Webinar (English)

The Coronavirus outbreak pulled the need for remote working, or 在宅勤務, into the spotlight. Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, has called on companies to find ways to let employees work remotely and set a target of 70 percent fewer commuters. Large corporates in Japan led the way in asking a certain percentage of their workforce to work remotely, including the likes of: Dentsu, Shiseido, Sony, and Takeda Pharmaceutical among others.

It is not as easy as it may sound to be. While some people are concerned about physical wellbeing and mental health when working remotely, some traditional Japanese companies or managers tend to assess an employees’ performance based on the amount of time that they spend in the office. If that is no longer possible, how are they going to be able to determine performance? How can the team leader make sure the team efficiency won’t be affected despite the dispersed location of each team member?

Veldhoen + Company has 30 years of experience in New Ways of Working. Although Activity-based Working is not exactly remote working, its philosophy backs up the concept of working in distributed teams. This can also be reflected by the fact that companies that work in the Activity-based Working environment often find themselves easier in adapting to remote working. Thanks to the invitation of NCCJ, the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce in Japan, we are happy to share our insights, knowledge, and experience to help Japanese organisations and teams be better equipped to deal with the current situation AND other uncertainties and changes in the future.

Veldhoen + Company has been working with Itoki Corporation evolving the new ways of working for Itoki Corporation in Tokyo. As one of the biggest Japanese office furniture manufacturers and office solution providers, Itoki Corporation has a deep understanding of the Japanese culture and many valuable insights from the Japanese working spirits. Miho Sakai will present together with Iolanda Meehan on how key leadership elements to manage distributed teams are applied and experienced in the context of the Japanese culture and ways of working.

This webinar is an English only event. Please register below if you would like to join. We will use Microsoft Teams as the webinar platform. Meeting link will be sent by email after registration.

Speaker

Iolanda Meehan, Managing Partner, SEA & Japan, Veldhoen + Company SEA Pte. Ltd.

Iolanda Meehan is the Managing Partner for Veldhoen + Company in Asia. Iolanda has more than 20 years of experience in previous roles as HR management consultant and as business leader in PwC, Philips and Haworth. She has a BSc in Economics and Management and is a graduate of Change Leadership Programs from Stanford and Wharton universities and is an accredited Global Remuneration Professional (GRP). Iolanda is passionate about the Future of Work, Leadership and Trust and Employee Wellbeing.

co-Speaker

Miho Sakai, Marketing staff member & NWOW ambassador, ITOKI Corporation

Miho Sakai holds a B.A. in Social Sciences from Hitotsubashi University in Japan, researching both transition from school to work and the spread of remote working in Japanese society. This experience inspired her interests in the field of workstyle and workplace. After she joined ITOKI Corporation, Japan’s office furniture manufacturer, she has experienced in the field of Sales, HR (recruiting and training), and marketing for 8 years in total.

ITOKI Corporation applied a new way of working to its new HQ in 2017. Since then she has been working on current data analysis and strategic planning as the NWOW ambassador.