Sun Jinbang: Let employees go all out

In January this year, LG Electronics (China) Co., Ltd. changed its coach for the first time in 10 years, and the new chairman and CEO, Sun Jinbang, took office. In recent years, LG Electronics' performance in China has been rising all the way. In 2002, its turnover exceeded 4 billion US dollars, in 2003 it exceeded 7 billion US dollars, and Sun Jinbang's goal is to exceed 15 billion US dollars in 2005. In order to achieve the goal, Sun Jinbang carried out innovation in a "poisonous" style, and urged LG Electronics employees to go all out.

As soon as you took office, you set out ambitious goals. What steps did you take to motivate and motivate your employees to achieve your desired goals?

I have two main tasks, one is the cultivation of talents, and the other is the innovation of enterprises. Motivating employees is an important part of talent development. In terms of talent incentives, LG Electronics has always implemented the "GCCP" strategy, that is: strong enterprises create strong talents, and strong talents create strong enterprises.

We reflect personal value through the company's achievements, and then realize the leap of the enterprise through personal achievements. We have a clear goal to move forward. Under the guidance of this goal, we will make employees have positive motivation in a win-win way of mutual development of individuals and enterprises.

In terms of personal development, LG provides employees with a strong sense of occupational security. The employees who have worked in LG can get solid training and improvement in their business ability, and can be competent for any relevant work in any company. LG Electronics employees are very competitive in the talent market and are favored by many multinational companies.

In addition, there are many opportunities for employees to grow at LG. For example, we provide two major trainings for individuals and groups. All our management, including the potential successors of the management, about 300 people, will be sent to the Korean headquarters for innovative training this year. We also cooperate with Tsinghua University MBA, the company pays outstanding employees to study MBA. Some were also sent to the United States. There are also long-term and short-term training in the Korean headquarters. For example, you can work in Korea for six months to conduct research on a certain topic.

In terms of salary and treatment, we provide the guarantee of maintaining the middle and upper level in the same industry. But I personally think that giving employees the opportunity to realize their self-worth and space for self-growth is the most important thing.

You attach great importance to innovation, so what are the innovative ways to motivate employees?

We pay more attention to rewarding the team, so that each employee has a collective sense of honor and belonging. Especially for those in management positions and affairs positions, rewards are given on a team basis, emphasizing team awareness. We have established "Excellent Organization Award" and "Innovation Award" for the team.

Why is there more emphasis on rewarding teams? Will this discourage individuals from being motivated?

Of course, we will give affirmation and incentives to employees who have performed well in their positions and have brought excellent performance to the company. We pay more attention to the inspiration that individual performance brings to a team, and I hope that each of our teams is a strong team that can accept tough challenges and finally win.

This doesn't dampen individual motivation, because in each of our teams, everyone has an equal opportunity to lead the team to accomplish tasks if you have the ability. As a team leader, the first task is to maximize the enthusiasm of the members.

What do you mean by "toxic" innovation? What effect do you hope to achieve?

;The "poisoning" innovation first emphasizes the innovation of execution, and we are now advocating an innovative organizational atmosphere.

The success of an enterprise depends on 30% of its strategy, 50% of its execution, and the remaining 20% includes objective factors such as opportunity and environment. Execution is the implementation of strategic planning, and it is a strategic execution capability initiated and mastered by business leaders, which then drives the formation of the entire organization. My point is to start with what we can, start small.

It is difficult to persist in a single executive innovation, and we also propose an organizational atmosphere that advocates innovation. Let every employee accept new things every day, accept innovation from thought, and then use thought to guide action, so as to achieve continuous innovation at work.

Will this put too much pressure on staff?

LG employees are not human but human beings who can lead change and create value. An important job for LG employees is to actively and proactively adapt to change.

It is impossible and impossible for everyone to be free from stress. Appropriate pressure is the driving force behind individual creativity. We give everyone a fair chance to fully demonstrate their talents. Seeing one's own value reflected is a kind of affirmation and encouragement for everyone, and there will be a sense of satisfaction and honor in the heart.

Keeping employees morale requires making them feel respected and valued. How do you communicate this to employees?

I think direct communication with zero distance is the most important, which can shorten the distance between employees and the company, so that they can experience the value of work and be respected.

The zero-distance communication method is mainly carried out through various methods such as lunch meetings and symposiums with management and ordinary employees. Last week, I had a discussion with the Chinese management, listening to the difficulties and ideas of the employees, and whether they need me to help them solve them. Most of my own messages to employees are about how we can be the best company we can be, and encouraging them to work in that direction. As their future leaders, I also told them how to develop leadership and how to use leadership.

We have many such gatherings, and we have similar events almost every week. In addition, there are indirect communication methods and so on. Only with more communication, can we always maintain a good atmosphere within our enterprise.

How would you reward your employees for their efforts?

We have a variety of reward systems, not one or two. There are annual salary systems, bonuses for individuals, and rewards for groups. Employees' achievements are recognized in a variety of ways.

Our company has five things to accomplish, one of which is to become an enterprise that makes the best use of the reward system. The sales department has the reward method of the sales department, the research and development method, and the management method. Different Each department has its own reward system.

Is there a difference between motivating Chinese employees and Korean employees?

I think there is no difference in the management of both parties, but there is a difference in training. For Korean employees, I mainly strengthen the training on how to adapt to the Chinese market and how to communicate with Chinese employees, so that employees sent from Korea can become Chinese experts, and they must understand Chinese culture and the market. For Chinese employees, I am more More is to make them global talents.

Actually, here we have very few Korean employees, only about 1%.

Keeping employees motivated requires a foundation of corporate culture. How to make a positive culture continue at LG?

In one sentence, LG cultivates an organizational culture with strong execution.

We have a "LG Electronics WAY" which is the compass of our actions, and through this compass, let employees have execution and motivation. "Electronic WAY" guides the actions of employees through five fields, including development strategy, business mode, leadership, talent image, and winning organization.

We have a clear development strategy to achieve the goal of "first-class LG", and adhere to the business practices and methods of sustainable development. The leadership we need is "strong leadership based on trust". Organization leaders and leaders should have loyalty and ownership, lead innovation, conduct business in the right way, believe in the members of the organization, give members authority and responsibility, conduct Supervision and feedback, open communication, mentoring and developing members through learning.

The talent profile describes the need for our people to be tenacious, strong executive, and specialized.

In organizational culture, we emphasize the sense of crisis that "if you fail, you cannot survive". Employees are required to actively embrace and participate in the company's policies, not to say "no", but to be able to make constructive suggestions that reinforce the sense that we are one and that the whole team is moving in the same direction. Let employees get fun and meaning through work, the company family is one, respect innovation and self-discipline.

This is a systematic project, not a single action.