SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, second from left, talks with SK Telecom employees at the telecommunication company's headquarters in Seoul in this March 11 file photo. Courtesy of SK Telecom

Conglomerate CEOs struggle to break hierarchical corporate cultures

By Park Jae-hyuk

Top executives of Korea's chaebol groups have joined the trend of using English names at the office, as part of efforts to break down their companies' hierarchical cultures and allow their employees more freedom to communicate horizontally, according to industry officials, Sunday.

Last month, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won asked SK Telecom employees to call him by his English name, "Tony," instead of addressing him as "Mister Chairman," considering the fact that the telecommunication unit's employees have already been calling each other by their English names to encourage more horizontal communication and interaction.

Chey, who created an Instagram account last August with his English nickname, "Papa Tony Bear," made the request a month after he started serving as the chairman of SK Telecom in February to nurture its artificial intelligence business as the group's new growth engine.

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee, left, and President Kyung Kye-hyun / Yonhap

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee and President Kyung Kye-hyun also requested the company's employees to address them by their English initials, instead of by their job titles.

"Calling me by my job title builds a wall between you and me, so I want you to just call me 'JH,'" Han said in a meeting with Samsung Electronics employees earlier this month. "I will carry out various campaigns to enhance communication."

Kyung made the request through the company's intranet last month, saying that clients of foreign nationality call him "KH," and that their emails also begin with "Dear KH."

Lotte Group Vice Chairman Kim Sang-hyun, who directs the group's retail business, asked employees to call him "Sam."

"I hope our employees will feel comfortable working with me and give me their advice," Kim said in his inaugural address in February.

In the past, English names were only used at startups and IT firms, such as Kakao, where its founder, Kim Beom-su, is called "Brian."

KakaoBank has also addressed CEO Yun Ho-young as "Daniel," since its launch in 2016.

Their rapid growth over the past few years has prompted more conventional conglomerates and financial firms to ask their employees to refer to their bosses without any job titles, based on the belief that more horizontal relations in the workplace are key for enabling innovation.

Most of them have decided to use their English names at the office, given that it is almost inconceivable for most Koreans to call their bosses by their Korean names without their job titles.

However, recruiting platform Saramin surveyed 1,153 workers last November and found that using English names at the office was the least preferred way to simplify job titles.

According to the survey, only 6.3 percent preferred addressing their colleagues by their English names.

"Just changing how employees call each other … cannot reform a company's organizational culture instantaneously," a Saramin official said. "Companies should consider various issues ― such as decision-making processes and compensation systems ― together as well."