Administration - LINE WORKS

We carried out employee interviews through LINE WORKS Video call feature. After creating an environment where applicants from diverse backgrounds can participate without spatial constraints, we saw a significant increase in the number of applicants.

gdc_admin — Tue, 18 Jun 2019 01:00:06 +0000

Shijyonawate city, located in Osaka, used LINE WORKS’ video call feature for employee recruitment to provide interview opportunities for applicants in diverse living conditions, such as those who are on childcare, who are working full-time, or long-distance candidates. As a result, the number of applicants has increased significantly, drawing attention from local governments suffering from labor shortages across Japan. We interviewed Mayor Azuma, Arahori and Azuma from the Department of General Affairs to learn about how the interviews were conducted with LINE WORKS, and also how the communication tool was useful for the administrative agency.

Tell us about Shiyonawate City and your individual roles

Mayor Azuma :

Located in the north-eastern side of Osaka Prefecture, Shijonawate takes up a relatively small area of 18㎢, and is home to about 56,000 citizens. Around two-thirds of the city’s area is Mount Ikoma and is rich in green areas; it is also located in 15 minutes distance by subway from Kyobashi station, one of the main stations in Osaka. Taking office in January 2017, I am the mayor of Shijonawate.

Mr. Arahori :

I am in charge of hiring and salary related matters in the Department of General Affairs, Human Resources. When we were conducting video interviews in the recruitment process, I was involved in examining various tools, and also introducing and operating LINE WORKS.

Mayor Azuma :

Likewise, I am in charge of recruitment, salary, social insurance, healthcare and other related work in the Department of General Affairs, Human Resources. I was one of the interviewers during the video interview process.

We’ve heard that since Mayor Azuma took office, Shijyonawate has focused on introducing IT to administrative services

Mayor Azuma:

We introduced a system that enables citizens to report road defects through LINE@ and conducted employee interviews online, for the first time in Japan, but I do not mean to say that ‘IT is the best.’ Introducing IT was just a result of seeking which was better from a reasonable point of view. And while the premise is to make Shijyonawate a better place through these new initiatives, I do not believe that it has to end here. Shijyonawate will set a precedent by introducing IT and advanced systems, making it easier for other local governments to implement them. So under the belief that Japan as a whole will thrive, we are actively introducing new technologies and systems.

Tell us how you got to conduct employee interviews with LINE WORKS’ video call

Mayor Azuma :

To secure talented personnel we want as many people as possible to apply for the interviews—but recently, the administrative sector has also been suffering from labor shortages. When we were recruiting a deputy mayor in 2017, we tried conducting online interviews through collaboration with a private website specialized for people who want to change jobs, so that people living far away could participate without having to come a long way. This resonated with our city, and as a result we decided to conduct face-to-face interviews and video interviews at the same time for the 2018 summer employee recruitment, introducing new tools for online interviews.

Mr. Arahori :

After reviewing various communication tools for businesses, we decided that LINE WORKS is the best option because it is easy to use due to its similar interface with LINE, a service familiar with the general public, and because its security is guaranteed. One of the reasons for introducing LINE WORKS was because it has catered to our request that we would like to use the service only for a limited amount of time since we only use it for video interviews—in this way, we could cut down operating costs.

Please tell us about the video interview system using LINE WORKS, and some of the measures that were taken to guarantee security

Mr. Arahori :

We gave LINE WORKS accounts to applicants who had wished to have a video interview, via email before the interview. We used account names registered in LINE WORKS for candidate number to prevent personal information from being leaked. Moreover, we had to make sure that applicants would not reach each other through the network, so we used LINE WORKS’ function for access restriction to prevent searches for other accounts in ‘Contacts,’ and strengthened security.

During the interview, we checked identification by asking the candidates to show their driver’s license or verification slip delivered via email on the video call screen, and could carry on with the interview without an issue.

Mayor Azuma :

On the day of the interview, we prepared PC, camera, and a projector in designated areas in the city hall, and conducted video interviews by calling the applicants with our PC. As we had carried out test calls with every applicant in advance, there weren’t any problems like screen impairments or network errors, and we could carry out same quality interviews as face-to-face interviews.

An actual video interview

Applicant shown at the screen via video call

What kind of effects did you achieve by conducting video interviews?

Mayor Azuma :

29 people applied for the 2017 summer office staff recruitment; but for the 2018 summer recruitment where we carried out video interviews, 213 people applied, and we could feel its effectiveness by the seven-fold increase in the number of applicants. I think we were able to provide a more accessible environment for people to apply.

Mr. Arahori :

It would be great burden for people living far away to spend time and money to take an interview multiple times; and it’s not easy for those on childcare or working full-time to schedule job interviews. In the past, there was an applicant who had to give up on the interview because her child suddenly had fever. Hearing from applicants after the interview, we realized that many of them would have given up applying if the interview were not conducted online.

Mayor Azuma :

Many people took interviews in their own homes, but there were applicants who took interviews in a car, park and school. We realized that people from diverse backgrounds applied for the position. We believe that the significant increase in the number of applicants is a result of providing opportunities for applicants without spatial constraints.

How would you like to use LINE WORKS for job interviews in the future?

Mr. Arahori :

In 2018 winter employee recruitment, we conducted video interviews not only for office workers but also for professionals—and because a lot of people applied at that time as well, we plan to continue conducting video interviews. Our city advocates “The most convenient local government to apply for in Japan” on our website, and we will continue to spread the convenience of video interviews. I hope more people will be interested and send applications.

Labor shortage is a common concern for all administrative organizations, so local governments from various regions interested in our attempts are commissioning us for inspections and lectures. Video interviews can be conducted in any region, but I believe that it would be especially useful for local governments located far away from the city center. Since it would be cumbersome for them to come a long way to our city, we are considering using the video interview method to have inspections online.

Mayor Azuma :

The duration time for video interviews is designated by the city—but in the future we would like to respond flexibly to applicants’ requests for the duration of interviews in order to eliminate constraints not only in terms space, but also in time.

In what ways do you believe that pioneering attempts like adopting LINE WORKS will help Shijonawate?

For administrative tasks dealing with confidential information, we use a separate network from the Internet; but if we overhaul communication infrastructure in the future so that we can connect to the Internet securely, I believe that we will be able to utilize chatting tools like LINE WORKS among staff. I often go on business trips outside the city, and I think that work efficiency will be significantly improved if I can sign or approve documents outdoors. The fundamental role of the staff is to listen to the citizens and solve with imagination and creativity the problems to which viable solutions do not exist.

For civil servants, increasing the efficiency of daily work to ensure enough time to talk with the citizens is “Work Style Reformation” itself, and as a means to achieve this goal we would like to reduce overtime and conduct telework. If IT tools serve as an effective means to get to this goal, we will continue to actively incorporate them.

※All details, affiliations, and positions specified were gathered at the time of interview.

By establishing a connected system among Hamamatsu City Office and local medical institutions, we could bring about the early restoration of a large-scale power outage.

gdc_admin — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 05:33:26 +0000

Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture of Japan, is actively reviewing the medical aid system in preparation for tsunami caused by Nankai megathrust earthquakes. We adopted LINE WORKS to solve the problem of lost connectivity in the event of a disaster; previously, we had a telephone and wireless system as only available communication means. In this sense, we could witness a significant change when heavy rain in West Japan and large-scale blackout stroke. We interviewed Mr. Nishizaki from the Health and Medical Division of Hamamatsu City Office and Professor Yoshino, an emergency/disaster medicine specialist, about the process of introducing LINE WORKS and changes that came afterward.

Please tell us about your roles and responsibilities

Mr. Nishizak：

I take part in managing the medical policies and disaster medical treatment. Specifically, my responsibilities include implementing measures for the emergency medical system and preventing cancer and suicide. Therefore, I communicate with medical, dental, pharmaceutical, and other related associations regularly.

Currently, I oversee comprehensive disaster prevention and medical drills and act as a key medical aid liaison by improving the means of information exchange and strengthening collaboration among several medical institutions and organizations. Moreover, I monitor Nankai megathrust earthquakes activities in case a tsunami rushes in. Hamamatsu city covers extensive coastal and mountainous areas; therefore, we review the medical aid system based on such regional characteristics.

How did you deliver information in the event of a disaster?

Mr. Nishizaki：

Our city was equipped with fax machines, emergency wireless communications, and satellite mobile phones as a means of delivering information to medical institutions, and emergency aid centers in the event of a disaster. Unfortunately, we became well aware after Tohoku and Kumamoto earthquakes that the existing communication methods could not provide seamless and immediate information exchange that we need.

When the Tohoku Earthquake occurred, our city also sent the support team but experienced unstable connections due to consecutive aftershocks and had difficulty communicating with them. During the Kumamoto Earthquake, we tried using radio and e-mails, in both PC and mobile settings, but nothing seemed to work.

Mr. Yoshino：

All of the contact systems of medical institutions that we knew in our city were fixed-line phones. Thus, in September 2018, it was challenging to get the disaster information after a typhoon disconnected the entire phone line. We did have an alternative – to use a satellite mobile phone. However, the method requires considerable skills to operate and have critical disadvantages: it only has one line, and redialing is exceptionally complicated. In this sense, we might not be able to deliver the essential missing details from the first call. Furthermore, there are also issues with misunderstanding with audio delivery and time, as the information can only be provided to people on the phone.

Is there a reason why you considered establishing a network that includes medical institutions?

Mr. Nishizaki：

When the Great Hanshin earthquake took place, there was a significant discrepancy in the accommodation capacity of medical institutions. Indeed, some had plenty of room for accommodating patients while the others were full up to the limit; the unfortunate situation happened due to the lack of interconnected communication platform. In times of Kumamoto earthquake, the hospitals suffered physical damage and also the chaotic condition of not knowing where to transfer hospitalized patients. Based on these experiences, I felt a strong need to interconnect medical institutions.

We reviewed the establishment and empowerment of the network to save as many citizens as possible amid large scale disasters. At first, we decided to establish the disaster medical information network within medical institutions that may have a critical impact on patients’ life in times of power outage: emergency hospitals, dialysis, and perinatal systems.

Image of LINE WORKS used in the Hamamatsu City Disaster Medical Network

Why and how did you introduce LINE WORKS?

Mr. Nishizaki：

There were reports on how LINE was helpful in sharing information during the Kumamoto earthquake. With that in mind, we tested LINE WORKS during a medical aid training at the end of October 2017- the result was more than satisfactory. All satellite mobile phones and wireless emergency communications are limited to verbal interactions. However, we could save and access text messages with LINE WORKS. We believed that in a disaster situation, it would be helpful to have access to the text messages for later without checking immediately. Moreover, we were drawn by how the network included many medical institutions and people outside of Hamamatsu city; this allowed us to know which medical institution had access to the sent information.

The fact that we can easily send photos with LINE WORKS contributed to its implementation as well. During a large-scale earthquake, we can send the pictures of the medical aid box within the emergency aid center to let partners know which medical supplies are needed promptly and accurately.

LINE WORKS allows the admin to build systems. Our management staff can apply set rules and easily customize groups, names, and icons according to need. It also helped us build a network significantly since we could manage and distribute accounts and passwords to each medical institution. Such a management system is not attainable with LINE alone.

Could you explain in detail about how you use LINE WORKS?

Mr. Nishizaki：

In June 2018, LINE WORKS was formally proposed at the open network meeting and was introduced in July of the same year. Currently, IDs are issued from each institution, and the ones in use amount to approximately 180.

There were two cases that we put LINE WORKS into the field use. The first was the Heavy rain of July, Heisei 30 that occurred in July 2018. Hamamatsu city’s support team was dispatched to Hiroshima Prefecture and formed a group consisting of 30 related personnel via LINE WORKS. Information exchange was streamlined as we could share information reported in our city and receive the details of the situation of the actual site.

The second was the large-scale power outage caused by the influence of Typhoon 24 on September 30th, 2018. On the early morning of October 1st, Professor Yoshino, who was in charge of the disaster medical coordination in Shizuoka Prefecture, contacted me about the need to prepare for the disaster. Therefore, our city office urged each medical institution to enter the current state of damage in the EMIS (Emergency Medical Information System established by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare) via LINE WORKS. We were also able to input damage condition info in place of institutions that were not capable on their own; we would receive the updates on damage status to fill in the EMIS with LINE WORKS. By October 1st, the smooth connectivity among all parties enabled us to grasp most of the power outages of medical facilities in the city.

Mr. Yoshino：

We were glad to achieve responsive communication through LINE WORKS and prevent the worst scenario of not knowing the damage information properly. Notably, it was beneficial to seamlessly collect the damage information from gynecology, dialysis, and psychiatry facilities; such institutions were vulnerable to the adverse effects of a blackout on patients. Furthermore, we would provide each medical institution of the information about power outage situations and priority plans collected by the Shizuoka Prefectural Government. Simultaneously, medical facilities would share their condition and availability to take patients. Thanks to LINE WORKS, we could quickly identify and make lists of medical institutions experiencing a power outage and request early power restoration to the Hamamatsu City Office Crisis Management Division. Also, the electric power company could start the immediate restoration process with the given lists.

What has changed since the introduction of LINE WORKS?

Mr. Nishizaki：

Hamamatsu City Office is now better equipped on disaster management and has a higher level of emergency preparedness. When a disaster strikes, our city staff and medical personnel need to change the stance as if turning a switch instantly. With the help of Professor Yoshino, we were able to turn the responsive switch promptly. We could take action early in the morning by contacting medical institutions to figure out conditions.

Mr. Yoshino：

It felt great to connect with medical institutions with LINE WORKS rather than a call that did not work. I believe that group chat feature brought a positive change by creating a communication hub to share information among gynecology, dialysis, and psychiatry facilities. If we cannot divide them into groups, we might be confused, bombarded with irrelevant info.

How do you plan to use LINE WORKS in the future?

Mr. Nishizaki：

We want to fortify the close ties among Hamamatsu City Office and medical facilities for the city’s mission: preventing the dispersion of contagious diseases during a disaster. Also, with LINE WORKS, we believe that the Hamamatsu City Health Environment Research Center can deliver recent epidemic disease reports or carry out training against infectious diseases. The research center already publishes the report on the epidemic diseases study. Lastly, we look forward to promoting the engagement within the network further as well.

※ All details, affiliations, and positions specified were gathered at the time of interview.