|
Inscrutable Employee Loyalty in
Korea
By Tom Coyner
Korea
Times
April 4, 2007
Korean employees are world-renown to be industrious,
self-sacrificing and certainly long-working. At the same time, newspapers
and television are quick to report militant union strikes, yet only 11
percent of all Korean workers are unionized -- and only a small fraction of
these belong to militant unions. So how loyal are they really?
One might consider that in certain sectors, such as manufacturing, where
Korean workers are generally well regarded to be quite productive; their
efficiency may be a reflection of their company loyalty. Or is it?
Four years ago, British commercial pollster TNS conducted a global employee
attitude survey of some 1,000 employees in 35 countries. When the results
were tabulated, even TNS’ long-term Korea resident and North Asia Regional
Director, David Richardson, was floored with the results. Only Bulgaria
edged out Korea as having the least company-loyal employees. Mr. Richardson
was so shocked that he even temporarily delayed the survey’s global
announcement to check if something may have been in serious error.
In fact, the survey results of TNS accurately reflected the interviewed
sentiments, including those of the Koreans. Interestingly, Japan also scored
among the lowest while countries such as Israel, New Zealand, the
Netherlands and Mexico scored among the highest in loyalty.
Among the low-ranking countries, the former Soviet bloc weighed heavily.
Given general worker attitudes developed over decades in inefficient,
centrally planned markets, this was not at all surprising, since most
observers expected a correlation between low productivity and low company
loyalty.
So it came as a surprise that the two Northeast Asian advanced economies
with their high productivity, ranking so low. Immediate speculation
considered that like the Soviet model, traditionally Korean and Japanese
workers have had relatively low job mobility. From childhood these Asians
have been forced marched into studying at the right schools and cram
institutes so as to get into the right universities and later enter the best
companies -- with relatively little freedom in selecting their careers.
While comparing Japan and Korea with the Soviet bloc may be a bit of an
exaggeration, the parallel is arguably a strong one.
Actually, on a worldwide average, 19 percent of all employees were
``drivers’’ who are satisfied and motivated. Another 12 percent are
``critics’’ who are motivated but dissatisfied. An exact third are
``residents’’ who are satisfied but not motivated, with a bottom 36 percent
being ``detached,’’ the dissatisfied and unmotivated.
Mr. Richardson recently reviewed these results and updates at the British
Chamber of Commerce Business Breakfast together with special input from
KMAC’s advisor, Dr. Vincent Conte. As usually is the case, there was active
discussion among the other business professionals who attended the event,
monitored by Market Entry President Joe Day.
A further breakdown of the Korean employee results indicated that there was
an unusually wide disparity between the top two ``engaged’’ groups -- the
drivers and the critics -- from the bottom detached group. Given there was
only a very small resident group, when averaged together, the national
average was lower than what one may expect. Also, it was noted that the most
of the engaged employees were males aged 25 to 49 years old. In other words,
if one is female or in the majority of middle aged men with increasingly
fewer chances for continuing promotion and employment, there may be much
less of a chance for one to be engaged -- or very company loyal.
KMAC’s Dr. Conte pointed out that survey results of the same people can vary
significantly if the survey is taken at the work site, away from the comfort
of their homes or by private telephone conversations. In other words, if
interviewed away from the work site, results tend to be more individualized.
Whereas, surveys conducted on the worksite often reflect more of a group
perspective. Many people adopt a very different mentality once they set foot
on the factory floor or into the office. And this attitude can greatly color
a survey’s results.
Dr. Conte further suggested that many Korean employees are emotionally
detached since they realistically expect to be with a given employer only
five year or less. There may be a subconscious anxiety that if one puts
their total heart, soul and mind into their work, one’s own true values or
feelings may inappropriately come in to conflict with one’s superiors’
views. Thus out of cautious self-preservation, many employees, including
Koreans, behave differently in the work place than their real feelings would
predict.
In addition to the skepticism about their company’s motives, Dr Conte
suggests that Koreans get more emotional reinforcement and comfort from
their family and network of friends. For the average Korean worker,
long-term security is less a matter of success on the job and, more about
having friends and family who will help you when you are in trouble. The
late 1990’s made people realize that companies go out of business and even
great employees can lose their jobs
So, in Dr Conte’s opinion, TNS’ data was much more insightful into what he
called the ``private Korea’’ than what he labeled the ``professional
Korea.’’ It seems that like those of many countries, Korean employee
attitudes shift during each day as they walk in and out of the workplace.
Mr. Richardson noted that Korean employees seem to shy away from taking
personal initiative for self-development beyond English classes. They tend
to be more group oriented and generally only follow the suggestions and
directions of their superiors.
One Western executive concurred. He noted that there seems to be a pattern
of the expat manager suggesting an employee to take evening classes, etc. as
a way to further qualify for possible advancement. Yet, too often the
employee’s immediate response is ``What is in it for me? What guarantee is
there for reward, such as promotion, if I do that?’’ Since most managers
lack complete future clarity, they generally cannot make any real promises.
As a result, the employee loses interest.
Another executive noted that many Korean employees seem to be more concerned
about the negative impact to others in their group by one person’s advance.
Dr. Conte suggested that the old rules of the manufacturing-centric economy
worked well, but as the Korean economy morphs into a more serviced-based
one, much rethinking will be needed to foster new behaviors suitable for
future markets and industries. He allowed that while a nation’s fundamental
culture never really changes, processes within a culture can be modified to
be in synch with new paradigms.
For example, Dr. Conte pointed out that Korean HR departments are not
focused on individual development but more on team building -- often
including sophisticated social engineering to help an optimum number of
individuals to work well in groups. Given that, one may expect less in HR
development policy changes, but more effort to adjust the work environments,
including a great deal of future work dedicated to easing individuals and
groups into more efficient, service-centric work environments via social
pressures and structured social interactions.
So what conclusions may we make out of all of this? The Business Breakfast
executives were not sure. But two notions came to my mind. First, if a
manager wishes to keep his or her employees intellectually and emotionally
engaged, the manager must communicate some kind of vision that employees can
internalize as to how they will personally grow and benefit by working for
the organization. At the same time, if Korean organizations are to
effectively become fully productive in the service-oriented Korean economy
of the 21st century, employers must remove overt and subtle threats of
employment termination based simply on gender and age.
Tom Coyner is president of Soft Landing Korea
(www.softlandingkorea.com), a sales-focused business development firm, and
co-author of Mastering Korean Business: A Practical Guide.
|
