Selection & Variation Co., Ltd. specializes in HR consulting with a strong focus on financial alignment. Serving a wide range of clients from large corporations to small and medium-sized enterprises, the firm handles numerous end-to-end consulting engagements while staying closely attuned to each client’s needs.
Among employees who joined after the company began recruiting in 2020, some have been promoted to manager level just ten months after joining — with no prior consulting experience. We spoke with Representative Director Yoshihiro Hirayasu about the type of people the company seeks and its vision for the future, under its mission of “making the growth of people and organizations a matter of course.”
Yoshihiro Hirayasu
Born in Osaka in 1969. After working at Accenture, Arthur Andersen, and the Japan Research Institute, he founded his current company. Holds a B.A. in Economics from Osaka City University and an MBA from Waseda University Graduate School of Finance. He serves as a Visiting Associate Professor at GLOBIS University Graduate School of Management and as a Director of the NPO HR Consultant Association. He also served as Special Advisor to the City of Osaka — conducting public recruitment interviews for ward mayors, bureau directors, department heads, and school principals (2011–2016) — and as Independent Outside Director and Compensation Committee Chair at Fais Holdings, Inc. (TSE Standard, 2017–2023).
Realizing That Each Company’s Growth Is Indispensable to Society’s Progress — and Setting Out on His Own
— Could you start by telling us about your background?
I believed that understanding economics would give me a window into understanding society as a whole, so I chose to major in economics at university. During my student years I was a member of the photography club, and I traveled through various countries as a backpacker to pursue my passion for photography. With plenty of time to reflect on my future, I spent those years wrestling with questions like how I could contribute to society and what it would take to bring happiness to the people around me.
The reason I entered the consulting industry straight out of university was that I wanted to contribute to society’s development by improving not just one industry, but many. After about ten years at a foreign-affiliated consulting firm following graduation, I worked at a think-tank-affiliated consulting firm for roughly eight years before going independent.
— What was the catalyst for going independent?
I actually had no ambitions to start a business while I was a student — the idea of going independent took shape as I worked at consulting firms.
When I first joined a foreign-affiliated consulting firm fresh out of university, I was driven by a desire to improve society and aimed to become a national-level consultant. I believed that developing not only Japan but also developing nations would advance society as a whole. But through my work, I came to realize that developing a country ultimately comes down to developing its individual companies. As I searched for the best way to strengthen each company, I arrived at the conclusion that what needed to be supported was the very foundation of those companies — their organizations and human resources.
— So your experience at both the foreign-affiliated and think-tank-affiliated consulting firms directly informed your path to independence.
Continuously engaging with clients that differed not only in size — large enterprises at the foreign firm, small and medium-sized businesses at the think-tank firm — but also in organizational culture, values, and the challenges they faced, was an enormously valuable experience for going independent. Drawing on large-enterprise consulting experience can leave smaller companies feeling underserved, while leaning on small-business experience can make it harder to propose the solutions large enterprises need. Today, I consider our strength to be the ability to consult with a clear-eyed understanding of the merits and drawbacks of both approaches.
Our Strength: Consulting Premised on the Growth of People and Organizations
— Could you tell us more about what the business does?
We have two defining characteristics. The first is that we provide HR consulting directly tied to financial outcomes. Formulating HR strategies premised on profit generation through new business development and on improving business profitability — and then supporting the entire process required to realize those strategies — is one of our most significant differentiators.
The second is that we don’t simply deliver an HR strategy and walk away; we provide ongoing operational support over many years. Some client relationships now span roughly twenty years, and we make a point of offering sustained support rather than one-off engagements.
These characteristics exist for one reason: to realize our mission — “making the growth of people and organizations a matter of course.” We constantly ask ourselves what is needed to encourage better behavior in people, and we translate the answer into every individual initiative and task. This, we believe, is how we can help every member of a client’s staff feel genuine growth through their day-to-day work, and foster a culture in which the organization and the company as a whole keeps developing. Consulting that takes improving “people” and “organizations” as its starting premise is our strength and our defining weapon.
— How many employees do you currently have?
We began recruiting four years ago, and today we have ten full-time employees and eight interns. Of the ten employees, one handles administration and the other nine work as consultants.
Rather than being divided into teams, the nine consultants are organized by grade: Consultant, Senior Consultant, Manager, and Senior Manager. Although we have offices in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya, projects are not divided by location either.
While there are no formal teams, every project is staffed by at least two people. Assigning only one person to a project creates the risk of being unable to provide the client with the optimal solution. To ensure we deliver value as an organization, we always structure projects with two or more people. This also has the added benefit of allowing know-how gained on a project to feed back into the organization and further advance our solutions. Additionally, a solo assignment risks inconveniencing clients when someone takes unexpected time off, and can compromise quality when that person is stretched thin by other work — so from a work-life balance perspective as well, this is a structure we are committed to maintaining.
— How many projects does each person typically handle?
It depends on grade, but at the Consultant level each person handles an average of two clients. The workload is roughly two days per week per client, with the remaining time set aside for learning and development. Project durations vary widely, but long-term engagements spanning multiple years are not uncommon. When we support a client all the way from strategy formulation through design and into ongoing operations, the engagement can run anywhere from one to two years.
— So you provide end-to-end support from design through actual operation.
Yes — though not every client engagement is end-to-end. Having personally consulted for a large number of both large and small companies, I’ve come to appreciate that every organization has its own rhythm. “We want intensive support focused solely on the design phase over a short period.” “We’ve designed our own system, so we’d like support with operation and evaluator training afterward.” “We want quarterly succession planning discussions, with one month of consulting per quarter.” Client needs vary naturally, and appropriately so. While we do offer fully integrated, end-to-end consulting, we also offer support scoped to whichever phase or timeframe a client actually needs — ensuring we can respond appropriately to every request.
The Appeal: Building Systems That Directly Drive Company Growth
— Next, I’d like to speak with Manager Hirano, who works on the front lines. Could you start by telling us about your background?
I joined a financial institution straight out of university and transferred to this company in my fifth year there. I came aboard essentially as a second-year professional, starting as a Consultant — and was promoted to Manager level about ten months later.
— That’s a remarkably fast rise! What prompted you to make the move?
While my work at the financial institution was fulfilling, I won’t deny that I had real doubts about its old-fashioned, seniority-based HR system. I could see that gaining authority or advancing in that environment would take a very long time. Having served as captain of my university soccer team, I had always believed that organizational issues directly affect individual performance. At the same time, I found myself increasingly drawn to building organizations where people could perform at their absolute best. These personal experiences led me to consider moving to a company that specialized in consulting on organizations and HR.
As I researched consulting firms that handled organizational and HR reform, two factors ultimately led me to choose this company. The first was the opportunity to gain practical experience across a wide range of industries. Having spent five years at a financial institution, a move to a major consulting firm would likely have placed me on a financial-sector client team. I judged that to be a barrier to working on the HR reform projects across diverse industries that I was hoping for. And with large corporations as clients, the scope of work tends to be highly specialized — making it hard to accumulate broad hands-on experience quickly.
The second factor was the ability to engage with corporate management and the systems that underpin it. Many HR consulting firms focus their work on training and education programs. But I wanted to contribute to company growth not through training and education, but through strategy and planning — examining and establishing the systems themselves. After thinking carefully about what I wanted and the best way to achieve it, this company was the answer I arrived at.
— It sounds like your goals aligned perfectly with the company’s offering. Do you actually meet with senior management when carrying out your work?
In HR consulting work involving HR departments and HR systems, it’s quite common to hold meetings with presidents and executives. What strikes me when I face these leaders is their commitment to reform at speed. They are called upon to make decisions even when they have limited information to go on, and being present in the room when those life-changing decisions for their companies are made instantaneously is something I find genuinely rewarding.
— You were promoted just ten months after joining. What kind of person do you think thrives here?
Of course, those who can work toward realizing our mission — “making the growth of people and organizations a matter of course” — but I also think the role suits people who set their own challenges and put in the effort to meet them. With only ten employees, there are times when we can’t keep on top of everything. In those moments, someone who can step up proactively rather than wait to be told what to do is the kind of person who will thrive here. Those who act with initiative, I believe, can drive both our company and our clients toward growth.
Building a Company Where “Genuinely Good-Natured” Fits Better Than “Client First”
— Back to President Hirayasu: what are your plans for the company going forward?
My goal is to make this company number one among HR consulting firms in Japan. Scaling up is critical to that, and I would like to grow the headcount to at least fifty employees within five years. That said, we need to be careful not to bring too many people on board at once and find ourselves unable to train them properly — and equally careful not to hire people who aren’t the right fit. Failure is fine as long as we understand why and apply the lesson going forward, but fixating on headcount alone risks a constant cycle of inadequate training and mismatched hires. I want to build a recruitment plan that prevents us from falling into that trap, and I consider it a priority to create an environment that supports the development and growth of every person who joins us.
— Gaps in training and hiring mismatches are problems that crop up in most growing companies, to varying degrees.
That’s true. But for a company whose core business is HR consulting, we need to be more attuned to the relationship between people and organizations than most.
In fact, our name — “Selection and Variation” — carries within it our commitment to valuing people and organizations. Selection and variation are terms from evolutionary biology, describing the conditions necessary for living things to evolve. In other words, diversity (variation) leads to selection, and what remains shapes the world. Our aspiration is to build a framework in which diverse people and organizations forge better relationships with one another, and everyone and every organization can find happiness. That wish is baked into our name. Bearing the name “Selection and Variation” means it is our responsibility to keep searching for a path to a better future for every client employee and organization we work with.
— What kind of people do you want to work alongside?
I want to work with people who engage sincerely with clients and who are always thinking about what it will take to move those clients in a better direction. I also have a long-held vision of turning this company into a group of “genuinely good-natured people,” and I want to work alongside people who share that belief. I think the phrase “genuinely good-natured” describes this company far better than “client first.” “Client first” can conjure a rather surface-level image, but we are striving to be a group of genuinely good-natured people who pay careful attention to the fundamental thinking and individual actions that make up who a person is. People who can truly engage with the inner lives of those they work with — not just the surface — are the kind of people I believe are cut out for this company. And while it goes without saying that we want people who keep clients’ growth front and center, I believe those who can grow themselves in the process are welcome here even if they have no prior knowledge or experience in HR.
— Finally, what would you say are your company’s biggest selling points?
To realize our mission of “making the growth of people and organizations a matter of course,” we have invested heavily in our learning and development infrastructure, starting with our training programs. As part of structured education, employees can attend a three-month single-subject course at GLOBIS University Graduate School of Management — fully company-funded, twice a year. They can also attend unlimited business seminars through the flat-rate program run by SMBC Consulting, for which I serve as an HR advisor, even during working hours. For self-directed development, we have introduced a program called RC Succession, which gives even Consultant-level staff ¥120,000 per year to spend freely. Book purchases require no approval at all — just buy first and claim full reimbursement after the fact. The environment we have built, where people can enjoy developing themselves, grow alongside the organization, and make a meaningful contribution to society, is our greatest selling point.
【Post-Interview Note】
Behind President Hirayasu’s phrase “a group of genuinely good-natured people” lies a deep love of humanity — the kind that takes genuine joy in seeing clients grow as if that growth were one’s own. It is impressive to witness a firm that combines specialist expertise in HR strategy tied directly to financial performance with an unwavering commitment to educational investment, all in service of “making the growth of people and organizations a matter of course.” As the real-world example of a new hire reaching manager level within ten months demonstrates, the opportunities here are limitless for those with the ability to deliver.
What stood out most during the interview was the company’s “capacity to accompany” — not stopping at system design but continuing to support operations for up to twenty years. For anyone who genuinely enjoys setting their own challenges and learning continuously, this warm yet deeply professional organization offers something rare: the simultaneous experience of personal growth and meaningful social contribution, on a scale unlike anywhere else. This is a company I wholeheartedly recommend to anyone who wants to reshape the very foundations of society by searching for “a framework in which every person and organization can find happiness.”
ConsulNext Senior Consultant
Masahito Tsukada
Selection & Variation Co., Ltd. — Company Information
| Company Name | Selection & Variation Co., Ltd. |
|---|---|
| Founded | Established as a limited liability company in March 2006 Incorporated as a joint-stock company in June 2011 |
| Capital | ¥10,000,000 |
| Representative Director | Yoshihiro Hirayasu |
| Main Business Activities | HR Consulting for Employees ● Performance evaluation / appraisal system design ● Compensation / salary system design ● Behavioral grade (competency-based / job-based) system design ● Training and talent development system design ● Recruitment criteria and process design HR Consulting for Senior Management (Directors / Executive Officers) ● Executive appointment criteria design and operation ● Performance management / executive compensation system design ● Next-generation executive development system design and operation ● HR committee design and operation (nomination committee, compensation committee, etc.) Training Programs ● New employee development training ● Professional development training ● Management promotion training ● Senior management (directors / executive officers) training ● Evaluator / appraiser training ● HR manager, HR staff, and HR business partner development training Recruitment Services ● Senior management (directors / executive officers) candidate placement ● Management candidate placement ● Second-year professional placement (Paid employment agency license no. 27-ユ-303648) |
| Banking Partners | MUFG Bank, Dojima Branch Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Umeda Branch |
| Tax Advisor | Windrose Tax Accounting Corporation |
| Tokyo Office | 7F Kishimoto Building, 2-2-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0005 (xLINK Marunouchi Palace Front) TEL: 03-6869-1563 FAX: 03-6893-3931 |
| Osaka Office | Honmachi Grand Building 7F, 1-2-17 Nishihonmachi, Nishi-ku, Osaka 550-0005 TEL: 06-6695-7351 FAX: 06-6695-7352 |
| Nagoya Office | Central Nagoya #1101, 2-34-17 Meieki, Nishi-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 451-0045 TEL: 052-766-5552 FAX: 052-766-6315 |
| Affiliated Chambers | Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry |
| Academic Memberships | Japan Association for Evolutionary Economics, Japan Society of Labour Studies |
| Partners | SMBC Consulting / Japan Research Institute / Nagisa Audit Corporation (Osaka) / Hayabusa Audit Corporation (Tokyo) / Business Publishing (publisher of Monthly HR Management) / HRVision Co., Ltd. / HR Business Partners |
