For the Manufacturing Industry | Why New Hires Don't Develop | The Reality of 'Unable to Teach' Workplaces Rather Than 'Unwilling to Teach' Ones

■ New hires don't develop

There is a phrase often heard on the shop floor.

"New hires don't develop"

・They don't remember even after being told multiple times
・They can't do it even though I taught them
・They repeat the same mistakes
・In the end, it's faster to do it myself

This is a common story in manufacturing settings.

However, it is better to pause here for a moment.

Is it really just the new hire's problem?

■ "I taught them" is a very vague term

People on the shop floor often say this:

"I taught them properly"

But when you break down what that actually means, it is often this:

・I explained it once
・I showed them while standing next to them
・I had them try it
・I told them to ask if they didn't understand

This is what is called "teaching."

However, from the new hire's perspective, it is different.

・I don't know what is important
・I don't know what I should be looking at
・I don't know where the line is for what is unacceptable
・I don't know when I should ask

In other words, they have received an explanation, but they are not in a state where they can make judgments.

This is the biggest factor.

■ What new hires can't do is not the task, but the judgment

There is often a misunderstanding in new hire training.

People think that if you teach them the task, they will develop.

However, what really makes a difference on the shop floor is not the work itself.

It is judgment.

・Can I use this?
・Is this defective?
・Should I proceed as is?
・Should I stop and check?
・How far can I make decisions on my own?

This is what they don't understand.

That is why new hires stop.

Or, they don't stop and just do it somehow.

And then they fail.

Then the workplace says this:

"Think and act."

But it is unreasonable to tell someone to think when you haven't given them the criteria for judgment.

■ "It's faster to do it myself" makes the workplace weaker

It's faster to do it myself.

This is a fact on the shop floor.

Especially when busy, it is faster to handle it yourself than to teach someone.

However, that is only true for today.

Instead of finishing early today, the same person will end up doing it tomorrow too.

And the same person will do it next month.

And the same person will do it next year.

As a result, the workplace ends up like this:

・Work gathers around those who can do it
・New hires don't develop
・There is even less time to teach
・Work becomes increasingly dependent on specific individuals
・The system collapses the moment a capable person leaves

In the short term, it is fast.

However, as an organization, it is the slowest.

■ The same thing was happening at my factory

My factory employs technical interns.

A few years ago, honestly, we were not utilizing them well.

Interns return to their home countries in a few years.

Therefore, I thought there was no point in putting effort into training them.

Thinking that way, I only assigned them simple tasks.

・Simple tasks
・Repetitive tasks
・Supportive work

Difficult tasks or work close to management is done by Japanese staff.

I thought that was natural.

However, when I actually observed them, it was a bit different.

There are individual differences.

But among them, there are people who can understand complex tasks.

If you teach them carefully, some can do more than we expected.

That is when I realized.

It is not that they cannot do it because they are foreigners.

It was just that we had not created a state where they could.

■ Why problems are easier to see with foreigners

Foreigners clearly expose the weaknesses of the workplace.

There are things that Japanese people understand intuitively.

・Reading the room
・Guessing from the context
・Watching others and adjusting accordingly
・Correcting for ambiguity in language

Therefore, the workplace somehow functions even if the standards are vague.

However, it does not work that way for foreigners.

・How far should I go?
・What is the correct state?
・Why am I doing this?
・What am I not allowed to do?

They cannot act unless these things are clear.

That is why discrepancies arise.

But that is not the fault of the foreigners.

They are simply seeing the ambiguity of the workplace.

■ Workplaces that cannot function with foreigners cannot function with new hires either

I believe this is the most important point.

Workplaces that do not function well with foreigners are essentially not functioning with Japanese new hires either.

It is just that in the case of Japanese people, it is being glossed over.

They speak the same language.

They read the room.

They conform to those around them because they do not want to be scolded.

Therefore, the problems are hard to see.

But the essence is the same.

・No standards
・No established way of teaching
・Vague scope of responsibility
・No system for verification

In this state, it is difficult for anyone to develop.

It is not the new hires' fault.

It is not the foreigners' fault either.

It is simply that the structure is not set up for development.

■ The environment develops people

The same thing happens with organization and tidiness.

It is sometimes said that foreigners do not organize or tidy up.

However, when looking at the workplace, that is not the case.

It is not that they do not follow the rules.

It is just that the environment is such that things function even without following the rules.

Storage locations are not defined.

No one is enforcing it thoroughly.

They are not warned even if they do not do it.

Japanese people are not following them either.

Once they enter that environment, both new hires and foreigners learn that state of affairs.

People do not develop according to what they are taught.

They develop according to the state that is permitted.

If you get this wrong, all training will be off-target.

■ Dividing work is not discrimination

At my factory, I have organized the tasks once.

Difficult tasks and management duties are handled by Japanese staff.

Foreign workers are assigned to simple or repetitive tasks.

This is how we divide the work.

This is not discrimination.

We are simply categorizing the nature of the work.

・Tasks requiring judgment
・Tasks with many exceptions
・Tasks directly linked to management

It is difficult to entrust these tasks from the start.

On the other hand,

・Tasks with established procedures
・Repetitive tasks
・Tasks with clear standards

These are easier to manage through systems.

Therefore, we first break down the work.

Instead of immediately adapting to the person, we categorize the difficulty of the work.

If you judge based on 'can do' or 'cannot do' without doing this, it ends up being treated as a personnel issue.

■ However, it is not just simple tasks forever

This is also important.

Just because they are foreign workers does not mean they only do simple tasks.

I do not intend to make such assumptions.

If they are someone who stays, we intend to have them involved in tasks directly linked to management and judgment.

What is important is not nationality.

It is whether they possess the criteria for judgment.

・Do they understand the standards?
・Is their judgment consistent?
・Is there reproducibility?
・Can they explain it to those around them?

If these are in place, you can delegate.

Conversely, even if they are Japanese, if they cannot do these things, you cannot delegate.

The criteria for delegation is not nationality.

It is whether or not they can make judgments.

■ Who grows through education?

I used to think that education was something that helped the person being taught grow.

But now, I think a little differently.

The one who truly grows through education is the one doing the teaching.

When you try to teach someone, you are forced to think.

Why is it in this order?
Where are the common pitfalls?
What should you look at to judge quality?
How much can you delegate?
How should you explain it so it is understood?

You think about these things.

As a result, work that you previously did by intuition gets broken down.

Vague criteria become articulated.

Judgments that only you understood become something that can be passed on to others.

In other words, education is not only an act of developing people, but also a process of organizing the workplace.

■ Work that cannot be taught is work that has become person-dependent.

There is a reason why work cannot be taught.

Only that person can do it.

They are judging based on their own intuition.

The criteria have not been put into words.

That is why they cannot teach.

And because they cannot teach, the same person ends up doing it again.

This is what personalization of tasks means.

Personalization of tasks does not mean having high technical skills.

It is a state where the criteria for judgment are not shared externally.

Teaching is also the process of making those judgment criteria explicit.

Therefore, workplaces that dismiss training as a hassle will never be able to escape the trap of task personalization.

■ Workplaces that stop at 'I prefer Japanese workers' will shrink

Every company, in their heart of hearts, wants to hire Japanese people.

That is understandable.

They speak the same language.

The culture is similar.

It is easier to train them.

If possible, Japanese workers are preferred.

However, what is the reality?

They cannot be recruited.

Even if they join, they do not stay.

Young people do not come.

Even if they come, they quit immediately.

If a workplace remains stuck on 'I prefer Japanese workers' without facing this reality, it will continue to shrink.

Work remains while there is a shortage of people.

Work piles up on those who are capable.

There is no longer any room for training.

As a result, even fewer people develop.

What lies ahead is a quiet decline.

■ Hiring foreign workers is not a special case

Whether or not to hire foreign workers.

Looking only at that, it seems like a special topic.

However, the essence is different.

This is a story about training new hires.

Furthermore, it is a story about how to build a workplace.

・Have you broken down the work?
・Have you verbalized the standards?
・Are the people who teach being developed?
・Are you moving toward a format that anyone can do?

This is what is being questioned.

It is not about whether or not to hire foreign workers.

Has the workplace become one where both foreigners and new hires can develop?

This is the essence.

■ Conclusion

The reason new hires don't develop is not a people problem.

You think you are teaching, but you are simply not providing the criteria for judgment.

It is not that foreign workers are incapable.

In ambiguous workplaces, it is simply easier to see the problems with foreign workers.

Education is not about developing people.

It is about the teaching side breaking down tasks, putting standards into words, and bringing them into a form that anyone can perform.

And in the end, this question remains.

Is it really the new employees' fault that they don't develop in the workplace?

Is it really the foreign workers' fault that the workplace cannot function with them?

In many cases, the answer is no.

It is not that people do not develop.

It is simply that the structure is not set up for them to develop.