Current Situation and Challenges for the Promotion of Work Life Balance Policies in Japanese Companies

Transcription

1 Current Situation and Challenges for the Promotion of Work Life Balance Policies in Japanese Companies 1. Introduction Mitsuyo Matsubara,Toray Corporate Business Research, Inc. Emiko Takeishi, Hosei University This paper will provide a general overview of the current state of initiatives and issues with respect to Japan s work life balance (WLB) policies, address the need for working people to pursue work style innovation in order to obtain WLB, then examine relevant concerns in companies and in the workplace. Finding harmony between work and one s private life so called WLB has become a significant matter of national policy in Japan. It is in this context that various problems have emerged due to flaws in Japan s work style. For example, despite the shrinking birth rate and the dwindling labor force, the ratio of female workers remains low, and there is great disparity in the treatment of permanent and temporary workers. It is now commonly understood that, in order to resolve these issues and allow everyone to achieve WLB, society as a whole must reform the work style based on a culture of long workdays that has permeated Japan s companies and workplaces. In order to do so, it is imperative that each company and organization emphasize efficiency for a certain period of time, reaching a point where they can harmonize with workers private life needs, such as childcare and elder care. Although Japan is making progress in establishing a legal system for work to coexist with childcare, elder care, and other family obligations, few people feel they have achieved WLB. This paper will 1

2 examine the truths behind Japan s work style and lay out the problems companies need to address. Section 2 will give an overview of Japan s work style and identify challenges in the country s companies and workplaces. Section 3 will show that not only must companies introduce various support systems in order for workers to attain WLB, but also that the work style based on long workdays must undergo innovation, and that management in the upper ranks at the workplace is especially critical. Section 4 will provide examples of workplaces that have put work style innovation into practice, and Section 5 will serve as a conclusion. 2. Working in Japan With more women in and entering the workplace, Western countries have, in the name of effectively using their human resources, recognized the need for a flexible work style that allows both men and women to handle both work and private life. Enabling a flexible work style has proved to be a central issue in the promotion of WLB. In contrast, efforts to promote WLB in Japan focus on what the women there consider their major issues support for balancing the family obligations of childrearing and elder care, revising long working hours so the establishment of WLB has taken a different path than in the West. There are two reasons this is so. First, Japan s labor force has a low rate of female participation. In particular, the participation rate for women of childbearing and rearing age, i.e., those in their late 20s and 30s, is the lowest among all OECD member countries; the number of women who cite 2

3 pregnancy or childbirth as a reason for leaving the workforce is as high as ever. Figure 1 illustrates Japan s employment retention rate for women who worked as full time employees before giving birth. The employment retention rate had been increasing over the past 25 years, but at 40 to 50 percent, it still has not improved much. One factor is the low participation of men in childrearing. In 2011, 87.8 percent of women took time off from work to tend to their children, while a mere 2.63 percent of men did the same (Figure 2): a great disparity between the sexes. Men s minimal involvement in childrearing and women s great burden of the same arises from the long workday having become the standard work style for most men, a style illsuited for striking a balance with one s private life (such as caring for children). Even now in Japan, married mothers have an extremely narrow range of career options, and find themselves having to choose between work and raising their children. Therefore, the gender gap in employment remains wide, causing significant problems in the effective use of human resources for society as a whole and from the viewpoint of corporate organization. Furthermore, making it possible for women to handle both work and private life is a vital backdrop to promoting WLB at a policy level, including its role in resolving the issue of Japan s low birth rate. 3

4 Figure 1: Employment retention rate of women worked as full time employees before giving birth Figure2 The rate of parental leave for Japanese Males Using maternity leave Not using maternity leave Source: Cabinet Office (2011), Report of work life balance Second, there is the issue of a work style symbolized by the culture of long hours at the workplace. In 2010, permanent workers in Japan (excluding part time employees and the like) worked a total of 1,996 hours, an amount that has hardly decreased at all over the past twenty years. When compared internationally, Japan s ratio of fifty hour plus workweeks comes out on the high side, but within Japan, the percentage of sixty hour plus workweeks is what garners the most attention. Although it dropped in the early 1990s, recent years have seen the number holding steady at about 10 percent. When correlated to the numbers of men in their 30s and 40s caring for children, we see that in 2007, 20.2 percent of the former and 19.5 percent of the latter were working in excess of sixty hours a week. These percentages 4

5 have been decreasing slightly since 2005, but have remained high since 2000 at approximately 20 to 25 percent (Figure 3). Figure 3: Transition of the percentage of sixty hour plus workweeks (male) 35.0 total Twenties Thirties Forties Source: Cabinet Office (2011), Report of work life balance Takeishi (2011) used individual responses to a survey of white collar employees working at companies in the U.K. and Germany to analyze the work style of Japanese employees i. It became clear that not only did Japan have long workdays, but also a consistent work style. While over 90 percent of Japan s workers have full time employment, there is almost no utilization of any other work styles. Conversely, although 75.7 and 68.8 percent of workers in the U.K. and Germany respectively have full time employment, the countries have a comparatively high instance of other work styles as well, including a flexitime system, a working from home/telecommuting system, a part time working system, and an ad hoc 5

6 flexible working system. In particular, the flexitime system is utilized by about 30 percent of German workers, men and women alike, and just over 20 percent of the U.K. s employed women work under a part time working system (Table 1). In Japan, most employees have a uniform full time work style. Furthermore, Takeishi (2011) analyzed the starting and ending times for employees in the three countries as they pertain to work style ii. Whereas around 90 percent of Japan s employees started their workday between 8 and 9:00 A.M., the U.K. and Germany results were more scattered, with comparatively more employees starting earlier at 6 or 7:00 A.M. or even at 10:00 A.M. or later. A comparatively high percentage of Japanese males got off work at 7:00 P.M. or later, while half of Germans ended their workdays at 5:00 P.M. or earlier percent of males and 83.0 percent of females worked until 5:00 PM. In other words, while employees in the U.K. and Germany have diversity in their starting and ending times, there is little variation in Japan (Table 2). 6

7 Table 1: Comparison of working arrangements (multiple answers, %) n Full-time employment Flextime system Ad-hoc flexible working system Working from home/ Telecommuting system Part-time working system Others Japan Total Male U.K. Female Total Male Female Germany Total Male Female This data is taken from a survey of white collar employees in Japan, the U.K., and Germany from December 2009 through June 2010, jointly conducted by the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Economic and Social Research Institute. Source: Takeishi (2011), Corporate and Workplace Challenges for Work Life Balance Table 2: Comparison of three countries starting and ending times (%) Starting time (A.M.) n Before 6 o clock 6-7 o clock 7-8 o clock 8-9 o clock 9-10 o clock After 10 o clock No response Japan Total Male Female U.K. Total Male Female Germany Total Male Female Ending time (P.M.) n Before 5 o clock 5-6 o clock 6-7 o clock 7-8 o clock 8-9 o clock 9-10 o clock After 10 o clock No response Japan Total Male Female U.K. Total Male Female Germany Total Male Female Source: Takeishi (2011), Corporate and Workplace Challenges for Work Life Balance 7

8 Originally, this rigid work style was to be reconsidered and improved as it was in the West, to make it easier for employees to balance work and private life after women entered the workplace and the number of dual income households increased. However, given the high cost that would be involved in changing the uniform long workday structure in Japan, workplace work style was never reexamined; instead, policies were put in place that focused on supporting women in finding balance between work and childrearing. As a result, the persistently long workday remained uncorrected, leaving women to choose only from among limited careers, which in turn has stalled the promotion of women s active participation in the labor force. There has been an increased awareness that, in order for both men and women to achieve WLB in Japan, it will be crucial to revise corporate initiatives in the workplace, especially onsite business management, while reevaluating the long workday work style. Satō (2008) identifies the following three initiatives as vital to the promotion of WLB in Japanese companies: 1. The introduction of a system for supporting employees WLB (childcare leave, a part time working system, etc.) and the creation of a workplace that can make the most of said system 2. Innovation of human resource management and work style, e.g. work and time management 3. The creation of a workplace that can accept different values and lifestyles 8

9 Using the analogy of a building, Satō (2008) says that one must first work on establishing the first floor (2) and the foundation (3) for the second floor (1) to exist (Figure 4). Figure 4: The three initiatives necessary for employee WLB Introducing a WLB support system and building a workplace that can utilize it = 2 nd floor Innovation of human resource management and work style, e.g. work and time management = 1 st floor Creation of a workplace that can accept different values and lifestyles = Foundation Sources: Hiroki Satō (2008), Jinji senryaku toshite no wāku raifu baransu shien [Worklife balance support as personnel strategy], Hiroki Satō, ed., Kosodate shien shirizu wākuraifu baransu: shigoto to kosodate no ryōritsu shien [Childrearing support series Work life balance: support for a balance between work and childrearing], Gyōsei Even with the introduction of a WLB system, in Japan it is underutilized such that women give up continuous employment and men work permanently long hours; therefore, going by this model, one can say that onsite work style innovation is necessary in order for employees to achieve WLB. Western research has also identified the importance of companylevel initiatives for attaining WLB (Allen 2001, Hopkins 2005, et al.), and workplace level initiatives, starting with management, are perhaps even more important in Japan, where the country s work style structure itself must be revamped. 9

10 3. Factors for Employees WLB Satisfaction and the Efficient Workplace Given the current state of Japan s work style as illustrated above, let us examine the challenges companies face in providing WLB for their employees. What follows is an analysis of the factors necessary for employee WLB satisfaction and increased operational efficiency in the workplace. The data used in this analysis are taken from a survey of management level employees conducted by the Tokyo University Research Project toward Realization of a Work Life Balanced Society in October The survey polled 3,296 section chiefs and division chiefs iii. Figure 5 illustrates the factors that define both subordinate WLB satisfaction and operational efficiency. First, on the topic of subordinate WLB satisfaction and operational efficiency, the survey responses were categorized into high groups and low groups, the various permutations of which resulted in a total of four groups: 1. high WLB satisfaction and high operational efficiency; 2. high WLB satisfaction and low operational efficiency; 3. low WLB satisfaction and high operational efficiency; and 4. low WLB satisfaction and low operational efficiency. In order to measure subordinate WLB satisfaction, managers were asked, Do you think your subordinates are satisfied with the balance between time allotted for work and time allotted for private life (the division of time between the two)? The answers I think they are highly satisfied and I think they are somewhat satisfied made up the satisfied 10

11 group, while the answers I think they are not very satisfied and I think they are not satisfied at all made up the unsatisfied group. Meanwhile, the question Do you think your section or group works more efficiently than other sections or groups? was used to assess operational efficiency. The answers Yes and Somewhat made up the high group, while the answers No and Not really made up the low group. We then examined which characteristics of a company program or workplace have an effect on employee WLB and operational efficiency. Concretely speaking, the following indicators iv, comprised of eleven measures in five fields, break down how each of the four groups differs from one another. 1. Company WLB Support Programs: Recognition of WLB Support, Regulations Promoting the Use of WLB Measures 2. Company s Improvement of Work Hours Management Programs: Programs Increasing Time Management Awareness, Correction of Long Work Hours 3. Work Characteristics: Busyness of the Workplace, Clarity of Evaluation Criteria 4. Workplace Characteristics: Cooperativeness Within the Workplace, Workload Fluctuation, Workload/Difficulty in Substituting Staff 5. Manager's Management Style: Appropriate Subordinate Management, Management of WLB 11

12 Besides operational efficiency, we also analyzed the factors in workplaces with high WLB satisfaction along with high work motivation and a high sense of contribution to their company performance, but this paper will present only the results of analyzing the factors that define both employee WLB satisfaction and operation efficiency. Figure 5: Employee WLB Satisfaction and Operational Efficiency V. Manager s Management Style 1 Recognition of WLB Support Regulations Promoting the 11 Management of WLB Use of WLB Measures Appropriate Subordinate Management 9 Workload Fluctuation * Inverted score I. Company WLB Support Programs Programs Increasing Time Management Awareness 4 Correction of Long Work Hours II. Company s Improvement of Work Hours Management Programs IV. Workplace Characteristics 8 Workload/Difficulty in Substituting Staff * Inverted score Cooperativeness Within the Workplace Busyness of the Workplace * Inverted score 6 Clarity of Evaluation Criteria III. Work Characteristics WLB=S O/E=H WLB=D O/E=H WLB=S O/E=L WLB=D O/E=L Results of the analysis show that where employee WLB satisfaction is high, so is Recognition of WLB Support. Likewise, where WLB satisfaction and operational efficiency are high, the scores for Regulations Promoting the Use of WLB Measures were higher when compared to other workplaces. This illustrates that these measures have a positive impact on employee WLB satisfaction and on making a workplace operationally efficient. 12

13 However, the aforementioned factors of workplace management and characteristics are crucial even above and beyond such company measures. At workplaces where both employee satisfaction and operational efficiency were high, the factors of Appropriate Subordinate Management and Management of WLB under Manager s Management Style, along with Cooperativeness Within the Workplace and Workload Fluctuation under Workplace Characteristics were all comparatively higher than at other workplaces. In other words, where there is high employee satisfaction and good operational efficiency, managers not only manage in order to provide support so their subordinates may perform their jobs smoothly, but they themselves perform their tasks in a well balanced way, and encourage their subordinates to complete their work in the time allotted. Furthermore, so as not to give specific workers a heavier workload, this kind of workplace features a system that allows tasks to be swapped among workers, the sharing of and instruction in know how, and smooth communication between managers and subordinates as well as between colleagues. These companies also offer progressive WLB support programs and programs for the improvement of work hours management. These results make it clear that, in order to raise WLB satisfaction while at the same time increasing operational efficiency at the workplace, a company must improve managers management power and WLB awareness; introduce onsite programs for solving the problems of uneven workload/distribution of responsibility; and have a collaborative workplace framework in place. A similar conclusion was reached for workplaces with high employee WLB satisfaction in combination with high work motivation or a greater sense of contribution to 13

14 company performance. Therefore, an increase in these measures will result in increased work motivation and sense of contribution as well. A similar analysis showed that appropriate work management and a structure for coordinating tasks are key elements of a workplace with a childcare leave system and an environment that makes the system easy to use. 4. A Case Study in Work Style Innovation What kinds of changes does work style innovation bring about in workplace task management and in managerial staff? How does one achieve work style innovation in the first place? Let us turn to a 2009 case study of successful workplaces, conducted by the Tokyo University Research Project toward Realization of a Work Life Balanced Society v. Overtime is a constant occurrence at many Japanese companies. The researchers approached companies whose workplace culture had normalized overtime and made long work hours a matter of course, asked them to implement a program whereby employees left at the official time (as laid out in the company handbook) two days a week, then conducted interviews to see how this program had changed the workplace vi. The changes reported in interviews can be categorized as having occurred in A. workplace task and time management; B. the management of managerial staff; or C. employee work style/lifestyle. In the first workplace, changes in task and time management were observed in the reevaluation of meeting scheduling regulations and the way work was done. Before the noovertime program went into effect, there was little awareness of when the workday ended, and meetings sometimes continued into the night. With meetings announced only right 14

15 before they were scheduled to begin, most workplaces were operating with almost no awareness of the time. In many cases, this program was the catalyst for companies to change their administrative regulations and to hold efficient meetings, such as by scheduling them early and providing advance notice. One workplace even enacted a rule against the pursuit of excessive quality. White collar employees in particular feel as though they should produce perfect work, leading to overtime. If not directed to allot time for important work and not to aim for high quality for less important work, they will give all job duties high priority, and their workload will only increase. Leaving at the official time brought about a working style where employees considered the priority levels of their assigned tasks and divided their time accordingly. The program also led to an important change in information sharing at the workplace. Formerly, even at workplaces with no culture of reporting to fellow employees the progress of one s individual tasks, employees began consciously exchanging information about work schedules and progress reports. Once this program was in place, it turned out some employees could not leave at the prescribed hour. Often their workload was the issue, leading to a change in work distribution whereby their tasks were divided up among other employees. Appropriate management becomes essential when implementing this kind of task management. This, then, is the second change: Managerial staff became more aware, evaluating their subordinates status as they assigned tasks and remaining informed about their subordinates progress while providing appropriate advice. Although this program requires employees to judge the priority level of their own work, managerial staff plays a crucial role in checking if that judgment is appropriate. When a manager has a large amount of 15

16 his or her own work, it becomes challenging to manage subordinates and the workplace as a whole; hence managers began delegating some of their tasks to subordinates as well. Again we see the importance of the managerial role: When managers displayed a positive attitude toward this program, other workers also came to accept the work style innovation in a positive way. Employees at the third workplace saw changes as well, coming up with creative ways to do their tasks in order to finish by the end of the day, coordinating work with others, and switching to a more time aware working style. Some reported a reduced sense that people doing overtime were actually working. The people surveyed pointed to changes in their afterhours private time, including more time spent with family and being able to socialize with nonwork people. Although the program was extremely simple leave work on time just two days a week it proved to be a catalyst for changes in work style, and with them changes in work management and business operation. A time aware work style benefits the workplace by increasing operational efficiency, and gives individuals more private time. Expanding this program would likely put Japan s workplaces on track to reaching WLB for the working man and woman. 5. Summary and Conclusion Japan s society as a whole has come to recognize the importance of WLB, with myriad policies put into effect at both the national and local levels. Yet at the level of individual 16

17 business and workplaces, it is still difficult to find harmony between work and private life, a situation that obstructs the active role of women in the labor force and turns men into worker bees, leading to growing dissatisfaction across both sexes. Men in particular experience greater work/life conflict. Japan s WLB challenge lies in overhauling its long workdays and uniform working style to bring WLB to more people without workplace performance suffering. This research has demonstrated through the analysis of survey results that although companies must define their WLB policies and implement various WLB measures, they must go above and beyond to programs at the workplace level, i.e., the pursuit of work style innovation for task and workplace management. Although work style innovation may sound like an enormous undertaking, case studies make it clear that change can come about via the accumulation of programs at each workplace that raise awareness of time management and allow for work to be done more efficiently. As work style changes at both the workplace and individual levels, personnel treatment systems and the like will naturally need to change as well; the issue then becomes how best to do so. When it comes to resolving the challenges in attaining WLB, Japan can learn much from workplaces overseas. i Data for analysis is taken from a survey of white collar employees in Japan and the U.K. from December 2009 through June 2010, jointly conducted by the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Economic and Social Research Institute. ii The survey asks about the state of the average work day over the past month. 17

18 iii This was an online survey, using survey company monitors, of managerial staff employed at companies with fifty or more employees. iv Survey data for the measures were standardized (with a deviation value) and scored to allow comparison of each item s degree of impact. In cases where each measure was made up of multiple factors, positive responses to the contributing factors were allotted 4 points, while negative responses were allotted 1 point; points were then totaled for each measure. These scores were then divided by the number of factors making up each item: deviation = (value for each measure average value) standard deviation Furthermore, the content of each measure as taken from the actual data was scored to capture its results as positive. Workload Fluctuation, Workload/Difficulty in Substituting Staff, and Busyness of the Workplace are measures where, due to the size of the actual data and the opposite direction of each result, the total score was calculated with 4 points allotted to each negative answer to obtain a deviation value. The items in each category and the contributing factors thereto are shown in the table below: Category Item Contributing Factors 1. Company WLB Support Programs (1) Recognition of WLB Support Created from 4 survey items, including WLB support is documented as a business and/or personnel policy 2. Company s Improvement of Work Hours Management Programs (2) Regulations Promoting the Use of WLB Measures (1) Programs Increasing Time Management Awareness (2) Correction of Long Work Hours 3. Work Characteristics (1) Busyness of the Workplace * Inverted score 4. Workplace Characteristics (1) Cooperativeness Within the Workplace Created from 3 survey items, including There are regulations in place for employee absence, including taking leave Created from 3 survey items, including Managers are educated about schedule management and work hours Created from 2 survey items, including I take office wide measures to reevaluate long work hours, such as no overtime days Created from 3 survey items, including The quotas and/or goals I set are comparatively high (2) Clarity of Evaluation Criteria Created from 2 survey items, including Company members collaborate and work as a team (2) Workload/Difficulty in Substituting Staff * Inverted score (3) Workload Fluctuation * Inverted score Created from 6 survey items, including There is an ethos of helping one another when a task becomes problematic and Senior employees pass along their work know how Created from 2 survey items, including Many people perform tasks that cannot be done by others Created from 2 survey items, including Specific people have a heavier workload 18

19 5. Manager's Management Style (1) Appropriate Subordinate Management Created from 10 survey items, including I make considerations ensuring that specific subordinates do not have a heavier workload than others and I take active measures to train subordinates (2) Management of WLB Created from 3 survey items, including I go about my own work in a wellbalanced way v For details, refer to Takeishi & Sato (2011). vi The program was carried out in eleven departments with the cooperation of two financial corporations. Members of each workplace were gathered together and interviewed one to two months into the program, and again three to four months into the program. 19