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

!e 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 Control 26

and more...

Volume 1 Issue 1 ISSN 2186-277X

July-September 2011 JPY 1575 (tax & postage)

THEHRAGENDA 1

HR C O N T E N T S

P U B L I S H E R ’ S M E S S A G E

Making History and Being Part of It 4

F R O M T H E E D I T O R

Rise Up, Japan! 6

K N O W L E D G E @ W H A R T O N

Crisis in Japan: What Will the Costs Be? 9

A S K H R

Andrew & Yoshi Respond to Disaster 10

F E AT U R E S T O R Y

Japanese HR: Unique and Transforming? 14

L E A D E R S H I P

!e New Manager 18

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

!e Background on Background Screening in Japan 21

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

How to Master the Deadly Art of Change 23

H R T O O L B O X

Listen Up! Eight Tips to Becoming a Better Interviewer 25

C O A C H I N G

On the Hunt and in Control 26

H R L E G A L C L I N I C

Employees with Chronic Health Problems 28

L O S T I N T R A N S L AT I O N

Communication: Does It Have to Hurt? 28

H R S U P E R S TA R

Norihide Munakata 29

Publisher & Managing Editor Jun Kabigting

Associate Editors Bruce McLin Eriko Rowe

Contributors Tim Bennett Brent Conkle Dana Gallagher Andrew Manter!eld Yoshiharu Matsui Jiro Oyama, Attorney-at-Law Alicor Panao David Sweet, PhD Knowledge@Wharton

Design and Production Alan Rowe Raphy Limbo

Ad Sales and Marketing

and Distribution Jessop Petroski Vu Petersen

Translators Makito Noda Tomoko Ishii-Kabigting

Printing Mojoprint

Magazine Information e HR Agenda magazine is Japan’s !rst and only bilingual human resources (HR)-focused magazine, published quarterly by #e Japan HR Society (JHRS) and produced by the HR Learning & Publishing Division of HR Central K.K. (#e JHRS Secretariat).

O$ce c/o HR Central K.K. (#e JHRS Secretariat) Shinagawa Intercity FRONT Bldg. 3F, Desk@ MB28 2-14-14, Kounan, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0075 JAPAN

Telephone +81 (0)50-5806-9821

Fax +81 (0)44 767-8021

Email For ad sales/marketing: advertising@jhrs.org For comments, suggestions, or other inquiries: hragenda@jhrs.org

Websites www.jhrs.org www.jhrs.org/hr_agenda

SubscriptionsPlease send subscription requests to hragenda@jhrs.org with your name, mailing address, and preferred mode of payment, or subscribe online at: http://www.jhrs.org/hr_agenda/subscribe We accept all major credit cards, PayPal, and bank transfers (bank fees to be included in the remittance).

DomesticSingle issue (print): JPY 1,575 (tax & postage included)Annual subscription–4 issues (digital only): JPY 3,150 (tax incl.)Annual subscription–4 issues (print & digital): JPY 5,250 (tax & postage incl.)

InternationalWanted: International Distribution Agents. Email us at hragenda@jhrs.org

Call for Contributors and Writers e HR Agenda magazine welcomes editorial contributions. Please contact us for a copy of our editorial guidelines and standards. If you would like to republish or syndicate our content either online or in print, please send email to hragenda@jhrs.org for requirements and permissions.

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

©2011 #e Japan HR Society (JHRS). All rights reserved.

Disclaimer#e positions and opinions expressed by contributors in this magazine are their own and do not necessarily re$ect the position or views of #e 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 !nancial advice from quali!ed legal and !nancial professionals.

“As a university administrator involved in

professional development in Japan and the

United States for 20 years, I would like to take this

opportunity to congratulate #e Japan HR Society

(JHRS) on the launch of e HR Agenda magazine,

a new bilingual publication for HR professionals

with an interest in Japan. Given the increasing

number of international !rms in Japan and the

increasing number of foreign employees in Japanese

!rms, the JHRS provides an extremely important

contribution in helping internationalize HR

practices in Japan and informing the rest of the

world about Japanese HR practices. e HR Agenda

magazine will be one more means by which that

goal is accomplished.”

— Bruce Stronach, Dean

Temple University Japan

(JHRS Academy Partner)

2 THEHRAGENDA

C O N G R AT U L AT I O N S

“On behalf of the entire team at GPlus Media

and Ecentral, I would like to heartily congratulate

#e Japan HR Society (JHRS) on the launch of this

much-awaited quarterly magazine, e HR Agenda.

#is publication is certain to bring even more

importance to the JHRS and o%er an invaluable

information source for your membership.

We look forward to having this new publication

help educate and disseminate information on

best practices facing HR professionals; especially

those with multilingual, multicultural and

multinational issues.

#e entire team here is wishing this publication

success and looking forward to reading the

inaugural issue.”

— Peter Lackner, Director

GPlus Media Co., Ltd.

(JHRS Job Board Partner)

“We commend #e Japan HR Society

(JHRS) on the launch of their new

publication, e HR Agenda.

#e global human resources and training

community can always bene!t from

the addition of a new voice sharing news,

best practices and commentary on our

constantly changing industry.”

— Chris Proulx, CEO

eCornell

(JHRS eAcademy Partner)

“On the day of the Great East Japan

Earthquake, part-time cast (or sta%) at

Tokyo Disney Resort distributed souvenir

products such as towels and stu%ed toys

while employees at a Lawson convenience

store prepared rice balls to give away

to people.

On the other hand, in the a*ermath of

the earthquake and the resulting nuclear

power plant failure, organizations went

into turmoil, resulting in decreased

productivity.

Foreign-a<liated companies in Japan

took di%erent actions and responses a*er

the quake. Whatever they were, they were all

the result of Human Resources Management

(HRM) decisions.

In business, with the accelerating speed of

globalization, the importance and relevance

of HRM is increasing even more, and

I am pleased that a new venue to present

HRM best practices in a global and timely

perspective will be provided in the publication

of e HR Agenda magazine.

Congratulations again on this

sterling achievement!”

— Shinya Yamamoto, Partner

PricewaterhouseCoopers Japan

(Member, JHRS Board of Advisers)

THEHRAGENDA 3

HR C O N G R AT U L AT I O N S

A PIECE OF HISTORY. That is what you’re

holding in your hands right now as

you read Japan’s first-ever bilingual

human resources (HR)-focused quarterly

publication. The HR Agenda is proudly

published by The Japan HR Society

(JHRS)–a worldwide community of Japan-

focused HR professionals.

This magazine has taken nearly four

years to come to fruition. With its

simple beginnings as a membership-only

newsletter, e HR Agenda has now grown

and evolved into a full-!edged magazine

with a simple editorial mandate:

“…to provide up-to-date and relevant

sources of HR information and resources

a$ecting and in%uencing 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.”

Interestingly, the launching of this

magazine also marks the fourth anniver-

sary of JHRS, founded in June 2007 in

a restaurant in Tokyo. As a dedicated

community, JHRS has evolved with the

times, the needs of our members and the

HR profession in Japan. Starting o# as a

LinkedIn Group, JHRS has now grown

to over 500 registered members around

the globe. It is considered this country’s

fastest-growing bilingual HR association,

with the lo$y mission of helping advance

the practice of the HR profession in Japan.

We are hopeful that, with your support

and patronage, e HR Agenda can help us

accomplish that mission.

In putting together this magazine, we

have encountered many challenges and

di%culties along the way. A lot of them!

Some said it couldn’t be done. But we

persevered. We have invested not only time

and money but also blood, sweat and tears,

and we remained determined and focused

on our goal of ful*lling our promise to our

members, friends and supporters. However,

the biggest motivator for us to forge ahead

and do our best to create Japan’s first

and only bilingual HR publication was,

ironically, the Great Tohoku Earthquake

that hit Japan on March 11, 2011.

We are all witnesses to this unimaginable

tragedy, and, truth be told, Japan is still

coming to terms with it. But instead of

letting this disaster get us down, we decided

to use it as an inspiration to push ourselves

and come up with this publication as a

testament of our *rm resolve to show the

world that Japan’s HR professionals are

moving forward. It is in this light that we

are dedicating this premiere issue to Japan

and her people, especially to Japan’s HR

professionals, aptly naming our *rst issue

“Rise Up, Japan!” (Ganbare, Nippon!).

Although this magazine is still very much

a work in progress, we hope that you will

*nd our initial attempt worthy of reading

and recommending to your HR colleagues.

We’re hoping to win your support, and

that of your companies, to help us sus-

tain this initiative through sponsorships,

advertisements and subscriptions. We invite

you to take part in continuously improving

our magazine by sharing your honest

feedback, comments and suggestions with

us (hragenda@jhrs.org). A$er all, this is

your HR magazine.

We have made history. But let’s not stop

there. Let’s make The HR Agenda into

tangible proof that Japan’s HR professionals

can do it. And do it well.

P.S. I would also like to personally thank our

pioneering editorial and production teams

who labored day and night to make this

magazine a reality. And, of course, we give

special thanks to all of our initial advertisers

for their incredible support and assistance in

what we are trying to do with this magazine.

Together, we’re making history!

Making History

and Being a Part of ItJun Kabigting, mba/msie, chr

Chief Community O+cer, -e Japan HR Society (JHRS)

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

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.

4 THEHRAGENDA