Tsutomu Kawanishi
Planning Group, Planning Management Section, ACT. Inc.
11th graduating class, the Graduate School of Project Design

Self-introduction, and my conviction

I am a person with a congenital physical disability. I worked as a teacher at a special needs school for many years. While doing so, I became convinced that everyone has a wish to be of use to other people, to work, whatever disability they may have and irrespective of its severity.

1. Overview of our company and management vision: to become an organization bringing excitement to 100 million people

ACT. Inc. (headquarters: Chuo Ward, Tokyo; Representative Director and President: Hiroshi Takeda; hereinafter “ACT”) was established in April 2021 as a special subsidiary company of NS Solutions Corporation (headquarters: Minato Ward, Tokyo; Representative Director and President: Kazuhiko Tamaoki).

The company’s name encompasses various wishes, such as for employees and the company to be active, and for each person to be a principal actor. At present, we provide office services to support more efficient administrative work by companies in the group, office management tasks to provide them with pleasant working environments, massage and other benefits for their employees, and community services to revitalize local areas. Based on our management vision, we bring together people with disabilities and those without to create things with new value, take on various societal challenges together with everyone involved with our company, and spread this circle of connections throughout Japan. Through such activities, we aim to contribute to bringing about a society in which we create together.
[Website: https://www.nssol.nipponsteel.com/act/]

2. The “work format” for employees with severe physical disabilities who work from home: what makes these employees feel excited

There are currently 13 employees nationwide who have severe physical disabilities and work from home. I would like to introduce what makes two of these employees excited.

Mr./ Ms. Y: He has severe disabilities of the upper and lower limbs. He lives with his mother, and had not been in touch with any support agencies since graduating from school. His mother has a mental illness. While making use of the services of a home helper for everyday tasks, he was active for over ten years drawing pictures and designs and entering these in competitions. He then went on to take IT classes at Tokyo Colony Career Skills Development Office, polishing his IT skills. I met with Mr. H, the head of Tokyo Colony Skills Development Office, and was introduced to Mr. Y. He wanted to work and live by himself, and after completing the interview process, he joined the company. His current performance is stable and he is contributing to our company. Recently, he is apparently into head massage, broadening the range of his leisure activities too. I am sure that he will continue to improve his skills, bringing excitement internally and externally.

Mr./ Ms. F: An electric wheelchair user who has ALS. Before developing the disease, he lived an active life playing soccer and as a DJ. As his disease progressed, his work tasks became difficult, and he spent around four years plunged into total despair. In the midst of this, he felt a desire to be connected with society through work, completed the interview process, and joined the company. Mr. F had ardent hopes of connecting with society and people in a real way, and of working in the office if possible. He believes that there is value in communicating this way of living to the world, and is in the process of writing his autobiography (photo). He is also planning a company radio show as an internal communication tool. Building on his experience as a DJ, I am sure that he will bring feelings of excitement to people inside and outside the company. Mr. F currently works in the office two days a week and from home three days a week.

3. Giving form to Mr. K’s desire to work: making people excited through a special project

At the same time as expanding our business, we needed to increase the human resources working on updating our website. We consulted with Mr. H, and were introduced to Mr. K. While severely physically disabled, Mr. K lives on his own, using the services of home helpers. Taking into account his physical state, he wanted to work for 20 hours a week, and this condition was respected when he was hired to start in February 2023, after completing the interview process.

Although I had some degree of knowledge of the use of home helpers during working hours, my understanding was lacking. I learned that Mr. K used the services of helpers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and that, on the basis of his desire to work, he was negotiating with the government of Ward X, the Tokyo ward in which he lived, about a “special project to support the employment of severely disabled persons, etc. through a collaboration with employment measures” (hereinafter, a “special project”). I first shared this information within the company, asking Mr. H, who knows a lot about special projects, to explain the system and the situation regarding Mr. K and Ward X, and deepening our understanding. We also arrived at the decision that in asking Mr. K to work for us, a special project was essential: our corporate guiding principles state that we should “act with our own health, safety, and peace of mind as our first priority”. As the result of negotiations between Mr. K and Ward X, we were told, “It is difficult for Mr. K to work using a special project right away, but we will do our best to implement one by August”. We held another internal consultation about this message with company officers and managers, and decided that a special project was necessary in order for Mr. K to work “safely and with peace of mind”, so we would move ahead with talks with Ward X.

Subsequently, the section head responsible for special projects at Ward X visited our company and gave us an in-depth explanation of the situation in the ward and directions for the future. He told us, “We create a task force, including staff from other sections, in order to make use of a special project”, and “There are other severely disabled people within the ward, in addition to Mr. K, who could possibly work through a special project, and we would like to create one together with you”. In reply, we told him, “We want Mr. K to join our company and work as part of our team as soon as possible”, “Having understood the situation in Ward X, we would like to set August as the latest date for Mr. K to join the company”, and “Enabling Mr. K to work safely and with peace of mind is the most important thing, and so we want to continue to learn and tackle this together”.

4. Co-creating feelings of excitement through public-private partnerships

Coordination between organisations, such as public-private partnerships or collaborations between industry, academia, and the public sector, are said to be necessary. The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare is also promoting partnerships between employment and welfare when it comes to the employment of disabled people. By each deploying their specific professional expertise while connecting organically, I believe that they can surely co-create new vistas in partnership. I feel excited as I wait for the day when Mr. K can bring feelings of excitement to our company and beyond, and to Ward X, on the basis of our management vision.

Comment from Mr. K

Care support while working provides an extra boost for me to work!
I first saw “working” as a choice available to me in October 2020. Until “special projects to support the employment of severely disabled persons, etc. through a collaboration with employment measures” were created by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, disabled people who need constant care faced a very high barrier when it came to being employed and working. This was because the use of publicly-funded care while working was not permitted under the welfare system until then. I was painfully aware that my own daily life and care support were inextricably connected, so even though I had the desire to work, I could not search for employment in fact. However, learning about the possibility of working while receiving care support through the implementation of these projects by local governments, working was finally able to enter my field of vision. After this, I received support to work from home for two years, had a fateful encounter with ACT, approached my local authority to run a special project, and there is now the prospect of putting one into place in the local government area in which I live from August. The company has also showed understanding, and I plan to join them in line with this schedule. I feel that it is very important for severely disabled people to regulate our physical conditions and environments in order to work. I am happy that I am able to start with a suitable environment and care support system which make it easier for me to work in place.

Edited and published by the Japanese Society for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities. Published on May 25th, 2023.