Left: Theta Project Mentor, Naoki Ishihara Right: Human Resources Development Department, Arisa Matsui
Ishihara: During my previous position at Google’s Silicon Valley headquarters, I became acquainted with Professor Kojima, Director of the UTMD Center, who was a professor at Stanford University at the time. Just when I joined Sysmex, Dr. Kojima also returned to the University of Tokyo, and we talked about doing something interesting together which led to our joint research.
To introduce the matching algorithm, we first reviewed Sysmex’s recruitment flow for new graduates. Instead of dividing jobs into the two main categories: general career track positions with opportunities to assume managerial responsibilities versus operational positions limited to clerical duties we established contact points for each job type from the time of recruitment. In addition, during the initial training period after the employee enters the company, each department that is a candidate for the new employee’s assignment will give a presentation to introduce its department’s mission and job content. Next, the new graduate gives a presentation to showcase itself. After both sides complete their presentations, the new graduate ranks its preferred departments, along with each department also ranking the new graduates in its order of preference. This information is then entered into a matching algorithm to determine the department the new graduate will be assigned to.
In the first year the new decision process for job assignment was implemented (FY2021), the ratio of satisfaction among new graduates was 95%, and 71% for engagement score, up nearly five points compared to the previous year.
In addition, the ratio of new graduates who had no intention of transferring to another department also increased from 64.4% to 85.7% compared to the previous year.
We believe increased satisfaction in their job assignment is a result of the decision process becoming transparent, and that decisions are now made based on a system which enables new graduates and departments to decide where they will be assigned based on their wishes.
Meanwhile, the satisfaction rate of the departments accepting new graduates remained at around 70% in the first year, with some departments feeling disappointed over the limited number of new graduates expressing a desire to work with them. However, from the next year onward, departments started making an effort to convey their own allure. They began seeking ways to appeal their department enough to be chosen by new graduates, emphasizing the fulfillment in their work, the type of work new graduates will experience, and the skills they will acquire in the future. The new graduates also began to actively engage in the process, asking a series of specific questions after the departments’ presentations, imagining what it would be like to work there.
This has increased both parties’ satisfaction with assignments, and in FY2022, the three-year turnover rate for new graduates was 0%, while the company’s overall turnover rate was 2.7%. So, we were able to achieve our target of less than 3.0%. In follow-up interviews with new employees, we have seen firsthand how they are much more motivated to work than in the past.
Ishihara: Recently, I heard department heads saying they are now getting people with “passion.” I believe this passion is very important. It is said that a person’s performance can change by four-to-five times depending on the difference in passion. We will be conducting quantitative measurements in the future, but I was really happy to hear the word “passion” coming from the department.
Ishihara: We believe the job-specific recruitment and job matching have had a significant impact on Sysmex. There is a sense of accomplishment with some noticeable ripple effects. In the future, I would like to analyze the effects more precisely and apply the knowledge of economics, such as matching, to even larger themes. My dream is not limited to Sysmex as I hope to improve society as a whole.