Hyundai Department Store, Non-Face-to-Face Reporting via Smartphone Instead of Approval Stamp

Cultural Experiment Tailored to MZ Employees' Perspectives
Reported in 5 Lines via Mobile Completion

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Hyundai Department Store announced on the 19th that it will eliminate approval boards and replace approval documents with 5-6 lines of sentences through mobile non-face-to-face methods as an in-house 'reporting (報告) culture' experiment. This initiative aims to move away from the formal face-to-face reporting style and establish a 'non-face-to-face reporting culture' for MZ generation employees (born between 1980 and 2000) who are familiar with digital devices such as smartphones.

To this end, Hyundai Department Store discarded about 20,000 approval boards and introduced a new electronic approval system called the 'Simple Reporting System' within the company's online and mobile groupware (work management program) starting this month. This system, consisting of 'Simple Approval' and 'Report Talk,' can be easily used not only on PCs but also on mobile devices.

In the case of Simple Approval, instead of the previously used approval document formats such as proposals, internal official documents, and attendance sheets, reports can be made with just 5-6 lines of simple sentences. When the Simple Approval button is pressed, an input window opens where the approver, title, and content can be entered, similar to the 'send note' function of a general messenger. Since unnecessary content is omitted and only the core information is entered, the time required to prepare report documents is significantly reduced. The company expects that this system will replace about 460 existing report formats with Simple Approval.

To reduce face-to-face reporting, a function that allows work content to be reported or shared non-face-to-face was also introduced. This is a kind of 'team sharing chat room' where content that does not require approval can be delivered and shared within the team during working hours, allowing for frequent sharing or checking of the delivered content.

A Hyundai Department Store official explained, "Simple Approval reflects the characteristics of the MZ generation, who pursue practicality rather than formality, aiming to reduce the time they spend filling out report formats so they can focus on their core work. Report Talk encourages communication among employees by sharing work in the ongoing remote work environment and separates personal SNS messengers from work messengers to respect employees' privacy."

In a survey conducted last year targeting all employees, 7 out of 10 (67.4%) responded that reporting was the most difficult part of their work.

Hyundai Department Store plans to continuously upgrade the system by reflecting employees' opinions and gradually reduce face-to-face reporting. In the mid to long term, the goal is to convert all electronic approval methods to the Simple Reporting System.

A company official stated, "Improving the reporting culture is the first step toward moving from the existing top-down vertical organizational culture to a horizontal organizational culture based on a bottom-up approach where the MZ generation can freely express their opinions. We expect this to be an opportunity not only to improve the reporting culture but also to expand communication among employees."