Empower and Revitalize Japan for Next Generation
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We will update our employees' daily lives and thoughts so that you can understand the SOPHOLA culture.
How to Beat The Initial Hard Training
One week has passed since SOPHOLA entered its third term and welcomed new employees.
As the newbies stepped into the fast-growing digital marketing industry from a different industry,
we saw new employees being overwhelmed by a vast amount of information.
While spending time with them as a training instructor, “How did I survive the initial training nine years ago when I entered the industry from a mathematics research profession?” I thought suddenly.
In February 2011, when I joined Locondo (at that time Jade), which was launched at an ultra-speed with innovative services such as shoe concierge and free fitting service, I was surrounded by many people—“really smart”, “experienced in strategic consulting”, “high multitasking ability”, “high communication ability.”
A few days after joining the company, my boss said, “Do you really want to grow as a business person? Then do the following.”
1) When reporting or consulting, tell your conclusions and the number of points.
Don’t waste your boss’s time and make your reporting as concise as possible to get the necessary feedback.
2) When discussing the analysis results (data), please give your opinion so that you can discuss the possible hypotheses about the website visitors’intentions and behaviors.
Anyone can just look at the data and just say “I see” about whatever a boss claims.
Nonetheless, what’s more meaningful is to think about the user psychology and behavioral patterns by looking at the same data and discuss the hypotheses with your boss.
3) There should be one day of learning (I can’t do XX, I want to be able to do XX, etc.). Write it down every day. Be able to do it steadily one by one.
As I seemed not to have enough self-confidence as a business newbiw, my boss said, “Can you imagine how many people are wasting everyday learning? Mark, do not waste it. You just have to master it one by one. If you do that, you will outperform the others of your age in three months.” So I started writing down all my learning in Microsoft Word every night from the next day, then in he next morning, I asked my boss to check it and observe it for a whole day so that he could give me any feedback.
* After that, all the advice from my boss and seniors was all absorbed deeply into my mind and body, which sometimes sounded creepy to my bosses. lol
The secret to surviving the training is that, ” How do you manage not to waste each and every learning you get from your seniors you can really look up to? Do you have the consciousness to make the most of it? ” Back then, I imitated everything that my boss did— like what my boss wears, how to talk, point of view for analysis, books he read, his way of thinking etc. Three months after I started the experiment, I was able to do a lot more things than I originally expected about myself.
Both those who have joined SOPHOLA and those who will join the company in the future should be people who have been attracted to digital marketing and SOPHOLA. I think the only thing left is to be conscious of the above and take action. That way you can get through hard training! We are looking forward to climbing a great mountain together with you.
SOPHOLA Inc.
Founder&CEO
Masaki “Mark” Iino
PS: The photo is from June 2010, just after returning to Japan from studying in the United States. I feel a little grown up since then. lol