"Let's co-create starting with people development" ~ Joint Internship engawa young academy

One of the new industry-academia co-creation initiatives launched at the business co-creation hub "engawa KYOTO" is engawa young academy (hereafter, eya). This is a long-term joint internship program running from November 2019 to February 2020. Over four months, 36 university students primarily from Kyoto co-created with mentors from six major companies across different industries to support the growth of students who will lead Japan's future. The participating companies are Shimadzu Corporation, Sekisui House, Japan Tobacco Inc., Panasonic, Mizuho Financial Group, and Dentsu Inc.

The program is jointly developed and operated by Link and Motivation Inc. and Dentsu Kyoto Business Acceleration Center. The Dentsu Inc. secretariat is managed by Hirotsugu Mantake and Minato of the Kyoto Business Acceleration Center. Hirotsugu Mantake introduces the first session held in November, along with the background and objectives of this program.

What is the "Team Building Work" filled with tension?

This eya program runs monthly from November 2019 to February 2020, with each session featuring specific objectives and key programs.

The first session in November focused on team building work, specifically consisting of two components:

1: Team Creation - Students Select Their Own Team Members
In group work, isn't it common for teams to be pre-assigned in typical internships? At eya, we conducted a work session focused on forming diverse teams of six members. This involved the following steps: participants considered their own personalities while selecting and nominating members, and those nominated then decided whether to accept (dubbed the Strategic M&A Meeting).

The goal was to provide students with the opportunity to think for themselves, gather information, and choose the team members most conducive to maximizing their own learning and growth within this program. Once it started, exchanges like "Please be on my team!" and "I'm sorry..." frequently occurred. We saw students proactively considering what kind of team members would stimulate their growth.

2: Teams Reverse-Draft Mentors!! Mentor Draft Meeting
Similar to team members, mentors were not pre-assigned. Instead, teams held a "Mentor Draft" where they discussed and nominated their own mentors.

First, the mentors presented themselves, sharing their career histories, work philosophies, and life perspectives without revealing their companies. Afterwards, mentors rotated among the tables for a Q&A session where students asked questions to help them choose their mentor.

Adults gave serious presentations while students selected their team mentors. This reversed the typical internship dynamic, requiring companies to feel the pressure too. Creating this environment served a purpose: first, like Team Create, it maximized learning and growth by giving students the chance to think independently, gather information, and make choices. Second, companies experienced being chosen by students, directly sensing their perspective. Companies, usually the selectors, are now being chosen by students right before their eyes. This high-pressure program has drawn comments from mentors like:

"It's very good that HR is being tested."
"Presentations from people in different industries were stimulating because they were so different from my own."
"I also felt it was a good opportunity to question my own true value."
(Feedback from participating companies)

We received these comments. We feel the first day's trial largely achieved its purpose in terms of the insights companies gained from being chosen by students, and the mutual stimulation not only among students but also between companies.

So why did we design the program this way? Let me introduce the background and objectives behind eya's development.

Toward solving talent challenges at major corporations

"Even when operating independently, the pool of students we could reach was becoming increasingly fixed."
(Participating Company Feedback)

In today's VUCA environment, companies are seeking new growth. Naturally, securing the necessary talent is essential to maintain and strengthen competitiveness in core markets where they excel. This is the foundation of corporate profitability. However, relying solely on talent acquisition from this perspective risks a shortage of personnel capable of driving initiatives for future growth. This is because most talent develops a positive impression of a company based on its core domain image, leading companies to approach only those who express interest.

It has become necessary to combine this with a different approach: how to attract talent who are not interested in the company through existing methods, and how to increase their motivation to join. In other words, isn't it important to bring the concept of open innovation—engawa KYOTO's concept of crossing the boundary with the unknown, transcending internal limitations to connect with the outside—into the talent domain for creating new growth businesses?

Benefits for Companies and Students in "Joint Internships"
 

"We don't want students to base their job search decisions solely on impressions. We want them to make informed judgments after receiving accurate information about our company and the industry."
(Participating company feedback)

The proliferation of information online has exploded, compounded by corporate mergers and expanding business domains, making the real state of companies increasingly complex. Understanding this information requires significant mental effort. Meanwhile, students accustomed to online recommendation features have accelerated their content processing speed, viewing information as something to be selectively discarded. Consequently, unless highly motivated, they rarely proactively seek information.

Consequently, students often process corporate images based solely on the knowledge they possess before job hunting. They may assume that "a major Japanese company" means:
・Seniority-based systems leave little discretion for young employees.
・They prioritize stability and don't provide opportunities for challenge.
This risks companies not even being researched, as students process them through these stereotyped lenses.

The Purpose of eya Development

In this context, eya is designed with the purpose of "cultivating talent," representing an approach distinct from the traditional "waiting for talent." Under the concept of 'co-creating through talent development,' it combines Dentsu Inc.'s idea execution capabilities with Link and Motivation's talent development expertise. Together with mentors from six companies, it aims to cultivate talent not only for corporate growth but also for Japan's new growth and global competitiveness. It seeks to hone the qualities of motivated students as future business leaders and innovators, supporting their growth. We believe this provides the following benefits for both companies and students.

Benefits for companies include:

● Securing access to talent beyond their own company's reach
By bringing together six companies from diverse industries, we create opportunities to engage with talent types that would be difficult to connect with through individual company efforts alone. This allows direct observation of their perspectives, mindsets, and behaviors.

● Learning student perspectives by being chosen by them
The core purpose of the Mentor Draft is for mentors to gain insights and awareness of today's students' candid perspectives through the process of being selected by them.

● Fostering cross-company connections and mutual growth within HR departments
In HR activities, it's rare to share the same time period with other companies. This also becomes a place where HR professionals from different industries stimulate each other and exchange insights.

Indeed, we have received the following expectations:

"It allows contact with groups outside our industry or typical target candidates—people we wouldn't normally engage with."
"This program, which fosters mutual growth not only for students but also for participating mentors, holds promise as a new approach to employee development."
(Participating company feedback)

On the student side, the benefits include:

● Input of corporate information that breaks down existing image barriers
Deep engagement with mentors and information from industries, sectors, and companies previously outside their field of vision broadens their perspective beyond just the six participating companies.

● Providing opportunities to shape their own environment through drafts and team creation
Avoiding a pre-set environment encourages more proactive participation in the program. While participants may often find mentors or team members not matching their preferences, we believe the process of figuring out how to leverage the team's strengths from that situation leads to growth.

● Building a future external peer network
You have four months to deepen bonds. This will connect you to peers outside your company after entering the workforce, forming a valuable network for business expansion and personal growth in the coming era.

These benefits are what we see now, but we believe the collaborative benefits in the talent domain extend much deeper. We aim to continue discovering and developing these unseen areas.

Finally, comments from Young Academy President Maeda EPD and our co-creation partner, Link and Motivation President Yohei Kashihara, who serves as Academy Dean.

We envision a story for engawa young academy. It's about our graduates entering the workforce, where the connections made here—with fellow eya alumni outside the academy, participating companies, and relationships with Dentsu Inc. Kyoto BAC and Link and Motivation—spark new business ideas. These ideas will be co-created and brought to fruition. To achieve this, we first want to fully commit to the intensive four months at engawa KYOTO, alongside all the students and mentors from participating companies.

Yohei Kashihara, Executive Director, Organizational Development Design Office, Link and Motivation
Dentsu Inc. Kyoto Business Acceleration Center Project Leader Hiroki Maeda EPD

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