[Gwanga in] "On Fridays, wear casual and leave work 2 hours early"... Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Leading Winds of Change

Casual Day and Group Flexible Work System
Introduction of Robotic Process Automation
Welfare Improvement Including Expanded Club Support

"The day before 'Casual Day,' employees are so enthusiastic that they discuss dress codes by department, such as 'white tops and jeans for bottoms.' Although casual attire still feels a bit awkward, it seems that the mindset becomes a little more relaxed, just like the clothing." (An official from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is bringing a wave of change to public service culture. On Fridays, employees wear sweatshirts instead of shirts and leave work two hours earlier than usual, among various attempts to foster a flexible organizational culture.

On the 6th, a ministry official said, "To create a lively workplace atmosphere, as part of improving organizational culture, we have expanded flexible working hours since last month and designated Casual Day every Friday. Today is the second Casual Day, and most employees are participating."

Casual Day, first implemented on the 22nd of last month, was selected as an excellent idea in July's "Idea Contest for Breaking Practices to Improve the Organizational Culture and Work Methods of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs." Reflecting this, the ministry designated every Friday as Casual Day to enhance work concentration with comfortable attire and to foster a free and creative organizational culture that respects individual personalities. To promote this, executives including the minister actively participate. Additionally, rewards will be given to individuals and departments through a certification event called "Wear Anything Boss."

The "Group Flexible Working Hours" system introduced by the ministry in early last month is an expanded form of the existing flexible working hours system. Flexible working hours allow employees to work autonomously within a 40-hour workweek instead of the standardized "9 AM to 6 PM" schedule. Due to concerns about feeling pressured when leaving work earlier than supervisors or colleagues, the ministry is implementing group flexible working hours, allowing departments or divisions to leave early on specific days within the scope of not disrupting public services.

The ministry applies a method where employees work intensively from Monday to Thursday and then leave collectively two hours early on Friday using the accumulated extra hours. Currently, this is being piloted in some departments, and according to the ministry, participation rates have increased from about 30% before the introduction of group flexible working hours to around 80%.

The ministry is also seeking changes in work methods. To improve work methods through digital innovation and enhance work efficiency, it has proactively introduced and is operating Robotic Process Automation (RPA). This automates simple repetitive tasks such as data collection, input, and comparison verification by having computers perform them. Currently, RPA is applied to 11 tasks, including civil service assignment, monitoring wholesale prices of agricultural and livestock products, and inspecting eco-friendly certified foods.

Positive effects are also emerging. Previously, one employee manually checked about 50 eco-friendly certified food items sold online per day, but by automating the task using RPA, it is now possible to inspect over 16,000 items daily.

Additionally, the ministry is strengthening efforts to improve employee welfare by increasing the health checkup budget from 100,000 won to 200,000 won and expanding support for club activities, reflecting the increased welfare budget.

Kang Hyung-seok, Director of Planning and Coordination at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, "We will continue to strive to enhance employee job satisfaction and efficiency by fostering a lively and flexible workplace atmosphere. We will also actively expand communication channels with employees, including the younger generation, to create an efficient organizational culture."

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