Samsung's Revolution of HR Recruitment in Korea

Samsung has been famous for indiscrimination of academic background in Korea, while most companies still have excessive expectations about academic performances. It is known that Samsung does not permit forming the same school alumni fraternities. I believe that global competence of Samsung is owed to this indiscrimination of academic background, which is drawing the potentials of all workers to the utmost and loyalty to the company.

Korean society has the worst traditional habit that the people of the same academic school and same hometown are supporting and uniting one another almost unconditionally. The founder of Samsung, Baeng-Chul Lee, challenged the contemporary customs of academic cliques such that he chose newcomers in terms of their substantial abilities, possibilities, and personalities (sincerity etc.). His management slogan was the ‘Priority of Excellent Workers’. His son, present chairman of Samsung, has followed the slogan. Chairman Keun-Hee Lee tells his CEOs look for super talents globally, and stresses, “Do not be stingy about employing good HR.”

The workers of regional colleges account for 25-27%, which is higher compared with the other companies. Samsung recently said that they will increase the rate to 35%. For that, they will choose the alumni of regional colleges more than before.

Since about ten years, fortunately the discrimination of academic background has been gradually thinned in Korea. Why?

Firstly Many of young Koreans have entered much more excellent universities than Korea’s ones. They are being changed of a frog in the well. Secondly, they began to understand that experiences and creativity are more important than knowledge. In the basic stage of economic development, knowledge is a decisive element of competitiveness. Now in the more mature stage, they need expertise and creativity, which are formed in the work place, not in the school.

As a matter of fact, the last demand for education is from working places, most of which are companies. So big companies can change the bad perceptions such as discrimination of academic background. Big companies could become a facilitator for social advances, not a receiver of prejudices.

Samsung is worth being praised because of this recruiting change. It is expected that other big companies follow this trend. (The end)