Asana releases “Where We Are in Work Style Transformation: Japan 2024”
*View in browser* *Asana Japan Co., Ltd.*
Press release: May 15, 2024
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Asana releases “Where We Are in Work Style Transformation: Japan 2024” *Survey of 2,000 Japanese businesspeople reveals the difficulty of innovation* Asana, Inc., a leading work management platform company in the United States. Asana (hereinafter referred to as Asana)’s Japanese subsidiary, Asana Japan Co., Ltd., today released a report titled “Current status of work style reform:
Japan 2024” We will announce. While the report rates Japan as an innovative country, only 18% of respondents say their companies are innovative, highlighting the difficulty of innovation.
The survey was conducted by Asana’s Work Innovation Lab.
The report asks: What does it take for an organization to be innovative? The purpose is to clarify. Japan’s rich history of innovation has long positioned it as a global leader in technological and business advancement. Both Japanese and American workers view Japan as a highly innovative country, ranking it the second most innovative country in the world after the United States.
■Innovative organizations are still few in number
Only 18% of respondents think their company is very innovative, and nearly half (44%) think their company is either somewhat innovative or not at all innovative.
Additionally, only 32% said their organization is open to innovative ideas. Additionally, 25% say their organization is completely closed to innovative ideas.
On the other hand, executives were 52% more likely than average employees to say their company was open to innovative ideas, highlighting a disconnect within their organizations regarding innovation.
■To promote innovation
At Asana, we analyzed thousands of companies to understand the characteristics of organizations that enable innovation. There are four important drivers for promoting innovation: “Capacity,” “Connection,” “Resilience,” and “Velocity.”This survey examines Japan’s strengths, Weaknesses were also revealed.
■Capacity: Factors that inhibit productivity
– * Excessive meetings: *
Employees spend approximately eight hours each week in unproductive meetings. Executives spend nearly 11 hours every week. Time is not the only issue. 95% of respondents feel afraid or anxious about attending meetings. This result is significantly higher than the 69% in the United States, and it appears that excessive meetings, which can be considered unproductive, are one of the factors that inhibit the promotion of innovation.
– * Too fragmented collaboration tools: *
Japanese workers are exhausted by the ever-increasing number of digital tools and their fragmentation. On average, people spend about six hours each week searching through these disconnected tools for the information they need to do their jobs. Executives are particularly affected, spending eight hours each week searching for the information they need, significantly more than managers’ seven hours (compared to five hours for regular employees).
– *Digital fatigue:*
66% of respondents said they needed a “digital detox” at least once in the past six months. That could mean turning off notifications, taking a break, or restarting your device to clear your head. ■Connection: How well are employees working together?
Connections are the second key element of innovation. Innovation is a team sport, and employees must come together to resolve conflicts and move work forward. Japan’s deeply collectivist culture makes connections even more important, with 65% of Japanese workers saying group harmony is as important or more important than personal gain. ■Resilience: How stable is the organization when individuals leave? Japan’s work culture, known for its emphasis on lifetime employment and strong loyalty between employers and employees, appears to be undergoing a transformation, according to research.
– *Loyalty becomes less important:*
Only about 39% of respondents currently view loyalty as an important factor for employee performance. This suggests that old-fashioned loyalty-based approaches may no longer be effective in retaining talent, and new strategies for retaining employees must be explored.
* “In Japanese corporate culture, lifetime employment has long supported strong corporate loyalty and organizational resilience. research suggests that employee loyalty and retention have been changing in recent years. Today’s Japanese employees are no longer staying with a company simply out of custom or a sense of obligation, but are increasingly focused on finding meaning in their work. To that end, they want important, cross-functional work that allows them to contribute to overall company goals, without the hassle of
unproductive meetings or inefficient, disconnected collaboration tools. ”(Asana
Work Innovation Lab Representative, Dr. Rebecca Hinds)*
– * Job satisfaction: *
68% of respondents believe that when individual and team work is aligned with employee motivation, it leads to better performance and productivity.
– * Relevance of my work to the organization’s goals: *
Sixty-three percent of executives say they understand how their work ties into organizational goals, compared to only 55% of managers and 41% of employees. It is clear that many employees do not understand the connection between their work and organizational goals. It is recommended to ensure that employees understand how their work is connected to the organization’s goals.
■Velocity: How quickly is work being done?
The final important element of innovation is velocity. The most effective way to increase organizational velocity is to bridge the silos that prevent cross-functional collaboration. Although AI has the potential to significantly improve velocity within organizations, the survey revealed that Japan’s use of AI is limited.
– * Low AI utilization rate: *
69% of respondents have not yet incorporated generative AI into their daily workflow. Among companies that have introduced it, the adoption rate is the highest among executives at 37%, followed by managers at 27%, and general employees at 18%, but adoption rates vary.
– * Lack of AI learning opportunities: * 54% of respondents say they don’t know where to learn how to use generative AI tools. – * Lack of guidelines: *
21% of respondents said their organization has a clearly defined policy on how employees should use AI. The lack of clear policies is especially evident among rank-and-file employees, with only 17% saying their organizations have policies in place.
Innovation for the future
Japan, which has been at the cutting edge of complex digital technology, is now at a critical crossroads in innovation. For Japan, which is known worldwide for its advanced technology and business, the current challenge is to
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It’s not just about maintaining a reputation for being the most innovative. In this digital age, we need to redefine what “innovation” means. The path Japan chooses will not only shape its future, but also potentially redefine the global framework for innovation in the next generation.
In order for Japan to become more innovative, Asana will continue to expand AI capabilities and incorporate intelligence capabilities into its platform.
* – Survey overview – *
1) Survey name: Current status of work style reform: Japan in 2024 2) Survey target: 2,044 business people aged 18 to 65 years old 3) Survey area: Japan
4) Survey period: March 22nd to March 27th, 2024
5) Survey method: Web survey
6) Breakdown of respondents
Executive 260 people
Managers: 512 people
General employees: 1,272 people
You can download Asana “Where We Are in Work Style Transformation: Japan 2024” from this link:
https://asana.com/ja/resources/ja-state-of-work
About Asana
Asana is the #1 AI work management platform. More than 150,000 customers, including Amazon, Accenture, Fujitsu, and Suzuki, use Asana to manage and automate everything from goal setting and tracking to capacity planning and product launches. For more information Please visit asana.com
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