How did Fujitsu Transformation (Fujitra) get started?

Hello, I'm Ogawa from the Fujitra Expedition Team, and I'll be in charge of this article.
This might be sudden, but if your CEO suddenly said,“Our company is going to transform from now on!”how would you feel?
“How are we going to change?”
“Even if they say ‘transformation,’ won't things just stay the same?”
To be honest, as someone who was in the sales department at the time, I was one of the people who thought exactly that.

In this second installment of our series, while many employees were in that state of mind, I would like to share how Fujitsu's company-wide transformation project, “Fujitra,”was launched and progressed. I would like to share the answers to the three questionsI am often asked when introducing Fujitra's activities to our customers, including some behind-the-scenes stories.

1. What did Fujitra start with?

One of the questions I am often asked is, “What did Fujitra start with?” The answer to this is, “Before deciding what to do, Fujitra first started by involving people and building a structure.” Of course, it is difficult to gain the empathy of employees without knowing the specific measures and activities, but Fukuda, who was then serving as assistant to the CDXO under Tokita (who serves as CDXO), personally visited each department to talk about his own passion for DX and convey his enthusiasm,calling for participation in the project.

In this way, the following structure was created, with the CEO/CDXO, COO, and CFO joining the steering committee members. Under the leadership of management, the project started with “DX Officers (hereinafter DXO),” who are DX leaders appointed in each organization, and “DX Designers (hereinafter DXD),” who create mechanisms for realizing company-wide transformation.

By the way, the original job titles of the DX Designers were sales or SE, and they were not designers by profession. Although there was some confusion at first, it seems that this title itself was imbued with the determination that “we will see this through.”

Since it was an initiative that started top-down, the structure building itself proceeded relatively smoothly, but it seems that they struggled the most at first with thinking about “what to do in the first place?”

Until now at Fujitsu, the style of having a designated person in charge create a plan and having someone in a high position review it was mainstream. However, in Fujitra, we changed from the previous one-way information dissemination and review sessions to a place where all DXOs could share opinions and ideas, and we decided “what to do in the first place.” By repeating honest discussions, the direction gradually aligned, and we began to feel convinced about what we were doing, saying things like, “If we can do this, the company will certainly get better.”

2. How did Fujitra expand?

I am also often asked, “How did you spread the activities company-wide?”
The truth is that there was no magic wand, and it took time to involve all employees through steady, step-by-step activities that mixed digital and analog.
One of the key points of Fujitra is “The field is the protagonist, everyone participates,” but it took more than a year to create a place where everyone could participate and for those to be actively utilized.

The trigger for this was FUJITRA10, a representative mechanism created for everyone to participate. This is a system that allows employees to participate in Fujitra activities (= activities that lead to autonomous individual growth, experience, and future growth) for up to 10% of their working hours. At Fujitsu, many employees work while managing man-hours for each project and task, and there were hurdles to participating in work other than their own department or their own main job. Therefore, by creating a company-wide common order system, we created an environment where any employee could actively participate in the activities. Since starting in April 2021,
a total of over 12,000 people have utilized it, which is helping to promote autonomous activities by employees and foster a transformation mindset.

Another key point, “management leadership,” was embodied by “TOP FIRST,” which also contributed significantly to the expansion of Fujitra's activities. It is an initiative where the management team takes the lead in practicing major measures and deploying them company-wide. By top management showing their own backs and talking about the necessity of the measures based on their own experiences, the employees' sense of conviction also increased.

I also think it was good that Fujitra's activities were carried out with 3 months as one cycle. Because the deadline was set, we were able to constantly take on challenges. In each cycle, DXOs and DXDs accumulated small success experiences, which became the driving force for project promotion.

3. Wasn't there any backlash?

Of course there was. Especially common were voices like “I'm too busy with work to have time for new things,” “Only things to do are increasing,” and “Is there any meaning in doing this?”
Including such voices of backlash, we listened to the voices of various employees and proceeded with activities while involving many employees. To that end, we introduced the “VOICE Program.”

This is a system that collects the voices of customers and employees on a digital platform, analyzes them with AI, and reflects them in management measures.
Fujitsu announced the concept of a new work-style reform in the new normal era, “Work Life Shift,” in July 2020, and the VOICE Program was also utilized in the formulation of this measure. In thinking about new ways of working, we believed it was essential to first listen to the “voices” of employees, so we conducted a survey targeting all employees of the Fujitsu Group. We analyzed the approximately 37,000 responses obtained and reflected them in the content of the measures and the priority of execution. VOICE Program collected many “voices” of employees, which became a force to accelerate decision-making and promote behavioral change, and while incorporating the voices of so many employees, we realized the formulation of measures in just 2.5 months. In addition, there is an initiative called “Discovery Gift for IT Survey,” which periodically conducts surveys on the use of in-house IT and reflects them in future IT strategies and the selection of investment areas, aiming to realize IT services that support employees who are active in the field. By showing actions step by step, it has led not only to simple tool and system improvements but also to the improvement of employee experience.

By actively incorporating the latest technologies and methods, such as business streamlining, automation using RPA, and the use of generative AI services, opportunities to think about whether we can touch, experience, and further advance “DX” are increasing.
Fujitra is still halfway there. As there are voices saying, “Since my boss participated in a Fujitra event, what they say has changed (in a good way),” the accumulation of positive actions by each individual leads to the transformation of the entire company.

Well, what did you think of the top 3 questions that people outside the company often ask? Did you deepen your understanding of the trajectory of Fujitsu's transformation? The expedition team would like to continue to get closer to the core of Fujitsu's transformation. Please look forward to it.

[Fujitra Expedition Team Member for this issue]
Nanami Ogawa
Supports the IT and DX initiatives of financial institutions as a business producer. Participated in the Fujitra Office, the department driving company-wide transformation, for six months through "JOB Challenge," an internal internship program open to any employee. Currently, she is striving daily to enhance value for client companies based on that experience.

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*This was added on December 11, 2024.