“I’ll be asking you to call me ‘JH’ instead of buhoejang-nim or daepyo-nim,” Han said during his first meet-and-greet event with staff and executives last week. According to The Korea Herald, buhoejang and daepyo respectively mean Vice Chairman and CEO, the two positions Han holds at Samsung. “Nim,” meanwhile, is an honorific suffix added to show respect. Han also urged the employees to show mutual respect to each other. Regardless of one’s job position, addressing them as “pro” (professional) or “nim” could give a much-needed boost to Samsung’s ambition of creating a horizontal work culture. “Mutual respect to value everyone lays a foundation for a horizontal structure, which will again lay a basis for (our) work culture,” Han said. He took over as the CEO of Samsung’s DX division in December last year. Under this role, Han oversees the company’s smartphones, TVs, and home appliances business.
“New Samsung” will not follow a seniority-based hierarchical work culture
Samsung’s ongoing transition from a vertical hierarchical structure to a corporate culture will also see it making several other changes. The company will no longer allow employees to track their colleagues’ promotions. Moreover, the Korean behemoth is getting rid of the existing requirements for promotions, such as a minimum term of service. The company believes this would foster creativity and talent at the company. The current structure impedes the progress of employees, thus discouraging them from working at full throttle. According to the Korean media, these efforts are part of Samsung’s bigger plan of creating a “future-oriented” work environment. The company announced this mission in November last year under the “New Samsung” mantra. However, work on this structural revamp has been going on for several years now. In 2016, Samsung abolished honorific titles for various positions such as assistant manager, manager, and team leader. But now that the CEO himself has asked employees to call him by his initials, the company could finally be taking a bold step in moving on from a hierarchical work culture. It will be interesting to see what changes “New Samsung” will bring for consumers.
