Two-Week Online and Offline Voting
Nearly 40% Struggle to Use 'Nim' Correctly
Some Companies Revert to Previous Honorific Systems
“We ask for your honest thoughts about ‘nim’!”
On the 28th of last month, the lobby of LG Uplus headquarters in Yongsan-gu, Seoul was covered with stickers on a panel. It was an anonymous vote conducted by LG Uplus from the 17th to that day under the theme of the ‘Wagle Wagle Discussion Culture Establishment Campaign.’ The request was to vote with the sticker next to you on how we are using the nim culture. There were two options: ‘I actively use the nim honorific,’ and ‘I want to use the nim honorific but currently cannot.’
Out of 206 respondents, 127 employees (61.6%) said they use the nim honorific, while 79 employees (38.4%) said they do not. This means that 4 out of 10 people responded that they do not use the nim honorific. LG Uplus conducted an online survey through the internal bulletin board ‘Wagle Wagle’ as well as the panel vote. The results were not significantly different from the offline survey. Slightly more than half said they actively use the nim culture.
LG Uplus unified the honorific to ‘nim’ in 2018. This was to spread a horizontal organizational culture and to create a sense of psychological stability among members. Although five years have passed, a significant number still feel uncomfortable with the nim honorific. An LG Uplus official said, “While it is actively used with colleagues and juniors, some find it somewhat difficult to use with seniors.”
Among the three major telecom companies, SK Telecom led the change in honorifics. They unified to ‘Manager’ in 2006 and changed to ‘nim’ starting in 2018. KT also used the manager honorific from 2009 but failed to establish the system. After five years, they returned to the existing rank system of Sadaegwachaebu (Staff, Assistant Manager, Manager, Deputy General Manager, General Manager). Their self-assessment was that fundamental organizational culture change did not occur and only confusion increased.
Looking at companies overall, the first to introduce horizontal honorifics was CJ Group. They started calling all employees ‘nim’ from 2000. Since then, horizontal honorifics have spread mainly among the four major groups: Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK, and LG. Some companies like Kakao have adopted English names as honorifics. However, some companies such as POSCO and Hanwha, which used the ‘Manager’ honorific, reverted to the existing rank honorifics. LG Uplus, which also collected related opinions through Wagle Wagle, said, “We will strive to establish a horizontal and active communication ‘nim’ culture.”
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