Employee Spotlight : Saori Kawakami

"You can expand your mission by yourself in Paidy"

What is your current role?

I am the Lead Relationship Manager in the Relationship Management Department of our Sales Division. My role is to maximize the GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) of Paidy’s services by solving merchants’ business issues, for example by proposing new marketing initiatives and integration of payment solutions.

Have you felt any gap against your expectations, after joining Paidy?

It’s actually been more than I expected. I was previously a hotel consultant in the travel industry, My previous company was a very large organization, where the work in each department was structured in a good way, and we already had a good idea of what we needed to do. In contrast, Paidy has only 150 employees so the decisions are made at a rapid speed, and I have been able to take on more varied types of assignments.

What has been the most fulfilling moment for you so far?

At Paidy, we can (and need) to come up with our own ideas of how to realize various goals, after being assigned to our mission. In my case, when I first joined Paidy the key responsibility and overall aim of the Relationship Management Department was simply to respond to inquiries from merchants and to find challenges of merchants to tackle. I tried to redefine the mission of our department to become an organization that grows Paidy’s service from “1 to 10,” instead of “0 to 1,” by building relationships with merchants and solving merchants’ business issues together, building trust and proposing solutions.

A good example of how this effort has paid off is that we were able to develop a combined loyalty program with merchants that we are currently preparing to release. The program allows customers to use the merchant’s point program for the payment to Paidy. Another project that gave me a real sense of accomplishment was our “3-Pay” project. I was tasked with handling the negotiations with various merchants from the beginning of the project, and ultimately was able to witness the successful launch of the service. My next mission is to spread the service to users through merchants.

What aspects of Paidy’s culture have been the most attractive for you?

At Paidy we can potentially expand the scope of our roles and mission on our own initiative, if we have the will to do so. If I do a good job, my colleagues may feel confident to look to me for even more – which, in turn, motivates me to perform even better in the future. Also, our organizational culture is quite flat, and everyone is open for discussion with colleagues. We can motivate ourselves not by trying to compete with teammates but by celebrating their successes, since our employees have various and experienced backgrounds, and everyone brings something to the table. Above all, Paidy employees work in an environment in which we trust each other to realize our goals.

What type of talent would you hope to have join Paidy and work with?

I want to work with talent who can embrace new challenges, thinking proactively and steadily. Looking forward to working with you!

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