ask employees to sign forms consenting to the disclosure of the results of the physical to a designated person or group within the company and also stipulating the uses that will be made of that information.

Is it true that employers in Japan are required by law to provide free annual health checkups for their employees? If so, do employees have the right under the law not to show the results to their employers even though the employers paid for the health checkups? What's the usual practice in Japan?

-- An employee concerned about my privacy

Atty. Vicki Beyer is an in-house lawyer and former legal academic with over 20 years of experience in Japanese employment law and over five years experience across eight other Asian jurisdictions. She holds a J.D. from the University of Washington and a LL.M. in Corporate and Commercial Law from Bond University.

The law does provide that employees who do not wish to be examined by their employer’s designated physician may arrange for their own medical examination and simply provide certification (such as a note from the doctor) that the examination took place. That is, employees are legally required to have an annual physical, but are not compelled to do so through their employers if they prefer to make alternative arrangements. In this case, the limited information provided to the employer excuses the employer from its obligation to make adjustments to the employee’s working conditions to accommodate any medical conditions, instead making the employee fully responsible for maintaining his/her own health.

Some employers may be willing to reimburse employees choosing to have their physicals through their own physicians, but doing so is not obligatory. The reimbursement is often limited to the amount that the physical would have cost using the employer’s designated physician.

Introducing ourPanel of Experts

Vicki BeyerRecruiting & hiring; benefits programs; termination; retirement; employee relations; discrimination & diversity; non-competition; investigations & disciplinary matters.

Toby MallenDoing business in the U.S.A.; labor and employment; real estate laws.

Jiro OyamaCorporation laws; intellectual property laws.

Grant StillmanLaw of international organizations and trade.

Disclaimer: The advice, views, and/or opinions expressed by the author(s) in this section are for general informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Individuals requiring legal advice are encouraged to engage a qualified legal professional.

Legal Questions?If you have legal questions relating to HR practices, or would like to become a member of our panel of legal experts, please contact us at hrclinic@jhrs.org.

L E G A LC L I N I C

Employees are legally required to have an annual physical, but are not compelled

to do so through their employers

In these days of increased sensitivity about personal privacy, it is easy to see this requirement of an annual physical as an invasion of privacy. However, the intention of the law is a paternalistic one. Employers are expected to take responsibility for the well-being of their employees and to proactively manage the health of their employees. They should not be using any information about an employee’s health to make any employment decisions that may be detrimental to that employee.

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JUL-SEP 2013

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A n d r e w & Y o s h i ’s

AskHRHelping you solve your people issues.

Ask Andrew & Yoshi: email us at AskHR@jhrs.org

Conducting Reasonable Background & Reference Checks

ANDREW SAYS…Article originally written in English

This is a very interesting question in a time when access to personal data and information is becoming something people are more aware of and (often) concerned about.

From an employee/employer view there are probably two considerations:

1. Sharing information about an employee – for example if you are contacted to verify an employee works for you by a bank giving a loan.

2. Obtaining information about someone – usually this will be a someone who you may be thinking of employing.

There are guidelines in most countries about data protection that help people understand what they should and should not share and how data maybe shared. Many global businesses also have data protection guidelines, which are shared with all employees, that offer clear policies that are followed and communicated across the business and that would be considered best practice for a company in this area.

My thought on the first area (sharing information on an employee) is that this should include only high-level information and should really be answered with a yes or no answer – questions asking for opinions should be avoided or not answered. My own approach (if asked) would be to speak to the person I am being asked questions about) to make sure the individual knows that the questions are being asked and that he/she is supportive of me answering the questions. My personal view is that there is an unwritten contract between an employee and employer about confidentiality and this should be respected at all times.

On the second area, from an HR perspective, this would be more common. It is good practice to ask for background/ reference checks when making hiring decisions as it gives you a

wider view about an individual. My own approach is to be clear on what I want to know so that I can ask the right questions. What skill does the person need, what experience does the person have, etc. The questions are usually fact based rather than opinion based wherever possible – my aim is to support what I have seen through the interview process or to explore areas where I have unanswered questions. My preference is to do this over the telephone.

People personally ask me if they can use me as a reference frequently and I always aim to give a balanced view. If there is a development area I will say (for example) “may be you should explore this area more.” My aim is to guide and provide facts and example rather than give an opinion, as I have no influencing role in the hiring process.

If I am looking to learn more about someone’s character my preference would be to use psychometrics or tools which explore behaviour and styles. At times I would seek an expert to help with this.

A final point on this area – many companies are now refusing to provide references/background checks on people; especially if they are written. The reason for this is often the fear (or past experience) of legal action. Make sure you have policies and make sure they are widely communicated and followed so you and your employees have guidelines to work within.

Should companies use private detectives or credit-reporting agencies in the employment process?

A S K H R

Andrew ManterfieldExecutive Coach and Senior Consultant, SudaManterfield

Andrew has an innate belief in people and their desire and ability to achieve more. His purpose is to find the greatness in every person he meets and to ensure that greatness lives and breathes every day and is fulfilled.

He has worked in the global FMCG industry for over 27 years for Diageo Plc, the world’s biggest adult drinks company. Andrew has over a decade of director-level experience in both human resources and sales. He has lived and worked in Japan, Australia, and the U.K., and he has worked with organisations across Asia, Latin America and Africa.

JUL-SEP 2013

YOSHI SAYS…Translated from the Japanese original

Yoshiharu Matsui President, HPO Creation, Inc .

Yoshi specializes in leadership and organization development leveraging his more than 12 years of marketing experience and 12 years of HR/OD experience. He provides executive coaching, leadership development, organizational change, and marketing and sales development to help clients strengthen their business performance, organizational health, and employee engagement.

He has a BA in intercultural communication from Kita-Kyushu University and an MBA from Northwest Missouri State University. He is currently working on his doctoral degree in organization change at Pepperdine University.

Thank you for your question. In the ‘80s and ‘90s, background checks were done at organizations where security and trustworthiness were particularly necessary (government and government agencies, police departments, hospitals, airlines).

After 9/11, more U.S. companies began using background checks. The number of companies providing background-check services that set up booths at the U.S. Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) annual exposition in 2012 was noticeably higher than in 2007.

In Japan, companies have always tended to hire new graduates, and there are few immigrants, so there is less awareness here for the need for background checks than in the United States. However, as the industrial structure is broadly shifting to tertiary industries and the number of foreign companies operating in Japan continues to rise, the number of mid-career hires has also risen. Therefore, more companies than before appear to be using private detectives, credit-reporting agencies, and background-check service companies to conduct background checks.

For me, the keys to deciding about setting up any HR program are the legitimacy of the objective, the efficacy (benefit for the company and impact on employees), the soundness, ethics and transparency of the program’s methods.

Companies that utilize background checks have a variety of objectives depending on the circumstances of the organization and job. For example, the objective of checks could range from those based on the job, such as the need to handle confidential matters and conduct business properly with a high degree of trust, to those that assess personality and corporate culture compatibility, such as whether the candidate can work well with others.

Is the objective of the background checks clear and something that employees themselves would truly find to be acceptable and satisfactory?

Next is the impact of checks. What does the company get by doing the checks?

Conversely, what unforeseen events does conducting checks prevent?

If, for example, a company has ISO 9001 certification and conducts background checks yet misconduct still occurs, the checks are not demonstrating their intended efficacy (although there could also be problems post-process).

Disclaimer: The answers, opinions, or viewpoints expressed by Andrew and Yoshi are their own and do not necessarily represent the general views and sentiments of The Japan HR Society and its members, Secretariat, friends, and supporters. In addition, the answers, advice, or opinions expressed by Andrew and Yoshi are for informational purposes only and are not meant to substitute for legal and/or financial advice from qualified legal and financial professionals.

Another important impact involves employees and the organizational culture. Do these checks have a negative effect on employees and the organizational culture?

Finally, are the methods sound and transparent? There should be few problems if companies actually obtain the understanding and consent of the persons undergoing checks in advance. However, it is unjustifiable in terms of methods, ethics, and personal privacy for companies to look into personal information without permission or any transparency, and it is unjustifiable not to monitor who at the company sees the information.

All the activities that companies conduct are designed to generate the results and the culture needed at the company, and the way these activities are done should also be in line with company culture.

I think issues related to using private detectives and credit-reporting agencies would be lessened if the above problematic points were made clear.

Before I finish, let me give my personal opinion. I think companies are formed on a foundation of trust with their employees and that companies and employees should grow together. Therefore, it would be better to find another way to do checks without relying on private detectives or credit-reporting agencies. I am not saying to accept things blindly. In the best scenario, during the recruiting process companies would take a close look at the people they really need and the people who would not make a good fit. But if there is a justifiable reason and need for contracting an outside company to conduct the minimum necessary background check, then it cannot be helped. (Of course, it is also important to create ways to develop promising HR in post-hiring systems.)

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Growing Into Our Potential

Like Bamboo in the Wind

To be in harmony with your surroundings – at work and in life – you need both stability and adaptability.

Predilections, aversions, strengths and weaknesses are unique to each person. The challenge and the art of life consist of living in accordance with our natural constitution. Living against it may result in stress, aggression, discontent as well as various physical ailments.We are therefore responsible to discover our own essence of being and to bring that essence to life.

However, this state of mind is not always easily realized in daily life. What we often experience instead is a lack of synchronization of inner resources (our talents, ambitions, convictions, strategies) and the outside world (society, organization, family). But by engaging ourselves consciously in a merging process of the individual and the community we may be able to transform ourselves into something greater than we are alone.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) uses the image of a bamboo to describe the ideal constitution of a person who lives his or her strengths in harmony with their surroundings. The bamboo unites two essential abilities: it has the stability of a strong trunk and at the same time it has

C OA C H I N G

adaptability – the bamboo is capable of moving with the wind.

With the image of a bamboo in mind, the following reflections underline the importance of discovering and developing our personal, physical and spiritual potential in life. These reflections should also serve as an incentive to society and organizations to support the individual’s inner growth.

Daniela Ploberger, Business Consultant & Coach

Originally written in English

The root of the bamboo should serve as a metaphor to find a nutritious, authentic base within us to rely on.

The Root

Individuals who rank high in subjective well-being are more likely to handle managerial and professional requirements well. In his model PERMA (Positive Emotion, Engagement, Positive Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment) positive psychologist Martin Seligman summarizes what allows us to flourish. Each of us should examine closely what leads to our deepest personal satisfaction and fulfillment. Like children, it is important for us to always stay curious, to

Dr. Florian Ploberger, Medical Doctor, Tibetologist

JUL-SEP 2013

discover and honor our values. Our values are a key to unlock the door to our inner resources. The root of the bamboo should serve as a metaphor to find a nutritious, or an authentic base within us to rely on.

The non-actualization of our own potential has consequences on the physical level. These effects are widely described in modern biomedicine as well as in various traditional medicine systems such as TCM.

According to TCM, non-actualization of inner potential and creativity leads to internal, silent aggression and frustration. In this case, for example, the physical manifestation would be Liver-Qi Stagnation.Typical symptoms of Liver-Qi Stagnation are a discoloration of the tongue, a bitter taste in the mouth, tension in the nape of the neck and head, fear of physical contact and extreme sensitivity to noise or smell.

The recommended therapy is both physical and spiritual in nature. In order to unleash his or her full potential, the affected person should not overly discipline him- or herself but enjoy the types of food and spicies he or she is longing for. Classical

recommended acupuncture points are Liver 3 (Taichong) and Gall Bladder 34 (Yanglingquan).

Mindful Movement with the Wind

The bamboo moves in the wind. For us to experience harmony and within it most likely our highest potential, our true self, it is essential to understand the essence of the wind, our surroundings. In order to merge with the essence it is necessary to lift the borders between the surrounding and the self to discover the mystery, yet unknown within us.

Hakuun Yasutani Roshi comments on Zen Master Dogen's Genjokoan as follows: “While carrying around such things as ‘my ideas’ and ‘my opinions’, one absolutely cannot attain the Buddha’s way. The Buddha's way is the way of returning to one’s intrinsic nature itself; how can one awaken to one’s intrinsic nature when one is deluded by acquired affections?”

Each and every moment in our life should move us forward on the right path. As we try to live up to our potential –

personal, physical and spiritual – we become more resilient. Our personal obligation is to become conscious of our root and trunk so that we can then move and act forward responsibly towards ourselves and others.

Knowing that each person’s constitution is unique, the challenge then for an organization to be effective is to detect each individual’s strengths and align them with the organizational structure and tasks. To reinforce innovative spirit and productivity, as well as to strengthen the organization from inside, the organization must implement ways to bring the spirit of comprehensive perception and appreciation of the individual alive.

Daniela Ploberger is an international business development consultant and coach who lived and worked in Japan for several years.

Dr. Florian Ploberger is author of numerous specialist works of Tibetan and Chinese medicine.

The couple currently lives in Vienna, Austria.

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Annette KarserasEditor in Chief, The HR Agenda

Originally written in English

In this editorial we look at how the personal touch can both help and hinder the selection process and how social networks are infusing the who-you-know factor back into business in newly acceptable ways.

E D I TO R I A L

Everyone Counts in the Race for Talent

Industrialization and Workforce DeclineWorld over, industrial development correlates with

birthrate decline. Whether the impetus is the lifestyle choices of Westernized dual-income couples, China’s one-child birth policy or a Japanese work-ethic that holds husbands hostage, industrial ascendance in terms of national GDP correlates consistently with falling birthrate figures. Perhaps ironically, this also means workforce depletion. Current demographic trends are set to turn Japan’s population pyramid – quite literally – on its head (see figure). As the CO2 inflated summer temperatures soar outside, the heat in

JUL-SEP 2013

the recruitment office also goes up in the race for increasingly scarce talented staff.

Radi Angualova of Coca-Cola has also been sweating over selection and staffing. Elsewhere in this issue she talks about, “the unabating war for talent” in Asia Pacific. Coca-Cola is not the only company whose competitive culture casts war and work in the same light. But, business is not a battlefield. It's about how we build bonds not destroy them.

World over, bloodlines – promoted through class and family lineage – have both favoured and trapped people within extended

6 4 2 0 2 4 6 6 4 2 0 2 4 6

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

1950 2050 (Projection)

Men MenMillions MillionsWomen Women

Japan's Population PyramidA World Turned Upside-Down

Age

Source: Statistics Bureau, MIC; Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

clans of opportunity and obligation, nepotism and corruption, breeding outward respect and inward resentment for extended-family conglomerates.

The practice in Japan of many large firms (Sony excepted)hiring new graduates almost exclusively from a handful of elite, escalator-track universities still presents a conundrum to those who hope to secure more openness in the selection process today.

Higher up the professional ladder, attempts to eliminate corruption, family privilege and to democratize the selection process have hastened an era of ever-more minutely detailed job descriptions and sophisticated lists of selection criteria, rubrics and weightings akin to the complexity of DNA strings. Scientific methods are meticulously applied to match promotion prospects with required and desired competencies and people’s past and proven track records (see also Pranvera Zhaka in this issue for transparency in selection and Jun Kabigting on best-in-class hiring practices).

Herein lies the paradox. From a big picture perspective we see that industrial efficiency mentality has resulted in the impotence of whole swathes of society not just to reproduce its own labour supply, but also eliminating stimulation of family and familiarity has removed the Yari Gai やりがい motive that makes talent shine at its best. Devoid of feeling, control-and-command corporate cultures harness their workforce with task-focused goal-orientation blinkering whole societies from the intimacy of human relationship both in and outside the workplace.

The younger generations today search for more meaning at work and greater compatibility between their work and life. To attract the best talent, companies need to consider this broader picture. The World Values Survey (see graph Attracting the Top Talent) shows how, especially in Japan, the incentive to work with people you like takes priority even over income. Yet objective check box criteria curtail the company we can keep at work.

Take this story for example, a true story: A job applicant arrives early for his job interview. The secretary doesn’t notice him arrive as she chats on the phone:

“…They already know who they want for the position but we have to interview at least two people so I went through the C.V.s for someone who lives close by to keep travel expenses down.”

The secretary catches sight of the person waiting, exchanges a few closing words and hangs up the phone.

“Can I help you?” she asks the man. “Yes,” he replies, “I’m the guy who lives close by.”

This story actually happened in the U.S. Generally in Japanese organizations, there has typically been less need for pretense. It is more acceptable to hire on personal recommendation without the box-ticking farce. Common wisdom permits a routine weighting towards familiarity and trust. Better the devil you know.

people networks can also supply

a meaningful subjective element

to supplement objective

competency-based selection processes

and the personal judgment calls

of individual interviewers.

From Competency Criteria to Connections and Credibility

More recently the US has introduced employee referral systems that tag internally referred applicants for preferential treatment and provide financial rewards to the referring employees. There is a realization that bringing such extreme objectivity to bear in the selection process is throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Recently, there is another hint that the way rubrics are handled during hiring is subtly shifting to put subjectivity back into the process in newly acceptable ways. Anguelova, mentioned above, notes that “Seventy percent of our external hires today are direct sourced.” To stay in the game headhunters have to find a way of adding value to instrumental-only transactions; of becoming better business partners. Internal sourcing teams, says Anguelova, are better motivated to build employer brand and care about the process being handled in a way that makes people feel good about the process.

Many firms, both large and small, are increasingly using social networking and new media to facilitate hiring. Personal and professional connections between colleagues, customers, clients and vendors become more visible in the virtual world, helping HR hone in on hopefuls. The net is also potentially wider, opening up possibilities of counting in, rather than segregating or eliminating, more applicants in the race for talent (see also sidebar). The basics of using LinkedIn for hiring are touched on by Kumiko Shimotsubo in this issue.

Win-Win not War-WarSocial networks (SNs) bring the who-you-know-factor into

business and make passing-it-forward less of a favor and more of a norm. These new clans of connection are characterized by increasing mutuality and reciprocity. LinkedIn celebrated its tenth anniversary with the line, “Imagine what we can do.” The new “we” is not based on family blood lines but actively promotes familiarity

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Are Stereotypes Stifling Intake at Your Organization?

In spite of the fact the pool of talent continues to dry up, not everyone that could be considered is being counted. Why not? Because human nature primes us to be blindsided by taken-for-granted assumptions about who people are. Are stereotypes stifling intake at your organization? Our brains naturally filter out and focus in on information as we make judgments about someone’s character and their potential. It is a hereditary trick acquired through human DNA to help us stay on track and keep us from cognitive overload. How can we become more aware of information are we unconsciously eliminating?

“Appearances are not what they seem.” We all know this phrase. We understand its warning. Yet in the hurly burly of daily doings it’s hard to stop media images replaying sound-bites in our mind’s eye. Swamped by stereotypes, our capacity for discernment is mired. It might be simpler to use the mental pigeon holes society has created for us. But we have the possibility to re-draw the start-lines and goals in this race.

What guides key influencers’ line of sight? If that influencer is you, or your colleague, the first step is to notice critical differences between the environment in which you, he or she grew up and the environment you all operate in professionally today. Ask yourself: What should I/we let go of? What still holds true here and now?

Which of these stereotypes do you feel yourself naturally inclined to agree with? Notice where you have over-generalized an isolated incident; where you can look for more depth in over-simplified media images that have implanted themselves in your thinking unawares. Can you open up possibilities that were closed off by faulty cognitive stitching?

1. Does this female applicant really have the assertiveness and drive to fit our sales team?

2. This applicant is deaf; we can’t expect everyone to learn sign language!

3. We employed a Chinese manager last year. It didn’t work out. We shouldn’t risk that happening again…

The first step is to notice our blind spots, to become aware of what we don’t notice: What has been overshadowed by excessive media zoom? In what way has society influenced us to stay on established tracks? Noticing gives us access to more information and more conscious control over the way we evaluate people, their skills, experience and potential.

1. Working Women: See our Diversity and Inclusion issue (Oct-Dec 2012) to get beyond sexist stereotypes and understand where women in the workforce are really coming from.

2. Disability: Read this issue’s feature story for ways that three Japan-based companies are accommodating people with physical, emotional and learning disabilities in their organizations, including Uniqlo’s Toshiyuki Ueki’s account of the mutual benefit derived through communication skills transfer between deaf and hearing employees.

3. Nationality: Look out for our next issue on Talent Mobility (Oct-Dec 2013) where we consider the way time zones and geographic mobility impact people’s sense of national and professional affiliation.

HR can help un-cloud others’ vision to see beyond sex, disability or nationality and open up possibilities of making small changes to existing departmental attitudes and practices; to accommodate rather than segregate or eliminate applicants who could be counted.

in business. Leslie Grossman, who spoke at last year’s GOLD conference here in Tokyo, characterizes today's relationship-based business networks as less about what’s “in it for me” and more about what “we can all get out of it.”

While not everyone uses social media with the same intention, and LinkedIn is no panacea, it does capture something of the

A Good Income

Working with People you Like

Doing an Important Job

China

China

China

Germany

Germany

Germany

Japan

Japan

Japan

S.Korea

S.Korea

S.Korea

Sweden

Sweden

Sweden

USA

USA

USA

0 20 40 60 80

Sources: World Values Survey: Work (2005-2008)

KEY: % of people from each country giving this criteria as their 1st or 2nd choice for chosing a job.

1st choice2nd choice

Attracting Top Talent:Money, More Meaning, or People Like You?

Which would your applicants choose if looking for a job with you?

0 20 40 60 80

0 20 40 60 80

Annette Karseras is a coach and training consultant who develops leaders and teams at all levels of the organization. Annette has trained with the Coach Training Institute (CTI) and the Society of Organizational Learning’s Systems Perspectives. She also delivers Global Mindset and Communication Intelligence courses at Japan’s top universities. Her master’s degree is from Leicester University, UK.

Acknowledgements: C. Lamatsch, S. Morgan, C. de Wolf, D. Sasaki, Y. Satou, J. Crisp, J. Schnack, C. Steward, Y. Takada, T. Toriyama.

Ethical Dilemmas

Quiz

ANSWERSfor Apr-Jun 2013 Issue

Question 1Business Gifts & Entertainment Policy

Answerb. US multinational

consumer goods company

Question 2Do not solicit

Answera. British multinational

financial services company

spirit the younger generation is seeking in their career. The ethos is shifting away from war-war to win-win. Every time we invite someone to become a LinkedIn contact, hit the like button on their blog, or endorse someone we draw ourselves further into a critical mass of mutual engagement. Invested interest characterizes these extended professional networks more than conflict of interests. Virtual visibility sustains relationships made in person and can make the next face-to-face encounter more meaningful; trust alongside transaction.

HR can now tap into this collective familiarity to add credibility to cold credentials, and formalize use of internal referral networks. More than just a convenient pool to source directly, people networks can also supply a meaningful subjective element to supplement objective competency-based selection processes and the personal judgment calls of individual interviewers.

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