Overseas subsidiary members of LG Electronics,
First of all, I would like to extend my gratitude for your commitment and devotion to global No.1 LG.
For the past several years we have been undertaking an initiative to promote smooth communication with members in overseas subsidiaries, strongly urging Korean members to use English in global correspondence. However, we understand there are points that we still have to improve.
In this regard, the below message has been sent to all members in Korea about our communication policy which obligates them to use either English or local language in correspondences with overseas subsidiaries.
Starting from now, we will fully inform Korean members to be aware of the policy for about a month, and then from March, all e-mails sent to subsidiaries will be subject to monitoring, to strictly prevent the use of Korean language so that all global correspondences can be made either in English or local language.
From March 1, if you receive any e-mail written in Korean, please do not hesitate to report such cases to Corporate HR. (e-mail address: hroffice@lge.com)
Strong and strict discipline will be imposed on such violations for definite and immediate improvement.
I ask subsidiary members’ interest and participation in this policy of e-mail correspondence in English or local language.
Thank you.
============ Message sent to members in Korea ================
Fellow LG members,
This year of 2014 is an important time for us to gain momentum for growth and overcome the challenge we are facing.
In this regard, our collective capability and close cooperation become more critical than ever. As you all are aware of, it is a must to ensure smooth communication with subsidiary members in a global company such as LG that relies heavily on overseas sales and profits.
However, some inappropriate practices have been still found in e-mail communications.
Examples of such practices are the followings:
- sending an e-mail to overseas subsidiary that is written only in Korean, or
- writing an e-mail both in Korean and English in which the English text is a mere summary.
With such e-mails, subsidiary members cannot fully understand the information or request from HQ/Company and therefore Korean FSEs have to take their time out to translate the texts, and as a result,
- subsidiaries’ performance gets deteriorated, and
- talented global employees leave LG, disappointed by lack of engagement and vision.
CEO Bon Joon Koo has strongly urged to rectify such inappropriate practices.
The below are the tightened policy on e-mail communication with overseas subsidiaries.
1. All e-mails sent to members in overseas subsidiaries should be written in English or local language. (Use of Korean is not permitted.)
2. When it is inevitable to use Korean (in case of e-mails on confidential material), you may use Korean but should get an post approval of your executive.
3. This policy shall be enacted from February 1. During the first month, it will be run as a pilot; but from March 1, strong and strict discipline shall be imposed on any violation detected through monitoring and reports from subsidiary members – such non-compliance will be taken into account in the violator’s promotion / appointment.
I would like to ask your full commitment to this policy, so that we may achieve effective global communication and our overseas subsidiaries can fully leverage their capabilities for No.1 LG.
January 22, 2014
CHO Hogeon Hwang