Intimidating Words and Actions That Persist Even in the Reiwa Era
I imagine there are many people who are racking their brains over how to improve productivity in the construction industry. That’s likely why they’re trying to incorporate ICT and digital transformation (DX), and some companies are also preparing for the upcoming overtime regulations.
On the other hand, it seems to me that there are still many people in the construction industry who engage in intimidating behavior. It appears that some major companies are compiling examples of behavior that could be considered “harassment” and posting them on their internal networks. However, it seems they aren’t disclosing the names involved…
Perhaps that was acceptable during the Showa era. In some ways, that approach allowed business to run smoothly, and the market grew to its current size. It was the height of Japan’s period of rapid economic growth, a time when the country was striving to catch up with and surpass the West.
However, times have changed. These days, many people feel intimidated or develop mental health issues when confronted in an aggressive manner. Or rather, while there have probably always been a certain number of such people, they never came forward publicly. With the spread of the Internet, however, the sheer number of such cases and the severity of the harassment have become widely known.
People are harshly criticized—sometimes for things completely unrelated to their work—and some are even told things like, “Go die.” I myself have been on the receiving end of such treatment in the past, such as being told to “die” or being left alone on the job site.
At the time, I thought, “It’s my own fault, so there’s nothing I can do about it,” but when I mentioned it to an acquaintance, they told me, “That’s unacceptable no matter what era we’re in. It wouldn’t be surprising if you were disciplined for it,” and I remember that really made me snap to attention.
If you let them become discouraged, they won't be able to do productive work.
Intimidating words and actions not only make the other person feel cowed, but also gradually rob them of the ability to think for themselves, leaving them to simply follow orders. Even if they are given the wrong instructions, they become unable to resist them. And yet, when they carry out work based on those wrong instructions and produce the wrong results, it is not uncommon for them to be blamed for it.
When people become timid, they can’t do productive work. They also lose their creativity. Their focus narrows to internal matters, and they tend to lose sight of what customers want. This leads directly to doing the wrong kind of work.
I heard this from someone else, but apparently, when it comes to flying an aircraft, even though there’s a difference in rank between the captain and the first officer, once they’re seated in the cockpit, they’re on equal footing. Before takeoff, they thoroughly check the instruments and input values, but the first officer doesn’t necessarily follow the captain’s instructions; instead, they clearly speak up if something seems wrong. The captain never acts in an overbearing manner; rather, they respect the other person’s perspective while still expressing their own opinion. That’s apparently how they work.
An experienced captain once said something to the effect that, “While skill is certainly important, interpersonal skills are even more important.” People in the aviation industry know that there’s no benefit in making others feel intimidated. Isn’t that precisely why the industry has managed to operate with so few major accidents up to this point?
Is the construction industry one where people can speak up and say, “Something’s wrong when it’s wrong”?
It goes without saying that safety is the top priority in the construction industry. While making a profit is important, safety takes precedence over it. That is precisely why it’s best to refrain from intimidating words and actions.
There is little benefit in making the other person feel intimidated. Even if an instruction is unsafe, they may be unable to object to it, which could become one of the factors leading to an accident.
It’s possible that the recent spate of major accidents may, in part, have been caused by intimidating words and actions. I’d like you to think about this once more.Is the construction industry—the industry we work in—one where we can say, “If something’s wrong, it’s wrong”?
