QUICK Co., Ltd. President and CEO Ichiro Kawaguchi

Being appreciated by individuals and valued by the company, building self-confidence and growth

■ Profile

After graduating from university, he joined Japan Recruit Center Co., Ltd. (now Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd.), then served as Managing Director of Trans Cosmos Co., Ltd., before joining Quick Co., Ltd. in 2005, where he served as General Manager of the Recruitment Business Division, Managing Director and Executive Officer, before becoming Representative Director and President in 2019. In 2020, he also took on the current role of Representative Director and President of Career System Co., Ltd.

Quick Co., Ltd. operates a recruitment business with a unique structure based on the group management philosophy of "making everyone involved happy." President Kawaguchi told us that the fun part of recruitment is doing good work that is appreciated by individuals looking to change jobs and is valued by companies (BtoB&C). We spoke to him about his beliefs and what is important in his work.

During my university days, I was a member of the rowing club. The club had training camps for half the year, so my life revolved around club activities. When it came to finding a job, I set three criteria for myself when choosing a company. The first was whether the company would allow me, a person with average abilities and above-average motivation, to be trained and grow over the course of my career. The second was a company that would directly reward me when I did a good job, and the third was a company whose management philosophy was consistent with its principles and practices. Many companies have a management philosophy, but for me, a very important criterion for choosing a company was whether that philosophy was ingrained in all employees and was being applied in actual work.

■Three things to tell new employees

One is "Don't be afraid of failure." Failure comes from moving forward. He also says that failure is an asset and that you should praise yourself for failing.
The second is "Don't worry." In business, worrying doesn't solve anything. Think, act, act, think, and repeat this cycle to come up with ideas. Don't waste your time worrying.
The third point is, "I want you to do 101 things." 100 is work that you are told to do, but the next step is work that you do voluntarily. If you continue to do that voluntarily for a year or two, that attitude will become an important muscle in your business and a great asset.

■ Unique systems and employee growth

Many recruitment agencies employ a division of labor system, partly due to the benefit of quickly becoming effective candidates. However, I believe the fun and rewarding part of the recruitment industry is being able to act as an intermediary between individuals and companies, providing value to both parties and doing a good job that is appreciated by the individual and valued by the company. To realize this, Quick employs a unique, seamless approach. Each consultant handles both individual and corporate matters. If another consultant is responsible for introducing a company to an individual considering a job change, the two consultants collaborate to match the individual and the company. This system relies on teamwork and organizational strength to achieve a good job. It takes two years for new graduates to become our ideal consultants. While the time is extremely challenging, with constant learning through training and practical experience, we're happy with that. We believe that building strong roots in those first two years will have a significant impact on future growth in order to become valuable professionals who can contribute to society.

■The rewards and importance of recruiting

What is rewarding for me is seeing many members doing good work for the market, receiving recognition from customers, gaining confidence through accumulating successful experiences, and striving to become even stronger.
My joy will only increase if our employees' growth leads to better work, which in turn leads to the expansion of our business and the organization being able to do better work.
At Quick, our management philosophy is to "make everyone involved happy," and when we are unsure, we return to our philosophy and think about how we can get closer to that philosophy.
As a listed company, we value our stakeholders and want to be an attractive company in the eyes of various stakeholders. Of these, the most important thing is our employees. How quickly can we create an organization where employees feel fulfilled, grow, and are highly active? Because it is a service provided by people to other people, if employees do not feel pride and fulfillment in their work, it will not become a strong engine. We believe that the most important thing is to put employees first and to be an organization where employees are active.

■Message

There are three things we look for in our employees. The first is that they are highly motivated and have something that will drive their own growth.
The second is natural intelligence. It's not about academic background, but about being able to provide wisdom to solve various problems.
The third is someone who can work well as a team.
For new employees, everything is a first-time experience, so it is natural that they will make mistakes. They grow through a variety of experiences, and our company has the environment to nurture these people. Once you join the company, you become a colleague, and we have a culture where everyone helps each other grow.
I think that all university students should try to take on a challenge of their own, whether it be academics or sports, and try it thoroughly. You have a lot of free time, so you should keep trying new things. When you try new things, you may fail at first and have a hard time, but that will also be an asset.

Student newspaper October 2020 issue Ririko Suzuki, 2nd year student at Aoyama Gakuin University