A Handwritten Letter to Employees... Huin Heo, KB Kookmin Bank President's Empathetic Management in His Third Term

Encouraging Handwritten Letter to Overseas Employees
Connecting and Communicating with Staff through 'Borasho'

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] Heo In, President of KB Kookmin Bank, is practicing a people-centered management philosophy that "everything starts with people" by sending handwritten letters of encouragement to overseas employees as his first global management move after successfully securing a third term.

According to Kookmin Bank on the 15th, President Heo recently sent handwritten letters expressing gratitude to overseas employees who are struggling due to the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

President Heo delivered a handwritten message saying, "I always want to express my gratitude to all of you who endure each exhausting day. You are the most precious," along with relief supplies. Kookmin Bank currently operates three overseas local subsidiaries and eight branches, and is expanding its global business by recently acquiring Cambodia's Prasac and Indonesia's Bukopin.

People-centered management is President Heo's management philosophy. He regards it as a principle that all the bank's products, services, systems, and infrastructure must be centered on people (customers and employees), providing trust and convenience to customers and creating a happy workplace for employees.

This unique communication style of President Heo is one of the secrets that has allowed Kookmin Bank to establish itself as a leading bank, achieve record-breaking results every year, and minimize employee dissatisfaction. Since last month, he has been conducting a non-face-to-face online communication event called "Bora Show (Visible Radio)" with employees, where the CEO's management philosophy and key issues are freely and sincerely shared between the CEO and employees, receiving enthusiastic responses within the bank.

President Heo gifts vitamins to employees along with handwritten encouragement messages, and sometimes raises employee morale by hanging witty banners at the entrance of the building's caf?, such as "I Live Alone! Today's coffee is on me!"

President Heo's third term was finalized at the shareholders' meeting held on the 11th.

Previously, Kookmin Bank held three Bank President Candidate Recommendation Committee meetings, deciding on President Heo as the sole candidate and conducting verification processes. President Heo's term lasts until December next year. Elected as Kookmin Bank President in November 2017 with a two-year term, and having succeeded in a one-year extension last year, this reappointment confirms that he will serve a total of four years as president until November 2021.

Born in December 1961 in Jinju, Gyeongnam, President Heo graduated from Seoul National University with a degree in law and earned a master's degree in law from the same university's graduate school. He joined Kookmin Bank during the 1998 IMF financial crisis and has held various positions such as Executive Director of the Credit Review Department, Senior Executive Director of the Management Planning Group, and Vice President of the Sales Group, gaining deep understanding of customers, markets, and sales sites through diverse work experiences.

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