Takashi Nakajima, President and CEO of Skylark Restaurants Co., Ltd.

Aiming to be a company that grows together with employees who are like family

President and CEO of Skylark Restaurants Co., Ltd.　Takashi Nakajima(Hisashi Nakashima)

■ Profile
He joined Bamiyan Co., Ltd. in 1995. After serving as a store manager, education/area manager, and human resources officer, he was appointed as a director and group director of Bamiyan field operations at Skylark Restaurants Co., Ltd. in 2016. He has served as the company's executive officer and head of Bamiyan sales since 2018, and as the company's executive officer and sales policy/QSC improvement group director since May 2022, and has been in his current position since September 2022.

Nakajima Hisashi was the sales director of Bamiyan before becoming president of Skylark Restaurants. We spoke to him about his student days, his approach to his work now that he has moved from Bamiyan to becoming president of Skylark Restaurants, and his feelings towards his employees, whom he regards as like family, and how he develops them.

During my four years as a university student, I was busy working part-time jobs. I worked part-time as a mover from morning till night with a friend from high school. To be honest, I spent my student days focusing more on my part-time job and hanging out with friends than on my studies (laughs).
However, I think that because I was able to enjoy my student life, I was able to switch gears after entering the workforce and overcome any difficult or tough times that came my way.
This is Bamiyan Co., Ltd.
I'm from Saga City, but at the time there were no Bamiyan restaurants in Kyushu. In fact, I had never been to a restaurant called Bamiyan before joining the company. So why did I choose Bamiyan?
At the time, Bamiyan was recruiting students with the phrase, "Even if you have no experience in the food service industry, you can become a store manager in two years." I thought, "If I'm going to work, I want to do a job with responsibility as soon as possible," so this appealed to me and I joined Bamiyan.

■ Assign employees to higher-level tasks

The outcome of work can vary greatly depending on how much effort you put into it. This is true whether you are the manager of a single store or in my current position. If you continue to take action to make the store a good one, both the store and you will continue to grow. The best part of this job is being able to directly experience the fruits of your hard work.
The growth of the store is my own growth, and my growth is the growth of the store itself. I also love this job because I can grow together with everyone, and more than anything, I love my employees. Seeing everyone grow is what gives me the most joy. To that end, I don't assign employees to positions they can already handle, but rather I assign them to higher positions in order to help them grow. People grow most when they work with a sense of responsibility. That's why I want to create an environment where employees can grow through repeated failures.
The restaurant industry is also known as the education industry, and we have a particular strength in educating people. Skylark also conducts joint training across all of its brands. I also personally visit restaurants as much as possible. The president cannot stay at headquarters. I actively travel to the local area and strive to communicate effectively with employees.

■ Sensitively catch the changes of the times

Skylark has continuously created new restaurants tailored to customer needs. A major driving force behind this has been the spirit of challenge to "create new value." Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which has put all stores in a difficult situation and forced them to close, the company has continued to take on the challenge by changing the business model of its 3,000 stores nationwide from Gusto to Bamiyan, and from Bamiyan to Gusto, and even creating new business models. Skylark's strength lies in its ability to restructure in line with the changing times.
Another strength of Skylark, which has many brands, is its ability to protect and create jobs for employees in each region. I am always thinking about how to provide a comfortable working environment for my crew members. I place particular emphasis on labor management, and rather than saying, "I'm great because I work long hours," I actively encourage my employees to "go home early."

■Employees who are like family

I like to work with people who are positive and always have a learning attitude. Differences in experience are not important. I have interviewed many students myself, and they often talk about what they have done. However, working life is a much longer time than student life. In interviews, I try to pay attention to what people want to do in the future and what kind of attitude they will have toward work, rather than what they have done in the past.
After all, working with people who are striving to improve themselves is fun for us as well, and very stimulating. As I mentioned earlier, we have an environment where students can grow, so I would love for such students to come to our company. We have a wonderful relationship in which the company nurtures its employees, and our customers nurture their employees in return. I think of all our employees as family, and I am always grateful to them.

＊message＊

"Do things that you can only do while you're a student."
That's all there is to it. I want you to live your life to the fullest. Traveling abroad, traveling within Japan, participating in club activities, hanging out with friends, whatever the means may be. I want you to enjoy the limited time you have as a student to the fullest. Once you enter the workforce, your personal time will inevitably decrease. That's why you should enjoy the time you have now.
Also, some people may start doing part-time work or internships at their new employer once they have secured employment. However, there is no need to do that. You can do various things together once you join the company. Until then, I hope you will enjoy your time as a student to the fullest.

Student Newspaper April 1, 2023 Issue by Sakura Saeki, 4nd year student at Hosei University