Gerade hatte mich DH's Frisur inspiriert zu einem Blogeintrag zum Thema Hierarchie und koreanische Titel, da haben wir vor 2 Wochen ein
Management Meeting, in dem erklärt wurde, dass wir die koreanischen Titel zum 1.8. abschaffen. Zwar sind sie weiterhin im koreanischen Berufsleben üblich, aber es gibt bereits jahrelange Diskussionen darüber, dass es unmodern ist, Dienstjahre statt Leistung zählen zu lassen (Anm. der Redaktion: was nicht heissen soll, dass wir nun ein modernes Unternehmen geworden sind ;).
Wenn die Titel in der Aussendarstellung erforderlich sind, sollen sie dann doch auch noch bleiben für:
PRESIDENT, MANAGING DIRECTOR: 사장 (Sajang)
EXECUTIVE PRESIDENT: 부사장 (Busajang)
DIRECTOR: 상무 (Sangmu) und
TEAM LEADER: 팀장 (Teamjang, statt bisher Bujang)
Der Rest ist dann meist MANAGER (매니저)
Dies alles hat insofern eine besondere Bedeutung und grosse Auswirkung, denn Namen werden in Korea kaum genutzt. Selbst Geschwister werden nicht mit Namen angesprochen, sonden mit ‚großer Bruder’, ‚kleine Schwester’ usw. DH heisst nur DH, wenn ich dabei bin oder er in Englisch angesprochen wird, sonst ist er für sein Team und Kollegen Bujang-nim ("nim" ist eine Höflichkeitsform am Ende). Mal schauen, was ab 1.8. nun gesagt wird...? Die jüngeren im Team fühlen sich übrigens am unwohlsten mit der Änderung, denn Respekt vor Älteren wird schon in die Wiege gelegt.
www.koreaherald.com/dropjobtitles:
One thing that surprised Tyler Kim when he joined a South Korean company last year after nine years of working in the U.S. was that his coworkers called him “chaekimnim,” a direct translation of his job title, manager. “It was a bit awkward at first,” he said, since it was the first time he was not called by his name at work.
Hierarchy has been a key aspect of corporate governance worldwide. But it means more when it comes to the Korean corporate culture. Koreans give particular attention to titles, as it reflects the person’s job type, rank, experience and social status. Generally, the more senior you are, the more you prefer to deal only with someone of equal rank.“Koreans tend to rank people based on occupation, hometown, academic background and more, which became a prevalent rule of hierarchy here,” said professor Kim Seok-ho of sociology from Seoul National University.
Employees typically address one another by the person’s job title, mostly following his or her last name. It even usually applies to talking with coworkers of the same rank, regardless of whether the communication is in writing or face-to-face.
To break the long-standing shackles of such rigid corporate hierarchy, chaebol groups here have recently decided to eschew the use of job titles. In 2015, Samsung began to add “pro” or “nim” as the suffix to every employee’s name to replace existing job titles like daeri, gwajang, chajang and bujang and reduced the numbers of job titles & hierarchy for higher work efficiency.
The concept of "Time served vs. work performance" started already in the late 1990s and companies began switching from a step-based salary system to annual salary system. While in theory every employee’s salary fluctuates based on performance, pay is generally categorized by the years an employee has worked for the company, except in certain cases in which one has moved up the ladder or is recruited from outside.
However, with budget reduction and salary freeze, this let to a "job title inflation" as part of personal promotion without any salary or compensation increase.
There have already been unsuccessful cases of dropping the use of job titles in the past.
In 2012, local conglomerate Hanwha launched a campaign to standardize job titles from new graduate employees to senior managers. But within a three-year-period, the group decided to revive the use of job titles, citing confusion among employees and lack of motivation for promotion as the reason.
Experts agree that dropping the use of job titles is not always the right solution for companies.
“Strict rules and rigid work process may fuel some companies, while companies in such industries as art or entertainment will need creative opinions and freer ways of communication, without use of job titles,” said Gwak Geum-ju, a professor of psychology at Seoul National University. “Some -- not all -- companies may run with high efficiency when they bridge the psychological gap between workers,” she added.
CJ group, a local food and entertainment empire, was the first South Korean company to start eradicating the use of job titles in 2000, using “nim” instead of specific job titles.
Now, slowly but steadily, more Koreans are eying the importance of a flatter company culture, as the need for an innovative and motivating work environment surges to replace the conventional scheme in a time of economic slump.
Lee Hye-min, who spent nearly five years working at STX, a local trading service firm, said she has learned that abolishing the use of job titles can definitely reshape company culture. Earlier this year, she quit and launched her own start-up company.
“While working at STX, I was more likely to shut my mouth and hide my opinion in front of those with higher titles,” said Lee. “But as you know, start-ups are not run like big companies. We cannot communicate when stuck in a hierarchical system. That’s why I made my coworkers call me by my name instead of ‘daepyonim,’ or CEO.”
