When society changes, the content of “traditional thinking and rules” will also change. For example, the contrast between the “medical model” and the “social model” regarding the treatment of people with disabilities has been discussed. The “medical model” of curing people with disabilities is changing to the “social model” of creating an environment that people with disabilities can live comfortably. When such changes are occurring, traditional thinking and rules must be changed. In the social model, if society were to become like this, the category of disability would disappear. Previously, from the perspective of the medical model, wandering by people with dementia was viewed negatively. However, if the community understands and a safe environment is in place, wandering by people with dementia will be viewed as a walk (exercise) that maintains and improves mental and physical health.
Since the Industrial Revolution, companies have been dominated by a top-down style that is suitable for factory work. Taylor’s scientific management method sometimes treated workers like machines in order to improve productivity. A society that prioritized industrialization required homogeneous human resources who could work accurately according to manuals. Modern education played a role in producing a large number of homogeneous human resources and people who accepted a top-down style. However, in today’s uncertain times, the source of corporate value is tending to prioritize people’s creativity. In today’s rapidly changing business environment, rigid top-down organizations are becoming unable to grow. In today’s digital society, people who can solve problems with flexible thinking are required.
Good workplaces are in demand. So we looked at the difference between “good workplaces” and “bad workplaces.” There is a survey that collected 14 million employee reviews from a job-hunting and job-changing website as data and analyzed the results. In this survey, the top 5% and bottom 5% of approximately 3,400 listed companies were extracted based on the ratings given by the posters. We visualized frequently used words from 14 million reviews. The most common words in the top 5% were “empathy and freedom,” while the bottom 5% were full of words with a sense of suffocation, such as “one-man” and “yes man.” Furthermore, the survey compared the combined net profits of the top 5% and bottom 5% with those of three periods ago. The top 5% of companies saw a 7.7% increase in net profits, while the latter saw a decrease of 2.4%. “Empathy and freedom” does not solve all of a company’s problems. However, it seems that “empathy and freedom” can be a driving force for companies and employees to continue questioning their own value. In other words, this survey seems to suggest that a “flat” and “free and vigorous” environment creates a workplace without walls and brings about revitalization.
