Risako Suefuji: Blowing a New Wind into Career Changes with "BizReach"

Our group, Visional, provides services in the HR Tech field as its main business. However, as a whole group, our mission is "New possibilities, one after another," and we aim to leverage technology to promote DX (Digital Transformation) across various industries.

In the HR Tech field, our flagship service is "BizReach," a career change platform that connects ready-to-work talent with companies. Previously, when people thought about changing jobs, they could only learn about the options presented to them by consulting with agents. By registering on our platform, this service allows them to visualize their own career options and potential. We also operate various other businesses, such as "BizReach Succeed" for DX in the M&A field and "Trabox" for DX in the logistics field.

I have changed jobs three times so far, and this is my fourth company. To be honest, I have never once actively wanted to quit a company. In every case, I changed companies because of encounters and connections with people. This time too, while I was working at my previous job, a pharmaceutical company called GSK (GlaxoSmithKline), I happened to be on a panel discussion with our representative, Mr. Minami, and was invited through that connection.

As for why I joined a startup, one reason was that although I had built my career at foreign-affiliated companies, I always wanted to join a Japanese company someday. This relates to my upbringing, but I had a desire to help make Japanese society better in some way.

Also, I thought it was my last chance if I were to challenge myself at a startup, so I changed jobs just before turning 40. It looked like a company that was growing rapidly and enjoying change without fear, so I thought I could use my experience to help this company grow even larger and become one of Japan's leading startups.

CFO (Chief Financial Officer) is translated as "Saiko Zaimu Sekininsha" in Japanese, a role often referred to as the Head of Finance. CAO (Chief Administrative Officer) would be something like the Head of Administration. I see the CFO as the role that supports the business from an offensive and defensive financial perspective, and the CAO as the role that supports the business from the perspectives of corporate governance and productivity.

In other words, the CFO thinks from a monetary standpoint about how best to allocate management resources when the company expands its business, or what to do to protect the company during a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other hand, the CAO oversees areas such as legal, compliance, and general affairs, supporting everyone and helping the business proceed correctly.

The job market has continued to see double-digit growth over the past 10 years. As we move away from the era of working at a single company until retirement, changing jobs is no longer a taboo, and labor mobility is increasing. In fact, even in the United States, lifetime employment was mainstream when manufacturing was the primary industry, but labor mobility expanded as the economy shifted toward the service industry. I believe Japan will follow the same path.

Furthermore, corporate lifespans are becoming shorter due to technological evolution. Therefore, I believe the market will expand further in Japan as people stop assuming lifetime employment and begin to choose their careers more proactively.

However, I don't think lifetime employment is necessarily bad. If you can experience various roles within a company and achieve self-growth and self-fulfillment there, I don't think there is a need to change jobs. Changing jobs takes a lot of effort, and there is also the aspect of having to build your own brand and network of colleagues from scratch.

Actually, I never once walked a path thinking, "I want this kind of career." It's more like I faced the tasks in front of me with all my might, and when I looked back, this is how it turned out (laughs). I think the core of my career is finance. My strength, I believe, is having that plus the ability to plan something through business strategy and then see it through from an execution perspective.

First, I experienced M&A advisory at Morgan Stanley, where I learned to analyze things logically and stand before clients as a professional. My second company was GE, where I did "offensive" work involving not just numbers but also business strategy and marketing. I also learned the importance of leadership. After that, I returned to finance at GSK, where I later learned how management should think about internal controls, compliance, and risk management.

It's a case of one good experience stacking on another until the next opportunity arrived. Rather than choosing my jobs strategically, it just happened that way as a result. Thankfully, I have always been blessed with great bosses and colleagues, and I have enjoyed my work.

Certainly, when I am on the hiring side, if someone has changed jobs many times, I do ask for the reason. However, I think it depends on the reason. If it's for a positive reason, like seeking a more interesting opportunity or a chance to step up, and they have a track record of results, I don't think it's particularly negative.

Looking at it from the other side, I personally don't want to be the kind of person who clings to a company no matter how much I dislike it, and I want the people around me to feel the same. Ultimately, it's about finding a vocation, not just joining a company. I want to always look for a place where I can thrive and walk my career path actively.

Even among foreign firms, some have a Japanese culture while others have a global culture.

The companies I worked for were more of the latter. At GE and GSK, my bosses were non-Japanese, and more than half of my work was in English, so I worked in a global environment.

Diversity was a given there. People from different backgrounds—nationalities, genders, ages, and upbringings—worked together, so having different opinions was never viewed negatively. Rather, diverse opinions are an organization's strength. I think I learned a great deal from being able to work in such an environment.

Japanese companies usually have Japanese management and most employees are Japanese, so perspectives inevitably tend to be similar. In that case, it won't become a diverse environment unless there is a conscious effort to make it so. I think that is the biggest difference.

From now on, we are entering an era where employees will increasingly choose their companies. The pandemic has accelerated that paradigm shift; for example, whether or not remote work is possible can be a trigger for changing jobs. Companies must be places that are chosen by their employees.

This isn't about pandering to employees, but about how to provide a stage that attracts and retains attractive and talented people. I believe that will be a crucial factor in corporate management going forward.

As with the pandemic, in an era where uncertainty continues, flexible corporate management is required, and I think there will be an increasing demand for talented individuals who are personally flexible and resilient.

I was born abroad and spent my time in Washington, D.C. from age 0 to 3, and then received my education in Japan until the 3rd grade of elementary school. After that, I stayed in London for four years from 3rd grade until the 1st year of junior high. I spent from the 1st year of junior high to the 1st year of high school in Japan, then the 2nd and 3rd years of high school in San Francisco, and then Keio for university. I felt a bit like I had no roots.

You might not imagine it now, but I was originally very shy (laughs). So, my childhood was truly difficult. Because I moved back and forth between Japan and overseas every few years, my language acquisition was halfway finished each time.

However, things changed when I made the choice to go to San Francisco myself in my 2nd year of high school. My father was being posted overseas again, and since university entrance exams were approaching, my parents told me to "stay in Japan." At that time, I thought, "Why are you deciding my life for me?" and I left Japan before them to do a homestay abroad by myself for a while. There, the desire to make my own life choices and open up my own life sprouted. From then on, my personality became extroverted and proactive.

I am very close with my father, and I think I naturally grew up watching him. There was an incident in high school when I realized how big his influence was.

When I was at a high school abroad, I went to a nursing home once a week for volunteer work. I think I was mistaken for being Chinese there, but at one point, the moment it was understood that I was Japanese, a Chinese lady there yelled at me and threw a raw egg at me.

I didn't understand what had happened, and when I called my father that night, he talked to me about historical perceptions. He said that for that lady, there might have been unforgettable memories of what Japanese people in the past did to her family or those close to her. At that moment, I understood that "history," which had only been an event in a textbook to me, was still living today.

And when I thought that I wanted to become a global talent and a bridge between various countries so that such sad history would never happen again, I realized I was unconsciously very influenced by my father and wanted to become a diplomat.

My parents told me they wanted me to go to a Japanese university, but my mother is also a Keio graduate and spoke so happily about her student days that I had been influenced since I was a child. Also, I thought it had a very free school spirit, wasn't bound by molds, and would have a wide variety of people. Keywords like "independence and self-respect" and "Jiga-sakko" (being a pioneer) also matched my personality, so I wanted to enter Keio.

I myself have been deeply involved in the Rengo Mita-kai since graduation, and the strength of this alumni network is definitely one of Keio's strengths.

The connections I made in the seminar have continued even after graduation, and the training I received over those two years was very significant. In the Tamura Seminar, we naturally debated from various perspectives. We logically analyzed why the opponent thought that way and spoke from their standpoint. Being able to acquire the importance of always having diverse perspectives was very useful in my subsequent career.

I was thinking about becoming a national civil servant until around the end of my second year of university. However, in talking with my father, he said that while the influence of national civil servants used to be overwhelmingly large, from now on, the country could become stronger by the private sector becoming stronger, so I changed direction.

While job hunting with the desire to do work that would benefit Japanese society, I chose foreign-affiliated companies because I felt they were environments where I could grow as quickly as possible, and I chose foreign finance to first understand how the world's systems work.

I can't say anything grand, but looking back, what I think is that I want you not to be afraid of taking risks.

If you can just strip away the fear, I think you can challenge anything. My being able to enjoy my work like this now is the result of always taking the opportunities that rolled in front of me one by one, so I think it's important to try grabbing an opportunity if one comes along.

One thing is that "you should control your own life."

Also, in my daily work, I value seeing through the things I believe are right. If you do the right thing, the people around you will cooperate.

Even if it's something you couldn't do alone, if you have a correct axis, people will gather around you and you can achieve something together. I value the power of such colleagues, and I am always full of gratitude.