[Viewpoint] Geunja Yeolwonjarae

Seo Yonggu, Professor at Sookmyung Women's University Graduate School of Business

“Geunja Yeolwonjarae” means that people nearby rejoice and feel grateful for kindness, and people far away hear the news and come to admire it. The words of Confucius from 2,500 years ago are being realized in 21st-century corporate workplaces. Recently, information asymmetry inside and outside companies has almost disappeared. This is because Generation Z new employees candidly share the company policies and environment they experience through social networking services (SNS). “Employeencers” is a compound word of Employee and Influencer, referring to people who share their company’s welfare policies and work environment in digital spaces. Now, companies have reached a point where they must manage the workplace experience of not only external customers but also internal customers?the employees?more delicately.

Who are employeencers? First, they are familiar with a culture of showing themselves and focusing on themselves, and they boldly practice “meaning out,” expressing their values and beliefs through consumption. They prefer label-free bottled water and paper straws for environmental protection and purchase plastic recycling bags and eco-fur jackets. Conversely, they do not hesitate to boycott companies involved in tax evasion or abusive practices. In short, they are consumers who express and act through their consumption.

Second, they feel greater psychological satisfaction in living an ordinary life rather than climbing the social ladder. For those who grew up in advanced economies, personal happiness takes precedence over success. They prioritize individual interests over organizations and seek alignment between hobbies and professions. They prefer organizations that provide clear work instructions and support personal growth. They may boldly resign if forced loyalty to the organization is demanded or if the company falls short of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) standards. They tend to prefer non-stimulating brands such as mood diaries, meditation, and audio content to focus solely on themselves.

Third, they pursue fairness more strongly than any previous generation. They desire not only distributive fairness but also interactional and procedural fairness. Interactional fairness, a term from service marketing, means treating upset colleagues and customers politely and formally, explaining and compensating with empathy. They also seek procedural fairness, which involves giving stakeholders ample opportunities to speak and express their opinions during decision-making processes.

Miracle Morning is gaining popularity among Generation Z. Miracle Morning is a concept from the 2016 book of the same name by American author Hal Elrod. It involves waking up early before the workday begins and using the undisturbed early morning hours for prayer, meditation, study, exercise, or reading. Although it seems similar to the previously popular morning person trend, the difference lies in its purpose: self-care and enhancing self-esteem rather than social success. Waking up at dawn is about focusing on cherishing and caring for oneself.

With the emergence of Generation Z employeencers, an era has begun where companies are evaluated based on employee experiences. Potential applicants now choose companies by reading senior employees’ experiences, just as they purchase products based on consumer reviews. The era of corporate HR and PR teams managing corporate risks is fading. The need to create a fairer corporate culture and to redesign and manage the overall employee experience has grown.

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