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Word of the Day: Esprit de corps
Not too long ago, there was a time when the esprit de corps* in Japanese businesses was extremely high.
Esprit de corps is a French term used in English to describe the feeling of camaraderie and morale that members of a group share.
Times are changing in Japan.
Employees were proud of their company and loyal to each other and the company itself.
Likewise, the company was loyal to its employees and provided them with suitable lifetime employment.
As I said, however, things have changed.
These days, morale is lacking in many Japanese workplaces.
Many employees are now part-timers or irregular workers.
They feel no or little loyalty to the company.
Also, there is not much pride associated with working for a company that does not give you a proper wage or is not loyal to its employees.
New hiring practices and salary structures gradually erode Esprit de corps in Japanese firms.
* Be sure to take note that esprit de corps is from French. For this reason, the pronunciation is Espree de core. Both the ‘t’ and the ‘ps’ endings are silent.
Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
This post is understandable by someone with at least an 8th-grade education (age 13 – 14).
On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 63.
The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.