Making Recruit the “Best Place to Work”

Every step is building toward making Recruit the “Best Place to Work.”

I am currently assigned to three departments. My main mission at recruit is the planning, designing, and operating of executive compensation in the Compensation Team of the Talent Management Department. In addition to this, I was also involved in the design and implementation of the stock compensation plan that was introduced last year, mainly for employees of Indeed's HR technology SBU, and held meetings with Indeed's HR and finance teams in the United States and Ireland. We support operations while the Company still lacks non-Japanese human resources like me, so we are working to strengthen our global recruitment activities in order to increase diversity.

In my concurrent role in the Corporate Planning Department, I support the operation of Board of Directors meetings and other executive meetings and information sharing sessions, and make sure our process keeps up with the increase of global executives. Also, from this term I have joined the Sustainability Transformation Department, where I handle our ESG Ratings. You might hear this and think “it must be hard to do so many things at once,” but I don’t believe that’s the case. In my previous company, I worked in the Corporate Planning Department of a Game Company where I developed a strong interest in corporate management, so when I saw Recruit Group, who had miraculously turned from a information services company to a strong and growing global IT company, my interest in the company’s management was peaked and I decided to Join. Therefore, I was interested in various jobs related to corporate management, and wanted to try anything regardless of the department. I am eternally grateful for the Company and my supervisors who understood my wishes, and offered me numerous opportunities in response. Recruit really lives up to one of it’s core values to “BET ON PASSION,” and I think that the corporate culture that allows you to take on any challenge you might be interested in, is very attractive.

While I may be in charge of a wide variety of tasks, whether it be compensation planning in talent management, corporate planning or sustainability transformation, I like to think that they are all working toward the same goal of making the Company one of the “best places to work.” By creating a working environment where all employees of the globally expanding Recruit Group can fully live up to their potential and by living up to our Vision, Mission and Values, I believe we can all take pride in our work and our company. That is the kind of workplace I would like to help create; one that is recognized across the globe as a “best place to work.”

Because we are a company that is continually evolving, we never run out of things we want to do.

In both the HR space and Corporate Planning Space, cross-border projects are on the rise. Even for a domestic Japanese project, one needs to connect with other departments and understand the relevant information and background for a project, but when you go global everyone involved needs to also have to understand each other's various cultural backgrounds. For example, when my team introduced equity compensation for the HR technology SBU, this kind of scheme was not yet popular in Japan, but was already an indispensable incentive for attracting and retaining top talent in the US and Europe. Without understanding this kind of background, even if you’re communicating in perfect English, if you don’t understand the intentions behind the words you’re likely to misunderstand. Recruit Holdings has seen an increase of new employees with cross-cultural experience, but I believe that as the global headquarters, we need more people with more diverse backgrounds to join us.

In addition, since last October, I have been tasked with improving ESG ratings, and I am in charge of communication with several rating agencies. Perhaps the best example of my work is this; if you were to take the HR industry, people spend a large portion of their lives working, and through that work people earn the income they rely on to support their livelihood; and in that context I believe that the products Indeed and our Staffing business help address those problems and contribute to the betterment of society. In that spirit, one of the three pillars of our management strategy is to “Prosper Together,” and in doing so, step by step we aim to contribute to a sustainable growth of the company by making a positive impact on society and the planet. However, while we may feel this way, the idea that our business contributes to society is not always accepted in our ratings. When I had first engaged in dialogue with some ratings agencies, I was shocked by the muted response to our appeal. So now I am spending my days thinking of how we can best convey what we are doing and the results we are achieving, so that our efforts will be recognized.

In Japan, people still have a strong impression that Recruit is a company in the field of human resources. I had also had this impression before I joined the Company, but even by that time it had already transformed into a global IT company, and in recent years, new products and services such as SaaS solutions have been developed one after another in Japan, and we are continuing to evolve. I feel that our corporate culture is deeply rooted in the idea that we must “continually change and evolve.” In that way, there are always new roles popping up and you will never run out of new things to try. I would like to continue to actively challenge what I want to do without limiting myself to a simple role.

I want to create a strong team that is full of diversity.

I was born in New York, and since I was young I had always loved comics and games, and at one time even aspired to become a comic artist. I majored in international relations at university, and as I was interested in Japan, a country that had been the home to so many subcultures I was interested in, I chose Japanese for my language credits. But Japanese is a difficult language, and I just wasn’t getting the hang of it. So, I decided that I had no choice but to actually try living there, so I transferred to a Japanese university. After graduating, I started in Japan and went straight to work, and the Company will be my third company.

At my previous two companies, the first of which was a headhunting firm, I was able to get a look at a number of Japanese companies, and all of them were very team focused. When I came to the Company, however, one of the most surprising things was how different it was. There was a strong respect for individuality, and people with strong personalities work together as one team of individuals with the same mission and values. In the flat environment, understanding why each other might think the way we do, is an important part of the company culture. Even if there was ever a disagreement with my supervisor, I can lay out my argument and defend my opinion. And Recruit is unique in this respect, not just when compared to Japanese companies, but for global firms as well. One of the things I love about Recruit is that when your supervisor asks what you think, it’s not cool at all to just say “I don’t have any objections.” It’s also a very easy company to work at, where you are encouraged to take time off and your team will support you. It was the first time in my life that there were too many available holidays and vacation days and I couldn't take them all.

Every truly global company should strive to respect the wants and needs of each individual and have a flexible working culture. People like me who have our roots outside of Japan can easily fit in, and play an active role in the Company. It’s particularly for that reason that I would like more diverse global talent to come to the Company, so that we can build a strong diverse team. Please, if you are interested, I hope you apply. I am looking forward to meeting you!