Restructuring internship - Bureau of Waterworks Tokyo Metropolitan ...

Restructuring internship ~ Implementation of fostering and training
programs for instructors
Bureau of Waterworks, Tokyo Metropolitan Government
1. Background of restructuring
(1) Retirement of a huge number of experienced personnel
The so-called “2007 Problem” is
年 Age 齢 ((years)
歳 )
getting a lot of publicity in the
61
64
60 42
59
120
media recently. For the Governor
58
196
57
159
56
Bureau of Tokyo Metropolitan
148 160
55
54
145
53
151
52
177
Government and the other local
51
176
50
187
49
142
authorities, the term “2007 Problem”
48
99
47
126
46
95
seems to indicate the problem of
45
77 94 97
44
43
42
temporary increase in the payment
100
41
87
40
68
39
96
of retirement allowances. The term
38
109
37
110
36
114
for the Bureau of Tokyo Waterworks,
35
155
34
175
33
however, points out another
169 183 191
32
31
30
121
29
problem: difficulty in the succession
28
27
26
of clerical and technical know-how.
Fig. 1 shows the age-wise personnel
1 9 20 33 54 69778494 25
24
23
22
21
0 50 100 150 200 250
structure of the Bureau of Tokyo
Number of employees 職 員 (persons) 数 ( 人 )
Waterworks, indicating clearly the
Fig. 1
imminent massive retirement of
experienced personnel. The would-be retirees en mass belong to the so-called
“baby-boom generation,” and are the employees recruited in the later half of the 1960’s,
which was an expansion phase for the Bureau of Tokyo Waterworks. That was a period
of “expansion after expansion” in order to meet with the rapidly increasing water
demand. The employees in those days were engaged directly in water supply work, and
had a strong technical background because they had to deal with the frequently
occurring accidents, etc. Most of the employees in those days were “the people dedicated
only to waterworks.” This generation was succeeded by the people in their 30’s,
so-called “the junior baby boomers.” People of this generation were employed during the
“management age,” and because of the increase of the commissioned work, these people
had fewer chances to get directly involved in waterworks job. Further, because of the
remarkable progress made in the maintenance of facilities, they had fewer chances of
encountering and experiencing accidents, etc. In addition, the interofficial exchanges
such as senior system, etc. and the frequent transfer of personnel within the Bureau
deprived them of the chances to remain in the same post over a long time, thus
reducing the number of employees “dedicated only to waterworks.”
In other words, the veteran employees who have so far worked as instructors of
Copyright 2007 Bureau of Waterworks, Tokyo Metropolitan Government. All Rights Reserved
8-1 Nishi-Shinjuku 2-chome, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan

on-job-training (OJT) at each workplace and who were advisors at the time of accident
or trouble, are soon going to quit the job and leave the workplace all at a time.
(2) Promotion of consignment and deprivation of practical experience
The water supply business is not an exception to the big trend of the times, i.e. “from
the government to the private sector,” i.e. “what can be done by the private sectors
should be left to them.” In addition to the construction works, etc. that have long been
carried out on contract basis, commissioned works performed by expert minority are
increasing in various fields of the water supply business for effective business
operation. Nevertheless, in spite of the increasing number of commissioned works,
there are some jobs left; for instance the job of commission supervision; and, after all,
the Bureau of Tokyo Waterworks bears the ultimate responsibility of round-the-clock
distribution of “safe and high-quality water” to the customers. The capacity to lead, on
the part of the staff doing management and supervision of the commissioned enterprise,
will become all the more important in the future.
In the supervision of a commissioned enterprise the “practical experience” is not an
essential requirement. However, the opinions from the worksite or the reports of
training courses suggest that the “practical experience” does make a difference. In
other words, the capability of an employee to lead the enterprise depends on whether
he/she has practical experience or not. But, with the commissioned works increasing in
number, there are fewer chances for the employees (staff) to perform the job directly in
the workplace, which may lead to the “degradation in the capability of leading and
supervising the enterprise on the spot. Hence, the “pseudo experience” in the training
site becomes increasingly important.
2. Measures for restructuring internship
(1) Drawing up the “Training Plan 2005”
On the basic concept of long-term
effective cultivation of human
resources, we drew up and
announced the “Training Plan
2005” in December 2003 after
making a thorough review of the
training system, etc. Based on
this plan, we restructured
internship (practical training
program) for training so as to
provide required ability
depending on the “years of
experience” in the task the person
is engaged in.
Image of internship (Engineer) with distinct levels
Goal of training
Advanced training course
Ability to lead and cultivate personnel and private enterprise
Intermediate training course
Ability to perform the task by self decision
Lecture
Ability to perform the task as instructed by the supervisor
Intermediate training course
Training for the newly-appointed Lecture Real experience
Lecture Real experience
Basic knowledge about waterworks
1 month
6 months
Copyright 2007 Bureau of Waterworks, Tokyo Metropolitan Government. All Rights Reserved
8-1 Nishi-Shinjuku 2-chome, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Fig.2
Lecture 座 学
Simulated 擬 似 体 験
experience
Simulated experience
3 years
Concept
Overall control
and response
to trouble
Correspondence
to
Case of failure
Case of trouble
Clear vision of
training objective
Target number of years
5 years

In restructuring the internship, we set the objective as “acquisition of the basic ability
required for performing the clerical business of the Bureau without fault” instead of the
conventional objective as “sequential training,” and the programs conventionally
planned and operated by each concerned business department were included in the
Bureau-sponsored training program.
Working groups both in clerical and technical fields were organized and after the study
period of about a year, a review of the training system was made. For technical field,
efforts were made to create an image of the role of internship by distinguishing the
levels respectively for newly-appointed staff and other personnel from beginner class to
advanced class as shown in Fig.2.
During the process of study on the restructuring of the internship, a thorough and
drastic review was made from the standpoints of “the clerical and technical abilities
required for steady succession of the Bureau’s business” and “the methods required for
the steady and effective succession.” As for the “required abilities,” we sorted out all of
the clerical and technical jobs performed daily by our staff, and ranked the required
minimum level of ability to perform the job as “Beginner Course.” Next, in order to
“standardize” the contents and methods of training, we made study on them by
cultivating instructors for the training.
(2) Planned implementation of training for instructors
In considering the elaborate contents and methods of training, we have started planned
implementation of a program called “training for instructors” ahead of schedule since
FY2004 to train the instructors for internship. A total of 400 instructors—
234 persons in FY2004 and 166 persons in FY2005—were trained and, on finishing
their training courses, they received the “Certificates” from the Bureau Manager. These
people are actively engaged as instructors in the internship program that started in
FY2005 after the restructuring. Fig. 3 shows the curriculum for the instructor training
course, composed mainly of two major factors, namely “creation and review of
curriculum and textbooks” and “training on presentation.”
Copyright 2007 Bureau of Waterworks, Tokyo Metropolitan Government. All Rights Reserved
8-1 Nishi-Shinjuku 2-chome, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Schedules Execution time Days Subjects Contents
General training 1 Around the
0.5 day
・In opening the course
・Importance and significance of an instructor
middle
August
of
・Method of proceeding the “Training Course
for Instructors”
・ Instructor’s skill
・Instructor’s role in training
(Introduction)
・ Instructor’s skill (technique) [classroom
lecture]
*Technique introduction is subject to omission.
(Voluntary work)
September ~
Collective
Review of textbook
Creation and review of the concerned
・ Creation and
November
training:
textbook
improvement
of
Once
or
2Creation and improvement of lecture
textbook
twice
a
plan (lesson plan)
・ Preparation of
month
lecture plan
* Each instructor shall make a review on the subject he/she is in charge of before making adjustment after
getting together in groups.
Power point training October ~ 1 day Power point ・Preparation of sheet
(Applicants only) December
・Slide-show playing
・Animation setting
Instructor technique October ~ 2 days Teaching method Effective presentation and method of
(Compulsory)
December
giving lecture
General training 2 February 0.5 day Cultivating human ・General lecture (Enhanced motivation of
resources
would-be instructors)
・Awarding the “Certificate for Instructor”
Fig. 3
1 Selection of candidates for instructor training course
Officials of the levels of Assistant Section Chief and Chief Clerk have so far been
appointed as “pinch hitters” for training the instructors instead of the full-time staff of
a Training Department, with the instructors for training involving skill confined only to
specific staff.
After making a thorough study of the aforesaid background as well as of elaborate
contents and methods of training during the training course for instructors, we decided
to choose experienced staff “working in the front line in the site” and “well versed in
the business” as the instructors. In selecting the instructors, the opinion of the
“Training Promotion Committee” made up of the people of the level of Section Chief in
the Bureau of Tokyo Waterworks was used for reference.
Fig. 4 shows the result of the selection of instructors, with the selection of instructors
for technical course being close to the image. In the case of clerical course, however, the
selected instructors are mainly the young staffs of the Bureau of Tokyo Waterworks.
This is probably because the contents to be taught in clerical course were virtually
decided to be the clerical procedure (manual).
Copyright 2007 Bureau of Waterworks, Tokyo Metropolitan Government. All Rights Reserved
8-1 Nishi-Shinjuku 2-chome, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan

Fig. 4 State of acknowledgement of instructors (As of April 1, 2006)
Job-wise personnel (person)
Clerical field Assistant Section Chief and Chief 28
Clerk class
Chief (Senior) staff class 31
Average age
(years)
37
Technical field
General 21
Assistant Section Chief and Chief 266
Clerk class
Chief staff class 28
General 5
48
2 Making curriculum and textbooks
During the course of training, curriculum and textbooks are made as per concerned
subject mainly through group-wise voluntary training. A thorough and comprehensive
study is conducted on the elaborate “clerical and technical” items for succession, and
compilation of the contents and methods of training for “Beginner Course” into a
manual is promoted as viewed through the eyes of a real instructor. In other words, we
are asking the expert staffs to put the “contents in their minds” into documents and
videos to leave them as “something substantial.”
In the first year 2004, some subjects had to be started from the blank, and the
instructors seem to have had a hard time having to do voluntary training 5 or 6 times.
Even in the case of the subject that had been available since long and the items that
had so far been taught, a review was made
to check and see if they are really required 3 Operation procedures
at this time for effective succession, before (For replacing a φ25mm saddle snap tap
with a φ25mm saddle tap)
sorting out the minimum required items.
1) Fix the saddle snap tap exchanger base plate to the saddle snap tap
with U-shaped bolts.
As for the contents of textbooks, pictures
and illustrations were effectively used in
the textbooks for skill practice in order to
meet with our request of a textbook “easy
2) Install the saddle snap tap exchanger top plate onto the saddle snap tap
to understand simply by seeing (reading).”
exchanger base plate.
The examples are shown in Fig. 5.
For the training method also, the debating
style based on case examples was
3) Install the drill adapter (improved type) for saddle snap tap.
preferably adopted than the didactic style.
In the case of technical course, the
contents and objectives of the training
facility were thoroughly familiarized so as
to make the most effective use of the
Fig.5
newly built training facility for skill practice.
Copyright 2007 Bureau of Waterworks, Tokyo Metropolitan Government. All Rights Reserved
8-1 Nishi-Shinjuku 2-chome, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan

In the new training course, the trainee is allowed to experience valve operation and
make visual check of valve operation using the cut model of valve in addition to doing
the drill on emergency water supply at the time of disaster.
3 Presentation method
The second major point of the training for instructors is “to acquire the teaching
technique.”
Most of the expert employees tend “to abound in knowledge and experience, but are
poor at transmitting them to others and at speaking in public.”
From the viewpoint of age, transmitting knowledge and experience from baby boomers
to baby-boomer juniors, wide apart in age, is a hard nut to crack. Under such
background, a variety of techniques are needed for effective teaching.
It is for this reason that the visiting instructors are invited as shown in Fig. 6 to give
lecture on the usage of power point and on the presentation skill to allow the trainees
to “acquire the teaching technique.”
In the presentation training, steady learning process is adopted. For example, a trainee
gives a mock lecture, which is videotaped for the trainee to check and confirm the
contents of his/her own lecture later. This type of training is mainly carried out
particularly in the clerical course, where there is hardly any need of making curriculum
or textbook.
Day and time Subject Instructor (Lecturer)
1st 9:00 Orientation (Lecture): Three basic rules of learning Instructor invited from
day
Role of instructor and development of ability outside
(Lecture): Technique of instruction
(Communication Academy)
Visual method (Lecture): Effect of vision, visual
software, etc.
12:30
13:30 Preparation for guidance and training
(Lecture/Training): Lesson plan making
Basic training (Training/Individual guidance): Lecture
training, study, improvement draft making, etc.
Each individual making and reviewing the documents
for announcement such as power point, resume, etc.
17:00
2nd
9:00
Applied training 1 Training/Individual guidance):
Same as above
day
Correction (Creation) of lesson plan, lecture training,
12:30
etc.
13:30
Applied training 2 (Training/Individual guidance):
16:45
Lecture training
Summarization (Lecture)
Fig. 6
Copyright 2007 Bureau of Waterworks, Tokyo Metropolitan Government. All Rights Reserved
8-1 Nishi-Shinjuku 2-chome, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan

(4) Implementation of the restructured internship program
After the restructuring, the number of internship courses in both clerical and technical
fields counted 57 courses, all performed by the trained 379 instructors (400 instructors
were acknowledged, but some were transferred to the other bureaus). The list of
instructors is disclosed to the people in management level for effective utilization also
in OJT.
At the beginning of the training, the trainee is first of all explained about the “object”
and the “target achievement level.” Especially in the case of the training for piping
work and facility repair work, since staffs don’t have to get directly involved because of
the consignment system, both the instructors and the trainees require awareness about
the necessity and significance of the internship. This is because a question arises here
about the need of acquiring training on a work which has nothing to do in the
workplace.
One of the significances of the training program is that the training can improve the
ability of supervising the commissioned enterprise. In the job of construction
supervision, we often come to realize for the first time the knack for leading (guiding)
the enterprise only after we experience doing it ourselves.
The second significance is to maintain the crisis management and accident response
ability of the staff which is in danger of getting degraded because of the promotion of
consignment. The staffs are forced to deal with the problems at the time of disaster
irrespective of their job type, and therefore the course is explained as a “practical”
training for acquiring the required ability.
In the future we plan to replenish and furnish the textbooks, and build up a sure and
effective system for technical succession by distinguishing the items to be succeeded in
the workplace and those through collective training. We are actually thinking of
registering the contents of training (images) and the contents of textbooks in the
Knowledge Library to allow easy access and search even at the workplace.
(5) Review of contents and methods after the 2nd year
We have been implementing the internship program restructured in 2005, and
providing cultivation and training courses for instructors. For sure and effective
succession of clerical and technical know-how, however, it is necessary to make a
constant review of the contents and methods based on the results of the training.
In other words, it is necessary to make the so-called PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle
function. Among these, the C part addresses a problem: “at what stage” to check the
training results.
So far, the “results” of the training has been judged on the basis of the “lecture report”
submitted by the trainee immediately after completion of the training. However, a
problem arises here: can only the training “evaluated good” by the trainee immediately
after the training course be actually called a “good” training Based on these facts, we
Copyright 2007 Bureau of Waterworks, Tokyo Metropolitan Government. All Rights Reserved
8-1 Nishi-Shinjuku 2-chome, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan

are sending questionnaires again as an experimental case, to the trainees some 2 ~ 3
months after completion of the training.
3. Effect of restructuring and future problems
(1) Effect of restructuring
As described above, the internship program has entered its second year after
restructuring, and the training course for instructors has entered its third year, with
the programs just getting on the right track. Of course the effect of the training after
restructuring does not appear in a day or two. However, as the restructuring was
carried out mainly through “cultivation and training of instructors,” our staffs could at
least argue the issues such as “what clerical and technical items to succeed for steady
succession of the Bureau’s business” and “how to succeed such items surely and
effectively” from the viewpoint of “training,” and we take pride in that the issues have
become clearer in terms closer to the on-site needs.
(2) Future problems
On the other hand, several future problems have also come to the surface.
1) Ranking and contents, etc. of intermediate and advanced courses
We have just started with the intermediate training course for technical field, so as to
implement the program within FY2006. Once we started our study, we ran head-on into
a difficult problem: we do have the image as shown in Fig. 2, but actually what kind of
“technology” can be called intermediate-class technology
2) Ranking of “instructors”
Currently, the staff who completes the training course for instructors is awarded a
“certificate,” and is assigned to play an active role of an instructor. On the other hand,
the expert staffs assigned as instructors, are still engaged in their work in the front
line as the nucleus of the workplace. On top of it, such staffs have no advantage by
doing the instructor’s job and are not well understood in the workplace. They have no
“allowances” or the like as the instructors, and are apparently doing the job on
“honorary basis.”
To this regard, we are determined to raise awareness of all employees and to make
them realize, through the initiative of the Training and Development Center, that the
training instructors are in no way doing off-the-job activity, but that they are playing
one of the key roles in the Bureau: the role of “sure and effective succession of clerical
and technical know-how.”
Copyright 2007 Bureau of Waterworks, Tokyo Metropolitan Government. All Rights Reserved
8-1 Nishi-Shinjuku 2-chome, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan