This time, Inamori* spoke about the above motto in Kyocera philosophy.
What Inamori said is quoted with “”.
“ What is the purpose of a company car with a chauffeur? I think that most people would consider it as a privilege for seniors or “C” class officers. However, that is not the case. The actual interpretation is, ‘This person is important to the company, and we provide the car so that he or she can think seriously about work even when commuting to and from work.’
Generally, when non-owner executives have a company car, it looks like a symbol of the top of hierarchy. The manager is happy because it is a great honor, and his wife is also happy. Sometimes the wife uses the car for her private purposes. This is also considered a kind of perk of the position. “
Inamori gives the example of a company executive. In general, if staff have the following thoughts or feelings, they will mix up their personal and public affairs and try to take the company’s public assets for themselves.
1. Being underestimated
2. Being taken
3. No future (disappointment)
Let me elaborate one by one.
1. Being underestimated
“ The executive (former government officer) said, ‘I am going to go home, but I can’t find it. Who took it?’ and was told, ‘The sales manager is using it.’ The executive then yelled, ‘The sales manager used my car!’ in a very angry tone. ”
→ Sometimes people feel underestimated that they are not valued despite their contribution. As a result, they believe that they should be valued to a certain extent, and they interpret the company rules in their favor and start rewarding themselves.
To prevent this kind of behavior, I think it is necessary to create an environment where staff members can always feel that they are important. I think that when you feel that you are needed, you will feel humble and considerate towards others.
2. Being taken
“ If you ask them to participate in management by saying, ‘I want you to think about running the company together with me. I’m worried about running it alone, so I would like you to help me think about the management,’ they’ll think, ‘Does the president really value me that much?’ and then they’ll start thinking seriously about how to make the company better. In this way, they’ll become proactive especially when they start thinking, ‘I am happy to think about the business administration’. ”
→ The opposite of this is the feeling that you’re being forced to work. Your labor is very valuable and precious, but when you think that your precious labor is being wasted for the sake of this nasty president, for these unsupportive colleagues, for this black company, you’ll try to get back what you’ve lost. Your labor has been taken away, even though you didn’t want it to. The moment you think like that, you’ll start taking back what was taken from you. This leads to a confusion of public and private matters.
Therefore, it’s important to create an environment where staff members feel like they are important and are supposed to proactively consider management, and put in their effort. So, they don’t feel like they’re being forced to work.
3. No future (disappointment)
“…and my anxiety grows. Because the company was so unreliable, I just thought, ‘I’ll quit this company as soon as possible and go to a better company.’ …Under such circumstances, I worked patiently, even though I was disappointed. “
→ You can see from this episode that Mr. Inamori is an honest and wonderful leader. If you think that there is no future in this company, you will think, “I’ll take as much as I can from this company and quit as soon as possible.” Otherwise, you may think “I don’t need to stay here any longer, I’ll just get back what was taken from me, I’ve been overworked so much, so I’ll at least get something back.” I think this is why people tend to mix their personal and professional items.
Furthermore, this leads to taking away even more valuable assets from the company. Some rebellious employees take some customers and staff with them to spin out, but I feel that this kind of dissatisfaction or disappointments have driven them to committee those rebellions.
During Kyocera’s growth period, Inamori said that he expanded the business because he was worried about the single product sales. As the business expands, the number of employees increases, and he felt that he had to feed those extra people, so he expanded the business further.
So, to sum up, I think it is important to understand the staff’s desire to be valued, to make them feel that they are being given, not taken, and to keep the company growing with a bright future.
* Mr. Kazuo Inamori, the founder of Kyocera, KDDI (one of the top tele communication companies in Japan) and the top of revitalization project of JAL. As a well-known Japanese entrepreneur, he has been sharing his experiences and management know-how with managements of small to middle companies in Japan.
Further queries or doubts, please email to ytomizuka@abrilsjp.com
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