[Asia Exclusive] Happy Management... Workplace Daycare for Working Moms with Eco-Friendly Design and Specialized Education

Yoon Seok-am, CEO of SK Stoa's Management Philosophy

Yoon Seok-am, CEO of SK Stoa, is being interviewed by Asia Economy on the 23rd. / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

SK Stoa opened an on-site daycare center on part of the second floor of its headquarters last March. Although the total number of employees is less than 200, so it is not a mandatory business operator, CEO Yoon Seok-am took the initiative, saying it was essential to enhance employee happiness and work engagement through work-family balance. CEO Yoon said, "As a latecomer, talent development is important," adding, "We have put a lot of thought into creating a family-friendly work environment."

The average age of SK Stoa employees is 35. Most of them juggle work and childcare. CEO Yoon instructed the 'Junior Board,' composed of young employees, to directly research and create a 'workplace culture where people want to stay.' The Junior Board emphasized the need for a 'daycare center for working moms.' The management department, considering the number of SK Stoa employees and sales scale, judged that an on-site daycare center was 'still premature.' However, CEO Yoon did not hesitate to invest in the future. To create the 'best workplace daycare center,' working moms were involved from the planning stage. Initially, a daycare center accommodating 20 children was planned, but survey results showed high demand from employees, so the number of children was nearly doubled, and the capacity was maximized. The daycare center, built on about 70 pyeong (approximately 231 square meters), is a space where a total of 35 children aged 1 to 5 can stay.

CEO Yoon meticulously reviewed every aspect of the daycare center's design to ensure nothing was made carelessly. Environmentally friendly finishing materials were used with the highest priority on children's safety and health. The space was designed to provide psychological stability with differentiated areas. Additionally, SK Stoa's daycare center developed specialized programs including creative convergence play such as coding education, art, and sand play, as well as three-dimensional character education for children, staff, and parents. CEO Yoon explained, "When we decided to build the daycare center, SK Stoa's transaction volume was around 400 billion KRW," adding, "I was confident our company would grow further, and the workforce would increase accordingly." He continued, "Now that the transaction volume exceeds 1 trillion KRW, many talented people are joining," and said, "Employees considering transferring to SK Stoa moved even residences upon hearing the news about the daycare center."

CEO Yoon has consistently emphasized 'happiness management.' His philosophy is that employees' happiness can spread to stakeholders' happiness and, further, to society's happiness. Amid the subdued social atmosphere due to the COVID-19 pandemic, SK Stoa actively operates telecommuting, flexible work hours, and family care leave to improve quality of life.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.