Stephanie Roberts on Why Communication Doesn’t Always Translate Across Regions

Why does the same communication approach work in one region and fall flat in another?

Stephanie Roberts is the Chief Communications Officer at Hitachi, where she leads teams responsible for brand, public relations, digital and social media, executive communications, reputation and crisis communications, and internal communications across the Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific.

In this episode, Stephanie joins Kristen Sweeney to discuss how her experience living and working in Tokyo over the past four years has shaped her approach to communication.

Watch or Listen to the Episode

Watch the full episode here or listen to it on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

The Big Idea: International Perspective Shapes Communication

Having worked primarily in US companies, Stephanie had developed consistent expectations around communication and leadership, but that changed once she moved to Japan and began working in a different cultural and business environment.

In Japan, she saw that internal communication required a more formal tone, and that employees placed greater value on in-person visibility from leaders. Being on the ground helped her understand why certain differences existed and how to factor those differences into the communications strategy.

The experience changed Stephanie’s perspective on communication on a much larger level. Rather than assuming a single approach will translate across regions, she considers the specific context and adjusts the communication to what will resonate in that environment.

“What works in the US does not work in Japan. The idea of FaceTime or executives coming to the employees in person is more important than in other regions. The tone of writing needs to be more serious than in the US or some other regions. But just overall, the way of doing business, the way of earning trust, the way employees start to trust the executives, is different than other regions, too.”

Stephanie Roberts

Chief Communications Officer at Hitachi

Key Takeaways

The communications function Stephanie developed in Japan had to reflect a different set of expectations than what she was used to in the US.

Stephanie noticed that employees in Japan place a high value on seeing executives in person, which impacts how leaders need to show up.

Decision-making in Japan felt slower than what Stephanie was used to, but she came to understand it as a more deliberate, consensus-driven process.

Before living in Japan, Stephanie worked with teams there but didn’t fully understand why things operated the way they did. Being on the ground gave her that context.

Ways to Connect with Stephanie

If you’d like to connect with Stephanie, you can do so here:

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