INSIGHTS

2021.01.27

R&D DISCUSSION Vol. 28

Wellness and Performance Management
How to Live in a New Era vol.2 [Part 1]

Takayuki Hirai
Deputy Director of the CHO Office at DeNA Co., Ltd.; Representative of Ibuki LLC

R&D DISCUSSION TOP

The second guest of the "Life in a New Era" series, where we talk with corporate innovators about how to live and work in the new era, is Takayuki Hirai of DeNA Co., Ltd. (DeNA), known for being one of the first to take on "health and productivity management," which has been gaining attention in many companies in recent years. Hirai, who calls himself a health fanatic, launched a specialized health and productivity management department in 2016. It was also a hot topic when Representative Director and Chairman Tomoko Namba herself was appointed CHO (Chief Health Officer). The company supports employee health management by disseminating information on diet, exercise, sleep, and mental health, and by holding seminars. He practices health and productivity management, which improves individual performance and leads to improved company performance.

Q: What prompted you to establish the Chief Health Officer (CHO) Office, a department dedicated to health management?

A: Originally, health was not a job, but a hobby. What awakened me to it was golf, which I started as a club activity in high school [Photo 1]. It was so much fun that I got into it, and as I continued to aim to become a professional golfer while working at a company, I began to think that a high level of health management was also necessary to improve my golf skills. As an experiment, I tried changing my diet to one that I read in a book, consuming only vegetables, soybeans, rice, and water, and in just three months I lost about 15 kg. I was intrigued by how much my body and mental state could change just by changing the food I ate, and I became addicted to it, as if I was conducting human experiments on myself. The word "mindfulness," which is now widely known, did not exist at the time, but I just focused on my own physical and mental state, read various books, and went to listen to experts. I pursued my own method, and by the time I was in my 20s I was able to self-condition through exercise, food, sleep, and mental health.

After starting up a golf business, I moved to DeNA, where I was initially in charge of human resources and general affairs. One day, I looked around and noticed that many employees had problems such as stiff shoulders, back pain, and poor circulation. I felt that this was caused by the long hours they spent sitting at their computers every day. At first, I just chatted with them about my own methods for improving health, but I began to feel that I wanted to take it more seriously. I wanted everyone to experience the joy I felt when my performance improved dramatically because of my health. This was my motivation for setting up the CHO Office and making "health" my job.

[Photo 1] Mr. Hirai playing golf

Q: The idea of "healthy management" was not yet common at the time. How did you convince the company?

A: When we started moving towards establishing the CHO Office in 2015, the general idea was that employees were responsible for their own health, and we had a hard time explaining the significance of the company investing in health beyond the scope of employee benefits. So we conducted interviews with employees. The purpose was to show in numerical terms how their health status was affecting their work performance, compile a proposal, and propose it to management. The decline in productivity due to health issues became clear, and we came to the conclusion that "we should work on health management throughout the company," and we managed to establish the CHO Office with Minamiba, our founder, as CHO. In the first year, 2016, we held about 100 seminars and workshops [Photo 2], but they were full of failures. Originally, only employees with high health literacy (health awareness) attended health-themed events. Of course, we are happy that they are happy that they have "achieved results," but our original purpose is to change the awareness of employees who have no interest in health at all. Recently, some companies seem to hold seminars during working hours, but ours are held during lunch breaks or after 7 p.m., and participation is open to the public. Seminars that only give knowledge one-sidedly are avoided. After much trial and error to find a way to attract them, we felt that the "Back Pain Eradication Project" was a success. We approached employees who were suffering from back pain and analyzed the specific causes and how to improve them. More than 80% of the 20 participants said that their pain had been reduced and that their productivity had improved. Word of mouth spread that "it seems like the company is doing something thoughtful," and awareness gradually increased. The key was to narrow down health issues such as hay fever and sleep problems. And instead of ordinary stories, we listened carefully to each employee with an approach that was tailored to them. I think that such analog methods are important in the end.

For example, when I approach an engineer who is not interested in food, I will weave in numbers. How quickly does blood sugar rise when you suddenly ingest sugar, and how quickly does it drop if you sit in a chair and don't move afterwards? When blood sugar levels are dropping rapidly, people tend to feel sleepy and lethargic, which makes them more likely to become less productive. When I tell them this story, many of them become interested in how they eat, as they can relate to it. Also, for people who are interested in beauty, I tell them that consuming fermented foods can improve the intestinal environment and have an effect not only on health but also on beauty. Some people then change their eating habits. I myself am working on this as if I am pursuing a hobby, so this kind of detailed approach is not difficult at all (laughs). I want everyone to be healthy and always smile. I don't force anyone to do it, but I would be really happy if even one more employee realized the importance of health.

[Photo 2] Seminar scene

Q: Recently, more and more companies are working on health management. How are these initiatives evaluated?

As the name suggests, the focus tends to be on how to make employees healthy, but the real purpose is to increase the vitality of individuals, which in turn leads to stronger management and increased corporate value. Of course, it also leads to the prevention of lifestyle-related diseases, but if we focus too much on reducing smoking rates or improving the results of annual health checkups, we may lose sight of the original purpose.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, more companies are introducing telecommuting in earnest, and while the freedom of individual working environments has increased, the amount of exercise is clearly decreasing, and there is a possibility that the health disparity between employees will become larger in the future. In other words, people with high health literacy will use the time they no longer need to commute to walk or exercise, achieve a more balanced diet, and become even healthier. Those who do not have high health literacy are more likely to become unhealthy, such as waking up to meetings, having irregular sleep times, and eating more delivery and snacking. If you do not consciously prepare your work environment, such as your desk and chair, it can also cause back pain and stiff shoulders to worsen. As a result, productivity is likely to decrease. Now is the time to ask how we can improve the health literacy of our employees. At our company, we support employees when they purchase new work furniture at home, and we are also working to provide chairs used at work free of charge, while holding online seminars. The reason why they are actively using the services is because health literacy was already increasing throughout the company, and it was worth the hard work.

[Photos 1 and 2: Provided by Takayuki Hirai]

Continued in Part 2

PROFILE

Deputy Director of the CHO Office at DeNA Co., Ltd.; Representative of Ibuki LLC

Takayuki Hirai

Hirai Takayuki

Researcher at the 22nd Century Medical Center, University of Tokyo Hospital. Born in Tokyo. After graduating from Keio University, he started a golf business. Joined DeNA in 2011. In 2015, he started supporting employee health, and in 2016, he established the CHO Office, a department dedicated to health and productivity management. In 2019, the company's efforts were recognized by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Tokyo Stock Exchange Building, and the company was awarded the Health and Productivity Management Stock. The following year, he was awarded the stock again. In 2018, he served on the DBJ (Development Bank of Japan) Health and Productivity Management Rating Advisory Board and as an advisor to the PGA (Professional Golfers' Association of Japan) Management Strategy Committee.

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R&D TOP

Update : 2018.09.21

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