By our own hands, we would like to build an educational institution for nursing care, the Japanese language, and food locally in Indonesia, a market to which we have ties.

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

As a company that operates nursing-care facilities, we deal with nursing care products and the dispatching of personnel with specific skill sets. The Life Career Department of our Human Resources Division, which accepted interns, is a “Registered Support Organization of specific skills” and primarily provides support to Vietnamese and Indonesian workers working in nursing-care facilities in this capacity.
As the nursing-care sector in Japan currently utilizes young foreign workers, improved support for the acquisition of Japanese-language proficiency and technical skills is vital for the provision of high-quality nursing care. In this connection, we wanted to build an educational institution in Indonesia, a market to which we have ties, to allow us to impart practical nursing-care skills and otherwise educate nursing-care workers in a variety of areas, beginning with Japanese-language education. We also wanted to contribute to the mutual development of our economies by helping graduates find employment.
While a local survey was needed to realize our goals, at a time when we were struggling to gather information due to the difficulties of traveling overseas, we came to realize that we could have local individuals conduct activities via online arrangements. In believing that we might be able to obtain ideas that would not occur to Japanese people if we proceeded in collaboration with overseas interns, and that we might thereby generate new sources of creativity for the company, we decided to accept an intern as part of this program.

To carry out a productive internship that is effective and fulfilling with planned activities and time for cultural interactions.

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

Our intern, Vania, research everything from the educational and higher education situation in Indonesia to matters concerning real estate, salaries, and restaurants in Indonesia in connection with the establishment of schools and restaurants.
In asking our intern to gather information, we made detailed preparations to allow us to explain the context and reasons for requesting tasks of our intern, which then facilitated the implementation of activities. Before the internship began, we produced a basis for a research plan that reflected the outlook of the department in question, which was then incorporated into a research table and implemented on a weekly basis. We also prepared several types of report formats for use depending on content. Vania also summarized the contents of the research on her own. As her actions in this respect produced summaries in a way that was easy to understand, we adopted her approach to organizing the research into weekly summaries.
Since conversations in English are prone to yielding misunderstandings due to differences in nuance, we made an effort to consciously ask questions and seek clarifications on uncertain points. Conversations with members of the department as part of cross-cultural interactions and ice-breaker conversations on such topics as common interests became opportunities for everyone to get closer to one another and also helped everyone seperate their time of work and private life.

The intern's opinions as presented by her as an individual and as an Indonesian were hints that helped to forge greater cultural understanding for the sake of development.

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

While we had previously conducted online surveys in English, we were able to obtain an incomparably large amount of information by using a local individual to conduct research on local matters. Vania used the Internet, the telephone, and interviews depending on the research point in question to conduct research by way of the optimal method at any given moment. This allowed us to obtain highly credible corroboration. At the same time, we also asked for Vania’s opinion as an individual and as an Indonesian on many occasions. Her answers were highly useful for the promotion of cultural understanding. For example, we learned a lot with respect to the level of awareness of and interest in Japanese language learning and Japanese foods, and to differences in Internet culture between Indonesia and Japan.
We believe that our employees were encouraged by the sight of our intern trying hard to speak Japanese during times when we had her speak to other employees for the purpose of promoting cultural interactions, as a result of which we believe that their motivation to learn languages was raised and that they appeared to be more willing to listen to descriptions of local conditions.
While we also heard that the biggest cultural gap lay in differences in how people perceive time, I was impressed by Vania’s punctuality and ability to properly observe all deadlines, her ability to listen to and digest explanations on unclear matters, her quick response, and her overall attitude towards activities, which helped me to be back to beginner's spirit