"Talents in a corporate organization are like electric plugs. They are unable to be connected to the same sockets. For this reason, the corporation must be able to provide a universal plug adapter so that high-potential individuals can plug-and-play in this adaptable environment." Reginald Bull, executive managing director in charge of global HR at Doosan Corp., said this on the third day of the Global HR Forum 2013 held at Sheraton Grande Walkerhill in eastern Seoul.
Early in the morning of November 7, more than 300 audiences filled the room before the session began at 9 am to watch a session on how to find and retain talents presided over by Samsung Economic Research Institute president Roh In-shik.
In particular, the presentation by Doosan Corp.'s Reginald Bull was notable for its honest assessment on Korea's HR practice. He stressed that Korean office workers need to be more committed to what they do instead of being loyal to their bosses. "Most Korean workers want to work in one company for the rest of their lives after being hired. In contrast, Europeans' average years of working in one company is only 4.6 years. In contrast to Koreans spending their whole lives in one organization, Europeans get diverse experiences from eight to nine organizations during the same years," he said.
Mr. Bull also mentioned about Korea's corporate culture of giving priority to seniority in promotion. The only countries that do this are Korea and Japan all across the world. The average age for a company person to climb up to vice president level is 35-38 years of age, but in Korea it's over 45."
Instead of seniority, he suggested a promotion scheme called "position management" to allow employees to take positions according to ability rather than age. "The market is getting uncertain day by day and business conditions change in front of our eyes. Under these circumstances, the only way to guarantee success is finding people best suited to given jobs. Only then can you see your people reinvent the whole organization."
