Pasona N A, Inc.

“I decided to join the company thinking that being able to meet with clients who worked in a wide variety of fields might help me grow. I’ve worked in finance in the past as well as in sales. What attracted me to this position was the opportunity to help Japanese companies succeed in the U.S. along with the opportunity to broaden my international experience by working with a global company like Pasona. It’s exciting for me to meet with clients and hear directly from them about their needs so I can try to find solutions for them. Working as a partner with our clients who are building their businesses here in the US, I’m able to provide solutions and make contributions to the development of Japanese business success in North America. As the world changes, the needs of our clients grow more diverse. It’s not enough for us to try to meet those needs as a vendor. We need to work hand in hand with our clients to help them understand the issues they are facing, then work together to find solutions. Sometimes we start out just providing payroll process outsourcing. However, as we continue to support them, they often find they need our expertise in filling temp and permanent position or other services. Ideally, we become a point of total support for our clients. We try to anticipate what needs they will have in the future so we can proactively recommend solutions or preventative measures. We believe this is the definition of being a partner. As clients grow to trust us, we are able to provide advice or recommend experts to help them to achieve the success they are seeking. It’s so rewarding for me to be able to serve my clients from a variety of fields, meeting with HR Mangers, Presidents and other leaders. I feel like working hard to help my clients grow leads to my own personal growth, the growth of Pasona N A, Inc and the growth of the Japanese business community here in North America. I’m able to take part in a wide variety of work I wouldn’t be able to experience at other companies. I feel like each experience benefits me personally. Since I started working here time has really flown by. I’ve had to learn to respond to my client’s situations with the urgency that they feel. Every year that I’ve been here I’ve been given new roles with increased responsibilities which keeps me completely absorbed in the work. The positive work environment allows me to develop new skills and do things I could never have done before. The needs of our clients are constantly changing, which means the solutions we need to provide are also changing. To keep up with these changes we are always making adjustments internally. This requires a high level of creativity and innovation, which I find very exciting. I’ve been involved in many cross-division projects which allowed me to learn about the functions of other areas of the company. Pasona employees are encouraged to proactively make contributions to the development and continuous improvement to not only their own departments, but the company as a whole. So, as the manager of the northeast area of the US, I’m supporting the team that covers that area, but I also contribute directly to the direction of the entire company. Being allowed to move forward with my own ability is what I find appealing about Pasona. It’s an incredibly fun work environment for people who work with initiative. Many projects get started because employees have a critical mind, a need to improve or start something new, a desire to turn an idea into a plan and take the initiative to share that plan. Pasona has created an environment where employees feel motivated, not just to complete the tasks they’ve been given, but to grow and achieve their own potential. This environment is created by the support managers give for new ideas, and because coworkers have an attitude of collaboration. *This interview was done in March, 2020. The employee’s affiliation and position are as they were at the time of the interview.”

“What interested me in a career in recruiting was a desire to give back to those who had supported me when I was a student. When I studied abroad in the U.S. for a year as a student, there were many Japanese people who helped me get by and make my way in that new, unfamiliar environment. When I was thinking about looking for work after graduating college, I had this vague idea that I wanted to do something that would give back to the people who had helped me, which led me to being introduced to recruiting by someone at Pasona (NA). Being able to make use of my bilingual ability in Japanese and English and being able to directly help people are what drew me to this job, so I started working. At the time, I had a lot to learn, both about being a recruiter and about the world in general. After that, I was able to return to Japan and experience working at the Pasona Global Department. There, I was put in charge of providing support for people who wanted to work abroad and were experiencing the same thing I did, as well as for foreign individuals who wanted to work in Japan. I had worked with foreign coworkers, was able to learn about diversity through working with people from different countries and cultures and I realized the importance of thinking from someone else’s perspective. Following that, after working for another personnel service company, I returned to the U.S. and once again joined Pasona N A, Inc. One of the main reasons I decided to rejoin was that the company’s policies and way of thinking had changed greatly from when I had worked there in 2013. Even over this last year, there have been changes and improvements to the system to allow employees to easily work at Pasona for a long time. I believe that I thought that working at this changed Pasona would give me an opportunity to make use of my experience and raise my abilities even further. Finding employment is one of the major turning points in the lives of most people. Finding employment or changing professions is a means towards accomplishing a goal for many job seekers, and I want to support them in that pursuit. At the Staffing Department I belong to, we work to bring people who want to work and companies together. We understand the strengths and specializations of those people who want to work and introduce them to suitable jobs. On the other hand, for our clients, we offer a search for suitable personnel that is based in an understanding of that client’s business goals, and what they need in terms of ability and specialized knowledge. Employment effects business in a variety of ways and it’s necessary to be up-to-speed on how things are moving in the world. As a recruiter, there are many opportunities to speak not just with job seekers, but also clients, which offers opportunities to learn a lot about the employment marketplace and business in the U.S. To people, finding employment and changing professions is one of the major turning points in their life. While I feel a burden of responsibility for each business, those times when I’m able to help a client who has been having trouble finding personnel, or when I’m thanked by someone who was finally able to change their profession, are the times when I feel a real sense of purpose in this work. Particularly in the U.S., there are many regulations, rules and risk hedging measures, as well as many times when difficult situations must be overcome. I feel really happy when I’m able to bring clients and job seekers together, and when they show their appreciation and thank me. I work with clients and job seekers with the notion I’m aiming at offering support that allows them to find employment or change professions as a means towards accomplishing a goal. The culture at Pasona N A is one that allows me to attempt anything without being held back by my division or title. I enjoy helping out my coworkers and I feel like I can really use all of the knowledge and experience I’ve accumulated until now. While we all have core work related to our individual positions, all employees meet with customers as Pasona employees. That’s why, when thinking about how we approach things, we aren’t simply focused on how we feel as individuals or the division we belong to, but we look at the company as a whole, identify what issues we’re currently facing and think about what we can do to improve things. So, more than just focusing on performance in my own field, I enjoy helping my coworkers and aim at making contributions to the company as a whole, and contributions to even more clients and job seekers. Additionally, if you speak up about something that’s important to the company, something that can benefit clients or your division, the environment in Pasona is one where you will be allowed to put that into practice. While there are times when I run into obstacles, I’m able to engage in activities where I am really able to make use of my knowledge and experience to make new things, leading to better solutions. This is something that we are encouraged to do in order to accommodate the everchanging needs of our clients. I think this environment is well suited to people who aren’t satisfied with the status quo and are always looking to improve. *This interview was done in March, 2020. The employee’s affiliation and position are as they were at the time of the interview.”