"Executive Director's Mentor is a 20s New Employee"… Kyobo Life Introduces Reverse Mentoring

Executive Director Heo Geum-ju (center), Kim Seung-seop (right), and staff member Cha Kyung-min, who participated in the Kyobo Life Reverse Mentoring Program, are practicing choreography to BTS's "Dynamite" at a studio in Samseong-dong, Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] 'A new employee born in the 1990s becomes a mentor to executives'

Kyobo Life Insurance announced on the 18th that it has introduced a Reverse Mentoring program to foster a corporate culture for digital transformation and cultivate digital leadership.

Reverse mentoring is a communication method that reverses the traditional roles, where younger employees act as mentors to coach executives. Global companies such as Microsoft and GE have adopted this approach to rejuvenate and energize their corporate cultures.

Since September, seven Kyobo Life executives and fourteen employees have been participating in reverse mentoring, conducting activities on various topics more than three times a month. The topics include using digital devices, experiencing SNS, and understanding the MZ generation, focusing on practical exercises and hands-on experiences.

The new employee mentors teach executives how to use tablet PCs and applications for delivery and secondhand trading, and also help them experience SNS platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. They also spend time sharing the latest market trends and interests of the 2030 generation by visiting hot places like Seongsu-dong and Mullae-dong, enjoying indoor sports, and experiencing self-photo studios.

Executives have the opportunity to develop digital leadership by engaging with the latest digital trends, and employees find it a valuable chance to build empathy with executives, which previously felt difficult.

Shin Chang-jae, Chairman of Kyobo Life Insurance, has emphasized that "for digital transformation to succeed, organizations must be fundamentally changed, digital skills must be understood, digital literacy must be enhanced, and horizontal leadership necessary in the digital era must be established."

A Kyobo Life Insurance official said, "We expect to accelerate digital transformation and build a flexible organizational culture through unique communication between executives and young employees," adding, "We plan to continue reverse mentoring to foster a culture of digital innovation and strengthen intergenerational communication."

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