[These Days Newcomer] ⑥ Angry About Being Called a Kkondae but Sales Performance Improved... Just Doing the Job Well Is Enough

Beyond Symbiosis to Mutual Prosperity

[Asia Economy Reporters Ki-min Lee and Eun-byeol Kim] "These days, new employees are different. At first, I couldn't adapt either. Even if the team leader was working at 6 p.m., they would leave work, and when I offered to buy dinner, they said they had prior plans, which made me feel awkward. But now, it makes me think a lot. Ten years ago, we had to come to work on weekends for various reasons like volunteer activities, hiking, and workshops, but it wasn't because we liked it. Thanks to the new employees changing the culture these days, I now have my own time. At work, as long as you do your job well, that's enough."

This is the story of Mr. A, a branch manager at a commercial bank working with employees born in the 1990s. He admits that he is a 'kkondae' (a Korean term for an older person who is rigid or condescending). When he first encountered employees born in the 1990s, he was sometimes confused and angry. No matter what he said, he was treated as a kkondae, which made him feel depressed.

Now things have changed. He said, "I don't even look kindly on deputy managers who awkwardly ask to work overtime. Working efficiently within the allotted time and leaving work together helps the branch's sales performance more."

Experts also advise that proper compensation and culture can improve corporate efficiency. Professor Jeong-won Lee of Korea University’s Department of Business Administration stated in his paper, ‘The Impact of Tangible Rewards and Work-Life Balance on Innovation Performance,’ "Empirical analysis showed that higher satisfaction with work-life balance increases job satisfaction and positively affects innovation performance."