We aim to establish a globalized corporate environment that supports global talents.

Q.Why did your company decide to take on interns? What did you aim to achieve?

At KACOMS Co., Ltd., we provide services for client companies in the fields of the development of IT infrastructures, as well as system operations, maintenance, installation and support. In previous years, with the Research & Development Department established to meet the needs of client companies, we have been engaged in providing business solutions and support for better work management. In 2017, we recruited two university graduates of foreign nationality, with a view of global business development overseas. We placed them on training for two and a half months, but they left the company less than half a year after their posting. We tried to analyze the problem underneath it; our working environment might have been uncomfortable for people from abroad, or there might have been issues in miscommunication between us, but the clear cause was not found. We applied for the intern program as we were informed of the fact that our group company had participated in it in 2018 and it had ended in great success; outstanding work achievement and a good, long lasting relationship with them. We would like to discover concrete approaches to improve the corporate culture, system, and communications through the intern program.

We have taken up the new field of display technology for PR video program, to appeal to a wider range of companies inside and outside Japan.

Q.What kind of internship did you run? What difficulties did you face and how did you resolve them?

Before starting his internship at the Research and Development department, we asked Harry to speak in front of our employees. In the speech, he introduced the culture and lifestyle of his home country, Malaysia, and his past intern experience in China. He was willing to build relationships with the R&D members. His internship consisted of activities with a focus on joining a medical IT expo. He worked with our employees for the exhibition, developing work to introduce our unique technology. The most exciting part of our work was the “aerial display” that can project and control images and videos in the air. After conducting in-house consultations on how to convey its appeal to visitors, we settled down with the idea of a “hands-on exhibition”. They took up the challenge of developing an animation of our company logo that appears after effects and that can be moved by motion sensor. Just as we expected, we could impress the mass of visitors who gathered around our booth. At the exhibition hall, there were more visitors from Taiwan and China than we expected. His competence in Chinese was a great help to us. He also actively participated in other research and development activities such as by joining the development team of photogrammetry specialists.

We aim to learn communication and support from a global perspective and establish a welcoming work environment for international workers.

Q.Comparing before and after the internship, what effects did it have on you, your employees, or your organization?

Most of our employees are not very good at English. This is an issue we must overcome. We developed a translation software, utilizing our expertise in the IT field, and distributed it to employees. The usage of the software decreased gradually over time as they started talking directly to Harry. We then knew that our employees are not as weak in English as they claim to be, and it is just a lack of experience and confidence in themselves. We keenly felt that though we read a lot of English in the IT industry, there is very little opportunity to speak and listen to it. The time we spent with Harry helped us to reduce the fear of communicating in English to almost zero, and a positive atmosphere was created in the workplace. We tried hard to avoid any misunderstanding between us by taking enough time to explain and answer any questions. Since our communication is often described as vague, we worked on it hard. People from other countries are often in an environment where they have no family to rely on, and they hesitate to seek support due to the language barrier. We came to realize during the intern period that we must establish a support environment and system specially for workers of different nationalities upon their recruitment. We will improve our current support system for foreign nationals. The lessons and experiences we have gained through this program will be a great help in the process.