"Middle
management" - it' an amorphous sea of suits that stands between you and the
Executive Suite. Curious to know what it means in this corner of the global economy, Hilary Hinds Kitasei turned to Kerry O'Shea, who as vice
president of the human resources consulting firm Oak Associates specializes in recruiting
middle managers.
Vice President
Kerry O'Shea of the consulting firm Oak Associates Photo by Mitchell Coster
What is middle
management in this economy, and is it different in the context of Japan?
I think middle management is becoming harder to define. Organizations are becoming flatter
and at the same time employees without "management" titles can have a lot of
responsibility for specific project or team management. As to what it means in Japan, that
all depends on the company. Probably one unique thing is that the traditional rotation
system means there are a lot of middle managers in big Japanese companies who have worked
in many different departments and are quite generalist by Western standards - company
experts rather than functional experts. But like anywhere else, there is such variety in
Japan by company size and culture (particularly with a more entrepreneurial culture
starting to take off here) that it's hard to generalize.
We hear often about "middle management" being targeted for corporate
streamlining. Does an evaporating middle change the strategy for someone building a career
in management?
A lot of the shrinkage is in middle management jobs considered nonessential or secondary.
If someone is in a coordination or liaison role they are often vulnerable, as there may be
ways to take out the "middleman" and cut costs, especially when new
communication tools like email make it so much faster and easier to communicate directly.
On the other hand, if someone really adds value to the organization through their
specialized knowledge or connections or ability to motivate or whatever, then it makes
little financial sense to the company to lose them. In terms of strategy, people should
always try to build skills which are unique or at least specialized. We find that people
with something very specific to offer - a CPA, a specific programming skill, impressive
sales achievements with a "current" product, whatever - often have their pick of
jobs, even in this kind of economy. People skills are crucial to long-term success too,
but it is harder to get a foot in the door without something more quantifiable to show
prospective employers.
Do you help individuals find new positions? Do you advise them on how to advance
their careers?
Our focus is helping client companies to find people, and in that process we help
individuals find new positions. So in the recruiting division our "customers"
are corporations rather than job-seekers. However we always try to offer the people we
interview some tips on how their resume could be improved or on how they present
themselves, even if we don't have a specific job idea for them at that time. In that sense
we are advising them on how to advance their careers. In a more general way we might draw
their attention to particular strengths they seem unaware of or possible career options
they have. We would usually avoid strongly recommending a specific career direction as
that is such a personal decision and we don't know all the variables in their lives.
What individuals are you looking for?
Most of our placements are of bilingual Japanese people, because our clients are foreign
companies doing business in the Japanese market and that is their strongest need. However
we do also place a certain number of non-Japanese. In those cases, specialized skills and
language ability are usually the key success factors.
Oak Associates, K.K. has offices in Tokyo and Osaka. For more information about its
recruiting and career counseling services, visit the website at http://www.oakassociates.co.jp or contact Kerry
O'Shea directly by telephone (03) 5472-7077, fax (03) 5472-7076, or email oakassoc@gol.com
