Workers head to their offices in Seoul’s finance and investment banking district Yeouido. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — A recent survey revealed that over 80 percent of South Korean workers in their 20s and 30s hold a favorable view of the ‘superior selection system,’ in which subordinates can choose their bosses.
Recently, a Japanese company gained widespread attention by implementing this system, allowing subordinates to choose their supervisors.
According to an online survey conducted by online job portal Incruit of 767 salaried workers on Wednesday, 86 percent of the respondents expressed a positive view regarding the introduction of the supervisor selection system.
In more detail, 32.5 percent of the respondents held a very positive attitude, while 53.5 percent had an overall positive attitude, which was significantly higher than the 12.8 percent who expressed overall negativity and the 1.3 percent with a very negative perspective.
Concerning the anticipated changes that could result from the introduction of the supervisor selection system, 22.8 percent mentioned a reduction in “gapjil”, an authoritarian attitude of people in positions of power, as well as workplace harassment, followed by 19.7 percent who pointed to the elimination of the top-down and seniority culture, and 18.8 percent who expected an improvement in work process efficiency.
Among the respondents who expressed a negative attitude, 31.5 percent cited the potential exacerbation of a divisive culture, while 30.6 percent believed that appointing the head of the organization based solely on popularity would be inappropriate.
According to the Yomiuri Shimbun, the Japanese design company Sakura Kozo in Sapporo, Hokkaido, introduced the supervisor selection system in 2019, successfully reducing its turnover rate to 0 percent from 11.3 percent.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
