‘If I warn them harshly, they’ll quit’: Staff training creates headaches for many in Japan

TOKYO — More than half of senior workers and supervisors in Japan feel that training new employees is difficult, a recent survey on the manners of working adults has revealed. What is the key to teaching new staff?

April is the traditional time of year to welcome new hires in Japan, and it seems that many people are struggling to deal with younger staff due to a generation gap. However, the survey conducted by human resource development firm Recruit Management Solutions Co. has found that both older and younger generations share the recognition that communication is important, and deepening dialogue may be the key to guidance.

When new employees were asked about their image of business manners, “rigid and old-fashioned” was the most common response at 26%. This was followed by “complicated and difficult” (18.4%) and “troublesome” (13.5%), indicating that they have a negative image of business manners.

When they were asked about manners that are troublesome but that they want to learn, the most common items were those related to communication, such as “greetings” (18.8%), “language” (18.2%), and “behavior at banquets and meals” (13.8%).

As with the manners that seniors and supervisors want new hires to acquire, communication was the most common answer that they said they want new employees to improve, with “language and communication skills” (30.7%) and “greetings” (17.3%) topping the list. On the other hand, few respondents chose business skills such as “handling phone calls.”

So, what do senior employees and supervisors do when they need to give guidance to new hires? A total of some 70% were taking reluctant responses, with 49.6% saying they “told them safe wordings” and 16.3% saying they “pretended not to see them.”

As if to corroborate these results, many respondents also stated that they felt difficulty in instructing new employees. Some of the reasons given were: “If I warn them harshly, they will quit,” “I don’t know the range of what does not constitute power harassment,” and, “I don’t want to have a strained relationship with them.” In addition to the generation gap, there seems to be growing social awareness of harassment behind the difficulty of proactive guidance.

What factors led seniors and supervisors to believe that good manners are a necessity? When asked about their experiences, favorable responses indicated that valuing good manners affected their “own evaluation” and “ease of doing their jobs,” indicating that they see the benefits of practicing good manners.

Recruit Management Solutions analyzed the negative perception of business manners among new employees, saying, “They simply have not yet realized the necessity of manners.” The company advises, “By informing new employees of the benefits of practicing good manners, they will feel the value of acquiring them.”

The survey was conducted via the internet in December 2023, and a total of 684 people responded. “New employees” targeted in the survey refers to those in their first or second year in the workforce, and “seniors and supervisors” are those who have worked for at least three years.

(Japanese original by Yuko Shimada, Business News Department)