A Completely Transformed KEPCO Corporate Culture (Comprehensive)

Millennial Employees Unite
Even 'CEO Emoticons' Appear

Photo by Korea Electric Power Corporation

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The face of Kim Jong-gap, president of Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO), the largest public enterprise in South Korea, has appeared as an in-house emoticon. It is called the 'CEO-con.' KEPCO recently held an emoticon contest for its employees. Emoticons related to work-life balance, such as "Let's get rid of unnecessary tasks," are representative examples.

The emoticons are widely used on the company’s internal messenger. KEPCO is a "deep-rooted tree" with over 120 years since its establishment. It is known for having a more rigid and authoritative corporate culture compared to private companies.

Amid this, the use of President Kim’s image as an emoticon has attracted attention. A KEPCO official said, "As the internal workforce has rapidly changed over the past few years, we are making various efforts to transform the corporate culture into a more horizontal one."

According to KEPCO, the number of new employees has significantly increased over the past five years, with millennials now making up 40% of the total workforce. Millennials are those born from the early 1980s to the early 2000s and value work-life balance and horizontal communication.

Since his appointment in 2018, President Kim has emphasized, "We must boldly discard unnecessary tasks and transform KEPCO to lead energy transition and digital transformation." This message of working efficiently in a short time aligns with the values pursued by millennial employees.

KEPCO has established a Corporate Culture Department within the Labor-Management Cooperation Office and is promoting ten major tasks.

The ten major tasks are ▲ practicing gratitude and positivity ▲ establishing a healthy company dining culture ▲ respectful and considerate language etiquette ▲ creating a company without excessive ceremonies ▲ eradicating power harassment and workplace bullying ▲ activating collaboration and communication between departments and job groups ▲ fostering a rational meeting culture ▲ adhering to work ethics and leaving work on time ▲ clear and rational task distribution ▲ enhancing job competency as a learning organization.

Additionally, to comply with the amended Labor Standards Act limiting legal working hours to 52 hours per week, KEPCO has introduced a 'PC-Off' system.

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