The Story of How I Was Highly Appreciated When I Played a Sadistic Instructor During New Employee Training in My 10th Year as a Professional

Soft light pouring down from the sky, a spring day with a pleasant breeze.

April 1st is the entrance ceremony. To all new professionals, congratulations on joining the company.

What the entrance ceremony reminds me of is the new employee training at the company I worked for before going freelance. This was when I was around my 10th year as a professional. At the time, I was in the internal training department of the HR division.

After the entrance ceremony, I would spend about three weeks conducting training to teach new employees manners and reporting/communicating/consulting (Ho-Ren-So)—such as 'use your business card holder like a cushion when exchanging cards...' or 'report immediately if there is a problem instead of keeping it to yourself'—and to instill a professional mindset.

For about 250 new employees, about four employees were mainly in charge of the training, but there was one strange rule for the company's new employee training.

That was that one of the four had to play the role of a strict senior employee. Since it was a company with many craftsmen, there was data showing that the turnover rate was high when young people were assigned to workplaces with old-school, strict, middle-aged employees.

To build up a little immunity, without the new employees knowing, one person would play the role of a strict senior employee, and the other three would follow up. Of course, to a degree that wouldn't constitute power harassment.

The role was to be a senior employee who shows tough love, encouraging them to think and act for themselves as professionals. One year, a senior colleague at work was transferred, and that strict senior role fell to me.

I, who am usually kind (I'll say it myself, but if you ask whether I'm scary or kind, I'm definitely a kind senior), was honestly troubled.

What is tough love? When I was a new employee, there was a boss famous for being strict. When I answered a question from that boss, I was told, 'Don't talk back,' when I stayed silent, I was told, 'Don't stay silent,' and when I replied, I was told, 'Don't just say yes.' It was unbelievable unreasonableness. That surely wasn't it. There was no love there. That was just (I think) venting frustration. Surely what is important is the love and strictness like a lion pushing its child into a valley, and a way of interacting that doesn't leave mistakes ambiguous, but points them out firmly and makes them think about the intention themselves.

Anyway, I tried to look strict from the outside, wearing glasses, a tight suit, and heels to create the character of a sadistic senior. I even sealed away the smile that was said to be my trademark. After getting the seal of approval from my juniors saying, 'You've finished it so well that I'll forget the original Fujita-san!', I headed to the new employee training!

Even so, since I was doing something I wasn't used to, I welcomed the first day with a pounding heart, but...

'Oh? Maybe a strange talent has blossomed!'

Yes, it was fun. The strict sadistic senior employee (role). Pointing out minor mistakes in numbers and text, encouraging them to think ahead, and making them think about how that attitude looks from the customer's perspective—the sadist is just detailed and noisy.

But I put plenty of love into it. After pointing things out, I would properly convey the 'intention' and check if the 'intention' was understood. Every day, I faced them with the utmost care to convey reasons and grounds so that there was no unreasonableness there.

It seems I was able to play the scary senior image better than I thought, and when I heard from my boss that a new employee who was late for class couldn't enter the classroom and was trembling outside, I reflected that I had overdone the character acting, but I made it through the three weeks as the sadistic senior!

On the final day of new employee training, the new employees hold a party every year, and we are invited to it. I thought that since I had been so strict, I might not be called out to much at the party, but I was surrounded by new employees and received a lot of words of gratitude.

'Thank you for pointing things out before I was assigned.'
'I was depressed at first, but I developed an awareness as a professional.'
'The new employee training was tough, so I feel like I can make it anywhere.'

Seeing those new employees, I remembered what I thought at the time.

Maybe everyone wants to be treated a little strictly.

Maybe they wanted a trigger to say goodbye to their student selves, realizing they couldn't just be dependent anymore.

Of course, there is no need to strictly separate your private self from your professional self, and if you take that too far, you probably won't last as a working professional.

However, I feel that to get by in a Japanese company, you do need to adopt a unique atmosphere that is different from being a student.

I thought that perhaps my harsh feedback was just a way of putting a sticker on them that says, 'You have graduated from being a student to a working professional.'

You might encounter events that feel unreasonable right after joining the company.

Especially for those who have strong opinions of their own, I think it can be painful and make you want to quit.

But please consider it as having received that 'You are now a working professional' sticker and just wait and see for a little while. Once you get used to the environment, you should be able to see the important aspects of company and professional culture.

Once you see them, if you still think that culture is strange, then you can go ahead and change it.

(Also, if you are experiencing things that are clearly unreasonable, please make sure to consult with someone you trust around you.)

Your professional life has only just begun. I hope your future is filled with excitement and joy. I am rooting for you from afar.