"So, what motivated you to join this company?" "....Nothing"

I recently had an opportunity to speak to a group of new university graduates just joining a particular Japanese firm, as part of the company's initial training for new hires. As an icebreaker to get to know the group a bit better, I asked each member of the group about why s/he decided to join this company. The answers, to my sheer disappointment, was extremely underwhelming. One mentioned that the company is big and stable, another said that the firm's older employees all seemed to be very friendly, and scariest of all, one person bluntly mentioned that there is no particular reason that she chose the firm over others.

Granted, the question may have been a difficult one given that I was asking the group, none of whom are close to being proficient English speakers, to respond in English. But the lack of satisfactory answers about a simple question about the motivation to join the firm goes beyond language ability. If an employee had nothing meaningful to say about his or her employers, using the simplest, most basic English terms out there, it is unlikely that the same person would be able to craft an interesting answer in his or her native language either. The issue is, at the end of the day, not language but a simple lack of motivation.

That lack of motivation, for a casual observer, can be puzzling. The firm in question, while by no means providing fashionable or trendy products that the average person knows about, nonetheless is a purveyor of advanced technology that underpins the daily lives of people in any part of the rich world. That, along with the sheer size and breadth of business the firm conducts around the country and the world, is enough for any employee at the firm to be proud of. The fact that none of that crossed the mind of a new employee, who, just mere months ago, went through interviews to answer that exact question, is baffling.

The fact that a new employee who joined only months ago have become so jaded also cast doubt upon just how the company is advertising itself to new graduates looking for jobs and how it selects new employees from all the job applicants. An employee who is unable to come up with even stock answers for motivation to work in the company shows that the firm has either failed to distinguish fake enthusiasm from real ones in the process of interviews or were simply unable to attract many applicants who are genuinely enthusiastic about the company. 

Whatever the situation that led to the company hiring such unenthusiastic employees, the result is devastating for the company in the long-term. One of the reasons that I was speaking to the new graduates is that the company is looking to expand into foreign markets and wanted input from foreigners. Yet, to be able to expand successfully, the most important prerequisite is that the firm has a group of employees who are both excited and motivated to help the firm undertake those foreign expansion efforts. Without enthusiasm for the firm, it is difficult to imagine employees putting in 100% effort on such a task.

And that lack of enthusiasm is only compounded by a brand-new environment the employees will undoubtedly face in foreign markets. Putting aside whether the firm's product offerings are good or not, for the firm to even establish a foreign beachhead, it will need staff members who are able to sell the company to people who have never heard of it. Foreign language proficiency is of course important in this task, but even without perfect foreign language skills, willingness to communicate directly and genuinely with potential foreign clients would be a big plus in bringing foreigners onboard. 

Plenty of foreigners, having never heard of, to them, an obscure Japanese firm, will justifiably view it with suspicion. It will be up to the firm's employees, through their enthusiasm for the firm and genuine belief in its greatness, to change the perception of the foreigners. But seeing the firm's employees as so lacking in motivation even in its home market where the firm's past record can basically sell itself, it is difficult to think how these employees can be relied upon to help the firm create a good image elsewhere, no matter how sleek its public relations presentations are.

Ultimately though, it is the firm's responsibility to create an environment conducive to the employees becoming more enthusiastic. In particular, if employees see them as bystanders in a larger-than-life entity for which they have no influence on what course it takes, they will remain distant and comfortable with the status quo. But if they are given leeway to take initiative and be commended for changing the company for the better, even in the slightest of ways, they will identify with the company more and show more enthusiasm for it. As the lukewarm new graduates illustrate, such active participation needs to start from Day 1 of employment.