Nemawashi Is Gold When Selling In Japan

Why are shareholder, customer, and employee interests linked?

Shareholders invest their future security hoping to increase returns and strengthen long-term stability. They accept real risk — possibly losing some or all of their capital. CEOs are often rewarded based on shareholder value, usually measured through rising share prices and strong dividend payouts.

But shareholder value doesn’t rise in a vacuum. Customers generate revenue by buying products and services. If customers lose enthusiasm, revenue falls, and so do share prices and dividends.

Employees sit at the center of this chain. Without engaged staff, customers won’t receive strong service or high-quality solutions. And if employees don’t care about the company, they’re unlikely to care about the company’s customers.

The problem? These three groups don’t always want the same thing at the same time. That creates a leadership dilemma: where should attention go first?

Mini-summary: Shareholder returns depend on customer revenue, which depends on employee engagement — but their interests can still clash, so leadership focus matters.

There is no company without customers. And customers stay only if staff create repeat business — not just one-off transactions.

Yet some CEOs treat staff as tools for profit extraction: “pay them low, charge customers high.” This mindset can inflate short-term margins but destroys long-term trust and loyalty inside the organization.

The U.S. has more than normalized this approach. Executive-to-worker pay gaps as high as 300:1 are common in large firms, and even failed CEOs sometimes exit with massive payouts.

That model is not sustainable for 日本 (Japan). Japanese companies rely heavily on stability, long-term trust, and reputation. A system that openly signals “leaders win, staff absorb the cost” will break cultural cohesion and drive talent away.

Mini-summary: Employees create repeat customers; treating them like expendable tools may work short-term, but it’s culturally and economically unsustainable in Japan (Japan).

Japan’s labor market is tightening. Recruiting the best people will become harder, and retaining them will be even harder.

If you have deep pockets, you can attract talent through high compensation. But if you don’t, your competitive advantage must be your culture.

People may tolerate high pay in a toxic environment for a while, but eventually they burn out, disengage, and leave. A healthy culture becomes a “non-cash benefit” employees will accept in exchange for slightly lower pay — because it supports their life, energy, and dignity.

Mini-summary: As hiring becomes tougher in Japan (Japan), culture becomes a critical attractor and retainer, especially when money alone can’t win talent.

What does engagement look like — and why are Western surveys tricky in Japan?

Gallup’s 2021 U.S. data shows:

• 36% engaged

• 50% indifferent/compliant

• 14% disengaged

But Japan is difficult to measure with Western surveys. Many Japanese employees answer conservatively because they think in absolute rather than relative terms.

Also, common engagement questions don’t translate culturally. Example:
“Would you recommend your company as a workplace to friends or relatives?”

In Japan, people hesitate to recommend because:

• They don’t want friends blaming them if the job goes badly.

• They don’t want the company blaming them if the friend underperforms.
  So they score low to avoid responsibility in either direction.

That makes Japan appear consistently “bottom of the world” on engagement metrics — but the measurement may be culturally biased.

Mini-summary: Western engagement tools often undercount Japanese engagement because cultural norms push people to answer cautiously.

Your survey findings point to a clear #1 driver:
Employees want leaders to show a sincere interest in their well-being.

Two words matter most:

1) Sincere

Not performative. Not a slogan. Not “we care” written on posters while decisions say otherwise.
Sincerity means leaders see employees as human beings — not profit instruments.

2) Well-being

Modern employees carry responsibility for children and aging parents. They don’t just need “work support.” They need a workplace that recognizes life realities.

A company that prioritizes health and family health earns loyalty and sustained effort.

Mini-summary: Engagement rises when leaders sincerely care about employees’ whole lives, not just their output.

Good intentions aren’t enough. Employees judge what leaders do, not what they say.

To make well-being culture real, leaders need two skill sets at the top of the list:

1. Coaching skills
   To develop people, support them through challenges, and help them grow without fear.

2. Communication skills
   To build trust, clarify direction, and consistently show respect through tone, listening, and follow-through.

Ask yourself:

• How strong are these skills across your leadership bench?

• Are leaders actually “walking the talk,” starting with you?

• If the skills aren’t there yet, what are you doing to build them?

Because everything connects to everything else. Engagement isn’t a single policy — it’s an ecosystem. And ecosystems need complete solutions, not fragmented fixes.

Mini-summary: Engagement culture requires leaders with strong coaching and communication skills, backed by aligned daily behavior.

• Shareholders, customers, and employees form one linked value chain — but only employees directly create customer loyalty.

• U.S.-style leadership models built on extreme pay gaps and short-term extraction are not sustainable in 日本 (Japan).

• Japan’s hiring pressures make retention and culture a strategic necessity.

• Western engagement surveys often underestimate Japanese engagement due to cultural response patterns.

• The strongest engagement driver is leaders’ sincere interest in employee well-being.

• Coaching and communication are the two core leadership capabilities that turn engagement into reality.

Founded in the U.S. in 1912, Dale Carnegie Training has supported individuals and companies worldwide for over a century in leadership, sales, presentation, executive coaching, and DEI. Our Tokyo office, established in 1963, has been empowering both Japanese and multinational corporate clients ever since.