Work style reform related bills have been gradually implemented since April 2019.
Many companies have begun efforts to reduce overtime hours.
However, work style reform is not just about reducing overtime hours.
This is because it is necessary to streamline operations so that productivity does not decline even if overtime is reduced.
“How can we make the work of marketers more efficient?”
Isn’t there a lot of cases where you are worried about this?
Therefore, in this article, we will review the overview of work style reform, introduce a survey of marketers about work style reform, and introduce three tools to streamline the work of marketers.
Please use this as a reference for your work style reform initiatives.
What is work style reform?
First, let’s review “work style reform.”
Purpose of work style reform
<br/> Work style reform is being implemented as a countermeasure against the future decline in Japan’s working population.
As shown in the table below, after 2010, Japan’s total population, which had been increasing until now, will begin to decline.
Source: Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications “2016 Information and Communications White Paper”
Along with this, the aging rate will increase, and the “working population” between the ages of 15 and 64 is expected to decrease significantly.
Furthermore, the mindset of workers is also becoming different from before.
The “Moretsu office worker” who worked from early morning until late at night, which was the norm during the period of high economic growth, is fading away, and more and more people want to balance family and work and maintain a work-life balance.
In order to maintain Japan’s productivity in the future under such circumstances,
- Improving the productivity of each worker by streamlining work
- Expand employment opportunities so that people who are currently unemployed can work.
- Creating an environment where each individual can fully demonstrate their motivation and ability for work.
You will have to think about it.
This is the purpose of work style reform.
Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s efforts towards work style reform
In order to realize work style reform, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is implementing the following initiatives.
| Item | overview |
| Correcting long working hours | The upper limit for overtime work is 45 hours per month and 360 hours per year. In addition, even in cases where there are short-term special circumstances, the maximum limit is 720 hours per year, 100 hours per month, and 80 hours per month on average for multiple months. |
| Ensuring fair treatment regardless of employment type | Eliminate unreasonable treatment differences between regular employees and non-regular employees and make “equal pay for equal work” the principle. |
| Creating an environment that facilitates flexible working styles | Create an environment that facilitates flexible work styles through telework, side jobs, etc. |
| Promoting diversity | Balancing treatment of illness and work, creating an environment where women can play an active role, supporting employment for the elderly, balancing work with childcare/nursing care, promoting employment of people with disabilities, accepting foreign human resources, creating an environment where young people can play an active role, etc. We will promote diversity through this. |
|
wage increases, Improving labor productivity |
We will raise the minimum wage and support the improvement of the productivity of each worker. |
|
Reemployment support, Human resource development |
Compensate for the decline in the working population by supporting reemployment or training human resources. |
| Harassment prevention measures | Create a comfortable work environment by preventing power harassment in the workplace. |
Reference: Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare “
Towards the realization of “work style reform”
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How do marketers feel about work style reform?
So, how do marketing practitioners feel about the work style reforms we have seen above?
Let’s take a look at the results of a survey conducted in 2018 by the Tokyo branch of MCEI (Marketing Communication Executives International), an international organization of marketing practitioners.
Are initiatives for work style reform being implemented?
The survey first asked about the status of efforts toward work style reform.
Source: MCEI `
`Work style reform” is a hot topic, including the issue of discretionary labor-related data in the Diet. How do marketing practitioners feel?
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As a result, more than 60% of respondents said they were implementing (or have already implemented) work style reforms, and over 70% of respondents said they were planning to implement them. The details of the initiatives being implemented are as follows.
- Correcting long working hours (78%)
- Employing diverse human resources/diversity (48%)
- Discretionary labor/flexibility system (27%)
- Office system (25%)
- Telework (23%)
Based on this survey, it can be said that work style reform is steadily progressing, especially with regard to reducing overtime hours.
What about your own overtime hours?
The survey also asked about how marketing practitioners are working overtime due to work style reforms.
Source: MCEI `
`Work style reform” is a hot topic, including the issue of discretionary labor-related data in the Diet. How do marketing practitioners feel?
”
The need for work style reform and the work content that requires reform
<br/> In the survey, marketing practitioners themselves were asked whether they thought “work style reform is necessary” in their work.
Source: MCEI `
`Work style reform” is a hot topic, including the issue of discretionary labor-related data in the Diet. How do marketing practitioners feel?
”
As a result, approximately 80% of respondents answered, “I think it is necessary.” The operations and tasks that are considered to require reform are as follows.
- How to conduct a meeting (41%
- Document creation (33%)
- Business improvement/efficiency (33%)
- Information collection and organization (25%)
- Planning/idea creation (22%)
For marketing practitioners, there is still room to implement work style reforms and improve productivity.
Reference: MCEI `
`Work style reform” is a hot topic, including the issue of data related to discretionary labor in the Diet. How do marketing practitioners feel?
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3 Recommended Tools to Improve Marketing Efficiency
Here are five recommended tools for marketers to streamline their work.
Business chats such as ChatWork
The introduction of business chats such as ChatWork will lead to more efficient work for marketers.
Compared to traditional email and phone communication, business chat allows for more efficient communication.
- Benefits of business chat
Business chat allows you to communicate at different times like email, but it also allows for real-time communication like a phone call. It can be said to have the best features of email and telephone.
Not only can you communicate one-on-one, but you can also communicate with a large number of people with relative ease.
You can also attach various files. By using Business Chat, you can expect to reduce meeting time.
- Points to note when implementing business chat
In business chats, when the amount of information increases, it can be difficult to trace back what was said in the past. You will need to establish operational rules, such as pinning important information.
In addition, there are many types of business chat, such as Chat Work, Slack, and LINE WORKS, and each of them has advantages and disadvantages. It is also important to choose a business chat that is suitable for your business.
Marketing Automation (MA)
Marketing automation (MA) is a tool that automatically manages prospect list, sends emails to customers, optimizes website, etc. By automating things that previously had to be done by marketers themselves, it helps marketers work more efficiently.
- Advantages of MA
The benefit of implementing MA is that you will be able to properly manage prospective customers. It is generally said that only about 20% of potential customers can be approached right away. It is said that 80% of the remaining 80% of prospective customers will take some action within two years.
However, it is difficult for marketers to manage leads for two years.
With MA, you can easily manage prospective customers on an ongoing basis, so you can expect to reduce the number of potential customers you lose.
- Points to note when implementing MA
To introduce MA, it is important to “start small.” This is because MA can only produce results if it is operated over a long period of time, so even if it is introduced on a large scale from the beginning, it is likely that the results will not be realized.
Additionally, MA is based on the premise of having attractive web content. It is important to operate while enriching the content.
Chatbots
<br/> More and more companies are implementing chatbots on their sites. Chatbots not only improve the efficiency of customer support operations, but also have the advantage of improving customer satisfaction. However, careful preparation is required before implementation.
- Advantages of chatbots
The first benefit of chatbots is that they improve customer service efficiency. Customer service operators can only respond to one person at a time. Chatbots, on the other hand, can respond to multiple inquiries.
Chatbots can also be expected to have marketing effects that improve customer satisfaction. This is because chatbots can respond even at times when it is difficult to deploy an operator, such as late at night.
- Points to note when introducing chatbots
When introducing a chatbot, it is necessary to carefully consider how the responsibilities will be transferred from the chatbot to the operator. There are some cases where it is more appropriate to direct the caller to a phone call or Q&A site than to transfer the call to the operator’s chat.
Also, you should always check the questions that the chatbot could not answer.
Chatbots can lead to user dissatisfaction unless they are properly tuned to provide appropriate responses.
summary
◆ Work style reform is being carried out in response to the expected “decrease in the working population,” and improving worker productivity is a major issue.
◆ The majority of marketers believe that work style reform is “necessary”
◆ It is recommended to use appropriate tools to streamline marketing operations.