Persol Group Establishes Sustainable Administrative Reform Framework for Municipalities Affected by Noto Earthquake

Persol Business Process Design Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Kazuyuki Ichimura) and Persol Workswitch Consulting Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Masamasa Ono), members of the Persol Group, have established a framework for promoting Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) in disaster-affected municipalities through the 'Disaster-Affected Municipal BPR Support Project' commissioned by Ishikawa Prefecture (Governor: Nobuyoshi Yamano).

Background In the aftermath of the 2026 Noto Peninsula Earthquake, municipalities such as Wajima City, Tsubata Town, Shika Town, and Hodatsushimizu Town have faced chronic shortages of manpower and resources, as normal administrative duties are compounded by disaster recovery operations. To maintain and improve administrative services with limited staff, Ishikawa Prefecture partnered with Persol, which has extensive experience in supporting local governments, to initiate BPR-based problem-solving that goes beyond simple digitization.

Project Overview and Results The project provided BPR support to four towns affected by the earthquake. During the engagement period (November 2025 – March 2026), the firms formulated highly effective plans for radical BPR and created the 'Ishikawa BPR Promotion Handbook' to promote self-sustainability and serve as a model for all municipalities in the prefecture from fiscal year 2026 onwards.

### Project Phases 1. Vision Formulation: Designing a vision based on feasible reform areas for each town under post-disaster constraints. 2. Current Status Survey: Structuring the gap between current administrative status and ideal goals through task inventory and staff interviews. 3. Plan Formulation: Developing self-sustainable reform plans based on actual operational capacity and decision-making processes. 4. Implementation Preparation: Providing roadmaps, task breakdowns, and hierarchical BPR training for management and staff.

### Immediate Improvement Examples - Revenue Section (FAQ): Standardized knowledge through FAQ development. - Environmental Section (Automation): Halved work time through process automation. - Secretarial Section (Attendance): Reduced man-hours using school management systems. - Nursing Care Section: Visualized efficiency gains (30-40 hours saved annually). - Resident Tax Section: Improved reception workflows through role-playing simulations.

Prefecture-wide Deployment To promote prefecture-wide adoption, the project compiled outcomes and insights from the four towns into the 'Ishikawa BPR Promotion Handbook' and held case study sharing sessions for other municipalities.