My employer (Japanese company) requires employees to pass a written exam that is evaluated by a third-party company in order to get promoted. Apparently in the exam one has to reason what they have done to deserve the promotion and it is checked against the guideline the company provides what e.g. a manager is expected to be role model for team members so one has to provide an example where they have been a role model to others in the work place.
I personally find the idea that someone I have never spoken to has the last say whether I get promoted or not based on a written exam a bit ridiculous.
I was wondering if this common for companies in Japan or if my company is weird.
23 comments
Did you need to take a SPI test to get hired by that place, too?
Lolol. Glad I don’t work for a Japanese company.
It depends on the company. But police officers in Japan must take a written exam to get promoted. And they say it’s more than 1 exam. I mean 1 exam for each step.
Not normal from my expierience.
Usually you set KPIs in some 人事評価 system like HR Brain and based on your results at the end of the financial year you get a salary increase / promotion.
Sounds at least like an attempt to put everyone on an equal footing. For most businesses right now, how much your upper management likes or dislikes you is probably like 90% of any promotion decision regardless how you’ve performed.
Some old fashioned companies still require this.
Some companies also require you to write an essay when joining the company.
My company used the JMAT/NMAT exams done by Recruit in addition to an interview. I’m not sure if maybe our places overlap to some extent but the whole third party testing for promotion doesn’t seem too farfetched of a thing here. Could be wrong though.
I’m not sure who did the evaluation (like third party or not) but my husband had to pass some kind of written test for his promotion too
I had to take these sort of exams at a large well-known Japanese company. However, the decision was already decided by management before the test was taken. Doing the test was just for show, i.e., following HR processes. Test questions were too hard and well above my Japanese ability, so if the test score had any weight I would not have passed. It didn’t matter as the decision was already made.
My husband had one of those. There was a multiple-choice test including general knowledge and things about the company, an timed essay, and an interview. He failed it twice because they didn’t take learning disabilities into account…
Keiretsu version of letter to santa
I had to do that for a minor promotion to my previous company. An in-basket exercise (based on sales, which is *not* my field) and write an essay explaining my role and what “value” it provides for the company.
I just burned through it as fast as possible since I didn’t want a promotion anyway (more work, less money). Complete waste of a Saturday.
It’s not so uncommon, especially for jumps from workers to leadership positions or to upper management. My wife got promoted that way. They are reviewed by 3rd parties to remove the possibility of favoritism.
While it makes the consideration process more transparent it does tend to favor those who are good at writing essays and promoting oneself
My wife is going through the same process. Are you in a large company?
At first I thought this was a ridiculous idea, but then thought about it a bit. In some companies that are mega sized you could potentially push your protege or buddy through the ranks without the company really having insight into the skills and traits of their newer managers. A second problem could be a lack of alignment among managers reviewing staff for management. E.g. You have a review with managers across functions and they each want to push their person (kind of natural) or simply don’t know all that much about another candidate, or have some bone to pick with the candidate (which in companies w/ low turnover can happen over time).
So…not what I am used to but I can see some merit to it in mega companies in particular.
My company has a similar system.
We have to pass an exam that is held twice a year for all employees. It used to be a written exam but thanks to Covid, it’s online now. If we are eligible for the promotion, we have to pass that exam at least once during the year and then submit a report of 1000 characters or more about a designated theme.
Glad I’m leaving soon.
Many industries require people to pass third-party exams to get certified in order to be eligible for promotion-I needed to pass several FINRA exams.
Why is this any different?
I find a lot of things rediculous. Fortunately I’m paid enough to laugh at them while doing my very best to make sure I follow every ridiculous instruction and direction.
My (well-known) company has presentations and written essays to be promoted to managerial class, but they’re being phased out for being inefficient. I didn’t mind doing it, because I just did it during work hours, while the japanese people mostly did it evenings and weekends. Passed on the first try and my salary went up like 30-40%
Not uncommon as Japanese companies are trying to base promotions on subjective metrics. Third parties are seen as impartial therefore fairer.
If this is a management promotion test it shouldn’t matter if a third party tests you. You should be able to demonstrate your management and leadership skills.
It’s not a perfect system but what is? Instead of fighting the system figure out how to succeed in it
Civil servants have to pass exams to advance as well. They are not evaluated by people they work with directly, because “objectivity” or something.
Worked for a Japanese company before. We need to do one thesis every 3 years for any title from our tasks, and they need two before promoting us. So total of 6 years for one promotion.
Common
My company requires a national certification (宅地建物取引士) in order to get promoted to anything higher than an entry-level position. This certification requires an exam that can only be attempted once a year and has about a ~15% pass rate among Japanese people.
I still find that to be mildly more sane than what your company does