Once a week, Lee Hyun-woo had tea time with the board of directors of the group.
The tea time took place the day after Woo Sang-won had drinks with Goo Man-hoe, and during this meeting, the directors also brought up the head of talent development at Jungle as a topic of conversation.
“I was surprised to hear that the name Goo Man-hoe has become famous at our school recently.”
“I heard that too. I don’t know much about it, but there’s a story about Manager Goo. He lost the ‘Online Headhunter’ due to a bad contract, but he’s now making significant strides in talent development at Jungle and is even changing the hiring culture in Korea.”
“Is it that significant?”
Min-woo, who rarely goes to school, widened his eyes as he listened to his two friends’ conversation.
Indeed, stories about the job market shrinking due to the employment freeze had been circulating.
As a result, unlike before, the romantic atmosphere of the college campus had disappeared, and the role of educational institutions in preparing for employment was emphasized.
The same was true for students; prospective graduates were in a hurry to find jobs, and even second and third-year students were obsessed with building their resumes in advance.
In extreme cases, even freshmen were holed up in the library, making employment much more critical in life than in the past.
In times like these, Lee Jung-woo and Jang Yoo-chul felt they were very fortunate.
“Really, if it weren’t for the CEO, we would have been in big trouble.”
“That’s right. We’re also prospective graduates, but when we see our peers, we can’t help but feel relieved.”
“By the way, our company is still the most desired place for students to get a job, right?”
“That’s right. But it’s changed a bit compared to before.”
“Right. It used to feel like Jungle was unrivaled, but recently, there’s a prevailing sentiment that other companies are also quite good.”
“Is it that people are just grateful to get a job anywhere?”
“No, no. It means that the work environment and welfare benefits at other companies have improved.”
“Yes, although not as much as Jungle, quite a few companies have improved. Some professors say it’s because of the influence of our company.”
Listening to their conversation, Lee Hyun-woo felt a sense of pride welling up in his chest.
With the advancement of technology, Lee Hyun-woo had hoped to change the work environment and welfare benefits. It felt like the seeds he had sown were sprouting.
Perhaps because of this, when he checked the internet after the meeting, he found that many companies were benchmarking Jungle.
It was inevitable. Companies like Guseong, Daehyun, and GB were also recently improving their corporate culture, and other groups were showing similar movements, so many companies were trying to emulate Jungle’s system in any way possible.
Eventually, Park Jin-yong, the chairman of Samjin Computer, openly sought out Lee Hyun-woo.
“These days, major conglomerates are changing. But I’ve heard that they were benchmarking Jungle, so I came to see you, CEO Lee.”
“Oh, I doubt that’s the case.”
“It’s true. To grow as fast as Jungle, they say they have to imitate Jungle’s system.”
“It’s not to that extent. It’s just that we’re exchanging ideas to absorb each other’s strengths.”
Was it because the conversation he wanted to hear came up?
Park Jin-yong quickly brought up the topic to Lee Hyun-woo.
“Really? Then let’s do it with us too.”
“Sorry?”
“If we have strengths, Jungle can take them, and we’ll adopt the good aspects of your company.”
“Ah, yes…”
“What’s with that reaction? It feels like there’s nothing to take from Samjin Computer.”
“Oh, why are you saying that? It’s just that nothing comes to mind immediately, so I couldn’t give you a definite answer.”
“Then, let’s start by copying Jungle’s systems that we’ve identified.”
As expected, Park Jin-yong was an eccentric chairman.
But he was also an ambitious person who wanted to grow quickly like Jungle.
His next words were the same.
“I noticed that Jungle’s work hours are unique?”
“Oh, that just happened as we tried to achieve the highest efficiency.”
“Anyway, your company’s work hours are showing real power. I heard that Jungle’s employees work with the most passion in the industry.”
“Really? Haha…”
“But to adjust work hours, you eventually need to hire more people.”
“That’s right. To enforce flexible work hours and mandatory leave, you can’t overburden the employees.”
“The problem is that if you hire people recklessly, it just increases labor costs and it’s hard to manage.”
Lee Hyun-woo nodded.
In fact, growing a person once hired takes a lot of time and money.
That’s why Lee Hyun-woo recently told Goo Man-hoe that if ‘Online Headhunter’ collapses further, they should consider acquiring it to bring in the workforce working there.
This is why group leaders must be good at hiring people.
“If they can’t grow into a proper talent, it would just mean paying a salary to someone lacking in ability… But during interviews, it’s not like people have ‘I will become the driving force that will make Samjin Computer flourish!’ written on their faces.”
“That’s right. It’s not easy for me to hire either. It’s hard to answer ‘yes’ when asked if I’m confident I won’t regret hiring them.”
No matter how much Lee Hyun-woo focused on people-centric management, it didn’t mean he was doing charity, so he naturally wanted to select the best talent.
“That’s why we applied a unique interview process.”
“Yes, I know. It’s almost espionage not to know that Jungle’s interviews are unique in Korea. But our HR team has been doing things the same way for a long time, so when I told them to try it like Jungle, the HR manager got all nervous and just rolled his eyes.”
“Every company has its style. If you tell them to try it like us, they’ll only feel more pressured.”
“That’s what I thought too. But no matter how much I think about it, Jungle’s unique method keeps lingering. I heard that it keeps creating talent, and now it’s overflowing. Isn’t that true?”
“Well…”
“Why are you being like this? No need to be humble between us!”
“Okay, let’s say that’s true. I’ve been lucky.”
“Luck also comes with skill. I heard that Jungle brought in someone who used to run another company to head the HR department.”
It was another reminder of how far rumors travel.
‘Goo Man-hoe must really be getting famous.’
It’s not easy to get your name known when you’re not even the CEO.
Hearing the name from the head of a large corporation like Samjin Computer was surprising, to say the least.
“I think you’re talking about Manager Goo Man-hoe?”
“Yes, yes, that’s the person. Even our HR manager mentioned that Jungle has a new manager who’s being highly praised for his innovative talent selection methods.”
Lee Hyun-woo chuckled inwardly.
Goo Man-hoe was indeed a capable person, but this was all based on results.
In fact, it would take more time for the talent selected in the last half-year to stand out.
But Lee Hyun-woo nodded.
“That’s right. I believe no one can match Manager Goo in talent development.”
“Good. So, what I’m proposing is to have an exchange between our HR team and Jungle’s talent development team. Don’t just look after Guseong; please take care of us too.”
“Haha… Well, I didn’t particularly look after Guseong, but alright. I’ll push for a partnership in the talent development department.”
“Thank you. I promised our HR manager, so now he can be a bit more confident.”
With that, Lee Hyun-woo immediately called Goo Man-hoe and told him about the conversation with Park Jin-yong, asking him to make some time for the HR manager of Samjin Computer.
“Yes, I’ll do it.”
The word ‘no’ rarely came out of Goo Man-hoe’s mouth, and now he nodded to Lee Hyun-woo’s request.
Some time later, Goo Man-hoe sat down for drinks with the HR manager of Samjin Computer.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Park Hyung-joon.”
“Yes, I’m Goo Man-hoe.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“Ha-ha, about me?”
“Yes, there’s a lot of talk these days. They say Jungle’s competitive edge in talent all comes from Manager Goo.”
“Oh no, that’s not true. Thank you for the kind words.”
“It’s true. Do you know how often the new hires at our company mentioned your name?”
Goo Man-hoe had memories of visiting universities.
But he didn’t expect them to remember him, so his mood improved.
“Anyway, our chairman made this meeting possible by asking CEO Lee at Jungle, so he gave strict orders to absorb everything. So please consider me your student and teach me everything from A to Z.”
“Oh, we’re here to learn from each other. But first, let’s drop the formalities. You’re much older than me.”
“Can we do that?”
“We’re not at the company, so what’s the problem? And we need to be comfortable to ask and answer questions freely, right?”
“Is that so? Ha-ha-ha…”
One of Goo Man-hoe’s strengths was quickly getting close to people.
He believed that the more a telecommunications company dealt with people, the more it needed to approach them humanely.
Since the company focused so much on development, he thought relationships could become a mess if not careful.
He had mentioned this to Lee Hyun-woo several times.
He didn’t want to select machines for human positions.
That led to the idea of interview sessions over drinks.
“I tried to see why the company hires new employees from a different perspective.”
“Why do they hire them?”
“To adapt to rapidly changing times, right?”
“What?”
“Change, change. In the end, if a company stays stagnant, it becomes obsolete. So it has to change for the better, and to do that, it’s much quicker to bring in new people and go in that direction.”
For a moment, Park Hyung-joon’s eyes widened.
It was definitely a new perspective.
“It sounds like you’re saying the company should follow the new hires rather than making them adapt to the company… Is that right?”
“You understood 100%. You’re amazing.”
“Manager Goo, you’re more amazing. It’s a complete shift in thinking.”
“In fact, this is only possible in our company. For example, last time, we had 600 existing employees but hired 400 new ones. It was impossible to block the change.”
“That’s true.”
“So we had no choice but to accept their newness. If we tried to tame them, it would be a mess, and it would take a long time.”
“So? Did the company change?”
“It changed completely. We minimized the time to reach a common ground.”
“Wow…”
Although it was impressive, Park Hyung-joon imprinted the fact that it was not an easy path in his mind.
To do this, the existing employees had to be open.
For Jungle, a company only a few years old, it was possible, but Samjin Computer had been around for almost 20 years.
Sensing this thought, Goo Man-hoe spoke up again.
“Existing companies will find it difficult to try this. But can’t they start with new business areas or departments or teams that haven’t been around for long? Then there’s a comparative effect. You can see how the performance differs between places that change the new hires and places that accept their freshness.”
“That’s true.”
“Of course, I believe that the latter will show immediate results, given equal abilities.”
Despite the confidence in his voice, Park Hyung-joon’s expression didn’t brighten.
The environments of Samjin Computer and Jungle were very different.
‘Can this be implemented?’
Of course, eccentric Chairman Park Jin-yong would likely provide maximum support if he heard about this from Jungle.
Still, the limitations seemed clear.
‘But since we’ve drawn the sword, we have to try, right?’
The next day, Goo Man-hoe visited the CEO’s office and mentioned the clear limitations of other companies.
“I feel a bit sorry to Manager Park Hyung-joon for not being much help.”
“Don’t worry. If it were any other company, maybe, but Chairman Park of Samjin Computer will fully support it.”
“Yes…”
“Rather, I’m interested. I’m curious to see how Samjin Computer will change by adopting some of Jungle’s hiring methods.”
Although there was still time before the second half of the year recruitment, Lee Hyun-woo also hoped that Samjin Computer’s attempt would have a positive effect.
At the same time, he could confirm Goo Man-hoe’s abilities once again.
“Suggesting new business areas and new departments was a brilliant move.”
“Really?”
“Yes, because of that, I think Chairman Park of Samjin Computer will try something new.”
“Is that a good thing? It means more money will be spent for an experiment.”
“If you’ve earned a lot, you should spend a lot. Will the company grow if you hoard it?”
“……”
“Initially, why do you think Chairman Park came to see us? To let us know that he needs to hire more people. Usually, when a company increases employment, it means the business is doing well. And if you think about recent PC bangs, Samjin Computer can’t fail.”
Not just because of the demand for PCs but also because they had entered the internet service market, they would be making a fortune.
‘As long as that guy doesn’t make something weird.’
For example, a mobile phone that could only make calls near a payphone.
To prevent that, he needed to visit Lee Hyun-woo regularly to discuss new business ventures, and fortunately, Chairman Park Jin-yong had made this a habit for years.
Since following Lee Hyun-woo’s advice had led to a big hit, he would unconsciously visit whenever the group accumulated money.
This time, it went through the same process.
After hearing from Manager Park Hyung-joon, thanking him for sharing Jungle’s talent development know-how.
“By the way, shouldn’t business expansion come before hiring?”
He slowly brought up the main point.
With a smile, Lee Hyun-woo said.
“That’s great. Let’s make something together with us.”
“Something? What?”
“An e-book reader. And all the components that go into it, can Samjin Computer handle it?”
Originally, Lee Hyun-woo was looking for a contracted manufacturer to make an e-book reader.
The e-book reader was one of the stepping stones for a future mobile operating system, but the problem was the technological level of the company that would make it.
Because of this, Woo Sang-won, who had been searching for a contracted manufacturer recently, reported that it should be entrusted to a manufacturer with a certain level of know-how, and coincidentally, Park Jin-yong came into view at this time.
