Samsung Electronics has decided to hire talented people regardless of age and develop young executives at an early stage.
In addition, the personnel system will be reformed by abolishing the standard period of stay for each position and reducing the rank of executives. In addition, the employee evaluation method will be changed from the existing ‘strict relative evaluation’ method to ‘absolute evaluation’ where anyone can receive a higher evaluation depending on performance. Through this, Samsung Electronics aims to break away from the vertical organizational culture of seniority and to prepare an organizational framework centered on horizontal cooperation and communication among employees.
On the 29th, Samsung Electronics announced a new personnel system reform plan with such content as the main focus. This personnel restructuring plan will be implemented from 2022 next year. It is the first time in five years that Samsung Electronics has changed the new personnel system. Prior to this, in 2016, Samsung Electronics implemented a system reorganization focusing on simplification of positions.
In the meantime, Samsung Electronics has prepared a direction for innovation in the personnel system through online large-scale discussion sessions for employees and listening to opinions by class. The company said that it finally decided to establish detailed operation plans after hearing opinions from the labor-management council, labor union, department heads of each organization, and about 1,000 people in charge of organizational culture.
This HR system innovation is aimed at ▲ nurturing young management at an early stage by hiring talented people regardless of age ▲ providing various career development opportunities and bases for nurturing talented people ▲ creating a culture of mutual cooperation and communication.
■ Abolition of standard period of stay by position… Introduction of ‘promotion session’
This personnel system plans to break the rank of seniority and boldly employ talented people regardless of age. The goal is to implement a Samsung-style fast-track that can nurture young executives at an early stage.
First, the ranks of ‘Vice President/Executive Director’ will be consolidated into ‘Vice President’ and the ranks of executives will be drastically reduced. At the same time, it plans to abolish the ‘standard length of stay by position’, which was a basic condition for employee promotion, to establish a foundation for early production of young and competent managers.
Instead of abolishing the ‘standard period of stay by position’, a ‘promotion session’ is introduced to verify performance and professionalism from various angles.
The position and employee number information displayed on the company intranet will be deleted, and the official promotion announcement held in March of each year will also be abolished. In addition, in order to spread a culture of mutual respect and consideration, the principle of ‘using mutual respectful words’ in official internal communication is planned.
In addition, a ‘senior track’ system will be introduced in which excellent manpower can continue to work even after retirement. This is to preemptively respond to environmental changes such as aging population and population cliff, and to create a culture in which the value of accumulated technology and experience is respected.
■ Providing various career development opportunities… Employees who have worked for more than 5 years can move to another department
Based on the Talent First Philosophy, Samsung Electronics nurtures talented people through various career development opportunities, and lays the groundwork for them to fully develop their capabilities and grow together with the company.
By introducing the ‘in-house FA (Free-Agent) system’, employees who have worked in the same department for more than 5 years are officially entitled to move to another department. This will provide opportunities to improve competency through various job experiences.
In addition, it plans to nurture a group of next-generation global leaders by introducing a new ‘STEP (Samsung Talent Exchange Program) system’. This system is a program that selects excellent young talents from domestic and overseas corporations and conducts mutual exchange work for a certain period of time.
In addition, in order to minimize career interruption due to parental leave, the ‘Parental Leave Reboarding Program’ will be prepared to support a soft landing when returning to work.
We plan to install shared offices in major bases so that you can immerse yourself in work regardless of time and place. In order to build a flexible and creative work environment, the ‘Work From Anywhere policy’ will also be introduced, such as a cafe/library-type in-house autonomous work zone.
■ Transition from ‘relative evaluation’ to ‘absolute evaluation’ in the performance management system… Reinforcement of mutual cooperation and communication
Introduce a performance management system that can enhance the overall competitiveness of the company. We plan to switch from a ‘strict relative evaluation’ method to an ‘absolute evaluation’ where anyone can receive a higher evaluation depending on performance. However, in order to recognize and motivate high performers, the highest evaluation is operated within 10% as before.
In order to support the performance creation of department members and induce growth through work, ‘frequent feedback’ is introduced, which is constantly consulted on the progress of work with the department head.
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In addition, to supplement the existing evaluation process conducted by one department head and to encourage collaboration among employees, ‘Peer Review’ will be introduced on a trial basis. In order to avoid the side effects of general peer evaluation, the method of writing the contribution of collaboration without rating is applied in a narrative form.
Samsung Electronics said, “Through this innovation in the personnel system, it is expected that employees will be able to immerse themselves in their work more autonomously and build a future-oriented organizational culture that grows together with the company.” We plan to improve the personnel system by continuously collecting the opinions of our employees to strengthen our competitiveness.”
