With the theme of What Kind of Corporate Management Does Society Want in 2030? My Company Wish List!, the 5th SDGs Café event was held in collaboration with the Work Style Reform Advocacy Project in Kanazawa: Summer Seminar 2019 by the Kanazawa IKUBOSS Company Alliance.
Two university students with ties to Kanazawa, Tatsuyoshi Nakanishi (2nd year student at Kanazawa University, native of Taito, Tokyo) and Reo Togami (4th year student at Meiji University, native of Kanazawa City) were asked to imagine how they will be working in 2030.
Nakanishi said, “I want to work on a job that pays well for the effort! This doesn’t mean wanting to take it easy on the job. For me, a job that pays well for the effort means work that results in higher levels of happiness, and a sense of growth and learning.” He also believes that having a satisfactory private life is important, which for him means not just pursuing hobbies but also valuing self-expression through spending time with family and contributing to the community.
On the other hand, Togami said, “I want to help boost the earning power of the community.” He said that a model case for Kanazawa and Ishikawa Prefecture that leads to the development of the urban hub of the future should be created and developed. To that end, he believes that starting up attractive new business ventures and growing them, or in other words creating earning power, is the key, and if this is channeled into a system, then the outflow of young people to Tokyo may be stopped. He relates that to do this, he will need to gain the necessary life experience and practical business skills in the next 10 years.
Next, the audience listened to a talk by Katsuya Nomizu (Fellow at the Office of the CEO at Cybozu, Inc., native of Kanazawa). Cybozu has been included in the annual list of Great Place to Work for six consecutive years. Attendees working in companies in the city were all ears to his response to the question: How can a company be great even with low pay? Nomizu said, “In Cybozu, each person has their own personal work style.” He confided that job applicants started pouring in when they let employees craft their own career plan and decide for themselves how they want to work over the course of their lifetime. Furthermore, he said “Most students personally want to acquire skills. To what extent can companies provide them the means to gain those skills? The best standard for work motivation is whether they will take the business in new directions. Too many companies can’t seem to be able to do this.”
In the ensuing talk session, he answered the question “What kind of corporate management does society want?” by saying, “The same as the triple-win management philosophy of the Omi merchants of old, where everyone benefits — buyer, seller and the public. In other words, it’s good for you, your customers and society. It also means that it’s for the sake of Kanazawa and Ishikawa, customers and yourself.” He concluded by saying, “If you keep on doing this all the time, then your company will be one that society respects.”
