PayPay shifted to a “new workstyle” last September, allowing “Work from Anywhere, at Anytime” (WFA). Nearly six months after its launch, a number of issues associated with this work style have become apparent, and for this reason, we have decided to start a new series of articles featuring WFA to offer insight into solving the challenges of working remotely by sharing some creative and specific practices our colleagues have adopted.
This time, we would like to introduce Hagiwara -san who moved from Hyogo to Osaka ,Wakayama,France. Here are some of the highlights and challenges of moving to Osaka, with photos provided by Hagiwara-san！ Read thePayPay’s HRBP team – Maximizing the Potential of Both Organization & People Article.
Yuichi Hagiwara
HRBP team
How long have you been living in Osaka?
It is from October 2020, one month after the introduction of the WFA system.
Why Osaka？
I feel that I made an emotional judgment at that time rather than rationally judgement. The largest reason is that I wanted to show my parents grandchildren as much as possible, and I wanted to raise my children freely. I’d like to say that, but to tell the truth, raising children was more difficult than I had imagined, so I felt like I asked my parents for support.
I really like the landscape of the area called Nakanoshima in Osaka, and there are lots of greenery parks and delicious rice restaurants, so I moved to Nakanoshima. My family walks along the river and goes to cafes everyday. Nakanoshima is a really comfortable area.
How is Remote work？
Organizations are doing trial and error in response to this dramatic change. As an example, the team introduced a progress management tool to give all members visibility into who is working on their goals and where they are in trouble.
This has created a supportive membership relationship. In addition, we continue to hold team building training for half a year. Under remote work, I hypothesized that there might be a culture of “refraining from certain communication (especially bad information)” and tried to make it a thorough discussion-type training.
Then, more than I imagined, various issues were proposed each time, and the bottleneck was resolved as a result of the training. Since it is not possible to meet face-to-face with the company as it was when working in the office, we introduced a tool that allows us to check the condition once every two weeks, and established a new health consultation desk inside and outside the company, and employees We are aiming for a system that allows people to exert their full potential for safety, security, and health even under remote work.
What you gained / lost from remote work
What I have acquired as an individual is the point of outside contact. I changed how to use the time of the day.
When I was in Tokyo, it took me two hours to commute to and from work, but now I can do new things such as attending an online school, gathering with friends to create apps, and participating in study sessions with other companies. I am able to increase my assets.
I haven’t lost anything in particular, but to put it bluntly, it’s a drinking party. Having been in team competitions for many years, it is worthwhile to achieve something with friends and share the sense of accomplishment. Therefore, it is lonely that I couldn’t go out for a drink at the end of overtime, get acquainted with people from other departments, and talk about everything from the dream of what I want to do with PayPay until the last train to the ridiculous private story. I can only talk seriously at a meeting.
【At the end】
How was WFA×Osaka’s life?
I got the impression that he is making good use of the WFA system to improve his work-life balance and advance his career.
If you want to know more about living in Osaka, Please ask Hagiwara san and use it as a reference for emigration?
Finally, do you have a message from Hagiwara san, who is leading the design and promotion of this WFA system?
【Message from Hagiwara san】
When someone other company hears WFA, it may sound like a magical system, but it’s actually a magic trick. There are only seeds and gimmicks. With a detonation velocity of only two weeks, the team carefully created seeds and gimmicks, inspiring the feeling that “God is in the details.” I think it is the game of the PayPayOne team how to make the most effect from here. It is not the end of the introduction of the system, but from here the system, organization and people will be updated repeatedly to make compound interest, create an environment where you can work anytime anywhere in the world, and I want to make it the best company in the world to enrich people all over the world.
Interview / Editing: Takashi
* The information given is as of the time of the interview.
* The content of this article is confidential.
