Tears, Conformity, and a Lot of Mental Discomfort: The Making of a Japanese 社会人
The month of March 2011 officially marks the 6th month of Oct 2010 new grads' entry into Rakuten. Since then, from feeling a slight discomfort from seeing a emotional separation of the Japanese and foreign employees, we have been growing more and more used to seeing the "foreign" being sacrificed to make way for the "Japanese." Yes, it is true: we did take an oath to make a debut as Japanese 社会人, and I guess our bosses are taking our words from some last year quite seriously.
And since I made my transition to 営開 (Sales Development), I have been taught quite specifically that there are, actually and quite matter-of-fact, a very specific definition for the desired quality of a Japanese 社会人, that we, each one of us, need to follow exactly to avoid being told that we are 「よろしくない...」(I have to say that it is much more embarrassing to be told that politely by the smiling superior compared to just being scolded angrily)
Ok, let me briefly summarize for you how I am defining the perfect 社会人 using 3 "K"s: 感謝("K"ansha), 空気("K"uki), and 効率("K"ouritsu). For the females out there, another double-"K": 強制的な("K"yousei)化粧("K"eshou). Let me briefly explain them one by one using my experiences. For 感謝, not much more needs to be said after the last post. Yes, feeling gratitude is a skill that takes a two-hour meeting to be inked into the brain.
空気: There is nothing like reading the slightest change in the contours of your boss' emotionless face that defines the Japanese 社会人. Don't mention the ability to propose your own ideas to the bosses, leaving work a minute before the boss does is a big no-no that can delay your promotion and raise by years (well, a foreigner like me who does not caring about promotions can just ignore 空気 all the time to the shock and secret envy of all the Japanese colleagues).
But 空気 is not just about not pissing off the bosses with carelessness in daily routines, it is even more about timing. The story goes of someone who accidentally yawned during a karaoke session with the Boss (yes, the one and only Mikitani-san). The yawn was unfortunately seen by the Boss while the Boss is singing...the guy finds himself on a sudden lonely flight to Taiwan branch office the next morning, not to be back in HQ even now.
Some would find this 空気 stuff ridiculous. They would say that following the 空気 would not be that important if you have irreplaceable skills coveted by the company. They will tolerate your rebelliousness if you can do your job better than anyone, right? Well, let me first say that they is no such thing as "irreplaceable" skills, especially in sales side where everyone is just another digit in a gigantic number reported to the Boss.
But to debunk that wishful thought, we do have to define 効率 in this company of ours. Sure, efficiency is always good if you finish your job faster and better, but what if...your job is not really your job? For example, I was recently informed by one of our DU 同期 that a small programming project he was assigned to took him one month to complete when the programming could have been done in 4 days. Somehow, his superiors figured that milking the Boss for more cash by setting aside a full three more weeks for scheduling, PPT making, and report writing is definitely considered 効率.
A joke already runs within DU among the new grads about how a programmer with PPT skills climbs the ladder faster than one with JAVA skills...But perhaps even more ridiculous than programmers defining report-writing as "efficiency" is how women are forced to put on 化粧 in the company. Since I last talked about this issue during the first week of training, I am seeing more and more connection between being good-looking and being an "efficient" female worker.
I think the day is not so far away when we start labeling the girls without make-up as KY (空気読めない)...when will the superiors start seeing most of them as more than disposable short-term assets, I wonder? We really do need more strong married women with children working in the company to smack the old salary-men every time they say something along the lines of 「これは女性がやるものではないでしょ！」in a Nomikai, or God-forbid, at work...
And since I made my transition to 営開 (Sales Development), I have been taught quite specifically that there are, actually and quite matter-of-fact, a very specific definition for the desired quality of a Japanese 社会人, that we, each one of us, need to follow exactly to avoid being told that we are 「よろしくない...」(I have to say that it is much more embarrassing to be told that politely by the smiling superior compared to just being scolded angrily)
Ok, let me briefly summarize for you how I am defining the perfect 社会人 using 3 "K"s: 感謝("K"ansha), 空気("K"uki), and 効率("K"ouritsu). For the females out there, another double-"K": 強制的な("K"yousei)化粧("K"eshou). Let me briefly explain them one by one using my experiences. For 感謝, not much more needs to be said after the last post. Yes, feeling gratitude is a skill that takes a two-hour meeting to be inked into the brain.
空気: There is nothing like reading the slightest change in the contours of your boss' emotionless face that defines the Japanese 社会人. Don't mention the ability to propose your own ideas to the bosses, leaving work a minute before the boss does is a big no-no that can delay your promotion and raise by years (well, a foreigner like me who does not caring about promotions can just ignore 空気 all the time to the shock and secret envy of all the Japanese colleagues).
But 空気 is not just about not pissing off the bosses with carelessness in daily routines, it is even more about timing. The story goes of someone who accidentally yawned during a karaoke session with the Boss (yes, the one and only Mikitani-san). The yawn was unfortunately seen by the Boss while the Boss is singing...the guy finds himself on a sudden lonely flight to Taiwan branch office the next morning, not to be back in HQ even now.
Some would find this 空気 stuff ridiculous. They would say that following the 空気 would not be that important if you have irreplaceable skills coveted by the company. They will tolerate your rebelliousness if you can do your job better than anyone, right? Well, let me first say that they is no such thing as "irreplaceable" skills, especially in sales side where everyone is just another digit in a gigantic number reported to the Boss.
But to debunk that wishful thought, we do have to define 効率 in this company of ours. Sure, efficiency is always good if you finish your job faster and better, but what if...your job is not really your job? For example, I was recently informed by one of our DU 同期 that a small programming project he was assigned to took him one month to complete when the programming could have been done in 4 days. Somehow, his superiors figured that milking the Boss for more cash by setting aside a full three more weeks for scheduling, PPT making, and report writing is definitely considered 効率.
A joke already runs within DU among the new grads about how a programmer with PPT skills climbs the ladder faster than one with JAVA skills...But perhaps even more ridiculous than programmers defining report-writing as "efficiency" is how women are forced to put on 化粧 in the company. Since I last talked about this issue during the first week of training, I am seeing more and more connection between being good-looking and being an "efficient" female worker.
I think the day is not so far away when we start labeling the girls without make-up as KY (空気読めない)...when will the superiors start seeing most of them as more than disposable short-term assets, I wonder? We really do need more strong married women with children working in the company to smack the old salary-men every time they say something along the lines of 「これは女性がやるものではないでしょ！」in a Nomikai, or God-forbid, at work...
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