An earlier post (Click) introduced how during Covid-19, LINE moved to 100% online work, including for onboarding new LINERs. Today, that training and orientation is conducted in a hybrid of online/offline form, as part of the LINE Hybrid Work 2.0 system.
The overseas training program is a particularly important part of the new hire onboarding processes, as it lets us give our newcomers an international taste of the company and show them how LINE operates in other markets, helping them to become true LINERs. In the beginning of 2020, the program was suspended because of Covid-19, but it resumed from the end of last year with the easing of regulations on overseas travel.
As a result, over 100 new LINERs left for Japan in February 2023. Here we would like to give you a glimpse on what this special experience was like for our newest LINERs!
Day 1: Discovering the Yotsuya Office in Tokyo
Departing for Japan
Early in the morning, our new hires gathered in Gimpo International Airport in Seoul, everyone wearing I’m a LINER T-shirts. A short flight to Haneda Airport in Tokyo, and soon everyone was on the bus to LINE’s Yotsuya office.
Yotsuya Office Tour
Through the office tour, it was interesting to see the environment where our colleagues in Japan work and compare it to the Korea office. As the head office for LINE Corporation, the Yotsuya office features a hot-desking system, much like the main Korea offices in Seongnam, offering all the LINERs there maximum flexibility and efficiency. (And, as you can see in the photo, it seems like Moon and Leonard are in charge of cleaning Yotsuya Office!)
As the Yotsuya Office is the tallest building around, it offers splendid views from nearly every angle and from every part of the office. Inside the office in the FIELD30 area, there was a fascinating wall composed of only whiteboards, allowing people to write anything, any time inspiration took hold. With the wide range of comments left all over the wall, along with drawings of LINE Friends characters, we really got a sense of the free and open atmosphere in the Tokyo office. Plenty of our new LINERs took the opportunity to pick up a pen and add their own comments to the wall.
LINE Corp. introduction and session on LINE services
Afterward that initial tour, we moved on to a series of lectures about LINE, including a company introduction, a talk about LINE’s development culture, and talks on various services offered by LINE Corp. We learned about the services that require close collaboration between the different offices, such as LINE Messenger service, and the mission for the teams providing services with special goals on LINE APP LINE Official Account, LINE GIFT, and LINE NEWS, as well as the key vision LINE has for the future.
The new LINERs took plenty of notes on all they learned in those sessions, saying they were looking forward to collaborating with the LINERs in Japan.
Meeting Japan’s new LINERs
During our visit, we also had the chance to chat with many new LINERs in Japan! Several new hires from LINE Corp. asked questions and talked about their feelings about working together. Despite having different nationalities, we realized that all us new hires had similar questions and thoughts.
/ View from a new LINER /
One of the new hires from LINE Corp. in Japan, Kohei-san, said we could contact him separately if we had any questions and we exchanged our LINE IDs. On the second day of our trip, my group invited him to hang out in the evening, and we all talked together for nearly two hours. Despite the language difference, we were able to use a mix of English, Japanese, Korean and body-language to communicate surprisingly well. In the end, talking with Kohei-san really helped us see many things about LINE, like its position and image in Japan, along with some of the cultural differences between South Korea and Japan. It was great to have a chance to share our experiences like that.’’
Day 2: On a mission to learn about Japanese and global trends in IT
Experiencing IT trends
For three weeks before the new LINER trip to Japan, everyone worked together on finding locations around Tokyo we should check out. On day 2 of our trip, our teams got the chance to put that research into practice, visiting all sorts of fascinating locations in Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya, and more.
We tried out the hip unmanned stores that are so popular among today’s young people, selecting drinks on our mobile devices and then picking them up; cafés where humans and robots work together (Japan, after all, accounts for 45% of the global industrial robot market), and an environmentally friendly used-clothing store. The new Korean LINERs spread out wide across the city and immersed ourselves in the latest trends.
Trying out LINE services
One great part of being in Japan was the opportunity to check out a whole bunch of services that are only available there. We live-streamed our explorations, like making a wish at Meiji Shrine or just picking up coffee. It was very exciting.
In addition, we got to experience just how easy it is to pay for things using LINE Pay at any store in Japan. LINE Pay is popular in many countries, but it isn’t available in Korea, so this was a very useful hands-on experience.
Also super important — eating! We used LINE Place to search for nearby restaurants, reading all the reviews to find the ideal spot. We even wrote our own reviews and even earned points!
In addition, we made a point of interviewing real Japanese users on the street or subway, getting first-hand feedback about what they like most about LINE. At first, it was a bit awkward, but it was such a valuable opportunity to hear the voices of local users — after all, the first keyword of LINE STYLE 3.0 (click) is that Users Rule. Nothing beats hearing directly from the people who use our products.
Day 3: Wrapping up the training with warmth and pride!
An unforgettable meeting with GCPO Jungho Shin
On the last day of the training, we were very impressed to meet Jungho Shin, founder of LINE and Group Chief Product Officer (GCPO) of Z Holdings Co., Ltd. The seminar room where new LINERs were gathered was filled with colorful paper bags, filled with unexpected gifts from Mr. Shin. Among those presents, the chopsticks gift stood out. In Japanese culture, a gift of chopsticks is called "hashi", which means "path" or "connection." In this sense, a gift of chopsticks are said to be given to build special relationships with each other in the future. After receiving such a heartfelt gift from Mr. Shin, all the new LINERs were all the more determined to create WOW services together.
Mr. Shin also held a Q&A session. When asked, “What do you feel the most proud of at LINE?", he answered, "I feel the most proud whenever I meet new hires," deeply impressing everyone in attendance.
Proposing a new LINE service!
On the last day of training, we had a session to share our experiences from the second day, and even proposed new LINE services based what he learned. Everyone came to realize that, even if we see the same thing, how we feel varies greatly. But what was most important was the chance to gain a deeper perspective of LINE users that we could use for our work.
The ideas proposed in that session were shared company-wide through LINE’s internal bulletin board, encouraging all the new hires with the heartwarming comments from the more senior LINERs.
SPECIAL THANKS TO
In the end, the new LINERs said the most meaningful part of the training was experiencing the entire process with their peers. Through the various onboarding experiences at LINE, everyone was able to build a solid foundation in understanding LINE as a company, how it works, basic work skills, networking and more. This overseas trip provided hands-on experiences, deeping our understanding of the company and its services even more. We look forward to and support the journey of new LINERs who will take charge of LINE services in the future!
※ Please note that the details described in this article may not apply to all offices.
