What Is Hitozukuri?

This week we will have a look at another Japanese word that is often used in lean: hitozukuri. You may already know the similar word, monozukuri, to make things. Hitozukuri applies this to people. No worries, I won’t ask you to give birth, but rather tell you how to grow your people. Read on…

Introduction

In a previous post, Monozukuri – Japanese Work Ethics, I talked in detail about monozukuri, sometimes written as 物作り, but most often written as ものづくり. It literally means to make things. While many regular everyday Japanese words take on a bit of a mystical factor when used abroad (for example, Ikigai for finding happiness), monozukuri is actually used in Japan to convey a deeper meaning. Initially applied to craftsmanship, it is now also widely used in industrial production to convey a mindset, a spirit, a philosophy. The closest equivalent in English would be a manufactory instead of a factory, to convey a sense of craftsmanship even though it is industrial mass production.

Linguistics

Along this vein comes hitozukuri, written as 人づくり, or also as 人作り.  The first kanji, “hito” (人), means person, human being, mankind, people, or generally “somebody.”  The second part, “zukuri” (作り or づくり), is a verb that means making, producing, manufacturing, or building. Together they can be translated as human resources development, personnel training, or character building. And that is exactly what it is. End of blog post.

Digging Deeper into the Meaning

Okay, I will tell you more about it. Hitozukuri is indeed a spin-off of monozukuri, and the idea is to grow your people. This is generally a strong concept in Japan, where for many companies employees are hired for life. This is very different from the hire-and-fire that is common in the USA and is becoming more popular in the rest of the world (see my post This is NOT Lean: Lean Staffing). Indeed, at least in the traditional companies in Japan, an employee is usually hired right after school or university and then kept for life.

Before you are wondering how it is possible for all your employees to be permanent employess, of course it is not. There is also a lower caste of short-term and temporary employees used to fill the gaps, and these are hired and fired as needed. Sometimes it is a one-year contract that can be extended by another year and another, up to five years. By Japanese law, after five years they would have to become a permanent employee, but almost always they are let go before they achieve the desired permanent positions. Workers from staffing agencies are called Haken Shain (派遣社員), and fixed-term workers hired by the company directly for usually one-year cycles are called Keiyaku Shain (契約社員). Part type of work is often called arubaito (アルバイト) after the German word for work, arbeit. But all of those are hired and fired as needed. Just to let you know that Japan is not all flowers and rose-colored glasses either.

But assume you manage to move up in life and become a seishain (正社員), or regular, permanent employee (literally “true company employee”). Then you are usually hired for life. And, if you hire somebody for the rest of their career, then it makes sense to grow and develop them so they can be better employees and create more value for the company. Such training does also exist for temporary workers, but is significantly less.

Of course, there is on-the-job training. You learn the tasks that the company expects you to do. There is often a strong emphasis on practical, hands-on learning at the workplace. This includes mentoring, coaching, and a system where experienced employees teach and guide newer ones. Such learning is also often for the not-regular employees but the temporary ones.

In general, with a full-employee, the company is interested in lifelong learning, where learning and development are continuous processes that happen throughout a person’s life, not just in school or university. Many companies also support learning outside of a pure business sense. They may offer sports clubs or cultural clubs. When I was at Toyota, I joined the volleyball club, expecting to do well since I am taller than the average Japanese. Since then, I have learned that being tall on its own is not enough, and you also need some skills with the ball. Oh well. I had more success with the tea ceremony club, where I actually started to enjoy the tea ceremony ritual.

Overall, the company wants to do character development. Hitozukuri is not just about technical skills. It also emphasizes building a person’s character, including qualities like integrity, responsibility, teamwork, and a strong work ethic. Many Western companies, too, have mandatory ethics training. If you ever had one of those, you surely will agree that they are a joke, and serve only to check a box on some spreadsheet. Similarly, in Japan developing ethical behavior is also a challenge, albeit this is more commonly approached through role models.

In general, this people development goes for a holistic approach, and the company takes a holistic view of the individual, considering their personal growth alongside their professional development. The goal is to create well-rounded individuals who can contribute to both their company and society. Support of the community is also something important for many companies, and they support social projects and similar community building measures.

In the West, a company that calls itself a family is often a cliche, and at best an abusive family. Yet, in many Japanese companies, being part of the company-family is more than just hot air, and the companies truly care for their employees… but on the other hand also expect a lot from their employees. There is sometimes a bit of disagreement about the expectations of the rather traditional bosses (from the Showa era of emperor Hirohito, 1926–1989)  and the expectations of the more modern employees (from the Heisei era of emperor Akihito, 1989–2019).

Overall, hitozukuri is going in my view in the right direction (albeit of course not all companies do it thoroughly, or at all). In my next post I will look at another something… something… zukuri term that starts to become popular: kotozukuri, often translated as brand-storytelling, and focuses more on the customer. But now, go out, develop your people, and organize your industry!