Anywhere in the world, building an attractive corporate identity and employer brand is key to attracting top level talent. In Japan, and by no means unique to this market, is the need to develop a local corporate identity and employer brand. Relying on your household corporate name in your home market won’t get you very far in Japan.
If the results of the first two rounds of Japan’s fixed-bottom offshore wind tenders taught us anything, it’s that the Japanese don’t care about your global track record. The country is not short of well capitalized giants investing in the energy transition, and it has a strong engineering talent base with some of the largest and most globally active EPC firms, not to mention a protectionist government.
Considering that more than 90% of the talent pool in the energy market works for Japanese domestic firms, building a strong brand, highlighting your firm’s attractive points and telling a clear story are key to attracting local talent into your organization.
Communicate a clear vision and commitment to the market
Who are you? What do you do? Why should anyone pay attention? These are the simplest of questions, but many people in Japan have not heard of many firms that might be household names in the U.S. or EU markets.
Showing a clear reason for being in Japan, a long-term commitment and goals that are easy to communicate is also key to gain trust. Culturally, many Japanese have certain fears of multinational firms, such as a market exit risk or that they might fire people easily. In a culture that values stability and certainty, these are important concerns to pre-empt.
Expect to be asked about the time horizon to hit targets, win projects, etc. The vague “we are here for the long run” no longer holds water since too many who have come and gone have claimed the same.
Highlight culture, working style and global opportunities
Large Japanese firms tend to be layered and hierarchical, making decisions by consensus. In some cases, they tie career development to seniority more heavily than merit. This creates stability and safety, and suits many Japanese professionals. There’s an increasing number of younger Japanese whose mentality is moving away from the idea of ‘lifetime employment’ and who wish to take a more active role in their career development. According to a 2023 study by the Japan Management Association, 36% of university educated Japanese plan to work for multiple companies throughout their careers, compared to less than 20% in 2000.
Some of the major positive draw cards for either major foreign firms or Japanese start-ups / scale-ups are soft touch points. If you have a flat organization structure, flexible working structure, close interaction with global colleagues, chance to work or be trained in overseas offices etc, then be sure to highlight and promote these points.
Beyond talent attraction, this can be used to filter the right cultural fit. Describing what kind of people succeed in the organization, who the business is made of, and what’s expected of team members can help to allow talent to qualify or disqualify themselves from your business.
Business introduction > Job description
Job descriptions (JD) are by nature generic. Your project manager likely does work similar to your competitors, so a list of job duties and requirements don’t do anything to attract people to your firm. On top of this, they are often filled with internal jargon, acronyms etc, especially with large firms that advertise internally as well as externally.
Rather than a JD, investing in building a visually appealing slide deck that introduces your firm will engage talent, and have them understand and be excited about your business by the time they even reach the JD section. Here are a couple of examples that have worked well:
European offshore wind developer:
- ‘About us page’ including information on employees, projects, time in market, overview of the wider business.
- APAC presence presented as a map denoting projects and development phases.
- Competitive advantages, listing key technical expertise and track record in floating projects.
- Culture and workplace, sharing some key benefits offered and notes on global opportunities.
- Job description.
Power trading technology firm:
- Introduction and vision.
- Raison d’etre.
- Background and history, demonstrated with figures and timeline.
- What we are looking for, with cultural descriptions built in.
- Description of the opportunity – not a job description, but key selling points of the business around the team, culture, rewards, and impact.
- Job description.
This approach brings talent along on a journey, builds a personality into your firm, and will make you stand out among competitors.
Be honest about your capabilities, and what needs to be built
From a survey of more than 5,000 energy industry professionals in Japan, the #1 point on their wishlist when considering new opportunities was “a role where I can leverage my skills and experience”. This came above learning new skills, working environment, salary levels — though of course these will be major decision-making factors!
Considering this, massive value can be secured in communicating where your organization needs to build capability. By communicating what your team is already strong in (both locally and globally) you will be able to show that your company has a strong base of talent to succeed. However, by illustrating where you have gaps, you allow talent space to find areas where they can come in and add value.
This also helps ‘stickability’ – i.e. new employees getting up to speed faster, onboarding smoothly, and avoiding them leaving or failing fast. Proper management of expectations is key, and must be done before the person comes into your organization.
Your corporate name probably won’t hold as much weight in Japan’s talent market as it does at home. Japanese professionals tend to be more cautious about job hunting, and wish to see more information about a potential employer before considering an application or even a casual introduction.
Taking the time to craft a story and develop a curated candidate journey allows you to tap into the top levels of passive talent rather than compete with other companies over the surface level active talent pool.
Andrew Statter is a Partner at Titan GreenTech, an executive recruitment agency focused on the clean energy space.