British business has much to learn from Japan’s attitude towards L&D
Everyone working at MTR Crossrail knows that our work is firmly in the spotlight, as we prepare to open the new railway that will stretch more than 60 miles across London and carry an estimated 200 million passengers a year. We know we have to deliver, but to do so requires building a world-class organisation almost from scratch; MTR Crossrail will grow from 450 employees to about 1,200 workers when the line is fully operational in late 2019.
Yet, in general, the UK railway industry doesn’t currently deliver that world-class level of performance – which is one of the reasons I was invited to represent our company on the latest Japan Rail exchange programme.
Over 23 years, more than 100 managers from the UK rail industry have travelled to Japan to discover what makes Japan Rail a world-beating operation. I’ve only worked in rail for 18 months, so this was a huge opportunity for me to understand what is possible, and come back with recommendations.
There were many profound lessons to learn from Japan Rail’s attitude towards career development and investment in employees’ learning and development – and not just for rail companies, either. Everyone who joins the firm does so at a young age, and as a member of frontline staff – be that a driver, conductor or guard. Even if you have done a liberal arts degree and fancy a job in marketing or HR, you must still work on the frontline first.
That initially seemed a bit backwards – as if people were being made to do jobs they didn’t want to – but it means that everyone has a thorough understanding of the operational side of the business, and the struggles their colleagues go through. At MTR Crossrail, we’re looking at how we can bridge the gap between office-based staff and those on the frontline.
Employees’ attitudes towards L&D, and the company’s investment in learning, was particularly impressive. Japan Rail’s L&D takes three forms: on-the-job training, group education and self-development. With the first, there is a big emphasis on ensuring senior and more experienced employees transfer their skills to younger, newer staff. Employees’ skills and training are tracked – almost like a doctor’s record – so managers can decide what further education might be needed.
The company’s general education centre, where group learning takes place, was sensational. Students live onsite for two months with their tutors and mentors, benefiting from state-of-the-art classrooms as well as a gym and canteen. It is an environment that makes you feel inspired to learn. And it’s here that frontline staff in their mid-20s are taught technical and soft skills, and are shown that the future of the business rests with them.
Finally, I was really impressed by the firm’s culture of self-development. It’s not a case of employees being incentivised to do training with a gift voucher, but of fostering a culture where learning opportunities are a key driver to being better. Staff really buy into this concept; around 8,000 employees take courses in 30 areas each year. That sounds like a huge number, but if you accept that to deliver a world-class service you need world-class people – and therefore the best training – it suddenly doesn’t seem like a high number; it’s the minimum required.
People are at the core of making any organisation run successfully – perhaps all companies could benefit from an injection of Japanese flavour.