First Town Hall Meetings at Overseas Sites
—Exploring the Communication Required to Become a Truly Global Company

Yoko Tominaga, General Manager of the Global Business Management Department (left), and Toshio Kitamura, Senior Managing Executive Officer, President of the International Business Development Unit and International Business Unit, and Director and Vice Chairman of CSI Leasing, Inc. (right)

Town Hall Meetings to Deepen Global Employees’ Understanding of the Medium-Term Management Plan

――Please share with us how you decided to hold your first town hall meetings last fiscal year.

Kitamura: While TC Transformation, or TCX, is the basic policy of the Medium-Term Management Plan 2027, formulated in May of last year, it has been challenging to both properly understand and put into practice the plan’s aspiration to “transform ourselves and bring about change.” Concrete action was required to ensure that the roughly 2,200 global employees at our overseas sites clearly understood what this meant.

Tominaga: After discussions within the department, we concluded that simply sending messages or video letters wouldn’t be enough. We realized that we had to provide opportunities for people to meet face-to-face as the most promising means for promoting understanding of the importance of TCX. That was how we came up with the idea of holding town hall meetings.

——How did you prepare for the meetings?

Tominaga: We started preparing in June of last year. I felt that a message from Mr. Kitamura as the head of international business should be an integral part of the program, so we decided to have a video presentation produced using a professional production company. We made numerous revisions to ensure that the message would resonate with our global employees. The result was quite outstanding, and I’m very proud of it.

——What did you convey in the video message?

Kitamura: While TCX is a key basic policy of our Medium-Term Management Plan 2027, it does not mean that we haven’t pursued transformation in the past. Over the years, we have consistently taken on the challenge of transforming ourselves from various perspectives. So, I wanted to emphasize in my message that our current growth is the ultimate result of all these efforts.

Additionally, transformation impacts more than just organizational structures and business development. It is about every one of us transforming ourselves. My message is a call to take on challenges boldly, including perhaps letting go of some things along the way.

Tominaga: While we were very serious while developing Mr. Kitamura’s message,

we also put a lot of creative effort into making the presentation very engaging for the viewers,

so that it would be much like a talk by Steve Jobs (laugh).

Conveying the Message in Simple Terms
—What Counts Is “Passion,” “Smile,” and “Respect”

—Town hall meetings were held in five countries where consolidated subsidiaries are located, starting with Singapore last fall, then Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and the United States. I imagine that each meeting would be received differently, depending on the specific country and type of business. What were they like?

Tominaga: We kicked off each town hall meeting with the video message mentioned earlier, and the three keywords, “Passion,” “Smile,” and “Respect,” embedded in the message were very well received in all these countries.

Kitamura: The keywords define a mindset that I always maintain when cooperating with members inside and outside the organization while advancing organizational goals or projects. I think they are foundational for everything we do. I believe they are universally accepted, despite historical and cultural differences. Since holding the town hall meetings, I frequently heard local staff refer to the three keywords when I visited overseas sites, and I’m grateful that my message has gotten through.

Kitamura: I was surprised by the number of employees who told me that while the business part of the talk was good, the three keywords, “Passion,” “Smile,” and “Respect,” meant a great deal to them.

—What was it like to hold the meetings in those places?

Tominaga: While I enjoyed preparing for the events, I was a little anxious before each one, wondering what I would do if there was no response from the participants. Once we started, though, they were actively asking question, so I felt that two-way global communication was truly taking place.

Kitamura: I spoke with the local staff at each site prior to the events so I could learn about their site and modify the content of my speech accordingly. For example, at the long-established site in Singapore, I expressed my gratitude by mentioning the names of employees who’d worked there for quite a while. And in Thailand I managed to elicit some laughs by suggesting in jest that they invite me to their in-house events.

As a result, I received quite a few informal, non-business questions such as “Where is the best place to view cherry blossoms in Tokyo?” and “Which yakiniku restaurant would you recommend?” I feel much closer now to our global employees, regardless of position, career, country, or region.

Scenes from the town hall meetings

Tominaga: While the next town hall meetings have yet to be scheduled, we were very happy to see 100% of post-event survey respondents answering “Yes” to the question “Would you like to participate again?”

We also received many comments from attendees who appreciated the clarity of the visual presentation of the message, my acknowledgement of the specific circumstances of their site, and the valuable opportunities the meetings provided for interacting with the head office. So, the meetings have to some extent contributed to disseminating the Medium-Term Management Plan 2027 and fostering a sense of unity across the Tokyo Century Group.

The Changing Mindset of Global Employees

—The global training program resumed this year after the COVID-19 pandemic. Did you see any impact of last year’s town hall meetings on global employees who participated in the program?

Kitamura: Global training held in June of this year brought together management from the five countries where we held the town hall meetings. The training included a program in which participants gave presentations on how they would implement TCX at their sites. From the perspective of business development, TCX can be described as “uniqueness” and “differentiation.” Each presentation included content that took this point into consideration and fully demonstrated enthusiasm for achieving future growth.

Tominaga: The participants shared with each other the businesses they’re developing and actively discussed ideas for collaboration, such as developing training programs and projects across locations. They exchange information on the strengths of each site while understanding the differences in market trends by country and region, which also helped to foster a sense of unity within the group.

Tominaga: Expectations are growing for the further expansion of business development across the Group.

Striving to Exceed Targets Centered on Global Communication

—Finally, please share your aspirations for achieving the Medium-Term Management Plan 2027.

Kitamura: In 2023, we expanded our IT business, including investments in data centers, and focused on fair market value, or FMV, leasing and IT asset disposition, or ITAD, services. We are also accelerating businesses targeting niche markets such as the arbor equipment and vehicles leasing business in the United States. I am confident that if we can achieve TCX while keeping these businesses on track, we could significantly exceed the targets for the international business segment laid out in the Medium-Term Management Plan 2027.

Despite the significant challenge of having employees with different backgrounds in languages and cultures be able to face the same direction and advance toward the same goal, we will continue in our quest to become a truly global company.

I was asked during the town hall meetings whether only Japanese nationals could become managers of overseas sites, and the answer is no. We must consider appointing global employees to management positions at local sites to ensure effective decision-making aligned with the head office.

I would like to contribute to organizational growth by highlighting our uniqueness while continuously engaging in frank discussions with local staff.

Tominaga: Last year, we asked more or less all employees at the overseas sites to attend the town hall meetings. I was happy to see that some of the sites cooperated to make their event a success by including time for refreshments after the meeting, during which local sweets and popular local dishes were prepared.

There must be a way to organize smaller meetings than those last year, perhaps gatherings for managers or individual projects. We will continue working to establish a foundation for everyone so they genuinely feel they’re a part of the Tokyo Century Group as we advance together toward achieving the Medium-Term Management Plan 2027.

4+