'Rank Destruction' CJ CheilJedang Eliminates 'Headquarters, Division, Team' Organizational Titles

Global employees can understand functions and roles
Changed to English as default... "Evolving into a Global Leading Company"
Members called 'Experts' instead of 'Practitioners'

CJ CheilJedang announced on the 9th that it has removed hierarchical organizational titles such as 'Headquarters,' 'Division,' and 'Team' to allow global employees to intuitively understand the functions and roles of the organization, and changed the default language to English.

Choi Eun-seok, CEO of CJ CheilJedang, is having a conversation with domestic and overseas employees participating both online and offline through the real-time broadcast "CEO Live Talk: ES?SAY."
[Photo by CJ CheilJedang]

Building on the horizontal honorific culture of 'nim,' first introduced domestically in 2000, the company aims to accelerate organizational culture innovation alongside the current use of English nicknames.

Choi Eun-seok, CEO of CJ CheilJedang, emphasized in a CEO letter sent to employees on the same day, "To establish a horizontal and innovative organizational culture and evolve into a global leading company, changes in organizational names are also important," adding, "I believe that continuous and consistent efforts of challenge and change come together to create significant transformation and lay the foundation for innovation."

The new organizational names were decided considering the scale of communication and collaboration among global organizations. Accordingly, the 'Communication Division' has been renamed 'Corporate Communication,' and the 'Financial Strategy Division' has become 'Corporate Finance Strategy.' Within the BIO business unit, the 'BIO PS Business Headquarters' has been changed to 'Protein Solution, BIO,' ensuring that abbreviations used only within specific organizations are replaced with clear terms that anyone can understand regarding the organization's functions and roles.

To establish a 'horizontal and innovative organizational culture' and accelerate global business, CJ CheilJedang now refers to each member as an 'expert' rather than a 'staff member,' and has newly introduced a groundbreaking reward program for outstanding performance, an award system that provides rewards frequently, and a promotion system that evaluates future potential.

The rank system has been reorganized from employee, assistant manager, manager, and general manager to 'Specialist' and 'Professional.' Executives are integrated and operated under a single rank of 'Management Leader.' Starting this year, the talent recruitment system 'Career Market,' previously focused on domestic employees, has been expanded to include overseas employees, providing diverse global career opportunities.

Changes are also being made to the way of working. The company is establishing a 'paperless culture' where meetings are conducted by wirelessly connecting laptop screens to electronic whiteboards, adopting a 'flexible work system' that allows employees to design their work hours autonomously, and building a smart working environment including hub offices and remote work systems. Internal venture programs that turn new business ideas into commercial ventures, such as the food business 'Inno 100,' the BIO business 'R (Revolution) Project,' and the F&C business 'NBC (New Business Challenge),' have been expanded to overseas locations and affiliates.

Communication with the CEO is also conducted in various ways tailored to employees' perspectives. CEO Choi continues to hold face-to-face meetings such as team meetings by job and topic, lunch meetings, and informal gatherings, as well as regular and irregular CEO letters. Insight forums and leadership forums have been held for leaders at global business sites, and starting this year, 'CEO Live Talk,' a live broadcast, has strengthened 'real-time communication' with both domestic and global employees.

A CJ CheilJedang official stated, "We will spare no support or effort to ensure that an innovative organizational culture, where talents with super-gap capabilities can fully demonstrate their abilities on the global stage, takes root as part of our DNA."