A report on our hybrid (online/offline) onboarding ceremony—kicking off a brand-new round of Let’s Have Fun!

Hello! This is PR Sunny-chan.

Today, April 1, SUNNY SIDE UP held its onboarding ceremony, and we would like to share how it went.

This year’s 13 new graduate hires had their hair styled at the shampoo-and-blow specialty salon Jetset before coming to the office for their first day. Meanwhile, at the office, we waited for their arrival with a welcome board filled with messages from everyone.

And then, the beautifully styled new graduate members began arriving one after another!

The new graduate members were thrilled by the messages from their senior colleagues.

After the rehearsal, the onboarding ceremony finally began!

This year, it was held at the office while maintaining social distancing, with the new hires, three directors, and several staff members in attendance. Other members watched online.

All of us look forward every year to this day, when we welcome our new graduate members.

First, congratulatory remarks from the three directors.

They offered words of encouragement such as: “There may be challenging times ahead, but I hope the 13 of you who have come together will join forces and enjoy it to the fullest,” and “Find something that can become your strength, and make the most of it as you thrive here.”

Next, presentation of the employment certificates and commemorative gifts.

The President presented the employment certificates, and the directors presented commemorative gifts.

The commemorative gifts were a fountain pen, which is given every year to new graduate members, and Konosuke Matsushita’s “Shain Kokoroechō.” The fountain pen reflects our hope that, as PR professionals who work with communication, they will value “their own words.”

Each year, the fountain pen is selected according to a theme. This year’s theme was the Olympics, and accordingly, we chose a PILOT fountain pen—one of Japan’s proudest—released in 1964, the year of the first Tokyo Olympics. In addition, to honor each of the 13 individuals’ unique personalities, everyone received a different color pen.

Konosuke Matsushita’s “Shain Kokoroechō” was a book President Tsugihara often read when he was a new employee, and it is given every year based on his wish that everyone, now embarking on their professional lives, will read it.

Next, the new graduate members shared their statements of determination: “So we can create Let’s Have Fun! all around the world, we want to work hard in a youthful, all-out way,” and “Although the world remains in a difficult situation, we want to stay positive at all times and create Let’s Have Fun! that brightens people around the world.”

Their words—marking their first step as PR professionals who work with language—communicated each person’s feelings with clarity and sincerity.

Some members were moved to tears as it truly sank in that they had joined the company. Their senior colleagues nearly teared up as well (laughs).

At the end of the ceremony, Tsugihara shared a message for the new graduate members.

“Thank you for choosing SUNNY SIDE UP from among approximately three million companies in Japan. And today, while 450,000 new employees were born, I am grateful for the miracle that brought us together.

Einstein has a saying: ‘There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.’”

“In a world where we cannot know what may happen due to COVID, and where something even more difficult than COVID may occur in the future, if we look back on our lives so far, we can proudly say that even in the hardest times, every day was fun. We believe our days—creating Let’s Have Fun!—must be fun.

When you work, there may be tough times, but if you live in a way that makes you feel each day is wonderful, I believe the days ahead for all of you will become more enjoyable.”

“I hope each of you will express your own version of ‘fun,’ and that when you look back on your life someday and feel, ‘It was a good life,’ the scenes behind your eyelids will be filled with many moments from your days at SUNNY SIDE UP that begin now.”

With those words of encouragement for the new graduate members starting their lives at SUNNY SIDE UP today, the ceremony came to a close.

Afterward, we held the company-wide morning assembly for April, followed by a photo shoot while maintaining social distancing!

We also took a commemorative group photo and individual portraits for employee ID cards. (Masks were removed only during the shoot.)

Here is the completed group photo!

It ended up being a commemorative photo with everyone wearing masks, but looking back later, they are sure to remember vividly what it was like when they started their lives at SUNNY SIDE UP.

Today, 13 people began a new page in their lives. Please look forward to the “new Let’s Have Fun!” created by our distinctive new members!

Author of this article

Sunny-chan

Group PR representative devoted to “fried eggs, and nothing else.”Always keeping antennas up both inside and outside the company, sharing what we find as the “next Let’s Have Fun!”From member-led projects to internal events, they cover the widest range of article categories in the company! The latest goal: “Official Twitterreaching 3,000 followers”!