The Excitement of Achieving What One Cannot Alone, as a Team──A Journey of Growth Through Daily Challenges

As a fourth-year employee at GxP Co., Ltd., Mihoshi Ikeya is part of the Business Solution Division 2’s Online merges with the offline Agile Unit. Currently, she is a sub-team leader for a digital transformation (DX) project at a major department store. Though her background had no connection to the IT industry during her student years, she has grown as an engineer and is making remarkable contributions at GxP. We spoke with her about her journey, what drives her, and the  fulfillment she finds in her daily work.

I majored in economics at university and didn’t particularly aim for a career in the IT industry. However, I was deeply committed to my extracurricular activities, serving as the president of the art research club. While we regularly focused on drawing and watercolor painting, the club also held exhibitions and organized large-scale mural painting events twice a year. These activities gave me many opportunities to collaborate with external organizations and manage project schedules. Through this, I discovered the excitement of achieving goals together with others through teamwork.

The leadership and collaborative skills she developed as a student have clearly played a major role in her growth as a sub-team leader at GxP.

In my team, we hold weekly retrospectives to reflect on both technical and communication aspects. During these sessions, we always decide on at least one action item to address moving forward, no matter how small. This process creates an environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing their opinions, and all ideas are heard and respected. I believe this culture of open dialogue enables the team to continuously evolve and improve.

Although I had no prior experience in IT, I naturally became interested in several IT companies because my parents worked in the field. Early in my job search, I decided on GxP. What left a lasting impression on me was the way the interviewer showed genuine interest in my story and asked deep, thoughtful questions during the interview. Their approach was not standardized but tailored to me as an individual, and it made me strongly envision myself working with the people at this company. That became the decisive factor for me to join.

I’m currently involved in a digital transformation (DX) project for a major department store. We’re developing tools to support both customer oriented services and the day-to-day operations of the department store’s employees. For example, one of the systems we’ve built enables store tenants to upload photos and descriptions of their recommended products, which then allows them to directly share information with customers.

The project team consists of over ten members, including not only our internal staff but also representatives from the client and related companies. Among the three sub-teams within the project, I am leading one of them as the sub-team leader.

I make a conscious effort to ‘share bad news as quickly as possible.’ If a problem arises, sharing it early allows the team to respond swiftly as a whole.

I also focus on distinguishing between ‘business language’ and ‘development language.’ For example, when talking with clients, I might say, ‘we’ll make it visible to users,’ but within the engineering team, we’ll discuss it as ‘storing the data in the database.’ Being mindful of these differences and choosing appropriate expressions is crucial for smooth communication and accurate development.

I feel a deep sense of fulfillment when we achieve a level of scale or quality that would be impossible to accomplish alone, thanks to the combined efforts of the team. It’s also incredibly rewarding to see our released services being used by customers and to receive their valuable feedback. Hearing their voices through the product owner is particularly motivating and brings a sense of purpose to our work.

When I had just joined the company, I heard about how one of the services we developed contributed to the purchase process for a high-value product. During the pandemic, when face-to-face interactions with customer were restricted, we launched an app that helped facilitate the sale of a luxury watch worth tens of millions of yen. I was surprised and delighted to hear about it. At the same time, it reinforced my sense of responsibility and the magnitude of the work I was involved in.

Currently, as a sub-team leader, I focus on coordinating tasks within my sub-team and keeping track of the overall situation across other teams. In the future, I aim to take on broader responsibilities as an assistant manager. To achieve this, I want to continue improving workflows and delivering value to customers, one step at a time.

GxP is an environment where team members complement each other and achieve results together. Your unique strengths and passions will become invaluable assets to your team and the company. I look forward to the day when we can work together!

Mihoshi Ikeya’s interview conveys her passion for pursuing success as part of a team and her sense of responsibility in fulfilling her role. Her story exemplifies the kind of growth and challenges that future colleagues can look forward to at GxP.