Hello!
My name is Shigemi Ito (@shigemin), and I work on the Business Support Team as the person in charge of disability-inclusive hiring and employment promotion.

The Business Support Team is mainly made up of people who live with a disability, and we are divided into several units according to our work duties. Our Leads support their team’s work while also managing their team. We are now at a stage where we need new members and are expanding the scope of our work, establishing new work units according to the company’s internal needs.

To kick things off and inform a wide range of people about the work the team does, I discussed workstyles with @oguogu and @Zaki-san, two Business Support Team Leads who live with disabilities.

ーTo get started, could you talk about what led you to join Mercari and why you decided to come aboard?

@Zaki-san：At my previous workplace, I was a leader at a special subsidiary company. Then, just as I was aiming to step up in the organization, a friend who worked at Mercari introduced me to the company; I decided to change jobs after that. The deciding factor for me was the Group mission “unleash the potential in all people.”

＠shigemin：Originally, I was looking to change jobs because I wanted to find something that would allow me to handle both my work and childcare responsibilities. When you live with a disability, the range of work that you tend to do at a lot of companies ends up being limited. In contrast, at Mercari, the attitude is, “see what you are capable of.” So when my childcare responsibilities settled down, I joined Mercari because I felt the pull of the company’s career-track-oriented workplace.

ーI think what draws out everyone’s interest in the company is the potential to accelerate our careers. So what was the company actually like once you were on the inside? For instance, what are some of the concrete differences you’ve noticed compared to other companies you’ve worked at.

＠oguogu：When it comes to career growth, I think that as you get experience working on a variety of tasks, you invariably run up against failure. Mercari is a company that is constantly encouraging people to take on bold challenges. Compared to some of the other companies where I’ve worked, I’m able to learn from failure without fearing it, and my supervisor and colleagues also provide me with support, so I think this is what facilitates career growth. I feel that this is precisely what makes Mercari such a draw for people.

▲This interview was conducted using both sign language and written exchanges.

＠Zaki-san：I also had the position of leader at my previous job. However, at Mercari, when a person or a team sends me a request, they are also working toward achieving Mercari’s mission. In addition, under our corporate culture and work environment, relationships are flatter compared to conventional companies, and I feel like the will to resolve issues together is strong here. Therefore one of the things that I think makes a big difference is that we don’t just receive work to complete as instructed. There is an environment for us to proactively make suggestions for improving workflows and to make and execute proposals that the Business Support Team can and should do. In addition, I feel like the sky is the limit when it comes to the role of Lead since we get to be involved in assignments and things like contracts, recruitment, and evaluations; you don’t often see that on more conventional teams for people with disabilities.

 ーOnce you were on the job, what did you feel were the good parts of your work? How did the job benefit both your work and personal lives?

＠oguogu：One of the fundamentally Mercari communication initiatives that we’re working on at the moment to allow people to communicate freely is one-on-one meetings between managers and members. One-on-ones are scheduled with members once a week, goal-setting meetings once every six months, and there are of course meetings for people to discuss their careers. I think what’s good about this is that these kinds of meetings give members a place to be heard freely. The meetings help clarify the best ways to support a member’s growth and to encourage them to take on challenges. They also serve as an excellent learning opportunity for me in my role of providing support to members.

In addition, both the members and I are involved in practical work, which means that we can discuss things from the same perspective. We have also established a structure that allows for discussion at any time, so I’m grateful that I can provide support as the Lead. Furthermore, one-on-one meetings are held with supervising managers not just on a periodic basis but any time the member is facing difficulties, allowing members to also receive feedback. So as the Lead, I feel another good point about one-on-ones is that they facilitate growth.

@Zaki-san：Members with a variety of experience and backgrounds join the company, so I think it’s important for there to be time in one-on-one meetings to allow for things like aligning understanding and making small talk, which allow members to get to know each other. I also get the sense that the work that I handle has also increased as a result.

＠shigemin：Being able to adjust my work load and schedule at my own discretion and being able to provide support to members is an excellent part of my work style.

@oguogu：Being a Lead means that you have more opportunities to coordinate with your counterparts, so in a sense being able to discipline yourself is another good point. (laughs)

＠Zaki-san：I know what you mean. There are many times when I struggle daily to merge work issues with members’ characteristics, but doing so also gives me an even greater sense of accomplishment.

There are also two other things that are good about my work. The first is that there is no limit to the areas that I can work on; as a member, I can aim for a management position or become an expert. The second is that there is a rigorous evaluation system in place for my work. I’ve been entrusted with designing work tasks largely from scratch, and I’ve had the experience of starting up new units and transferring work. It’s a good experience to be able to work with a counterpart to create work tasks that are as challenging as possible for the team and team members and in line with their characteristics.

＠oguogu： I really like the evaluation system, because it brings transparency to the things that I do and provides me with feedback. In addition, the evaluation system and the demonstration of embodying company values are also easy-to-understand mechanisms, and I feel like they fit me well.

＠shigemin：As far as our work systems are concerned, living with a disability sometimes means needing to go to the hospital, so the hybrid workstyle and full flextime systems make it easier to balance my work and private life.

＠oguogu：As @shigemin said, the systems we have in place are helpful to members who need to see a doctor regularly. Therefore, being able to work as much as you want without having to worry about how the disability you live with could affect your work is another draw.

＠shigemin：The members who work with us say that they experience ups and downs on a regular cycle. They share this information with their Lead and manager and try to do their best work without going overboard when they’re doing well. They say that the environment allows them to work relatively hard and balance their motivation with a workstyle that isn’t overly demanding.

People say that they have to take time off not only when they are not feeling well, but also when their children aren’t feeling well. They tell me how grateful they are for being able to step away from work in the middle of the day or leave early. This allows them to manage their time to make progress on the work that they should finish sooner, so they don’t have to worry about their evaluations being affected by their not being at work in the middle of the day. I’ve heard a lot of people say how grateful they are for all of these accommodations. To put it another way, if people aren’t able to manage their workload, they have it rough. (laughs)

ーCould you give us a concrete example of how people are using these systems? If we didn’t have these systems in place, how would that change your workstyle and private life?

＠shigemin：I make full use of our sick leave and full flextime systems. My family did not enroll my child in an all-day nursery school and instead, we ended up choosing a kindergarten, so having a system that allows me to take care of business at home while working in intervals is something I’m really grateful for. Since my child started elementary school, there have been a surprising number of events to attend, so being able to manage my time on my own is quintessentially Mercari.

I’ve also heard that there are members who leverage our Merci Box benefit system a lot when they return to work after taking childcare leave. My impression is that our system is not just for hiring people who live with a disability, but also for employees across Mercari to be able to—for example—raise their children while tending to their health.

ーWhat kind of team would you say your current team is?

＠shigemin：We have a variety of team members, so there’s a sense of mutual understanding. We just sort of help each other out naturally. The great thing about our team is that we don’t force people to do anything because they take action voluntarily.

I’ve also asked our members about this. People say that since there are others who have a first-hand understanding of their characteristics, such as living with bipolar disorder, they like that they don’t have to explain what they’re going through from scratch. They also said that they have a comfortable work environment where people provide support to each other, and if you’re not feeling well, you can say ahead of time that you’re going to work at a slower pace.

On the Business Support Team, we make self-introduction slides and then introduce ourselves to each other in one-on-one meetings. We include information about any special considerations and our characteristics. Instead of talking about the type or name of their characteristics, people share with each other how their abilities differ, the accommodations they will need, and how people can support them.

The mentor system is also very well-rounded. For example, we have established a curriculum for the Business Support Team, and we work as a team to make improvements such as by providing support so everyone can have a strong start at the same time.

For me, this reaffirms that Mercari is an incredible and interesting company where, even if you fail, you can keep taking on more challenges; I think this is possible because of the type of company Mercari is. I love that we have a work environment where we accommodate but do not hesitate to support each other.

ーHow would you like to shape the team going forward?

＠oguogu：One issue to address is that there aren’t enough Leads. People are aware that the current members of the Business Support Team are very talented. I would like to discover new potential Leads, welcome them to the team, and work with them to forge an even better team.

Also, if there are people who want to take on the challenge of being a Lead or experience Lead management, Mercari has an environment that will really support you in the things you challenge yourself with; we can help you, other members, and your team grow.

＠shigemin：I feel the same way. Seeing the members around me with aspirations and working with passion motivates me to work hard as well. If the team becomes one that is able to support the growth of not just individuals but also those around them, I think that would make it even more powerful.

＠Zaki-san：I would like Mercari to continue to be a place where people who have never had the opportunity to challenge themselves with a management role because of where they worked or because social norms can make that challenging.

In the long term, my idea is to deepen people’s understanding of the Business Support Team and of members’ characteristics both inside and outside of the company. There are members starting a variety of personal activities that I’d like us to support, like recently when we hired a sign language interpreter for our entire family day event. I would like this article to be a step in that direction as well.

＠shigemin：Everyone has their own idea of what the ideal team looks like, but at Mercari we have an environment that gives people a lot of opportunities to grow, so I would like to use that to increase the Business Support Team’s profile as a reliable partner.

＠oguogu：I fully share your wish to communicate about the team externally and to deepen people’s understanding of what we do. I can tell that people’s level of awareness in the company has increased, but it’s still not sufficient outside the company. Therefore, I want to communicate our activities even more through Mercan and other such channels.

ーWhat sort of person do you feel makes a good Lead?

＠oguogu： I think the type of person who would be a good fit is someone who doesn’t fall apart if they fail and who has a mindset to give their all to support members. I also feel like this role is for people who can give advice to members contemplating making their work more efficient and who like to build systems.

I’m sure there are people out there who would like to take on the challenge of being a Lead, but they are concerned about how their own characteristics could get in the way. However, this role will suit you if you have a challenger’s mindset and, rather than looking to fix the things you are not good at because of your characteristics, want instead to leverage those characteristics.

＠shigemin：Mercari’s culture is itself one of seeing how far we can take things, and we welcome people with aspirations.

＠Zaki-san：As one of Mercari’s members, a prerequisite is that our mission and values resonate with you, and you must be able to embody these. I think that more than just a person with the right skill set, we’re looking for someone who will be a good fit with this culture and who can embody it proactively. I think that whether a person carries our mission and values as they go through their day-to-day activities is reflected in their behavior and the results they produce, so a person who aligns closely with these would be a strong candidate.

＠oguogu：@Zaki-san always focuses on what can be done to tie our activities to the growth of our members. They talk about the growth of members on a daily basis and I’ve learned from that as a result.

＠Zaki-san：I’m not sure I can put this into words properly, but since we all work together, I also want members to enjoy their work. I also want people to thrive here more than anywhere else they’ve ever worked and without getting slotted into any single role at the company.