Hyundai Development Co. has been operating a variety of systems and events for expanded inter-office communication to create a fresh corporate culture, the company said recently.

The reason to create a fresh corporate culture has been the need to overcome various problems faced by the company including the sluggish construction market and an uncertain future due to the global economic slowdown caused by the EU debt crisis.

One of the events was the first President’ s Cup “Putssal Championship” designed to expand interoffice communication held on May 8 in which some 140 employees including jobsite workers participated, divided into 12 teams. The final match was followed by a performance so that all officers and staff of the company might enjoy the events.

Among the performers were Director Chon Jung-bae, former member of the group “Ssulmul” and the winner of the second University Singing Contest in 1978, and Manager Park In-wook, a former member of the Sand Pebbles whose “What Can I Do” was a big hit when he was in college.

The participants in the event ranged from executives in their 40s and 50s to young new employees in their 20s. A young staffer said he met with fellow employees in other departments at the event whom he would otherwise not meet and made friends with them while cheering for the winners and performers.

 The company also kicked off a campaign dubbed “HDC, Pride” in May to develop a new corporate culture and create a new frame of mind among officers and staff. 

The theme is also a management theme for the company stressing principles, personal beliefs, talent, humanity & honesty, dreams & development, and change & creativity designed to invigorate communications inside the company, together with various events to be held during the year.

At the present time, the company is holding an event for answering questions written on the board and the winners will receive free meals with their office mates in the same department courtesy of the company. Through the campaign, a heartwarming story of the office mates of a deceased coworker who died in an accident donated part of their salaries to pay for the education insurance premium for the children of the late office mate for three years was introduced during the campaign, moving the entire company.

As seen in the example, the company has been pushing all kinds of events both small and large to get the campaign going continuously. The company also formed a task force team for HDC Challenge to search for new projects and build a positive corporate culture.

In the meantime, Hyundai Development has been holding a once-a-month 'Special Lecture for Knowledge Management 2012’  since February this year so that officers and staff can enjoy their time at the office through creative and reformative thoughts. On Feb. 23, beginning with Yonsei University Professor Shin Dong-yeop’ s lecture on “Creative Management and Communication,” Park Yong-hyun, Prof. Choi Jae-chon of Ehwa Woman’ s University, and Prof. Yoo Hong-jin, well-known for his book titled “My Investigation of Cultural Historic Assets,” among others, have been providing various discussion subjects to invigorate inter-office communication every month.

The company will provide all kinds of opportunities to officers and staff through the management of diverse educational programs so that they might be able to unite their capabilities for creation under a free atmosphere.

Hyundai Development’ s effort for inter-office communication can be seen at the company’ s Yongsan head office. The company moved into its new head office in Yongsan, Seoul at the I’ Park Mall, at the end of last year from its Gangnam location, their home for the past 34 years, and began to use the new CI, “HDC,” as part of the company’ s effort to find new reform and change for development and growth.

The company expressed °Æreform, corporate value, and communication,’  key words in its management ideals, with the interior design of its head office, which it calls a “sensual office.” 

In order to stress collective development through communication, the company tried to tear down the walls between teams and the head office, as well as expanded rooms for communication and installed conference rooms with interior designs that will maximize creativity among officers and staff in their office work.

In particular, the lounge on the 8th floor of the building is being used as a space to relax, talk, and share opinions.

One can feel the atmosphere of a book cafe in the lounge with its dynamic colors, furniture in various shapes, fluid lines, and a division of sections using bookshelves and low lighting to give it a calm and comfortable feeling. 

Following the move to the new head office in January, the company issued a guidebook on the company’ s culture and distributed them to officers and employees in order to instill in them the company’ s past corporate culture and have it developed further and, in so doing, to boost their pride in themselves while working for the company. The book is titled, “The Company That Can Share Communication and the People That Can Communicate,” and is intended to show them what the company is all about and the way of thinking they should strive for as members of the company through its passages on growth and corporate ethics. It is also meant to act as an action guidebook by explaining what kinds of business processes they should set up.

Hyundai Development edited its guide book with three major themes that are easily understandable so that its people can refer to them in their lines of work. The core contents include the management philosophies of the late chairman Chung Se-young and the examples of his management policies, his ethical and social contributions as reflected in the company’ s achievements, and successful policies edited in such a way as to be easily read and understood, especially by the young staff members.

The guide book is designed to collect the passion of the company’ s employees in one body and jointly share the vision so that it will be a book of directives for the men and women of Hyundai Development in carrying out their mission for the company.

Officials of the company said a corporate culture cannot be formed by management or just because a passionate man practices it. The company has to create its corporate culture with communication and the positive interest and participation of all officers and staff, encouraging each individual’ s creative reform and communication among each other, thus creating synergy among them and further developing Hyundai Development’ s segregated corporate culture.#