Kim Ju-yeon Outside Director Instills 'Leading by Example DNA'
30-Year Veteran in Global Marketing
"New Energy Paradigm, Promising Industry for Corporate Value"
“As a global business executive, I have made final decisions myself. The management goals are the quantitative and qualitative development of the company and the happiness of its members, but I do not believe in using ‘all means’ to achieve results. It is important to carefully judge whether the process is lawful and ethical. Now, as an outside director, I want to contribute to making SK Innovation a company loved by its stakeholders based on my experience and what I have learned through it.”
Kim Ju-yeon, an outside director of SK Innovation who served as the CEO and President of P&G Korea, the world’s number one consumer goods company, and is regarded as a figure who broke the glass ceiling, said in an interview with Asia Economy, “My job was to sit down with employees every day to understand what customers truly want, read and predict their minds, prepare in advance, and constantly innovate.”
What was he like as a manager? “Do the right thing right.” That is his principle. He said that better performance always followed when pursuing customer satisfaction rather than short-term goals.
Kim said, “P&G has PVP (Purpose·Value·Principle), which is similar to SK Group’s management system SKMS (SK Management System, a management system applying SK’s unique philosophy and goals),” and explained, “It means that leaders lead by example, communicate, and guide all members to act correctly in decision-making and work.” He introduced P&G brands that became hits in Korea, such as the cosmetic brand ‘SK-Ⅱ’, the razor ‘Gillette’, and the deodorizer ‘Febreze’.
He said, “I decided to take on the role of outside director after seeing SK Innovation’s tradition of strengthening board independence by appointing outside directors as board chairs since 2019.”
SK Innovation’s board of directors increased the number of outside directors from five to six this year. The purpose is to strengthen board independence and enhance the monitoring and checking role of the management. Although the legally mandated ratio of outside directors on the board is 50%, SK Innovation’s ratio is 75%. Half of them, 50%, are women. According to data recently released by Leaders Index, a corporate analysis research institute, analyzing the top 500 domestic companies by sales, the proportion of female outside directors was 17.3% in the first quarter of this year.
She holds two titles beyond being the first woman: the first Korean. She was appointed as P&G’s global brand franchise leader in 2011 and as the global marketing head of P&G Grooming in 2019. Starting as a regular employee, she rose to president in 2016, becoming the second woman to do so after 21 years with the company. She then served as Vice President of P&G Gillette Asia, Vice President of P&G Korea and Japan, and Global Marketing Head of P&G Grooming. Since March this year, she has been serving as a member of SK Innovation’s Future Strategy Committee and the Personnel Evaluation and Compensation Committee under the board of directors.
When asked about the future of large-scale capital-intensive industries from the perspective of a marketer with 30 years of global marketing experience, she said, “In the past, no one put brakes on the carbon emissions from energy development,” adding, “Even now, if you look only at ‘economic benefits,’ there is no reason not to develop energy in the same way as before.”
However, she continued, “For the sustainable happiness of future generations, the global energy industry is shifting to recycling that reduces carbon and reuses discarded plastics. The world population will continue to grow, and economic activities will become more active, so if a new energy industry paradigm opens, I believe it will be a promising industry in terms of corporate value as well.”
As a senior colleague who rose to CEO, she did not hesitate to offer advice. She said that first and foremost, it is essential to create an inclusive system and culture where not only women but all individuals can work in the workplace as their authentic selves, leveraging their unique characteristics, and grow while achieving organizational goals.
“It is still a reality that not all mothers can comfortably balance work and child-rearing. I hope that supervisors share their family situations, priorities, and plans just as they share annual business goals and plans, and that colleagues actively suggest improvements to company systems, use internal programs, and participate in related initiatives.” She added, “I want to say, don’t pursue perfection, don’t try to overcome everything alone, actively seek help from family, supervisors, and colleagues, and work together to improve systems and culture.”
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
