Objective: Prevention of person-dependent work processes and standardization

Issue: Insufficient handover when a responsible person resigns

Effects: Reduction of handover workload, improvement in customer satisfaction, decrease in overtime hours

Focusing on pre-designing manual creation and regular feedback

― Could you tell us about your company’s business?

Mr. Takahashi: Our company supports Japanese enterprises that have expanded overseas in areas such as taxation, accounting, and legal matters. Specifically, we provide services like bookkeeping, preparing financial statements, and applying for work visas.
We have currently expanded to 44 locations in 26 countries, and our clients come from a wide range of industries, including manufacturers, trading companies, and construction businesses. In Thailand, for example, the manufacturing industry accounts for 50%, trading and retail businesses for 20%, and the remaining 30% includes services, food and beverage, and other sectors.

― Could you explain the background of your utilization of Teachme Biz?

Mr. Takahashi: Actually, we introduced Teachme Biz in our company in 2016. It was part of our effort to standardize processes and build an organization that does not rely on individuals, as our overseas business was growing. However, despite creating manuals, they became obsolete due to poor management and were left neglected.
Despite these past failures, we resumed using Teachme Biz in 2022 as our overseas business continued to expand. We have been using it continuously since then.

Mr. Shuhei Takahashi, Managing Director

― What kind of issues did you face before using Teachme Biz?

Mr. Takahashi: Thailand has a high turnover rate, so we constantly have resignations. This led to the need for handovers, but information sharing was not going well, and the new person in charge often had to ask the customer, “How was this task being handled?” This situation did not inspire trust and led to missed tasks and complaints.

― So you decided to use Teachme Biz again to eliminate these negative factors. When you started using it again, were you concerned about it becoming obsolete once more?

Mr. Takahashi: Yes, there was that concern. That’s why we focused on the design of manual creation. We decided in advance who would create what kind of manuals and when they would be updated, and created a progress chart.
I and each team leader were involved in this design, and we checked the progress chart every morning without fail. The point we insisted on was to give the leaders a sense that “progress is constantly being checked,” so we provided frequent feedback.
By the creation of this progress chart and a thorough explanation of “why we use Teachme Biz” before its use, we were able to utilize Teachme Biz without it becoming obsolete this time.

― Could you tell us more about the explanation you provided?

Mr. Takahashi: At the time, the number of our clients was steadily increasing. However, if we simply increased the number of employees to match the increasing workload, the overall costs would also increase, and we wouldn’t be able to raise individual salaries. To reduce costs, it was essential to improve the productivity of each employee, and as one of the measures, we decided to accept student interns.

While providing actual work opportunities to these students, we aimed to improve the productivity of our employees by having them actively contribute as part of the workforce. To do this, it was necessary for them to quickly learn and reliably carry out tasks, and we called for using Teachme Biz to achieve this. By conveying the intent of its introduction and clarifying the benefits for them, we were able to get them to start using Teachme Biz smoothly.

[Sample Manual] Tokyo Consulting Firm’s SOPs on Teachme Biz Mobile App

Workload Reduction and Improved Work Environment

― Specifically, what kind of manuals are you creating?

K. Piyatida: We create separate manuals for each customer and for each type of operation. There are manuals for almost all tasks that arise, such as bookkeeping and visa extension applications.
They are also utilized for training interns. New interns receive basic knowledge from the HR department upon joining, and then they get accustomed to the tasks through on-the-job training (OJT) while referring to the manuals.

― What kind of effects have you seen from the introduction of Teachme Biz?

K. Piyatida: There are mainly two effects. The first effect is the reduction in handover workload. New responsible persons can understand what tasks need to be done and how to proceed by referring to the manuals, preventing any omissions. As a result, complaints, which used to occur with an 80% probability during handovers, have now reduced to less than 10%.
The second effect is the reduction in overtime hours. Work has become more standardized, and details can be checked at any time, making it possible to progress more smoothly and complete tasks without overtime. Before Teachme Biz was introduced, some employees worked until the date changed during busy periods, but now they leave the office by 19:00 at the latest. This improvement in the workplace environment has also led to a decrease in resignations.

Ms. Piyatida Kalaboot, Accounting Manager

― That’s an impressive effect. Have you received any feedback from employees who are actually using Teachme Biz?

K. Piyatida: There are mainly two effects. The first effect is the reduction in handover workload. New responsible persons can understand what tasks need to be done and how to proceed by referring to the manuals, preventing any omissions. As a result, complaints, which used to occur with an 80% probability during handovers, have now reduced to less than 10%.
The second effect is the reduction in overtime hours. Work has become more standardized, and details can be checked at any time, making it possible to progress more smoothly and complete tasks without overtime. Before Teachme Biz was introduced, some employees worked until the date changed during busy periods, but now they leave the office by 19:00 at the latest. This improvement in the workplace environment has also led to a decrease in resignations.

Improving the Training System to Attract Excellent Interns

― Do you have any future plans for using Teachme Biz?

Mr. Takahashi: I would like to increase the situations where interns utilize Teachme Biz. By promoting to universities that “our company uses such manuals, allowing students to quickly become active contributors,” we can secure more talented individuals.

Furthermore, we have interns contribute to refining the manuals. Currently, we have five interns who review the manuals and point out any unclear parts. By repeatedly updating them, we improve the quality of the manuals and enhance our educational system.

We often speak with people in accounting and general affairs of the customers, and in such departments, it’s not uncommon to find that manuals are rarely created. Also, it’s not unusual for Japanese expatriates in sales or manufacturing to leave the management tasks entirely to local staff, resulting in a black box situation. We want to make this process transparent and recommend the use of Teachme Biz to our clients to help visualize these aspects going forward.

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