Discovering 6 Key Tasks and 13 Action Plans in 3 Major Areas with the Goal of "Growing Together in Gangdong through Empathy and Communication"
Conducting Education to Understand Each Other through MBTI, Revising HR Standards to Avoid Assigning Undesirable Tasks to New Employees
Moving Away from One-Time Approaches, Pursuing Continuous Organizational Culture Improvement from a Long-Term Perspective
Kangdong-gu (Mayor Lee Su-hee) announced on the 26th that it has established an ‘Organizational Culture Improvement Promotion Plan’ to create a better workplace for employees and foster a high-performing organizational culture, accelerating efforts to innovate the work environment.
Kangdong-gu’s efforts to improve organizational culture have attracted attention with bold and experimental initiatives. Last year, the district implemented programs such as ‘Reverse Mentoring’ for intergenerational communication, ‘Beetle Lab’ to address unreasonable organizational cultures, and a photo contest for organizational innovation ideas, earning the highest (excellent) rating in the ‘Work Method Innovation and Organizational Culture Improvement’ category in the 2023 Local Government Innovation Evaluation.
This year, based on the analysis of the ‘2023 Organizational Culture Perception Survey’ conducted among employees and guidelines from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the district prepared the ‘Organizational Culture Improvement Promotion Plan.’ Aiming for ‘Kangdong Growing Together through Empathy and Communication,’ the plan pursues six key tasks and 13 action tasks across three main areas: ▲Creating a flexible organizational culture ▲Improving work methods ▲Operating an employee-centered organization.
First, to foster a flexible organizational culture, the district will strengthen internal communication and operate various training programs and campaigns to improve employees’ perceptions. In particular, organizational communication training based on the personality type test (MBTI) is a newly introduced program this year, expected to enhance interest in training and help create a culture where members understand and empathize with each other.
Additionally, the district has established systems to protect hardworking employees and boost morale. To actively respond to malicious civil complaints and protect employees, body cameras, voice recorders, and other protective equipment will be expanded to all departments and community centers handling civil complaints. Emergency response drills will also be conducted to prepare for special complaints involving verbal abuse or violence. Psychological counseling, legal consultation, and other support services will be actively provided according to related ordinances to prevent and address physical and mental harm caused by verbal abuse or assault from complainants.
Moreover, October 1, the opening day of Kangdong-gu Office (October 1, 1979), will be designated annually as ‘Kangdong People’s Day,’ with plans to prepare cheering events for employees.
The district will also improve work methods to enable employees to work efficiently and collaborate effectively. A separate training course sharing key district projects will be established to deepen employees’ understanding of overall district administration. Furthermore, a new program called ‘Kangdong Exploration Half-Day’ will be introduced, allowing employees to spend half a day working and the other half exploring notable sites within Kangdong-gu to naturally familiarize themselves with district affairs through field experience. In addition, an automation system for simple repetitive tasks will be built, and a system for data aggregation will be activated to create an efficient work system that minimizes unnecessary administrative effort and allows focus on district administration.
To establish an employee-considerate organizational culture, a new personnel system has been prepared. The practice of assigning heavy or undesirable tasks to new public officials will be eradicated by establishing ‘Personnel Placement and Task Assignment Standards for New Public Officials’ that consider their learning period, which will be applied to work assignments.
Alongside this, a 1:1 mentoring system will be operated, designating senior public officials within departments as mentors to help new officials adapt stably to organizational culture and practical work. Meanwhile, to enhance productivity during peak work periods by department, the total overtime hours system will be operated flexibly on a quarterly basis instead of the previous monthly maximum of 50 hours.
Furthermore, the district is expanding the employee fitness center and continuously operating mental health counseling programs to relieve job-related stress among members.
The district plans to conduct organizational culture surveys regularly to ensure that improvement projects do not remain one-off but continuously develop according to members’ perceptions and needs, managing the results annually. This year’s survey results will be analyzed alongside last year’s perception survey to review the effectiveness of the projects and identify areas for improvement.
Mayor Lee Su-hee of Kangdong-gu said, “The satisfaction of organizational members will translate into the quality of public services for residents, and a healthy organizational culture must be built together through empathy and communication.” She added, “We will continue to actively listen to employees’ diverse opinions and strive to create a healthy and vibrant organizational culture.”
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