
Since October 2018, we have consolidated our four locations scattered across Tokyo into our new head office, ITOKI TOKYO XORK (hereinafter referred to as XORK), where we are working on the ABW work style. What changes have been made in switching from the previous fixed-desk work style, where each department gathered at their designated desk and mainly used paper documents, to ABW? We spoke to Ms.Nakazawa Yukako (hereinafter referred to as Nakazawa), manager of the Human Resources Recruitment Section of the Human Resources Department, who actually works at XORK, about the specific changes in work style from both the perspective of an employee and a manager. Please note that the photos in this column were taken with the mask removed only when they were taken.

Ms. Yukako Nakazawa, Human Resources Recruitment Division, Human Resources Department
──What do you think has changed the most since you started ABW?
Nakazawa Before the introduction of ABW, the HR department had its own room, and people from other departments could only enter by pressing the intercom. I remember that because of this, there were few opportunities for cross-departmental interaction. Instead, everyone worked in a fixed-seat, so-called island-style room, so I could always hear all the conversations in the HR department, and it was easy to keep track of the situation in each department, and there were almost no important discussions going on without my knowledge.
After implementing ABW, the office has become an open space where individuals can choose the most productive location for their own "activities" at their own discretion, which contributes to improving motivation to work. Although HR department members may temporarily confine themselves to a private office when handling confidential information, all HR department members generally work in an open space. By coming to the office, employees can see how people from other departments and the young members they have hired are doing, which increases opportunities for interaction, so the HR department is talking about moving around the office more to suit their activities.

At ITOKI, we break down and reinterpret our daily work into "10 activities."
──How do you communicate with other team members when everyone is working in a distributed manner without designated seats in ABW?
Nakazawa Human Resources Recruitment Department, we have come to a "team agreement" to discuss and decide how to proceed with work and how to communicate so that we can work productively even when our team members are not in front of us. Here are some of the things we are actually working on based on that team agreement.
Set up a date to meet as a team
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the members had decided to meet once a week in a co-working space (a space where you can do individual work while sharing the space with other members, without needing to concentrate, and with short conversations and questions) but now that we are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have changed to avoiding face-to-face meetings as much as possible, and if necessary, we get together and work when members call out to us voluntarily. When we meet face-to-face, we collectively process any items to be confirmed, and when we work remotely, we manage the progress of work in a spreadsheet, so we don't feel particularly bothered by not being able to see the progress of our subordinates' work.

Co-Working Space
・Be considerate about how and when to contact
In our team, we always include the place of work when registering each person's schedule. Since members are used to checking each other's schedule before contacting each other, we use chat, phone, etc. effectively while being considerate of others. In particular, when using chat, it is easy to miss information if everyone is in the same chat group, so we make an effort to create groups divided into several themes, such as by the work that each person is responsible for. For example, at the start and end of work, in order to make it easier for members to see each other's status, we send each other greetings in the chat room and emojis expressing how we are feeling that day.
- Follow up with new employees
When new members join the team, the OJT staff teaches them how to do the job directly in the office, and as they gradually get used to it, they begin working from home as well. We believe that face-to-face support is especially important for young members until they are able to work autonomously and involve those around them.

──How did you go from working in a paper-based environment to going paperless?
Nakazawa: To be honest, even after we switched to ABW, we were not able to fully go paperless in our recruitment operations. However, with a strong message from the management, we finally started to make a serious effort to reduce paper documents this year, and we have now achieved a 90% reduction in paper compared to before the move. The specific method of reduction is to store shared documents within the department on an in-house server so that they can be viewed anytime, anywhere. For example, materials for job interviews are managed on Google Drive, and interviewers can also view the materials from that drive, eliminating the need to print them on paper. Resumes, transcripts, and other documents that are still left in paper form are temporarily stored in a dedicated room in the HR department and then moved to a warehouse or disposed of.
How do you split your time between working in the office and working from home?
Nakazawa: The Human Resources Recruitment Department also handles internships and events that are conducted face-to-face, so at most I work from home two days a week. On days when I work from home, I have more free time because I don't have to commute. However, I personally find it easier to work in the office, since the working environment at home is not well-equipped and I need to separate myself from my family. After the COVID-19 pandemic is over, I would like to balance working one day a week from home and four days a week in the office.
--Are there any issues you feel you have with the way you work now?
NakazawaWhen I go to the office to conduct online interviews or web seminars, the phone/web conference booths are often full, making it difficult to find a place. Therefore, I have to come to the office early in the morning to secure a place. Since online work is expected to continue in the future due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I feel that we need to be more creative in our operations.
Next, I have the impression that the recharge space (a space to take a break from work and refresh yourself) is not being used effectively across the company. To begin with, we have a lot of work to do, and we are aware of the problem of it being difficult to take a break, so our team has appointed someone to be in charge of recharge. During recharge week, that person will schedule a 15-minute recharge time on the calendars of all team members, so that all members consciously recharge and are energized for their next task.

WEB/Meeting space
--Did the relocation of your headquarters and the implementation of ABW have any impact or positive effects on your recruitment activities?
Nakazawa Compared to before the introduction of ABW, the reactions of students when they see the office have changed significantly. We have received many comments such as, "I never imagined an office like this," and "I want to work in a place like this." Many people imagine an office as a traditional space with rows of gray desks, so they may be surprised by the difference. I think that the improvement of the working environment and the transformation of working styles through ABW are also having a positive impact on recruitment activities.
Nakazawa-san said at the end, "I don't want to go back to the way I worked before ABW was introduced." He said that he doesn't feel any particular problems even though he is working in a distributed way with his team members. This is probably because he is able to work based on the trust between superiors and subordinates, and because he communicates closely and has a "team agreement" on how to proceed with the work. "Team agreement" is one of the measures aimed at behavioral change, in which all workers in XORK regularly "decide the rules for how to proceed with work within the team" (Reference article: "What is 'communication management' that builds trust?"). ABW does not end with providing an office and IT environment suitable for workers' activities. In order to maximize performance as individuals and organizations, rule creation and management methods are also important points. If you are interested in our ABW consulting services, please contact us.