本文へ移動
Group photo by Chinese HR professionals at TikTok Japan

TikTok Japan

Career Development for Chinese HR in Japan

Special Interview with MJ Li, VP of HR at J&J


Date: December 13, 2018
Theme: Career Development Planning for Chinese HR Professionals in Japan
Speakers: Gu Yuxiao (ByteDance HR Department) and
Mengjuan Li, Vice President of Human Resources (Johnson & Johnson Group)



Event Recap


Hosted by TikTok Japan (Bytedance), this event invited Chinese HR Leaders to dig deep into the topic of talent development strategy and discuss best practices for career development planning to succeed as a Chinese HR professional in Japan. 
Valuable lessons regarding Bytedance and J&J's talent development strategy were shared by the speakers, Gu Yuxiao and Mengjuan Li, respectively.

We were also very fortunate to learn insights regarding career development from MJ Li, a famous VP of Johnson & Johnson. Please read on for the full interview to find out the strategy that helped her become the 1% of ex-pat leaders who succeed in Japan.
Gu Yuxiao sharing on ByteDance Japan's talent development strategy
MJ Li, VP of HR at J&J presenting about the main topic
____________________________________________________________

Challenges and Opportunities for Japan HR Leaders

An interview with MJ Li, VP of HR at J&J Group in Japan
When MJ Li arrived in Japan two years ago, she thought that since both China and Japan are Asian countries, it would be easier for her to understand the Japanese culture. On the first day at work in Japan, one of her friends sent her an article titled “Why 99% of Foreign Leaders Failed in Japan”. Later, she also realized that the reality turned out to be totally contrary to her original thought.

In June 2019, MJ Li successfully completed her 2-year assignment in Japan and moved on to her new role in Beijing. We are very honored to have the opportunity to hear her story in Japan.

  • What are the secrets that made MJ Li become the 1% of ex-pat leaders that succeed in Japan?
  • What are the challenges and opportunities for Japan HR Leaders?
  • How did she win the trust and get accepted by the employees in Japan?
  • What are the lessons learned from Japanese employees?

    Here is a summary of our special interview with MJ Li before she left Japan.
____________________________________________________________




Challenges & Opportunities



1. Demography of Talent Pool

One of the biggest challenges for Japan is an aging population, and shortage of bilingual business leaders. At Johnson & Johnson, the average age of Japanese employees is 8-10 years older than that of China. Although Japan is Johnson & Johnson's second-largest market worldwide, the size of its talent pool is not proportional to its business scale. In general, compared to many other Asian markets, the talent pool in Japan is very thin, especially those who have a global mindset and capability in leading and managing changes. As a result, there are very few Japanese business leaders who are in critical AP or Global positions.

To promote more career development opportunities, I have set up a goal of achieving 25% internal rotation for the team in the first year, so that team members can learn continuously through new and different assignments and understand other members' roles and responsibilities. One good example is my appointment of a team member for a short-term assignment in China. He was selected because he took the initiative and wanted to challenge himself by signing up for a new assignment. In the end, he set up a good example for others by stretching himself in a different environment and creating mutual learning and best practice sharing between China and Japan teams.
2. Unique Style of Communication

Historically, Japan has always been a homogeneous society. It is not easy to be accepted if you are different from others. So, the general expectation is that the foreigners shall be integrated into the Japanese customs and ways of doing things. For example, the Japanese usually refrain from expressing their thoughts and views openly in meetings, and they do not recognize those who speak up and speak out their opinions.

A key action I took was to create a culture of open communication and encourage my team to speak out proactively. One of the reasons why people are afraid of speaking up and speaking out is the fear of being judged by others or making mistakes. I reassured them that no matter what you say, as long as you express your opinion, you are contributing to the discussion. At the same time, I asked them to explore different ideas and new opportunities with curiosity rather than judging people.

As a result of those measures, I am very proud to see that at the end of my assignment, people started to challenge me and openly expressed different opinions.
3. Resistance to Changes & Uncertainty

In Japan, changes are usually viewed negatively. Resistance to changes is a natural reaction from people. In China, people are relatively open to changes, as every change may represent a new opportunity.

When I first came to Japan, Johnson & Johnson Global was implementing a global HR transformation project to move some HR services to Manila. In the beginning, everyone was skeptical about this project and had little confidence in it. To address everyone’s concern, we decided to recruit local Japanese-speaking employees to work at the Manila call center. I was able to convince the global HQ to allow the Japan project manager to be involved in the recruitment process and secured a budget for her to fly to Manila for interviews and training orientations. As a result, the project was launched successfully and the service level has been improved continuously. This case has let everyone realize that change is not that scary, and once they change the mindset, the rest will follow.

At the end of 2017, I gave everyone in my HR team a book called Growth Mindset, telling the team every new challenge and change can turn out to be a great opportunity. Failure is not a test of their capability, but an opportunity to learn and grow.
J&J Japan was named Great Place to Work in 2018
____________________________________________________________


Key to the Success


Of course, MJ Li’s success as an Expat Leader didn’t come as a gift. One of the keys to her success was that she truly respected the cultural differences and was able to establish trust with Japanese employees from the very beginning.
Be on time

Japanese employees have a strong sense of punctuality and are very compliant with the rules and commitments. Once I was 7 minutes late to my HR team meeting. Although the setback was caused by the delay from the prior meeting, I felt really sorry when I entered the conference room seeing everybody was very upset. This was the first lesson I learned after I came to Japan. After this incident, I asked my assistant to change all my one-hour meetings into 45 minutes, so that I had time to move between meetings and would never be late again.
Open space & communication

When I first came to Japan, I was assigned to a big independent office room, while all my HR team sat outside in the open area. I decided to move outside to be together with my team and change my office into a meeting room so that everyone can use it. I felt that this move has had a great impact on the team at the time and has brought us closer.
In order to encourage more 1-1 communication, I set one noontime every week to have lunch with an HR team member, but they must take the initiative to send me an invitation. In return, I would pay for the meal.
At the farewell party, the J&J Japan HR team wore T-shirts with I love MJ to express their high evaluation of her two-year work in Japan.
____________________________________________________________


Lessons from Japan


MJ Li really enjoyed her stay and loved the unique business culture of Japan. There are also many great things that she has learned from her HR team in Japan.
  • Craftsmanship and Commitment: Japanese employees are hard-working and dedicated to their job.

  • Self-motivation: Japanese employees are self-driven. Their sense of accomplishment doesn’t come from compensation or promotions. They are motivated by small recognitions like a simple “thank you” message.

  • Self-disciplined: Every time they finish a meeting in Japan, the employees will take the initiative to put the tables and chairs back to their original positions and clean up the room. I was told they have learned to do this ever since primary school. These are admirable behaviors Chinese professionals can learn from the Japan team.



Interested in upcoming events updates?

Subscribe to our Newsletter for the latest invites and announcements.


Follow us on LinkedIn
TOPへ戻る