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| Kyobo Life Insurance Chairman and CEO Shin Chang-jae speaks at a business strategy meeting at company headquarters, July 26. Courtesy of Kyobo Life Insurance |
By Anna J. Park
Kyobo Life Insurance employees will refer to one another by their English nicknames, omitting job position titles, starting Monday, the firm's 65th foundation anniversary. The move aims to create a more horizontal workplace and flexible corporate culture within the company.
According to the insurance firm on Friday, employees have finished picking their own English nicknames and registered the names into the corporate intranet system. It is regarded as a rare move for a company long known for its conservative and traditional corporate culture.
"Aiming to foment a horizontal and flexible organizational culture, Kyobo Life Insurance has decided to adopt this new English nickname system," an official at Kyobo Life told The Korea Times, Friday. "While employees will be calling each other by their English nicknames in the everyday work environment, job positions will occasionally be used at places where the role of responsibilities are to be emphasized."
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| Kyobo Life Insurance headquarters in central Seoul / Courtesy of Kyobo Life Insurance |
"It is paramount to understand one another when a company aims to create a healthy organizational corporate culture," Shin said at the meeting held on July 26.
Kyobo Life is not the only firm in the insurance industry attempting to innovate its workplace environment towards a more horizontal culture. DB Insurance has streamlined its complicated job title system into a more simplified one. Samsung Life, a leading company in the sector, has also been making its employees call one another "pro," regardless of their positions, since 2019.
