Creating an environment where employees can concentrate on their work Creating an environment where employees can concentrate on their work Creating an environment where employees can concentrate on their work
I want to create an environment like the water and air – something that functions without being noticed.
Asano Shigeaki
Director, Environment Support Department
Shigeaki Asano was born in Hokkaido in 1967.
After working in frontline and sales positions in the construction and IT industries, he joined Nippon Design Center in 2006. He worked in the Computer Management Department until the Environment Support Department was established as a new department in 2006. He is responsible for preparing the environments for all Nippon Design Center equipment in Tokyo, Nagoya, and China, and for operation of the Print Center. Recently he enjoys going to musical performances with his wife, and to izakaya with his son.
Hello. I am Asano Shigeki from the Environment Support Department. In my previous job in a sales position, I rarely encountered creators and I thought that a design center would be filled with people like space aliens. However after joining Nippon Design Center, I saw all the designers and copywriters working hard doing what they wanted to do, and in the relatively short time of one or two months I started to like them and began to enjoy working with them.
One characteristic of environment support at a design center is that the work is extremely wide-ranging. There are times when I plan an environment for using computers, and times when I plan an environment for efficient deskwork. The fundamental objective is to create environments where the employees can concentrate on their work without thinking about unnecessary things. I think our goal should be to create environments that function without particularly calling attention to themselves by doing exactly what is expected of them, like water coming out after turning a tap, or like the air around us. As different employees have different ways of thinking and perceiving, I also want to find the points that are as close as possible to what each individual wants. I think of my work as being in support of all NDC employees.
I have been a fan of Bruce Springsteen and rock & roll since long ago. Both listening to and playing music are important parts of my daily life. Music is something in my life that goes beyond being merely a hobby. I was 13 years old when I first played an instrument, and have been playing the guitar for nearly 35 years. Whenever work permits, I am always practicing and performing. The other day, through someone I met at work, I participated in a session with a group of musicians who I had never met before. As we played, I watched the others and what they did, and thought about what I should do next while I played guitar. There may be some considerable similarity to environment support work, in which we have to look beyond what the other persons see and consider what they actually need.
When asked which is the real me, the person who works for environment support or the person who plays guitar, it is extremely hard for me answer. I believe that both are the real me as I live at work and in music.
