SK’s Chey encourages big thinking by leaders

Chey Tae-won

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won ordered executives to become creative thinkers who can redesign business models.

“Until now, chief executives were thought to be decision makers or people held responsible, but from now on, you need to become head designers of deep change,” Chey said Friday during a closing speech at an internal seminar held in Jeju.

“All of the tasks necessary for deep change, including upgrading and changing business models, optimizing assets and securing human capital, cannot be solved through a conventional approach.”

Chey also ordered executives to come up with strategies to make employees and SK stakeholders, including customers, happy.

“To guarantee happiness for all and sustainability for the company at a time of uncertainty as this, we need to be well prepared,” Chey said. “As companies craft elaborate strategies to make profit, pursuing happiness needs the same elaborate planning and solutions.”

Chey has been asking executives to use digital technologies like artificial intelligence and pursue social value to increase the happiness of SK employees and customers since earlier this year.

One of projects pursued by SK Group since July to make employees happier is SK University. The SK organization will be formed by consolidating existing employee training units, such as SK Academy, SK’s corporate culture training institution.

The group is planning to make employees spend roughly 10 percent of their annual working hours, or about 200 hours, in training at SK University. The training will be offered through both online and offline classes. The group said it plans to open some 450 classes in eight broad categories, including leadership, social value and digital transformation.

“SK’s future hangs in the speed of digital transformation and nurturing human resources through investment,” Chey added.

The seminar brought together 80 SK CEOs and executives.

BY KIM JEE-HEE [kim.jeehee@joongang.co.kr]