Lesson 9 Why Hire Local Western Teams
Why hire
local western teams? One challenge for Korean multi-national Groups has been
launching overseas operations and staffing the local branch or subsidiary. As
noted in book Korea Facing: Secrets of
Korean Global Business, Korean overseas subsidiaries have Korean management
assigned to the host country. The general term for these representative
employees is ju jae won. The Korean
model has a rotation cycle where teams and executives are assigned to overseas
divisions for 3-5 years. They then return to Korea for reassignment with a
replacement expected to take over—often with little preparation.
Skills and experience vary.
Several
years ago, in a group session I hosted for Korean and western senior managers
the discussion turned to the "role" of the westerner teams in project
development. The local western teams felt very under-utilized and wanted to
contribute more. This, of course, led to considerable frustration, because the
westerners previous employers had utilized their experience and expertise.
Pondering
for a moment during the discussion a senior Korean pointed out that local input
was respected, but perhaps feedback needed to be better communicated. The
Korean manager went on to explain that his team knew how to do things
"Korean style"...., but what was needed were other ways of
approaching problems. Even if those ideas were not adopted, senior management
reviewed those options and took them into consideration. In fact, Korean
leadership had high trust in the local teams and their judgement...They hired
local teams to provide much needed expertise and know-how.
Listening
attentively, one of the western managers, grinned and as I recall, thanked his
Korean co-worker for sharing and promised he'd convey the message to his team.
He also wished he'd known this 2 years earlier, since it would have reduced
lots of stress in his department.
On a
similar topic...
I have
noted that unlike in Korea where there is considerable internal promotion,
Korean overseas operations often do not fill new positions from within the
local organizations. Again it's not
under-valuing local talent, but the belief that hiring 'New' people will bring
'New' ideas.
BTW The
same is true for vendors and service providers—at times new partnerships are
sought to replace a long standing provider. The thought behind finding a new
firm is that it can bring new resources, ideas, and innovative solutions.
My note
to Korean teams and management
Take time
to provide your local western teams and management with feedback—good or bad—when they contribute time and
effort on a project. Sharing details on how their work impacted a project will
go far in improving relations and morale, which leads to higher productivity.
Questions?
Comments? Feedback (yes, I appreciate feedback, too).
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