Working long hours of overtime is an ingrained problem in Japan.

One reason for excessive overtime work is the national trait of not leaving at the end of the day out of consideration for colleagues who are still working.

This custom of working overtime reduces the amount of time people can spend with their families and is detrimental to both physical and mental health. In fact, sometimes even death results from overwork, a problem common enough that there is a special Japanese word for it — “karoshi.”

For this reason, many companies have designated Wednesday as “No overtime day” and make announcements telling employees to leave on time at the end of the workday. But such impersonal announcements are mostly ignored by busy employees and very few actually leave on time.

So Panasonic, which has developed audio system technology came up with a novel ideal for changing Japan’s overtime culture.

The focus was the “No overtime day” announcements that companies broadcast in offices. Panasonic’s novel project used messages from employees’ families to breathe life into the announcements, making “No overtime day” a more personal consideration for many employees and strongly motivating them to leave work on time.

With the Japanese government recently promoting work style reform, companies have been exploring measures to encourage employees to leave on time. But no matter how strongly employees are urged or what kind of advanced technology is used, employees’ behavior remains unchanged.

So Panasonic came up with the idea of the “Voice of Home.”

By broadcasting messages from employees’ families, the announcements resonate not only with employees who hear a message from their own family but also with other employees who have families, encouraging them to leave work on time.

Panasonic sought the cooperation of employees’ families (children, parents, and spouses) at a company where overtime work was a problem and created personalized family announcements urging employees to leave work on time.

The messages were broadcast just before 5:30 PM on “No overtime day.”

Coordinating with the employees’ families ahead of time, the announcements were heartfelt messages that often would be difficult for a family member to express in person.

The announcements were also broadcast as radio spots to encourage companies throughout Japan to adopt this powerfully effective idea.

It is hoped that this idea will be adopted nationwide and transform Japan’s long entrenched overtime culture.

92% of employees said they were motivated to leave work earlier, and 96% wanted the family announcements to continue.

“I didn’t listen to the regular ‘No overtime day’ announcements, but these got my attention.”

“I thought of my own children and got the urge to go home earlier.”

“The entire team was unanimous in wanting to finish up as soon as possible.”

“It got the company as a whole thinking about overtime issues that individuals haven’t been able to solve.”

The announcements resonated not only with employees who heard messages from their own families, but also with other employees who had families, causing the whole company to take “No overtime day” more seriously.

Moreover, this novel idea for promoting a healthy and efficient work style cost the company absolutely nothing!