NEWS LETTER

Jun 202４

Edit and Issue
HOKENDOHJIN- FRONTIER, Inc.
Human Frontier Counseling Center
4F Aoyama 1-Chome Tower, 1-3-3,
Minami-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo
107-0062, Japan
Tel: 03-6747-6250

Schedule a counseling appointment

０１２０－７８３－７４４
Office hours:(excluding holidays)
Monday through Friday１０：００～２０：００
Saturday
10：00～18：００
E-mail :sodan@humanfrontier.co.jp※We will reply to you within two business days
after receiving your message.

©2016, 2024 HOKENDOHJIN-FRONTIER Inc.

You can also schedule acounseling appointment
through the LINE app.
（＊Reservations only.
Counselings are not available on LINE.）

Do you share your honest thoughts with your colleagues atwork?
During the counseling sessions, our clients frequently tell us, such as “I don’t talkabout private matters at workplace”; “I talk only about work-related issues with mysuperiors”; or “I can talk honestly with my peers.” Such phenomenon is supported by“Quantitative Survey on Workplace Dialogue” conducted by Persol Research &Consulting (published on March 29, 2024).
The survey revealed that more than 50% of employees rarely express their genuine
thoughts and feelings during their interviews and meetings with their superiors. Given
that one-on-one meetings have become widely used, how many opportunities do you
get to speak out what you really think at your workplace? And I wonder how manymembers at your workplace actually feel safe to speak out their opinions frankly?
Here I would like to mention about the distinction between “dialogues” and“conversations”. A dialogue has a purpose to comprehend viewpoints and opinions ofparticipating members, as well as to reconcile differences that exist among them. On
the other hand, a conversation can be had without specific objectives or goals.
Furthermore, the survey result indicates that dialogues at workplace are perceived very
differently depending on the position in the workplace. According to the research result,while general employees do not feel quite comfortable to express their thoughts
honestly at their workplace, senior members such as division managers and executive
officers tend to believe that both their team members and themselves speak what they
are really thinking. Furthermore, when it comes to honest communication among
general employees, the most prevalent topics are complaints on their superiors andmanagement of the company.
The research shows that the more honest dialogues take place at workplace, thehigher level of job crafting, work engagement, personal performance, and overall work
satisfaction they tend to see, with fewer employees feeling unhappy at work. Does thissuggest that only those in higher positions such as division managers and executive
officers experience greater happiness at work?
As to the reasons why employees would hesitate to express their opinions honestly,
they fear the following six types of risks:

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(1) traitor risk: employees fear that they may be considered disloyal to theorganization; (2) proliferation risk: they fear that their opinion maybe spread beyond
their intention; (3) risk of low performance evaluation: they fear that speaking theirthoughts honestly may result in lower performance evaluation; (4) risk of overstepping
one’s boundary: they fear that they may be thought inappropriate in view of theirposition in the organization; (5) indifference risk: they fear that their opinions may not
be taken seriously; and (6) risk of undermining the relationship with the person they aretalking to.
As to the characteristics of those to whom they feel safe to talk honestly, the survey
participants cited the following as important factors: a listening attitude, an empathetic
attitude, fairness, objectivity, a supportive attitude, a constructive attitude, softmanners, a sense of humor, smile, and flexible ways of thinking. Interestingly,
environmental factors such as frequency of talking were found to be less important.
Why don’t you take a moment to reflect – are you speaking your feelings honestlywith your colleagues? If you think you do not have anybody to speak to, please visit theHuman Frontier Counseling Room. A counselor will be happy to listen to you.

Counselor’s Oasis
The rainy season has come, and you may feel depressed when you reflect at the end of a day “it rained all day, again” almost
every day. We also hear about the people suffering from physical changes due to the atmospheric pressure, known as“weather sickness.” How are you spending your time this season? When I go out on a rainy day, I always wear my favoriterain shoes. If it rains on my day off, I like going out with my favorite brightly-colored umbrella, which makes me feel a little
excited. I also enjoy listening to the new song “Zoo in the Rain” that was recently released in 0655, a TV program on NHK-E. I
believe in living a heartfelt way of life and cherishing the little excitements in everyday life.