Employee Roundtable (FY2022)

At our branch, we have customers of many different nationalities and ages. We strive everyday to address the various needs of all of our customers.

This year, we appointed our own "SDGs Leader" to greater promote our initiatives, selecting a Sales Department employee (Interviewee I) for the position. The SDGs Leader has run activities such as weekly study seminars, and our SDGs declaration was developed through discussion among employees under her leadership.

Recognizing the importance of a customer-oriented approach when carrying out our duties at the branch, we set initiatives related to the theme of "providing 'safe and secure' financial services to anyone and everyone throughout Japan," which is one of the Bank's priority issues (Materiality) that are based on the SDGs.

With war currently occurring in the world, we are painfully aware that not everyone is able to live their lives in peace. Japan Post Bank holds 120 million accounts, and we support Japan's infrastructure as a bank where most citizens of Japan are our customers. We believe that working to provide high-quality services to all customers equally is an effort we can make toward achieving the SDGs. This also expresses our intention to speak and act in a way that shows we care about all of our customers and fellow employees.

We are making a range of efforts in our daily work to ensure that we provide high-quality services to all customers equally.

For example, since we communicate through writing with our hearing-impaired customers, we have made two writing devices (one for customer use and one for employee use) available and have created a corner in the branch for communicating through acrylic sheets to maintain social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, all employees practice sign language every week at morning meetings so that we can provide a simple greeting.

Because we have customers of various different nationalities, we have instructions and explanatory materials available in each language, in addition to English, organized in a way that ensures we can quickly give them to customers. We also practice using POCKETALK (AI interpreting device) to ensure smooth communication.

After serving customers, we reflect on our service, considering whether our guidance may have been easier to understand if we had done things differently. In this way, we are always mindful of whether there are points for improvement. Our activities such as preparing documents in different languages in advance and learning sign language started as branch-wide initiatives based on the sharing of everyday observations among employees. By providing smoother service, we have increased customer satisfaction, and employees can feel rewarded in their work.

As a teller, I try to ensure that I provide the same level of service to all customers.

While it does take more time serve foreign customers due to language barriers, seeing the delight on their faces when their requests have been properly fulfilled makes me feel a sense of value in my work. Recently, after opening a bank account for a foreign customer, they came back to our branch with their friend and introduced them to me. It felt great to hear they mentioned to their friend that "If you go to Japan Post Bank, they can open an account for you and explain everything clearly and politely." It was an occasion where I felt that my customer service was contributing to expanding the Bank's circle of customers.

In addition, as we have senior customers who have trouble hearing or need extra time to reach the teller windows, we are mindful to provide appropriate service that meets their needs. For example, for those who have difficulty hearing, we speak more loudly, slowly, and in a lower voice to ensure that they can hear properly. We are also mindful to collect information useful for customer service, sharing it among all employees.

I want to see all of our customers smile and be the person who makes customers say thank you. I strongly feel that this mindset also contributes to the achievement of the SDGs.

As a Sales employee, I provide information on asset-management products that suit our customers' life plans, such as investment trusts.

One thing I always make sure to do before explaining products to customers is ask what are the most important things to them, or who are the most important people. They might mention things like "My car is important to me because driving is my hobby," or "I have an adorable grandchild who has just been born." By listening to them, I can better understand who they are, their thinking, and their lifestyles, and therefore be able to inform them of products that are right for them.

As online consultations have increased recently, we are supporting customers through efforts such as helping those who require assistance in setting up their computers and explaining how to use our services online. I feel this also helps to expand the banking choices for customers who have trouble leaving their homes, enabling them to use Japan Post Bank more easily.

In addition, as I am the QQ Sales Leader^*3 for Machida Branch, I strive to ensure that customer opinions are reflected in our service. I analyze the opinions of customers collected through surveys, considering what they would like to see and ways to improve our service.

*3:

"QQ" is an abbreviation for quantity and quality. QQ Sales Leaders were appointed at each branch in October 2018 with the aim of promoting customer-oriented business operations^*4.

I think we need extensive knowledge and skills. So that our customers can use Japan Post Bank with peace of mind, it is important that we deepen our employees' knowledge as financial experts in areas such as pension and tax. At Machida Branch, Sales Department employees have the Financial Planner Level 2 certification (FP2), and constantly work to improve their knowledge. In the workplace, fellow employees diligently pursue their study at mini study seminars that are held every week.

I also think that it is important to look properly at our customers and understand their different situations.

While we are always being mindful to prevent bank transfer scams at our teller windows, recently, an employee who felt that a customer's actions and transaction details were suspicious successfully prevented an incident of bank transfer fraud. I believe that the practice of looking properly at each customer to understand what their current situation is and provide closer service leads to the protection of customers.

The purpose of Japan Post Bank is to "We aim for the happiness of customers and employees and will contribute to the development of society and the region." For the Machida Branch, this means "contributing to enriching the lives of customers while each and every employee feels rewarded in their work." Our SDGs declaration expresses this ideal. With the digitalization of banking advancing, we are always thinking of what we can do as a branch to maintain the relationships of trust that can only be built in-person and ensure the peace of mind that we have always provided for our customers continues to be there.

Before I was appointed as branch manager, I worked in the investment trusts business department at our head office and was involved in sales strategy formulation and plan design for asset-management products. With the number of people using their smartphones to manage their assets by themselves increasing, what are Japan Post Bank's advantages? While there are customers who want to manage their assets by themselves easily using an app, there are also customers who want someone to politely explain everything until they understand. To meet the needs of both of these types of customers, Japan Post Bankis working to develop its digital channel, while also providing attentive consulting to customers at our branches at the same time. We have appointed a QQ Sales Leader at each branch who analyzes opinions or complaints that have been received when serving customers, taking them into account to improve our service. Through this, we are working to increase customer satisfaction, engaging in customer-oriented business operations.

The mission of our physical channel throughout Japan is to ensure that customers know that if they do their banking with Japan Post Bank, employees will consult with them directly and will kindly and politely provide suggestions and explanations. I feel that my role as branch manager is to work together with branch employees to achieve this.