INFOEYE

Introduction of daily columns by our advisor, Teruo Ichiki

When I was still an active section chief, I was once asked at a morning meeting in my department, “What do you keep in mind to keep up with your hectic workload?” I immediately replied, “It is to train my subordinates.
If you can train someone who can do it for you, then you can take over your own work and take on new projects or new projects that you have always wanted to do. The subordinates that I have trained…
By nurturing these subordinates, the organization can continue to expand steadily. In order for you to continue to grow, you need to train your junior staff to become excellent junior staff members.
However, it is not an easy task.
It is one of the most difficult tasks of communication in the workplace.
How can we train junior staff?

I am sorry to tell you about myself, but I was a country boy from Miyazaki in southern Kyushu.
I had never left Kyushu until I came to Osaka, so I had a thick accent,
I was often teased by my seniors about my accent.
I worked as a delivery driver for a year after joining Company T. I started working in sales in my second year.
During my time as a delivery person, I felt that I was not suited for this job and wanted to return to the countryside if I had the chance.

My first year in sales I joined the bedding department, but I just didn’t like the products. I gave up hope and became a sales representative in the Kyushu region, hoping that I might have a chance to return to the countryside. I did not like the job of carrying a heavy carry-on bag in both hands and walking from one place to another in Kyushu to sell the products. Once again, I put in my hopes and was placed in the women’s clothing bottom section. By this time, I had come to realize that I was no longer a good salesman.

A year passed without a peep and I was thinking about quitting every day when a new employee joined the company and for the first time I had a subordinate named U-kun. However, he was an employee who was rumored to be an excellent new hire. He always had a glazed look in his eyes and seemed to be a very strong-willed junior employee. I hesitated when I was assigned to be U-kun’s trainer. At the welcome party, he asked me a lot of ambitious questions about my work, but when I got down to it, I found him to be a good young man with a passionate heart, and I came to like him.
I began to strive to be a role model for my junior colleagues. I began to study hard, read books on the job, and meet my quotas so that I would not be ridiculed by my junior colleague. I was unable to respond to the guidance of my seniors, but I began to engage in friendly competition with this passionate Mr. U. We went out drinking every weekend and worked hard together. We went out for drinks every weekend and talked not only about work, but also about family, love, and life. He would stay over at my house when it was late and we would talk passionately.
From that time on, my section manager began to appreciate me more and more, and even said to me, “Your planning ability is impressive.
Before U joined the company, I think I was passive about my work. It was an encounter with U-kun that changed the way I approached my work.
Teaching is learning. I was assigned as a trainer, but I learned a lot by teaching U-kun. Looking back, I think I was thinking and acting from the same perspective as U-kun. I trusted him and he trusted me.
Later, I became the manager of the bottom section and he became the manager of the blouse section and we competed with each other in performance.

No matter how much a senior may want to mentor a junior, if that junior does not want to listen to what the senior has to say, it will result in a face-saving attitude, and it will be difficult to mentor him. But of course, if you don’t say anything because your junior doesn’t want to listen to you, you will not be teaching him.
I think the reason the juniors don’t want to listen to their seniors is because they don’t respect their seniors.

1) Set an example.

Subordinates watch their superiors very closely. Even if you say admirable things with your mouth, your subordinates will not listen to you if your actions do not accompany your words.
The first step is for seniors to do it and set an example.
In the words of Isoroku Yamamoto, “Show them what you can do. Say it, do it, let them do it, praise them, or they will not move.” These words are very famous, and I believe this is because they are the very heart of what he said.
I believe this is because this phrase is at the core of what it means. In order to nurture junior staff members, you must set a good example yourself.
Only when you are satisfied with your actions, words, and deeds, will your junior staff listen to you.
In the end, the act of nurturing your subordinates will lead to your own personal growth.

2) Transfer of authority

As with driving a car or a bicycle, even if you know what you are doing theoretically, there is no way you will be able to drive unless you try it. The quickest way to learn a skill is to have them actually drive.
I believe that only when you let them try it, they will realize how difficult and enjoyable the job is. If you think, “It’s too early to let them do it,” you will never be able to entrust them with the job. On the other hand, throwing all the work at the junior staff will destroy them. It is important to hand over work with the feeling that you will take full responsibility for your junior’s failures. If you do this, your juniors will be able to take on the challenges of the job with all their might.

3) Give appropriate instructions and attention, and praise achievements honestly.

Whenever a junior tries his or her hand at a job, there is always some failure. At that time, we think together about why they failed and give them appropriate instructions and attention.
and give them appropriate instructions and warnings. Never get angry over their heads. You do not want them to be discouraged from trying again by the fear of being angry.
On the other hand, when a junior staff member achieves an accomplishment, I am happy with him or her and give 100% praise.
When I was still young and lacking in confidence in my work, I was so pleased when someone praised me, saying, “Your planning ability is a big deal.
I remember that this made me work hard at my job.

4) Improve communication
Have the junior staff report on the work they have been entrusted with. While asking and answering questions about their reports, give them advice.
Communication improves when seniors also report and consult with them. Juniors who grew up under aggressive seniors are afraid of getting angry, which leads them to hide their failures and fabricate reports. Raised under passive-aggressive seniors.
Juniors lose motivation because of the lack of response from seniors, and they lambaste seniors.
The more reporting, liaison, and consultation become a habit, and the better the communication
The better the communication, the better the environment is for junior employees to grow.

There is more to the words of Isoroku Yamamoto.

If we do not discuss, listen, approve, and entrust, people will not grow.
If we do not watch with appreciation and trust what they are doing, they will not bear fruit.

5) Trust.

If they feel appreciated and trusted, junior employees will have a stronger sense of responsibility, and they will suddenly become more motivated.
I remember when the president of Company T lectured me and gave me strict instructions, saying, “I am telling you this because I expect that you will eventually become the leader of the Product Department,” and I accepted his strict instructions.

6) Let the junior staff think about it.

If you give the answer to everything right away in order to nurture your junior staff, they will not think for themselves, but will ask their seniors about everything.
They will ask their seniors for answers. It is important to give them hints to develop their ability to think for themselves. Why is it necessary to have a proposal sales team? What are the tastes of our clients’ products?
What are our core products? We must nurture salespeople who can think for themselves.

7) Get to know your juniors better.

People like people who are interested in them.
Getting to know your junior well outside of work, such as their hobbies and family, will help you communicate better.

8) Education is a perseverance work

It is relatively easy to know as knowledge, but it takes many years of training to truly acquire and implement. You should be prepared for the fact that it takes persistence and perseverance to train.