Comments on Comments on my blog

Since I started my blog at the end of June last year, the number of its posts has exceeded 50.

I would like to thank all of my employees for reading this blog.

Here, I would like to go back to why I decided to start this blog.

How the blog was established

When I was appointed president, I was interviewed by various media and one of the questions was;

"What does Sumitomo Riko lack?”

I answered, "Communication between the top, the bottom, and even among colleagues.”

Many of the employees who joined the company a few decades ago grew up near the company and the office was not so large, so I think they were able to see eye to eye or communicate with each other even without exchanging words.

However, as time went on, the company grew, offices expanded, locations increased, and the number of employees became larger, diversifying of gender and nationality.

Under such a situation, old practice does not work anymore, and it’s impossible to convey true intentions unless we speak out clearly.

I felt that some of the people who had been with the company for a long time had not changed from the common sense they had when they were young, or they were unaware that the company itself had changed significantly.

For this reason, I thought it was important to "talk to you" and "communicate properly via e-mail," so I decided to start by talking to everyone myself about various things and let you know the importance of two-way communication.

In other words, I decided to start my normal morning greetings, drinking communication and this blog.

And in order to overcome the severe business environments due to COVID 19 pandemic, etc. together with all the employees of our group, I wanted to use the blog as a means of information sharing and make you feel closer to the company by informing you of the company's policies, internal events, and sometimes my daily life.

Q&A

After reviewing the comments I have received from many people on my blog, I would like to tell you once again about "communication".

Q: How can I deal with people who say they are not good at communication?

A: Honestly, it's a difficult question.

First of all, I think it is good to create an environment, a relationship, and an atmosphere where they can talk about what they honestly think without thinking too much about various things.

If you don't judge well whether the person you are talking to is having difficulty with communication or if the environment is making communication difficult, you may end up with the wrong solution.

Communication requires that we understand each person and respond to them in a way that suits them.

Therefore, I believe that the first step in communication is to be interested in the other person.

Q: Should subordinates be the first to greet others?

A: It's not a matter of which one of us has to greet the other first, but it's something we do from when we notice each other.

It is better to greet spontaneously and naturally, rather than asking others to do it thinking things like "He doesn't greet me, so I won't either.”

And don't ask for anything in return.

I try to talk to all the employees whenever and wherever I see you, but some people who encountered my sudden greeting for the first time, (maybe they were too much surprised?) did not quickly respond to me.

In such cases, I wonder if I didn't speak to them in the right way.

And I try to be more natural next time.

Above all, I am most grateful for the fact that people have been thinking about communication again in response to my blog posts.

Recently, some people have been sending me emails directly.

Some of them even come to see me when I visit the factory for the President's CZ.　

I'm really happy.

My goal is to revitalize the company in this way, so that we can communicate with everyone without any conflicts.