Dialogue 03

Dialogue 03
Healthcare Management Based on Data Analysis

Healthcare Management
Based on Data Analysis
We spoke with Dr. Yuji Yamamoto, who is responsible for analyzing employee
health data, about how to illustrate the link between health and performance at
MARUI GROUP as well as the concept of proactive healthcare management.

Yuji Yamamoto

Reiko Kojima

PhysicianRepresentative Director,
MinaCare Co., Ltd.
Advisory Board Member,
MARUI GROUP CO., LTD.

MDGeneral Manager,
Health Management Division
Company Physician
MARUI GROUP CO., LTD.

Employees feeling happier and more­energized will make MARUI GROUP
a stronger company.
Reiko Kojima

Healthcare management contains
the word “health” because health isindeed a management issue.
Yuji Yamamoto

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Dialogue 03

Dialogue 03

Healthcare Management Based on Data Analysis

Healthcare Management Based on Data Analysis

Sustainable Growth Augmented by Sound
Physical and Mental Health     Yamamoto: Healthcare management is an important but
not entirely new concept. The reason this concept is garnering so much attention now is due in part to the nationwide discussion on how best to improve productivity,
which has involved such developments as the promotionof workstyle reforms. People have thus once again cometo recognize healthcare management as a major conceptthat relates to this issue. In terms of frameworks, we havejust recently collected the data necessary for verifying andtracking the benefits of healthcare management. Anotherimportant development is how companies have come torecognize that a medium-to-long-term perspective ishealthier than becoming preoccupied with short-term
gains and that it is important for a diverse range ofemployees to be able to work in good physical and mental
health. In other words, the current era is one in which theobvious must be acknowledged as such.
Kojima: The healthcare management activities of companies are generally aimed at preventing illness. However,I feel that the ability for a company to grow sustainably
can be augmented by going a step further to ensure that
employees are in good physical and mental health. TheWorld Health Organization states that “Health is a state ofcomplete physical, mental and social well-being and not
merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” This viewcoincides with that of MARUI GROUP.
Yamamoto: Recently, I found myself in a discussion about
the role of e-commerce sites and healthcare management
in an aging society. There were conflicting opinions about
e-commerce sites. Some praised their ability to give seniorcitizens unable to leave their homes access to shopping
venues, while others pointed out how such sites will
reduce the need for seniors to move, accelerating their
physical decline. No conclusive answer has been reached
to resolve this dilemma. This type of conflict is one aspectof healthcare management. As the population of Japan
continues to age, companies will need to consider thehealth-related approach that management will adopt
toward senior customers and society.
Kojima: MARUI GROUP’s corporate philosophy states that
we should “continue evolving to better aid our customers”
and “equate the development of our people with thedevelopment of our company.” Based on this philosophy,
we are practicing co-creation management in which weaim to co-create the happiness of customers together withall of our stakeholders. However, we cannot hope to contribute to customer happiness if our employees are nothappy and energized. For this reason, we conduct healthcare management by coordinating the preventive measures advanced by the Group’s health insurance unionwith the proactive healthcare measures of the HealthManagement Division.
Yamamoto: It is only recently that the term “healthcaremanagement” came to be used inside the Company.
However, MARUI GROUP has been implementing policies
and initiatives that are congruent with the concept ofhealthcare management for so long that employees wereprobably unaware of them. At least, this is how I see itfrom my outside perspective. I first began to hold this view
when I looked at the initiatives of the Group’s health insurance union, with which I have had relations since 2011,
and this view was reinforced by my conversations with theCompany’s management and with yourself, Dr. Kojima.

Relationship between Health and Performanceas Illustrated through Data     
Kojima: MARUI GROUP has been analyzing health examination data for its roughly 6,000 employees since 2014,
allowing us to see the relationship between lifestyle patterns and attitudes toward work. On questionnaires, we
had around 2,800 employees respond “I am careful
about the quantity and the types of food I eat,” while

The concept of healthcare management
seeks to redefine medical expenses asfuel for strategies or as investments.
Yuji Yamamoto

about 1,400 employees answered the opposite. We­performed a cross-analysis comparing this data with data
regarding attitude toward work, which was scored out of
100 points based on items including outlook toward­adversity and the ability to utilize talents to tackle newchallenges. There was an overall difference of approximately 10 points between employees careful about theirdiet and those that are not (see Analysis Result 1). Similarly,
the “I get sufficient sleep” item was linked to an even moresignificant difference of approximately 15 points in attitude

toward work (see Analysis Result 2). These results haveremained consistent for the past three years.
Yamamoto: Even if a company had collected health examination data, no other company would have thought ofusing it in such a manner. This is the norm, and it just goesto show how high above the norm MARUI GROUP is. I
think that the Company has always held this commitment
to health, but was only just recently able to give it form.
Kojima: The types of health data generally disclosed bycompanies include the rates of smokers and of employees

Analysis Result 1

Analysis Result 2

The 2,852 employees that responded “I am careful about thequantity and the types of food I eat” showed a more optimistic
attitude toward their work and better workplace communication incomparison to the 1,401 employees stating that they are not careful.

The 1,424 employees that responded “I get sufficient sleep” showeda more optimistic attitude toward their work and better workplacecommunication in comparison to the 2,798 employees stating thatthey do not get sufficient sleep.

Careful
2,852 employees
Not careful 1,401 employees
I utilize my strengths and individual talents
to tackle new challenges.

Get sufficient sleep
1,424 employees
Do not get sufficient sleep 2,798 employees
I utilize my strengths and individual talents
to tackle new challenges.
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There is someone at work
I can consult with.

I understand what isexpected of me at work.

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70

Yuji Yamamoto
PhysicianRepresentative Director,MinaCare Co., Ltd.
Advisory Board Member,
MARUI GROUP CO., LTD.

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Dr. Yuji Yamamoto graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Tokyo in 1999, after which
he worked in cardiovascular medicine and other departments. In 2007, he became the first Japanesephysician to receive a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School. Dr. Yamamoto iscertified by The Japanese Society of Internal Medicine and the Japan Medical Association. To date, he hasserved as a fellow at the Japan Science and Technology Agency; Capital Medica Co., Ltd.; the Cabinet
Secretariat’s Medical Innovation Promotion Office; and the Center for Clinical Research at Keio University
School of Medicine. Today, Dr. Yamamoto acts as a researcher at Sony Computer Science Laboratories, Inc.
In 2014, he received an award in The Entrepreneur Awards Japan program. He is a medical 2035 advisor
to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and also holds his namesake Yuji Yamamoto Seminars.
www.minacare.co.jp (Japanese only)

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There is someone at work
I can consult with.

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78

60
64647674

I feel as though I am respectedin the workplace.

I understand what isexpected of me at work.

6076

I take an optimistic outlook
toward adversity.

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I feel as though I am respectedin the workplace.

I take an optimistic outlook
toward adversity.

Note: Based on health examination data from the fiscal year ended March 31, 201767

Dialogue 03

Dialogue 03

Healthcare Management Based on Data Analysis

Healthcare Management Based on Data Analysis

We aim to energize society and cultivate
happiness through the health ofemployees. We are thoroughlycommitted to building such a company
while leveraging everyone’s strength.
Reiko Kojima

with obesity. When we thought about how such data
would be received by employees, we realized that thisdata would be insufficient in drawing a clear link between
health and work. It is vital that we be able to illustrate howhealth can affect work performance. It was for this reason
that we sought to use your specialties in analyzing healthdata to clarify the link between health and performance.
These analyses found that employees getting sufficient
sleep and rest demonstrated high levels of performance inthe following year that were statistically significant. This
correlation was even apparent when controlling for factorssuch as age, rank, and gender. Moreover, employees thatexercising twice or more a week for over a year also showed
improvements in performance in the following year.
Yamamoto: Data illustrating the link between sleep andexercise and performance will also likely display a link to
the Company’s overall performance. As such, this data isimportant to both employees and the Company, whichshould also make it clear to customers and investors why
MARUI GROUP practices healthcare management.
What I would like to emphasize here is that healthcare
management contains the word “health” because healthis indeed a management issue. In the past, medicalexpenses have been seen primarily as a source of costs.
The concept of healthcare management seeks to redefine
medical expenses as fuel for strategies or as investments.
Tracking changes in health examination data over theyears will allow you to predict the “costs” that mightarise from health risks or the loss of an opportunity togenerate revenue.

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Frameworks Promoting Autonomous Thought
and Action     
Kojima: In 2016, MARUI GROUP created a new section
on healthcare promotion in its labor agreements, whichconstitute the highest level regulation within theCompany. This section clearly identifies the healthcare
management obligations of the Company and employees, enabling us to deploy systematic initiatives. In addition, we established the Healthcare Management Project
Team in November 2016, an official, Groupwide project
team. The aim of this team is to promote a healthcare
management culture of autonomous thought and action
on the part of employees. Seeking to respect employee
autonomy, we selected participants for the project teamfrom among volunteers, who were first asked to submit ashort essay detailing the reason they wanted to participate. The project team proved immensely popular, andthe number of applications received was so great that
only one in five volunteers was actually able to participate. A diverse team of 51 members was selected, ranging from new employees to those in their 50s. This teamgathered from stores across Japan once a month todiscuss healthcare management promotion measures fora solid day each meeting. These members also played acentral role in promoting initiatives at theirown workplace.
Yamamoto: When starting up a new business, it iscommon to begin by aligning those involved along thesame vector. With regard to health, however, efforts areusually limited to one event-like workshop or a lecturefrom an external instructor.
Kojima: The project team thoroughly discussed the goals
that MARUI GROUP should pursue in terms of health.
After six months of deepening their understanding withregard to health, the project team finally reached a consensus on our new healthcare management slogan: “All in
the name of happiness—Energize yourself with a healthy
mind and body.” Between Healthcare Management ProjectTeam members and the wellness leaders, roughly one in
20 Group employees is involved in promoting health.
At the same time, we also realize the necessity ofunderstanding among management. Seeking to encouragesenior managers to energize themselves, and anticipatinga subsequent ripple effect to spread through the organization, we introduced the Resilience Program in February
2016, which targets general managers and other highlevel managers. This program consists of a two-day intensive course, after which participants strive to develop
lifestyle patterns that increase their energy with regard
to their body, mood, mental state, and thinking over a
10-month period. A 360-degree evaluation of the participants’ own energy levels and their influence on othersis then conducted through feedback from the program
participants, their subordinates, and their family.
Comparing the energy levels of program participants andindividuals that have not participated, the difference wasclear, with participants much more adept at working in a
dedicated manner and taking effective breaks. Feedback
from subordinates indicated a noted increase in the ability of certain supervisors to control their emotions whilefamily members spoke of how they took part in this undertaking alongside the participant. Going forward, we willcontinue to target both employees and managers to
become a company that helps energize society and cultivate happiness through the health of employees. We arethoroughly committed to building such a company whileleveraging everyone’s strength.

Yamamoto: Such a proactive approach will allow all
employees taking part in these initiatives to talk about
healthcare in their own words, and this attitude will surely
come to permeate the entire organization. It is wonderfulwhen people are able to discuss what exactly healthcare
management means to them.

Optimization of Healthcare Management
Portfolio with More Accurate Data     Yamamoto: A global survey found that, when companies
are concerned with employee health, employees are
more motivated and loyal toward their company, whichhas quantifiable benefits in the form of lower employee
turnover rates. Qualitatively, there can be no doubt thata stance of valuing employee health will have positive
benefits for a company. It is impossible to put an exactvalue on the contributions that employee loyalty and low
turnover rates make to profits. However, it only seems
natural that such characteristics would make for stronger
organizations.
Kojima: Looking ahead, we hope to develop indicatorsthat will make it even easier to understand and illustrate
the link between health and productivity and performance.
These indicators will be used to propel healthcare management initiatives forward as part of our corporateactivities.
Yamamoto: Seeking out the most ideal healthcare management practices for MARUI GROUP, the ones that best
contribute to its profits, business continuity, and development, will lead to the creation of a healthcare management
portfolio. In this portfolio, we should be able to see alogical scenario backing these practices.

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