Managing for Creativity in Japan » employees

Ease

Chris Berthelsen — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:00:54 +0000

….there is not that sense of ease in a normal Japanese company. (C: And that’s something that you can offer them?) Yeah, but at the same time we do work really really hard. I’m not sure about whether they would work this hard in a Japanese company. They would probably work longer hours but not do so much. I am trying to reduce the hours, but long hours are inevitable in this business because we are dealing with multiple time zones and we can’t call people in the middle of the night – that’s one of the limitations with being located in Japan, I guess.

Japanese Employees

Chris Berthelsen — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:00:35 +0000

I just love working with Japanese people here because this is a really unique situation for them and there are able to find their voice here. They are never going to work in a company like this in Japan. They are able to express themselves and have fun. They can push themselves and challenge themselves in a way that they wouldn’t be able to in a normal situation. I hope that is the way that they view it. This is a very happy office and I hope that it is more than a job for them. I know that in the U.K. I am just not going to find that level of dedication. They are really, really, dedicated and passionate. They work hard. U.K. employees are not going to work this hard, and they’re not necessarily going to be passionate. Employees here are not just doing everything by the book, which is interesting for them and I think that they find that challenging.

Broad Minded Employees

Chris Berthelsen — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 23:00:45 +0000

My staff are foreign educated. One went to the London School of Economics, has lived in Paris, speaks three languages and really loves our industry. Another was educated in America. So, we are dealing with people who are a little bit different, who have a different way of looking at things and have seen other systems in other parts of the world. They are young, and not necessarily steeped in the old ways. They haven’t worked underneath other Japanese companies in our industry so they don’t have this kind of robotic (or moronic) way of working instilled in them. They have a Western outlook towards work, but they are still respectful Japanese individuals…the Japanese companies we deal with on the other hand are just ridiculous.