Learning from Japanese success - business success

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), April, 1994

Japanese businesses have a secret weapon--their employees think like the customer. "Here in the United States, companies give plenty of lip service to the customer being the most important person," points out John Hannon, an assistant professor in Purdue University's Krannert School of Management. "But seldom is the customer the central focus in the selection and development of employees. In Japan, every employee is taught to think like a customer. The customer loyalty that results from well-trained, understanding, and informed employees makes all the difference."

Recruiting in Japan resembles a courtship. It is a socialization process that usually begins when university students start their last year of school. Relying heavily on input from alumni, employers choose a group, or cohort, of students they wish to hire. These students are trained and brought along as a cohesive unit, not as individuals. Much of the contact they have with the company is directed at how to serve the customer, rather than how to gain personal success. Some firms may administer personality and achievement tests that are designed to tell how well a recruit will perform in positions that require customer contact. Interviews can last four or five days.

"You have to understand the commitment that is expected of an employee," Hannon explains. "That relationship lasts an average of 30 to 40 years. Employees don't go in with the intention of working a few years and moving on. Employers don't look at it that way either." After individuals are hired, they go through a formal orientation program long before they ever step inside the company. These can last from two weeks to six months. Even part-time employees may spend as much as 40 hours in customer-based training. "You don't see graduates starting at middle management positions either. Japanese companies want their employees to start close to the customer. It's not uncommon for top graduates to begin by working as clerks, janitors, or bellboys for as much as a year."

Why do recruits do it? "Security is the big reason. Japanese people value group affiliations and teamwork. They know that if they take pride in their work and are loyal to their employer, they will be taken care of. So they work on the principle of ganbatte, which means to persevere."

In the U.S., Hannon maintains, the scales lean too far in the opposite direction. "I'm sure that many Americans feel the same way I do when faced with halfhearted customer service. As customers, we're sometimes made to feel as if we're too demanding, or we're the ones with the problem. American companies need to be more aware of the customer's needs."

He cautions that new business philosophies won't cure what ails American companies. "It won't make any difference what kind of strategies we adopt or how many new technologies we develop if we're unable to connect customers with our products and maintain that connection. The only way to link the two is through a highly specialized and intensely monitored customer relations program that begins with employee training and culminates with the customer."