The Global Imperative for Japan-focused HR Professionals
With the launching of our first issue, we made history. And this is just the start. In this issue and our succeeding issues, The HR Agenda, as Japan’s first and only bilingual HR-focused magazine, will do its best to offer a very unique platform for Japan-focused HR professionals worldwide to share best practices, learn from each other, and contribute to JHRS’ mission in helping advance the practice of the HR profession in Japan.
To help achieve this mission, JHRS and The HR Agenda are proud to welcome our new Editor in Chief, Annette Karseras, who aims to help us make this publication a truly intercultural HR magazine. Fittingly, in this issue, we focus on a theme that we believe is the next logical step for Japan after rising from the devastation of the 3/11 earthquake: GLOBALIZATION. For us, this is no longer an option. It’s an imperative for Japan and her people to survive and thrive in the new global marketplace.
You will read articles contributed by both Japanese and non-Japanese authors on how Japan-focused HR professionals can help their organizations win on the global stage. Don’t miss reading our feature story “Transnational HR Management” and other columns included in this issue. They’re worth your time…GUARANTEED!
We are also pleased to become the Media Partner-of-choice for two international HR-related gatherings, namely, The 4th GOLD Symposium on Diversity & Inclusion on October 28, 2011 at the Tokyo American Club and the Offshoring, Outsourcing & Shared Services Summit Japan on November 10-11, 2011 at the Westin Tokyo Hotel. For more details about these events, please refer to their advertisements in this magazine. Free copies of this magazine will be given away to all event participants. We hope that by supporting these events, we can further help support Japan HR’s global imperative.
Kudos to the organizers and participants of the recently-concluded SHRM 2011 Annual Conference and Exposition held in Las Vegas from June 26-29, 2011. I had a very rare opportunity to represent the JHRS Community and became one of its session speakers where I discussed Japanese Management 101: Understanding the Japanese Way of People Management. It was a very well attended session with 90-95% of the 290-seating capacity filled. It made me realize that there is indeed an earnest interest from the global community to understand and demystify Japanese Human Resource Management (HRM) practices. My only regret is that my session was the only Japan-related session in the entire 3-day conference attended by 18,000+ delegates.
However, in my private meeting with SHRM representatives, they are keen on having more speakers from Japan in their next annual conference in Atlanta, Georgia where former US State Secretary, Condoleezza Rice, is expected to give the Key Note Address. I encourage all JHRS members as well as other Japan-focused HR pros to attend and represent Japan in the world’s largest gathering of HR professionals. I can assure you that it’s an experience worth having as an HR pro to help you become more global in the truest sense of the word. Email me (jun@jhrs.org) if you need guidance in applying as a session speaker or if you are interested in becoming a JHRS Delegate in this Conference. See you all in Atlanta in 2012!
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