Chairman Cho Yong-byoung of the Shinhan Financial Group speaks at the 2021 Shinhan Management Forum held in a non-face-to-face manner on Jan. 4. (Photos: Shinhan Financial Group)

“In 2020, the Shinhan Financial Group began to make a change while establishing the group’s mid-term strategy, FRESH 2020s,” Shinhan Financial Group chairman Cho Yong-byoung said in his New Year’s message.

“A path Shinhan should take this year is FRESH, which stands for Fundamental, Resilience, Eco-system, Sustainability and Human Talent.”

“The new year of 2021 has just begun. COVID-19 completely destroyed the existing paradigm that had dominated our society,” Cho added. “Our lifestyle has completely changed to the non-face-to-face way, and non-contact activities are at the center of every business.”

Cho suggested that all Shinhan employees make efforts to increase Shinhan’s capabilities and solidify its business foundation by earning trust from customers and shrewdly responding to any crisis.

“Let’s swiftly make a change and look for opportunities to make Shinhan a more powerful financial leader at home and abroad.” Cho also suggested further strengthening Shinhan’s fundamentals and resilience. Strengthening Shinhan’s fundamentals is closely connected to reinforcing our basics, he said.

“This year, let’s find new growth engines by strengthening Shinhan Bank’s fundamentals and improving the quality of its core businesses.” Cho emphasized.

Cho asked employees to earn more trust from customers by thinking long and hard about what customers really want.

“In an unpredictable era of increased complexity and uncertainties, resilience will help determine the survival and growth of an enterprise.” Cho added.

“The base of resilience is to identify the nature and speed of risk faster than anyone else. Let’s increase our ability to detect risks early, and implement risk-sensitive measures in a seamless manner across the board! Resilience can come in handy when turning a crisis into an opportunity.”
Cho asked that employees accelerate their push for eco-system and sustainability.

“With all companies moving forward digital transformation, digital transformation will determine the future of Shinhan,” Cho stressed.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is expediting this trend. Let’s get together and unite for digital innovation based on the Digital Transformation System built at the group level last year. All Shinhan employees should sincerely participate in this initiative.”

“Due to the COVID-19 crisis, many people in our society are going through or facing difficulties,” Cho said. “It’s the right time to practice the Shinhan Financial Group’s mission, ‘Warm Finance for People’s Future,’ more than ever.”

“We will offer Shinhan’s warm finance with sincerity in order to help small and medium-sized enterprises ride out their difficulties and startups and young entrepreneurs continue following their dreams.”

Cho did not forget to stress the importance of laying a strong foundation and making swift changes. “What makes all this possible is human talent,” Cho underscored. “Attaining our FRESH goals, after all, depends on Shinhan’s human resources and corporate cultures.”

Cho said he has believed that the stronger employees’ ability and Shinhan’s culture become, the closer Shinhan can get to the top of the financial industry.

“To help all of Shinhan employees grow into digital and versatile human resources, Shinhan will spare no efforts at the group level from training plans to educational processes to HR platforms,” Cho added.

“We will also select talents to take the initiative in the digital age and give them opportunities to prove their ability and talent.”

In the meantime, Shinhan Financial Group held the 2021 Shinhan Management Forum with chairman Cho and other executives participating on Jan. 4.

Shinhan Financial Group hosted the event as a non-face-to-face forum online due to the COVID-19 situation. The YouTube live broadcast of the event allowed group executives and managers who were unable to attend the forum to watch the event.

The forum was held under the theme of “How to Evolve into World-Class Financial Player?” The entire program zeroed in on a “Solid Foundation” and “Quick Changes” symbolized by the world class.

Chairman Cho announced “Solid Foundation” and “Quick Changes” as the management slogan for 2021 and emphasized that the Shinhan Financial Group should work hard to attain the goal of “Fresh 2020s.”

Moreover, executives had time to share the group’s key projects and their management directions.