Even though Korea Water Resources Corp. is only 47 years old, it has a corporate culture comparable to that of first-class global firms around the world. It is so attractive that “it’s employees want to come to the office even on holidays,” according to multiple sources.
Its corporate culture is based on trust and pride, which all the officers and staff have in the company.
Management and the union agreed to find problems inside the company and solve them together, rather than fighting each other, knowing that all the personnel of the company, including even the leading executives, were tired following the completion of the Four Rivers Restoration Project. That project suffered from poor evaluation and ensuing cuts in bonuses based on performance results. They agreed that the key point to ensure for the company’s sustainable development was to reform the company’s organizational culture.
Chairman Lee Young-woo of the union said the productivity of a public company should be achieved by the individual worker’s voluntary participation, not from orders issued by management, which can only be realized when they are surrounded by an appropriate corporate culture.
The company set up its first organizational culture bureau in the middle of last December, which worked hard to create an office environment in which staff have taken care of any problems they faced effectively and with pride.
The first thing they took care of this year was to reform and simplify the system in which materials are requested and approval is given. They reduced the time for the completion of the system to six hours, and each month they checked their results.
The company has been operating the Smart Work Centers in 12 locations with 51 seats for each of the centers, including the head office, the Education Institute and all of the regional offices around the country.
The company and the union have also been working on effective working hours, with staff being allowed to work from home. They are instituting flexible hourly working schedules. The aim of the move is to boost productivity through effective work schedules.
President Choi Gye-won said he heard a lot of complaints about too much unnecessary work being done, which on many occasions forced employees to work at night.
He said he has been allowing employees to build a basis for “smart work” by setting up priorities on the company businesses, with feedback given on the work progress and results.
From March, the monitoring of overtime has been strengthened to achieve a better work-life-balance for the company’s employees, the CEO said. Based on the shutdown system that went in effect from 2012, no employees can work past 9 p.m. at the office and 7 p.m. every Wednesday. As a result, overtime per employee per month was cut to 1.8 hours. The company also decided that no dinners with guests would go beyond 9 p.m. It started a campaign to have every employee in the company uphold the regulation.
Knowing communication is the most important factor in organizational life, the company set up diverse communication channels with the union, including the New Culture Building by the Joint Team. It was made up of both management and union representatives.
President Choi said he has been working to expand communication channels on many levels of the company, particularly among executives, managers and staff, as it can create synergy. “We plan to settle this kind of culture in the company to a true ‘smart’ K-water,” he said.
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