Talent advisory
For companies hiring in Japan that want the whole hiring system to work, not just the next search.
Why it matters
Most hiring problems in Japan start before the search
An employer brand nobody in the market recognises. A process that loses people at the offer. Hiring managers who were never briefed on how Japanese candidates decide.
Headcount plans are often built without market data, and headquarters and the Japan business often want different things from the same hire. We see these problems from the search side every week. Talent advisory is how we help fix them before the next role opens.
Advisory work can stand alone or run alongside a search.
What we do
Six core areas
Each one can be taken on its own or combined into a single review of how your company hires in Japan.
Employer brand diagnostics
How your company is actually seen by the people you want to hire, in Japanese and in English. We test your careers pages, job adverts, LinkedIn and review sites against what candidates tell us in interviews. You get a clear read on what attracts people, what puts them off, and what to change first.
Hiring process evaluation
We map your process from requisition to start date: approvals, interview stages, decision time, offer and resignation handling. We measure where candidates drop out and why. You get a redesigned process with target timelines that fit how the Japanese market moves.
Tools and AI
Which tools are worth having for a Japan team, and where AI helps: sourcing, screening, job descriptions, interview notes and reporting. We also cover where it doesn't help, and what Japan's personal-information rules (APPI) mean for candidate data. You get a practical plan your team can run, not a vendor pitch.
Stakeholder management
Aligning headquarters, regional HR and the Japan business on what a hire needs to be, what it will cost and how long it will take. We run the briefing sessions, translate between the regional and Japanese views, and set expectations that hold up once the search starts.
Training and coaching
Interview training for hiring managers, including structured interviewing and avoiding bias. Coaching for HR and talent acquisition teams on sourcing, closing and counter-offers. In English or Japanese, for groups or one to one.
Data analysis
Market data that answers the questions headquarters asks: how many people fit a brief, what they are paid in total cash, and how your company compares with peers on the figures it now has to disclose, such as women in management, the gender pay gap and men taking childcare leave. We draw on our search work and on The Hardest Market's human-capital data for every listed company in Japan.
Also available
Where clients often go next
Talent market mapping
Before you open a role: who exists, where they sit, who is likely to move, and whether the brief is realistic. The read that tells you whether to search, develop someone internally or redesign the role.
Compensation and offer strategy
Pay ranges in total cash (base plus bonus, 年収), how to structure an offer, and how to handle counter-offers and resignation talks (退職交渉).
Workforce and succession planning
Which senior seats are hard to fill, which incumbents are at risk of leaving, and who is ready inside the company.
Agency and vendor management
Reviewing your recruitment agencies, RPO and job-board spend: who is delivering, on what terms, and what to consolidate.
Onboarding and retention
The first six months for senior hires, where most failures happen, and a retention (定着) check at 12 and 24 months.
Setting up in Japan
For companies hiring their first people in Japan: the order of hires, the first country or HR leader, and the employment basics to get right from day one.
How it works
Four steps
A briefing call
- Thirty minutes to understand what is not working, and for whom.
A written proposal
- Scope, deliverables, timeline and fee, agreed before any work starts.
The work
- A focused diagnostic usually takes two to six weeks.
- Training and coaching run as scheduled sessions.
A practical handover
- Findings and a prioritised plan.
- The templates and tools your team needs to carry it on.
Why Makana Partners
Advice from people who hire in this market every day
From live searches
Our advice comes from the searches we are running now, so it reflects how candidates in Japan are actually deciding this quarter.
Bilingual by default
We work in Japanese and English, and we are used to sitting between Japanese teams and regional headquarters.
Backed by data
The Hardest Market, our Japan HR data publication, tracks the disclosures and statistics clients are asked about. About The Hardest Market.
Questions
Do we need to be a search client?
How is talent advisory priced?
Do you work in Japanese?
Do you offer executive coaching and leadership assessment?
Start with a conversation