The growth of 【Jungle】 was beyond everyone’s expectations, and as a result, signs of shortages due to the rapid growth were evident everywhere.
Government and public relations work was no exception. As the company grew, it was certain that these areas would become crucial.
‘Hwang Do-hoon, this guy, he applied precisely for that position.’
Lee Hyun-woo’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Hwang Do-hoon.
Hwang Do-hoon’s expression clearly conveyed that he was a person 【Jungle】 absolutely needed.
Lee Hyun-woo smiled and turned his gaze.
He had already decided to bring him into 【Jungle】 and was now preparing to ask questions to other interviewees.
‘Yeah, we need someone like him. I can’t keep negotiating with government departments by myself.’
Especially recently, he had been working on various tasks with Geum Sang-jun, the former Director of Science and Technology. With the new government coming in, he would have to deal with people he had no acquaintance with.
Lee Hyun-woo imagined sending Hwang Do-hoon to handle those tasks.
‘Come to think of it, the competition for this open recruitment means nothing to him.’
How many people would apply to an IT company like 【Jungle】 for government relations and public affairs roles?
Among the applicants, Hwang Do-hoon was almost unrivaled.
After the interview schedule ended that day, Lee Hyun-woo brought up the topic to Woo Sang-won.
“Not eliminating Hwang Do-hoon in the document screening was truly a brilliant move.”
“What?”
It was Woo Sang-won who was rather surprised.
He had expected to be scolded for bringing someone too out of place to the interview.
Of course, Lee Hyun-woo wasn’t someone who would openly criticize, but even if he implied it, the message would be clear, leaving Woo Sang-won bewildered.
“I’ve been handling government and public relations work by myself so far. With the regime changing and times evolving, we need someone to represent our voice in policy processes. I think Hwang Do-hoon is someone we need to bring into the company for that reason. What do you think?”
“Ah, I didn’t think that far.”
“Really?”
“Yes, to be honest, I wasn’t the one who picked Hwang Do-hoon.”
“Then who…”
“This time, I got help from the other directors. Sometimes Director Kang Dong-ho and Director Han Se-jin also helped with the document screening. Since they have experience in hiring people before…”
Upon hearing this, Lee Hyun-woo’s eyes widened.
Then he spoke with a tone of apology.
“I’m sorry. I was a bit indifferent.”
“What? Why would you apologize…?”
“I knew many people had applied this time, but I never thought you were preparing for it alone. If people hadn’t helped, you could have been overwhelmed with work.”
“No, not at all…”
“No, seriously. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.”
As Lee Hyun-woo’s voice contained self-reproach, Woo Sang-won now felt sorry.
“If you say that, I feel sorry. The company is growing rapidly, so there are many areas lacking. One of them is the HR side. We should have built it in advance, but we didn’t, so things ended up being ad hoc like this.”
“So, I should have taken care of that.”
“If I had thought a little deeper, it was a solvable problem. We could have simply redirected the occasional hires to the HR department. But after I took on the COO role and handled multiple tasks simultaneously, it ended up like this. I’ve realized it clearly this time. It was easy at the start, but it gets harder to manage over time. And…”
“……”
“I now understand why you emphasized work-life balance so much.”
Lee Hyun-woo felt a strange emotion, unsure whether to be happy or not.
‘As expected, no matter how much I emphasize work-life balance, it’s something you have to experience yourself to understand.’
This is human nature, after all.
Most people can’t believe anything unless they experience it themselves.
In that sense, Woo Sang-won, who has internalized this, might become a devout believer in work-life balance.
‘Indeed, it’s a blessing in disguise.’
It seemed that the term work-life balance would be better understood from now on.
Especially since Woo Sang-won, the second-in-command at 【Jungle】, had realized it.
A smile formed on Lee Hyun-woo’s face.
“From now on, let’s create a work-life balance company together.”
“Yes, CEO.”
Previously, Lee Hyun-woo had brought Woo Sang-won up to the COO position, saying they should change the world.
Changing the world involved not just technological innovation or infrastructure-building but also improving corporate culture in this way.
‘Now it seems more manageable.’
The work-life balance he had been shouting into the void about for so long would become much easier with Woo Sang-won’s help.
No, even the directors involved in the document screening and the two secretaries must have felt it.
Work is most efficient when it’s done comfortably.
Lee Hyun-woo’s thoughts were roughly on point.
That evening, Lee Jung-woo, Jang Yoo-chul, and Oh Min-woo met and clinked glasses, talking about the document screening.
“Our company still has a long way to go. There are too many things being done ad hoc. Don’t you think?”
“After all, it’s only been a year and a half. There wasn’t enough time to have everything in place.”
“I feel the most sorry for burdening Director Woo so much. Honestly, that’s what I feel the guiltiest about.”
“And I realized once again how competent our hyung is. We didn’t notice because he was struggling alone, but now that we’ve divided the tasks and each of us has handled something, I can see how well he managed multiple tasks at once.”
“That’s probably why our hyung emphasized work-life balance so much. He was struggling, but we kept asking about work.”
“That’s true.”
In reality, Lee Hyun-woo wasn’t that exhausted.
Moreover, even with a heavy workload, he enjoyed the work due to his workaholic tendencies, so their thoughts were slightly off.
However, as long as they reached the goal, the process didn’t matter much. This time, they had understood the philosophy of work-life balance.
“And now I understand why Hyun-woo hyung talked about early retirement.”
“Indeed. The heavy workload was one of the reasons.”
“We were just happy about the flexibility of working remotely, without realizing it.”
“Damn, the more I think about it, the sorrier I feel.”
It seemed they were maturing bit by bit.
They were beginning to understand both Lee Hyun-woo’s and Woo Sang-won’s struggles on a deeper level.
“Given our positions, we can’t not think about the company.”
“Right, we can’t just think about ourselves.”
“So let’s take turns coming to the office until everything settles down.”
“Yeah, we should help lessen the burden on Hyun-woo hyung and Sang-won hyung.”
“One more thing. No matter how good a new idea is, let’s hold back.”
“Okay, I was thinking the same. We often start something but then ignore the process.”
“Anyway, we need to graduate soon.”
“But we still have a year left. No, technically, it’s just one semester. In the second semester, those with jobs don’t need to attend classes.”
“Right. We just have to write our graduation thesis later.”
“Alright, until then, let’s hold off on new things.”
“For that reason, cheers!”
“Cheers!”
“Let’s drink!”
“Eat and die!”
The sound of glasses clinking and their voices mingled, solidifying their resolve.
Sometimes, youth, which often rushes forward without thinking, occasionally reaches a stage of maturity, and it seemed this was that moment for them.
If Lee Hyun-woo were present, he would probably look on with satisfaction, envisioning the future.
After going through this process of maturing, wouldn’t they become giants in the Korean IT industry?
On the second and third days,
Lee Hyun-woo and Woo Sang-won kept in mind the good candidates, regardless of the number they originally planned to hire.
After completing the interviews until the last day and reviewing the selected talents, they found they had 187 people.
This was twice the number they originally intended to hire.
With the current staff numbering around 250, the addition would bring the total to about 500.
Woo Sang-won, seeing the larger-than-expected number, asked Lee Hyun-woo first.
“Isn’t this too many?”
“This open recruitment is a case of ‘the more, the better.’ We have a considerable gap to fill in our group.”
“Ah, indeed…”
“Additionally, we need people to handle accounting and legal matters within the group, so I’m thinking of scouting professionals rather than outsourcing.”
It meant creating dedicated accounting and legal departments.
Woo Sang-won nodded.
While running the company, he realized the need for experts in the areas Lee Hyun-woo mentioned.
“Phew, I feel a bit relieved. It felt like we couldn’t add flesh because the skeleton wasn’t properly built.”
“Meanwhile, you were struggling. Ah, and let’s not forget what we discussed during this open recruitment process. Let’s implement work-life balance unconditionally.”
“Yes, understood. CEO, about that, I’d like to propose that we also revamp our company regulations related to work-life balance. Our internal regulations have been ad hoc too.”
“Indeed… Yes, we need to revamp that part too.”
Work-life balance has to function like clockwork.
Otherwise, it could be miscommunicated, significantly affecting the first impression new employees have of the company.
Some employees might feel, ‘Is it okay to rest this much?’ while others might be disappointed, thinking, ‘They said balance between work and life, but it’s different from the words.’
Hence, having a system was crucial, and this task also fell to the top executives. Lee Hyun-woo, along with COO Woo Sang-won, the CTOs, and the two secretaries, overhauled the company regulations.
Additionally, they revised the hiring process to avoid repeating mistakes.
It seemed everyone had felt a lot during this interview process, as they began to pour out their ideas about the hiring process one after another.
“A year and a half since founding, it seems we are entering a period of takeoff. Next year, we might consider it a second founding and hire even more new employees than this year.”
“Speaking of which, I think we should scout a good person from outside to head the new HR department.”
“I had a similar thought. How about bringing in Goo Man-hoe, the CEO of 【Internet Goblin Market】?”
“Oh, that’s a good idea. He managed our outsourcing and grew his company. Watching him operate an online headhunter site, his ideas were brilliant.”
“But you’re suggesting we recruit someone from such a successful place? Is that possible?”
“It’s possible if we acquire the company.”
The bold statement was made by Lee Jung-woo, looking at Lee Hyun-woo.
Since the execution of funds was up to Lee Hyun-woo as the highest authority, the decision was left to him.
Lee Hyun-woo smiled and nodded.
However,
“No matter how much money we have, hiring people means we also need to provide space for them, and acquiring that company might strain our finances a bit. Therefore, I’m considering getting investment for the first time since we founded the company.”
“……!”
He surprised everyone by mentioning he was planning to seek investment.
