Executives filled from the outside one day … can’t hold year-end corporate parties

Senior Vice President Kim Seong-ho (53, a pseudonym), the group’s top five executives, was unable to schedule a year-end party in December. The group he belongs to is said to be an executive by the end of this month. Every day is a thorny road. In his department, there are two senior manager level employees who are eligible for executive promotion. In previous years they would have played hard for their promotion. However, this year, as performance deteriorated significantly due to the aftermath of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19), the “internal politics” activity for young people was soon abandoned. If he ran for others and was taken as “excitement”, it would also be dangerous for Mr. Kim’s position. On the 15th, Mr. Kim said, “Once I see the executive results at the end of this month, I think I’ll have to schedule the year-end party or not.” There are concerns that it will decrease significantly, ”he sighed.

Large corporate buildings of the city seen from Namsan, Seoul. [연합뉴스]

Faster greetings, the reps got younger

As the performance of major companies deteriorated in the aftermath of Corona 19, executives are shaking ahead of staff season. Not only senior executives who are about to be promoted to executives, but executives and deputy directors under them are also uncomfortable. This is because many companies are not only reducing the number of executives, but also aggressively recruiting outside talent, quickly sharpening their path for 2021.

In the case of GS Group, which recently received greetings from executives, for the first time since its inception, two vice presidents and an executive director have been transfused from the outside. This is the first time since its inception that GS Group has assumed a level of vice president from the outside. Shinsegae Group has reduced the number of executives in the E-Mart division by about 10 in the last HR. Lotte Shopping, which is struggling with poor earnings, is also expected to reduce the number of executives.

Of course, there are companies that are an exception. Despite the aftermath of Corona 19, a successful Samsung Electronics official said, “The farewell times will not change much from the previous year. Said.

Older leaders are restless
Senior executives are bound to be more anxious. AMOREPACIFIC Group recently announced a promotion to CEO Kim Seung-hwan, who is 51, as the current head of the group’s human resources organization. He is 14 years younger than the former CEO. Lotte Shopping, which is attempting to strengthen its on-off distribution competitiveness, also has many young executives. For example, last month, Lotte Distribution’s BU launched the Data Governance Task Force (TF) and appointed Yoon Young-seon (46), CEO of Lotte Information and Communication, as the head of the TF. In the case of Lotte Shopping, in the past, executives were usually between 50 and 50, while executives were in their 50s.

Employees traveling to work near Gwanghwamun, Seoul. [연합뉴스]

While executives tremble with anxiety, even ordinary employees complain that work gets out of hand. The end of year party is also an atmosphere that runs through. An SK Group manager said: “It is said to be better than before, but if you become a confirmed person by the crown19, you could suffer unexpected damage, such as the disclosure of much of the traffic line.” It is often simplified in order not to organize an end-of-year party or to bring together only very close friends “.

In fact, a finance company whose executives were infected with Corona 19 imposed a ban on golf and drinking on its employees. Following a survey by the Federation of Foreign Companies in Korea (KOFA) on whether to organize an end-of-year party for member companies, 50% of respondents said they do not have an end-of-year party.

As the performance deterioration caused by Corona 19 and the rapid increase in executive staffing and external recruitment of executives to offset this increase significantly, there is also constant criticism of the need for a new human resource management paradigm. Following a survey of 309 companies by Injin, a job search platform, 75.1% of respondents said “a change in HR management is needed to respond to the post-crown era.”

The human resources manager of the five main groups who wanted to remain anonymous said: “The change in the human resources method in preparation for the post-Corona 19 event is to build an ‘Agile’ organization capable of responding quickly to the external environment. It has no choice but to lead to the question of maintaining the same level of employment on a large scale, “he predicted.” The diet for the number of executives and the aggressive recruitment of young talent will become inevitable trends for the moment. ”

Reporter Lee Soo-ki [email protected]