◆Employment management improvement initiatives are improving business performance
Findings of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s “Investigative Study Analyzing the Present Situation in Relation to Implementing Employment Policies in the Future” (carried out by Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting Co., Ltd.) have been released.
The study investigated company initiatives to improve work conditions and workplace environments and relationships between labor productivity and improvements in performance, working from the following perspective: “In the context of rising jobs-to-applications ratios that are accompanying the gradual economic recovery of recent years, it is predicted that labor shortages will be a constant, particularly in many small and medium-sized enterprises. This raises the question of what kinds of companies will find it easy to fill their job vacancies in the future.”
◆Important points
Results are available showing that employment management improvement measures (human relations management such as evaluations and career support, work–life balance, empowerment of women, shared vision, trouble-shooting mechanisms) result in improved employee motivation and productivity, improved performance, and the securing of human resources. The results of the survey revealed the following points to be important:
(1) Making priorities of both employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction
In terms of management policy, it is more effective to pursue both of these. While there are many companies that place value on customer satisfaction, there are by no means many companies that cite employee satisfaction as a high priority. It is desirable for management to consider both of these in management policy and to instill the concept among employees.
(2) Working on improving employment management on an ongoing basis
Companies that have been working on improving employment management from an early stage—for over ten years, for example—achieve a high level of their human resources targets. This suggests that a certain amount of time is required for improvements to employment management to take effect. In addition, in companies that work on this from an early stage, it appears to have a positive impact on the securing of human resources, with a large proportion of such companies stating that they have secured permanent staff “both in terms of quality and quantity.”
(3) Awards and certifications are effective in promoting initiatives
The application of various government systems for awarding and certifying companies is effective.
◆Also effective in stabilizing young employees
The study received many responses to the effect that, among all the improvement measures, those that create a comfortable workplace through measures such as the reduction of working hours and the promotion of paid leave were particularly effective in achieving stability among young employees.
There were also multiple responses stating that mechanisms making it easy for young workers to consult or to give their opinions, and the revision of wages and evaluations systems were also effective.
However, the survey also points out that these kinds of improvements should not be tackled haphazardly. They need to be engaging with in a planned manner with fixed targets, and information about this also needs to be actively disseminated outside of the company. This probably means needing to proceed one step at a time while creating an image of how the company wishes to be in five or ten years’ time.
