How to scold employees in this age of power harassment

A couple of good points that came out of this article the first being never address the problem when you are angry. Never. If the problem arises on a Monday ask Shigeru if you can have a quiet word with him on Wednesday morning. Secondly, focus on the problem and not the person (although admitedly they are sometimes closely linked). Also it is important before the meeting takes place for the employer to ask hisself what does he want the outcome to be. If he just wants to give the employee a good bollicking then he should cancel the meeting. Remember that terrible train crash some years back. That driver had previously had arrived a minute or so late at stations and was merciffuly dressed down and humiliated. So afraid of he of having to repeat the process he went too fast to try to catch up lost time and the end result we know.

If he wants to resolve the problem he needs to have proposals to put to the employee to do so. And finally, and this can be particulary hard in the Japanese workplace enviroment, the employer must be prepared to listen to what the employee has to say as the problem may not be entirely the employees fault but caused by a number of factors.

Not to mention the old style of scolding is really called BULLYING. and, guess what, the "new" method works. Imagine that.

I've seen a few Japanese managers go Ballistic right in front of 50 people at a subordinate.... I knew this was the way that Japanese managers did such things so I was not too surprised. But it did interrupt overall focus and concentration for everybody around.

It may be a new "method" here, but these ideas have been around for generations. People work better when they understand the "why" of what they did wrong and typically work harder to improve themselves when they feel that they are a part of the solution.

"He has 10 people working under him, and no one has quit in a while." This maybe also because the economy is so bad there is not any option readily available. This is the case where I work, even if with paycuts almost every single employee is still working hard not to get fired because there are not other place to go to.

The idea seems wrong; scolding. Managers are suppose to council and coach, not berate and scold especially in front of others. Sounds like Japanese management is similar to the whipping and lashing of days gone by, just verbal. It's about time they moved into the 20th century now if they progress into the 21st. Good thing Japan doesn't still have a military. I can't imagine what the recruits would have to endure.

This whole "power harassment" could END TODAY if managers had a clear idea of what they wanted their subordinates to do. Instead of just giving vague instructions, then getting angry when things don't go your way, how about earning your salary as a boss and actually figuring out what you want?

That way, when the subordinate doesn't perform, there's not only clear evidence, but hopefully a policy in place on how to deal with employees that underperform.

But that would actually require that individuals actually take responsibility. In Japan, giving vague orders means always having an "out" so to speak, and always having the option of blaming somebody else.

You used to be able to hit them a few decades ago and they'd suck it up, learn and persevere. I miss those days...

What is this, nursery school? There shouldn't be a need to scold anyone at all.

Our manager used to grumble on, almost as if he was talking to himself, acting hard done by with our incompetence. I wouldn't put up with someone shouting at me, I'd just walk away and leave them to it.

There are three tricks, Machimoto discovered, to being a successful scolder in this altered climate. One: take a deep breath; hold your fire until the worst of your anger has passed. Two: focus on the mistake, not on the person making it. Three: erase from your manner any trace of elitism, condescension, superiority of rank. You are equals having a discussion, not a boss giving orders and a subordinate humbly receiving them.

If this is indeed the tack he's taking, the term "scolder" might morph into "leader".

If you have to shout and scream at a subordinate the problem is you, not them.

If the hiring is done properly and training is adequately provided, there should not be a need for scolding, shouting, berating or any kind of harassment or embarrassment. Being pro-active rather than reactive will help managers.

This whole "power harassment" could END TODAY if managers had a clear idea of what they wanted their subordinates to do. Instead of just giving vague instructions, then getting angry when things don't go your way

I've heard some tales of breathtaking incompetence by underlings, Gaijinfo, so I wouldn't put it all on the superiors.

Overall, I think the article uses a good example for explaining this topic.

I would also add though, that in some cases, a mistake or accident needs to be made public as a preventative measure for other employees to recognize so that the same mistake isn't repeated by others. But even in such a case, no names should be announced, and the logic behind the announcement should be explained to the person who made the mistake.

I also believe positive reinforcement is also important; people need to be told if they've done something exceptionally well. (there's a difference between praising someone for doing their job, and performing above the norm)

ka_chanApr. 04, 2013 - 09:08AM JST

Good thing Japan doesn't still have a military. I can't imagine what the recruits would have to endure.

I think military practices in any country/culture is sort of an exception from those of private businesses. Take 'Boot camp' as an example. Everybody is psychologically beaten down to the same level so that no one thinks they are more important than the other.

Not quite entirely true. Boot camp beats you down so they can build you back up into their vision of acceptable.

Of course, you might be on to something. They just did away with the CPO initiation for basically this reason.

This article starts from entirely the wrong premise, that "scolding" is necessary, and then how to go about it. It isn't.

My father, a great manager loved by everyone who ever worked with him, gave me some excellent advice. He said that a great manager:

1 - Always says please and is polite, ESPECIALLY to people who he doesn't need to say please to or be polite to. Speaking to the office dustbin cleaner? Be super-polite. Be nice to everyone. Spare the time to smile and ask about people's day. People will feel happier about approaching you with problems, and that way you can head off problems BEFORE they happen, rather than fighting fires AFTER there's a problem that you didn't hear about until it was too late.

2 - Never, ever, raise your voice. It simply isn't necessary. Saying the words, "I'm sorry, this isn't good enough.", in a sad and disappointed, soft tone of voice has a hundred times more impact than yelling at someone. It also motivates people to improve their performance since they feel you know they could do better. Yelling just makes them angry and they feel justified the next time they hand in sub-standard work as their way of "getting back" at you.

3 - Don't get angry, simply explain, calmly, that the work is not to the standard that you expected, and ask them to go away and plan how to improve it. This shifts the burden of thinking about how to improve the standard from you to the employee. I was surprised by how many times people went away and came back with something that exceeded all my expectations, and sometimes they came up with great ideas that made things better and easier for everyone.

4 - Remember that, when you really look into a problem, it is rare that one person is the problem. Most problems are systemic. It is unfair and counter-productive to blame or yell at the person at the end of a chain of bad work simply because they're the person who was at the end. Don't encourage passing the buck, but do allow for the possibility that the person in front of you isn't to blame.

The art of management isn't about yelling at people or doing everything yourself. It is about creating a workspace where people can do their work. A manager is a facilitator, not a policeman or a bully. A great manager is someone who spends 90% fo their time making sure that everyone has what they need to do their job. A bad manager spends 90% of their time trying to make people work harder by bullying and harassing without realising that people simply can't do their job properly because they lack resources or cooperation.

They don’t grit their teeth, dig in their heels and resolve to do better in future. They sulk, or file complaints, or quit.

Welcome to western ideals. Too many people whining about 'human rights' rather than knuckling down and trying to do better. Japan is going soft like western cultures.

there was an article in the last week or so about how Japanese management is "winning" compared to wester styles.. funny how they didn't mention anything about J-Bosses screaming at employees or embarassing them in front of co-workers

Its a different age now, people don't respond to being yelled at anymore - and really, who likes getting yelled at? this isn't the 1950's anymore..

Good advice in the article, and from Frungy's father.

The only thing I would add is documentation. When possible, physically present the employee with printed email or sales figures or a letter of complaint from a customer detailing specific problems. The employee and you can then focus on the problem together, rather than on possible hostilities toward each other.

You used to be able to hit them a few decades ago and they'd suck it up, learn and persevere. I miss those days...

If anyone did that with me, I would either submit a possible law suit for battery, or take it out myself can call it self defense, even if it was a slap.

Interesting article and generally quite supportive. So far though, no-one&s thought of asking what went wrong. If you don't know why your people make a mistake, you can't help hem fix it.

They should start by making all the baseball club senpais read this article.

Just explain it matter-of-factly. "This doesn't go here, it goes her", "do this and there will be no problems in future" etc.

It's not so easy when it's the 20th time, with the same employee.