When making decisions, managers need to ask themselves: "Whether".The motive is the best, and the selfishness is nothing”？Isn't that what you should do as a human being?
We should ask ourselves questions again and again, do not let them go, and make various decisions on the basis of this. Thinking about problems and deciding to act in order to satisfy one's own selfish interests will definitely bring harm to employees, harm to society, and ultimately not to oneself.
Sticking to employment and securing employment is the right way to go
For a long time, I've been at pains to explain to you what to do goodDo things that are good for people in order to achieve business success.
The current environment in which our business operates is very difficult. Some companies ask banks to lend because they cannot balance their accounts, but the banks do not want to lend, and as a result, the enterprises are in a difficult situation.
No matter what difficulties we encounter, we managers cannot only think about how we can survive. We must stand with our employees through thick and thin, support each other, and tide over difficulties together. I hope that everybody – will think and do so.
Sadly, some time ago, some large companies started laying off temporary workers and kicking them out of their company dormitories. I heard the cries of the temporary workers, "We have to have a safe New Year, right?"After being kicked out of the dormitory, we had to live on the streets. "Modern capitalism always talks about labor costs, classifies employee costs as labor costs, and even treats people as objects. In the event of a recession, there is no other way, and in order to reduce costs, the first thing is to lay off employees.
If the operator puts "altruism", care and compassion at the core of the businessWhen there is a recession, the workload is reduced, and temporary workers are no longer needed, regular workers, from general managers to ordinary employees, take a part of their monthly salaryKeep temporary workers behind. Once the economy recovers, such as a year after the depression passed,That's when the temporary workers will say "the company is so good" and they will work harder. I think companies should have a way to deal with it.
For example, the general manager takes the initiative to reduce the salary by 30%, the board of directors by 20%, and the general cadres and employees by 10%, and use this part of the money to retain temporary workers, of course, the wages of temporary workers should be reduced accordingly. "Although wages have been lowered, we must be patient, and in this year of waiting for the economy to recover, let us unite and work harder. ”I think someone should make such a suggestion to the union.
In this case, the leaders of the trade unions will listen carefully to it. Because the situation is severe, I think everyone is willing to huddle together to keep warm and bear and cope with difficulties together.
In just 6 months, the order was reduced to 1 10
The first oil crisis in 1973 was 41 years old.
On October 6 of that year, the oil crisis erupted. From the first year, 1974, the economy deteriorated sharply.
In the case of Kyocera, customer orders in January 1974 were 27500 million yen, only six months later, in July 1974, the order was reduced to 2700 million yen. The workload has been reduced to 1 10, and ninety percent of employees have no work to do. It was the first time I had encountered such a crisis when I was young.
Until then, I had always taken "valuing employees" as my business philosophy, so what should I do when I encounter such a big difficulty?In my annoyance, I gathered the staff together and said the following paragraph:"The number of products that can be made is reduced to 1 10, and if there are so many more people to do it, the efficiency will be reduced. Therefore, let the 1 10 people do the work, and the rest of the people will clean the factory together. ”
Employees took turns to work while others cleaned the factory, repaired the garden, tidied up the flower beds, and renovated the sports field, which lasted for several months.
The decision to freeze the salary increase and the courage of the Kyocera union
Despite this, the company's situation remains dire. In November, I once again gathered the cadres and employeesSalary reductions for all management positions, from the general manager to the department head, were announced. As the general manager, I took a 30% pay cut myself, and at least 7% for other cadres, but I had to secure employment.
At that time, Japan was an era of continuous economic development, and before the outbreak of the oil crisis, the Japanese economy was soaring, and there was a "spring fight" every year, and the wage level of enterprises rose by 20% to 30% every year.
The cadres lowered their wages, but the "spring fight" in April of the following year was imminent, and the company had no orders and no employees working. Under these circumstances, I asked the Kyocera Labor Union to freeze the salary increase: "Can you postpone consideration of the request for a salary increase in April next year?" ”
In 1975, I sent a letter to the members of the trade union on the issue of wages: "Colleagues, you have worked hard. Recently, our company's orders have dropped significantly, but everyone is still working hard in their respective positions, for which I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude. In this case, I have no time to warm up and run among overseas customers, but I have not forgotten you for a moment. I have experienced the overseas market firsthand, and I have been looking at Japan from a global perspective, and I have been thinking about it for a long time. As soon as I have the opportunity, I will share my thoughts with you, and I will allow me to explain them again at the next collective bargaining meeting. ”
I sent such a letter requesting a salary freeze for the second year. After careful discussion, the trade union members at the time accepted my request.
In April of the following year, flags were raised on the roofs of other companies, labor disputes broke out, and labor unions demanded wage increases. Only the Kyocera Labor Union did not ask for a salary increase.
At that time, the Kyocera Union's parent organization, the "Frontline Alliance," considered the Kyocera Union's judgment to be irresponsible, and exerted pressure on the Kyocera Union. At that time, their view was: "The managers and capitalists are always looking for all kinds of excuses not to raise wages, and the unions cannot give in, that is, they must strongly demand a wage increase and win when the enterprises are in difficulty." "Therefore, they were furious that the Kyocera union had accepted the operator's demand for a wage freeze and raised, and they put pressure on the Kyocera union.
The Kyocera Labor Union did not succumb to such pressure: "We want to work together to protect our company, and in such a difficult situation, it is reasonable for the president to ask for a freeze on wage increases."So we're willing to accept that if you think we're doing this nonsense, we can break away from the front alliance. ”
It is humiliating for a trade union with several thousand members to be separated from a higher group. A few percent of the union dues are paid to the higher groups, and if they secede, they lose their financial resources. Moreover, if this trend spreads to other trade unions, the higher groups themselves will lose their value in existence. Therefore, although the Kyocera Labor Union at that time was under great pressure, it was resolute and unwilling to give in, and resolutely withdrew from the frontline alliance. I am very grateful that they have made that decision for the business.
In July of the year in which the salary increase was frozen, a year and a half after the start of the oil crisis, the economy recovered and the company's performance steadily improved. At the time of the summer bonus that year, I added another month to the request made by the union, and paid each employee the equivalent of 3Bonus of 1 month's salary. The following year, in March 1976, I decided to pay another month's temporary bonus. At the same time, when I raised wages in 1976, I announced that I would add the frozen part of the previous year to the employees, giving employees a 22% raise.
In the meantime,In September 1975, Kyocera's share price reached 2,990 yen. Previously, Sony had the highest stock price among Japanese companies, but Kyocera surpassed Sony to become the company with the highest stock price in Japan. I think that's because we're working together with our employees to overcome the recession.
I can't stress it to you enoughWe must run the business with altruism. "Altruism" is the right heart. Always think about what is right as a human being. When making decisions, operators need to ask themselves:Do you have "the best motives and no selfish motives"?Isn't that what you should do as a human being?We should ask ourselves questions again and again, do not let them go, and make various decisions on the basis of this.
Thinking about problems and deciding to act in order to satisfy one's own selfish interests will definitely bring harm to employees, harm to society, and ultimately not to oneself. The operator wants to put it".The motive is the best, and the selfishness is nothing"As a criterion for judgment, it is necessary to run the business in this way.