Bridging Culture Worldwide

Year-end Promotions, Restructuring, and New Assignments: Korea’s Corporate Culture 2024-2025

By Don Southerton

This is my annual update and insights on the Korean corporate shuffle. 

Year-end promotions, restructuring, and new team assignments are part of Korean corporate culture, both past and present.

Changes occur from top to bottom within Korean companies between early December and early January. Changes to senior leadership are announced first, and team-level changes are usually made known the week before or during the period between Christmas and New Year’s Day.  

For example, Samsung Electronics is the first mover this year, having made its annual high-level leadership changes last week. It carried out its year-end executive reshuffle, emphasizing a generational shift.

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/tech/2024/12/419_387338.html

We can expect others to follow, so stay tuned. By the way, even if public announcements have yet to surface within the groups, these changes are in play internally.

Similarly, with Hyundai Motor Group, we have already seen top leadership changes, with José Munoz promoted to incoming CEO of Hyundai Motor Company and Michael Cole of Hyundai Motor Europe stepping away. We expect their organization-wide changes to be announced soon.

2025

Teams will report back to work after the Christmas and New Year holidays. Some assume new roles frequently in departments with little experience, requiring employees to acquire new skills—sink or swim. Hence, it’s called the “Shuffle.”

In the following days, those who have shuffled brief their replacements, while staff remaining in their jobs update new management teams on the status of projects and issues.

Meanwhile, others will be enroute to assignments in overseas operations, which can be stressful for local overseas operations and challenging for those working outside Korea for the first time. 

The Disconnect

In particular, it is common for those newly assigned to be unfamiliar with or have minimal experience with the nuances of localized foreign business and their new roles and responsibilities. Not to mention, working outside Korea itself can be a learning curve that can take months or even years.

What works in Korea rarely transfers to managing overseas teams. Most still try to adapt to local norms and language. In fact, over the years, I have worked extensively to facilitate smooth transitions in many of the newly assigned overseas teams, and they will need support. I strongly recommend that Western and Korean leadership take countermeasures to mitigate transitional gaps.

So, what to look for…

The top Chaebol will begin to announce key promotions, which can provide some insight into future trends.

The Chaebol usually also comments on whether this year’s promotion number is more or less than in the past and the reasons “why.”

Top Chaebol will soon announce restructuring plans, ranging from granting business units more independence to consolidating control.

For example, some years, we see less change and stability than drastic changes in the face of economic uncertainty, as it may carry out in a modest year-end leadership reshuffle across affiliates.

New Year’s Message

That said, as in the past, with the new year, we can expect leadership to share their 2025 plans in an annual New Year’s company announcement, too. I monitor these closely and, as they are in Korean, will share them when appropriate and upon request. These New Year’s messages can be very insightful as they pose marching orders for the new year.

As a final note, for Western global teams, I suggest congratulating those who are promoted but also being sensitive to Korean team members who were passed over… or possibly moved to what may be seen as a less strategic assignment.

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Hi Don Southerton here

In this week’s Newsletter and YouTube, I look at Korean Business and ”Similar but Different Norms.”

Global business requires colleagues of different cultures to work together daily.

How we see each other culturally is often based on differences, like language, and similarities, such as shared values like family.

I like to focus on the latter, as differences can pull us apart, and similarities bring us together.

Particularly for Western teams engaged in all ways with Korean operations, I believe in the importance of deep learning about the workplace in Korea — the 2024 norms, practices, and day-to-day life.

They do change, and most often, we can fixate on what could have been tainted by hearsay or an altogether lack of understanding.

The same learning goes for Korean global teams assigned to support overseas operations. They must become savvy learners in the wide range of local overseas practices. Expecting global teams to bend to Korean business norms rarely works, too. It just leads to delays and stalled projects.

As I noted above, recognizing similarities is one of the most potent cross-cultural bridges.

In other words, how can you relate to the nuances in communications and day-to-day life? This requires identifying the local beliefs, values, expectations, traditions, and culture. These insights allow us better to understand our mutual teams’ thoughts and expectations.

Outcomes

Although there is bound to be friction between home and host country cultural values, a successful model accomplishes:

1. Awareness and appreciation of both the home and host country with the ability to gain an insight into one’s own personal traits, strengths, weaknesses, attitudes, and interests.

2. Realization of shared values, along with an awareness of and respect for cultural differences.

Call to Action

So, how do you see this applying to you and your experiences working with teams from another culture?

This brings me to recall a recent C-level meeting where I chatted with the local subsidiary’s Korean CEO. He asked if I’d shared with his team how the company in Korea and the U.S. differed from the Group’s many sister firms—many Westerners wrongly assumed high conformity across the Group.

I assured him that “yes,” and, in mentoring, I shared that I, too, had experienced each company’s unique culture within the group.

Not only did sister companies differ, but in some cases, the Koreans recruited and worked in different ways at companies within the group.

On parting, the CEO pointed out another key point to be shared: Over time, Koreans dispatched to support the division’s overseas operation came to see things differently than domestic Korea-based teams.

He ended having come to “See things differently, too.”

Question? Comment?

We’re rebooting our Korea 101 YouTube channel.

In this episode, I’ll share ten insights into Korean working teams’ DNA, norms, and mindset. The list was compiled by a Korean colleague who asked me to share it in my workshops and give others a better understanding of Korean work culture.

If you have a question or would like more information … call, text, or email… and I’ll get right back to you. 

Dsoutherton@bridgingculture.com

310-866-3777

https://www.bridgingculture.com

Don Southerton

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Don Southerton

By Don Southerton

Understanding how culture shapes our communication is crucial. It influences how much we share information and whether specific topics are considered sensitive or beyond our boundaries. For example, in the West, many use “low content” communications.

Conversations are direct and can be confrontational. We require background information or an update—little is assumed as known, including why an issue may need to be deemed sensitive. Transparency means fewer boundaries, too.   We may, although, use “Let’s keep this between us” or “ Keep this private.”

Within Korean organizations, the very nature of the Asian “high content” culture means less is shared in explicit verbal and open communication. Since teams foster long-lasting relationships, much is shared informally within their circle of close, trusted colleagues, and much is also accumulated knowledge, so issues require little background explanation or even “catch-up” discussion.

Yes and No…

Koreans often acknowledge what they hear by saying “Yes” or nodding, but this does not necessarily signal agreement. They tend to avoid open disagreement and confrontation.

In Korean culture, it is uncommon for people to respond to a question or request with a direct “No.”  In negotiation and decisions, Koreans rely on nonverbal signs such as tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language.

They look for meaning and understanding in what is not said and even in the greater content beyond the conversation, such as business events that could impact decisions.

These non-explicit communications can indicate a firm “no” or rejection of an idea or plan. Most Westerners miss this, waiting for a verbal or written “No” or “Yes.”

In many situations, especially during negotiations, there is often a nonverbal response or a response such as “if possible” or “that is difficult.” Understanding the Korean and Western perspectives is vital for global organizations. No culture is right or wrong; it is just different.

My work centers on providing support, mentoring, and solutions. I aim to foster a deeper understanding of the Korean communication style and its implications for global business.

I’m looking forward to hearing your comments, feedback, and business questions.

Text or Call 310-866-3777

Dsoutherton@bridgingculture.com

https://www.bridgingculture.com