Chong Kun Dang has introduced an “employee-happiness” management system to raise workers morale in light of the chairman’s recent slurs against his employees.
To improve employee treatment, the company said it would convert all temporary workers in its subsidiaries to full-time employees, among other managerial changes.
Lee Jang-han이장한, the Korean pharmaceutical company’s chairman, had come under public scrutiny in July after the media released a seven-minute audio tape wherein Lee berates his drivers saying things like “why don’t you quit since you don’t know how to drive,” and “your parents must be sorry to have had you.”
Chong Kun Dang종근당 (CEO: Kim Young-joo김영주) also announced it would actively pursue job creation for youth. The company plans to increase new employment from 200 people this year to 420 next year. Up to 70 percent of those employed will be young staff, the company said.
The drugmaker will adopt a blind-screening hiring process, which does not discriminate against the applicants by their birthplace, family relations, academic status or physical status, in keeping with President’s Moon Jae-in’s policies.
Chong Kun Dang also stated intentions to reflect the minimum wage of 7,530 won ($6.6) per hour this October instead of next year as set by the Moon administration.
Female workers will benefit from the installation of an in-house daycare center while workers will have flexible work system that considers commute time, the company said.
From the management perspective, the company will establish a transparent management system by creating compliance control standards, compliance support systems and strengthened “responsibility management” centered on professional managers.
Regarding social responsibility, the company will expand its existing social contribution activities through the Chong Kun Dang Kochon Foundation, increasing the number of scholarships to domestic and foreign university students as well as graduate students.
"To fulfill our mission as a pharmaceutical company, Chong Kun Dang will commit more to global innovation and drug development. By 2017, it plans to increase research and development (R&D) investment by 18 percent of sales to expand our R&D facilities and personnel from 420 people to 570," the company said.
“It is important to create a working environment where employees can work with confidence,” a company official said. “We plan to create a corporate culture that maximizes employee capabilities.”