Our Approach
Due to rapid changes in the market environment, ESG agenda, and unexpected global issues, we are in a situation where sustainability for the future cannot be guaranteed using the existing methods. Therefore, a company needs a collection of the best talent as well as a culture where achievements can be recognized through routine challenges and competition. Especially, when people from various generations with diverse ideas can relate, understand, and cooperate, the synergy will be maximized. CJ CheilJedang strives to establish a culture and a system in which any member of the company can develop into top talent, freely create results regardless of age and experience, and fairly receive recognition for their performance. To this end, we want to build a creative and flexible culture by strengthening diversity, equity and inclusion. In addition, we would like to pursue human rights management that not only includes our business sites but also the global supply chain, and become a company that all employees, partners, local communities, and customers would gladly collaborate with.
Respect for DE&I
Building a Flat
and
Transformational Culture
CJ CheilJedang aims to be an organization that respects the diversity of employees and allows them to demonstrate their capabilities by providing equal opportunities. An environment where everyone’s daily life is full of health and happiness is a future that CheilJedang is working towards.
Communication with the CEO: Eun Stay
CJ CheilJedang organizes small-group online and offline meetings between the CEO and employees, "Eun Stay," to build consensus and facilitate genuine communication. Eun Stay is open to applicants selected from different teams by role and position for each meeting. During the group meeting, the CEO gives them advice, not as the CEO, but as a forerunner, and the participants can openly share their thoughts about work and life. A comfortable atmosphere in small groups for focused conversations has enabled horizontal and bidirectional communication. In 2023, we plan to strengthen communication to meet the different needs of each position and to deliver consistent messages from the CEO to all employees.
INNO it! Campaign
The INNO it! campaign is an organizational culture transformation initiative where all employees work together towards change to "flat and transformational organizational culture,” encouraging them to freely suggest ideas and work smarter.
Equal Opportunities for ALL
In order to build a culture where professionals are given fair opportunities based solely on their performance and competence, we have banned discriminatory statements (age, gender, education, nationality, etc.) that may cause prejudice on internal documents (promotion/career market applications, profiles, etc.) to ensure that only information that is essential to determine their performance, competence, and experience is included. In addition, we encouraged employees to refrain from asking unnecessary questions to colleagues.
Call My Nickname
In 2000, CJ CheilJedang became the first company in South Korea to introduce ‘Nim Culture,’ an horizontal appellation system. As a global company, we launched the "Call My Nickname" campaign to encourage employees to call their colleagues by their nicknames (English names or Korean initials) that can value the inclusion of diverse members.
Round Table & Smart Email
As part of its efforts to build a flat organizational culture, CJ CheilJedang launched the Round Table Initiative, which allows employees to sit wherever they want in face-to-face meetings based on their role in the meeting and the topics to be discussed without any predetermined seat arrangement or hierarchy. The Smart Email campaign aims to improve work efficiency by avoiding unnecessary honorifics or Chinese characters in email and by focusing on essential content.
Developing Global
Leadership with
Diversity and
Inclusion
CJ CheilJedang has an open talent development program that allows employees to take the initiative in creating development plans and learn accordingly. We conduct surveys to understand their career development needs and provide career development programs tailored to their desired career paths and growth visions. As our HR system expands globally, we have introduced the Global Mobility System for global transfers and the DE&I Workshop for building DE&I mindset.
Global Mobility Innovation Strategy
CJ CheilJedang is growing as a global company, with the share of its global sales exceeding domestic sales. In response to the global expansion, we have transformed the paradigm of our talent development system and established an innovative strategic plan, "Global Mobility, " to enable individuals to develop their careers in the global market, rather than being limited to one country or region. The key to the "Global Mobility" strategy is to create a virtuous cycle in which internal experts can take the initiative in building their capacity on the global stage guided by our talent development philosophy of "growth from within," which will in turn grow the company's business competitiveness. We define our talent pool as all of 37,000 global employees, rather than only the ones working for our domestic sites, enabling them to find the true value and purpose of their work in a variety of opportunities. We also support their willingness to grow by offering them a range of multi-dimensional growth paths, for example, career development plans and overseas experiences. To this end, we have established various global acceleration programs and operational standards such as flexible reward and promotion systems, thereby growing as a global leader.
Introducing the Global Mobility System
We have trained employees transitioning into global roles to provide support for soft landing and good performance. We have developed four training programs based on the Global Mobility Innovation Strategy – Global Vision, Way of Working, CJ Leadership, and Expertise. The training courses will be offered flexibly both home and abroad depending on the trainees.
Developing the DE&I Workshop Program
DE&I in the organization is a prerequisite to implement the CJ managerial philosophy into action, hence highlighted as a core competency of global leaders in the Global Mobility system. To this end, we worked with the Department of Education at Seoul National University to develop the DE&I Workshop Program. The first workshop was attended by 12 team leaders from our global departments. The key topics include DE&I awareness survey, concepts and significance, approaches to addressing issues, and action plans. We plan to expand the program to our global operations based on feedback from the participants.
Offering Diverse Opportunities for Growth
Global Career Market (Global Recruitment Program)
We expanded the Career Market, which had been introduced to our domestic operations to ensure diverse opportunities and fair competition, into the Global Career Market. As our global operations are growing, we aim to present a multi-dimensional model to facilitate cross-border collaborations and movements and allow employees to design their career visions across countries and regions. While we previously relied on an international placement program sending Korean employees to overseas sites, the Global Career Market allows us to bring outstanding employees from overseas sites to Korea, or vice versa.
Global Exposure Program (Global Experience Opportunities)
The Global Exposure Program allows employees to gain global experience for up to six months without physical or cultural restrictions through global project collaboration related to their jobs. Through this program, we initiate projects of great strategic importance and involve employees from relevant global operations. It also arranges them to virtual projects when travel is limited.
Compensation for Mobility Types and a Flexible Organizational Structure
Facilitating global mobility requires a flexible organizational structure that removes restrictions and establishes compensation criteria for employees moving from one site to another. We plan to further strengthen our global talent development system by establishing standards that empower and motivate employees who want to grow globally.
Making Advancement in Our Global Way of Working
Global Digital Collaboration Platform M365
As an effort to fundamentally innovate the way of working, we have deployed a global digital collaboration platform, M365. Available anywhere, anytime, and on any device, M365 provides a global work environment in a digital workplace that facilitates communication and collaboration between Korean and global employees. (M365 Office provides email, chats, online meetings, schedule management, document sharing, etc.) M365 platform enables us to build a flat and transformational corporate culture by promoting open communication based on mutual respect and collaboration, and establishes a smart work environment where employees can proactively work whenever and wherever they want.
Building an
Environment for
Fair Competition
CJ CheilJedang has streamlined its position structure into three levels, aiming to eliminate the seniority system based on ranks, seniority, and age. We are building a robust competition system that facilitates equitable and transparent evaluations focused on competence and performance. In addition, we have introduced a self-directed promotion support system and abolished the minimum service year requirements for promotions to enable high-potential talent to advance more rapidly.
Diverse opportunities and fair competition
CJ CheilJedang has a variety of plans and systems that will help stabilize a culture of challenges and fair competition. By operating an inhouse venture system that allows us to develop ideas on new businesses into running businesses, we create an environment for future innovation. In addition, we established Career Pathfinder, a job posting program and system that assists with self-led career development, providing an arena of opportunities for our employees to pursue a wide range of projects and jobs within the group.
Striking rewards for outstanding performance
Improve performance evaluation system PMDS+ 1) ㅣ CJ CheilJedang restructured its performance management system in 2021 to prepare for a new future and to guide its employees towards innovative growth. Through the upgraded PMDS+ system, we adopted an ongoing performance managing procedure, building a culture of self-directed growth. We also applied eased relative evaluation standards and increased fairness, and strengthened the authority and responsibility of leaders. In addition, we adopted a multi-faceted feedback system that weighs peer reviews focused on strengths and points of improvement that can help with competency development and growth.
1) PMDS+: Performance Management & Development System
Improving the employee compensation policy ㅣ By reorganizing the system, CJ CheilJedang is operating compensation policy based on market value, magnifying organization leaders’ rights to compensation adjustment, and strengthening striking rewards based on performance. In particular, we granted the authority to adjust compensation to the organization’s leaders so that each individual’s level of competence and performance can be reflected in his/her compensation. We also built a customized policy focused on market-value that also reflects the characteristics of industries and established a differentiated compensation system.
Promoting an
Environment for
Self-directed
Immersion
CJ CheilJedang is expanding a self-directed immersive environment to create a company that top talent aspires to join. In support of our employees' work concentration, we have a series of family-friendly programs, including lifecycle support programs for employees' children and a family care system. Furthermore, we endorse gender-neutral policies that treat maternity and paternity equally. We are committed to creating and promoting the smart work environment by introducing a flexible work system and remote work arrangements that fit each employee's work and lifestyle.
Strengthening Family-friendly Programs
CJ CheilJedang operates various maternity protection, childcare, and family support systems beyond the legal standards to retain employees throughout their lifecycle of pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare. We promote a culture of care for pregnant employees by issuing badges and gifts to them. For employees who need to breastfeed their babies, we have built nursing rooms with comfortable environments. Our workplace daycare center, CJ Kidsville, allows employees to commute with their children, so they can focus on their work without having to worry about childcare. In April 2023, we introduced paid leave for those who adopted a child and for those who accompany their spouses when they move overseas. We also accepted a suggestion from the Open Council to extend parental leave to two years. As a result, we were re-certified as the Best Family Friendly Management in 2022.
Expanding Maternity Protection to Male Employees
Recognizing the evolving societal perspective on the extension of maternity benefits to men and the importance of DE&I for our workforce, CJ CheilJedang has extended the fetal checkup leave program, originally available only to female employees, to male employees who are spouses of pregnant women, thus, helping them fulfill their family roles. In addition, male employees who are spouses of pregnant women now receive the pregnancy gift (Mom First Care Box), which was previously offered only to pregnant female employees, which has improved employee satisfaction.
Self-directed Flexible Work Arrangements
CJ CheilJedang encourages employees to work flexibly and autonomously by granting them freedom to design their own working hours and locations. We have established work-from-home settings, hub offices, and flexible work systems such as elective work hours. These measures allow employees to choose their work environment and schedule according to their roles and personal situations. Moreover, in 2022 we institutionalized self-approved leave and hourly time off policies to encourage employees to take leave without need to wait for their supervisors’ approval. This change aims to create a more open and supportive leave policy.
CJ CheilJedang's First Hub Office: Blossom Office
In July 2022, we opened Blossom Office, a hub workspace exclusively for CJ CheilJedang employees, allowing them to work in a place close to their homes. With the intention of creating a comfortable and vibrant organizational culture by enhancing immersion and autonomy, we located the Blossom Office in Bundang, a midpoint between the CJ CheilJedang Center (head office) in Jung-gu, Seoul and Blossom Park (R&D center) in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. Moving forward, we will encourage R&D staff to use the Blossom Office in addition to administrative staff.
CJ Work ON: CJ Group Hub Offices
CJ Work ON is a program that supports CJ Group employees to choose their own workspace among the hub offices of CJ Group companies in the Seoul metropolitan area (Dongdaemun, Seoul Station, Gangnam, Yongsan Station, and Ilsan). Employees can choose offices close to their homes to save commuting time and fully immerse themselves in their work.
Human Rights
Establishment of
the human rights
management
system
CJ CheilJedang’s human rights management not only respects and protects the human rights of employees but also all internal and external stakeholders, such as partner companies, consumers, and local residents, etc. By marking 2021 as the first year of human rights management, we established governance for implementation of human rights management, revised the Declaration for human rights management, and conducted human rights assessments at domestic manufacturing sites including family companies. Furthermore, we established a system where we can manage potential risks that may arise in the field of human rights by carrying out improvement derived from the results of the assessments.
Human rights management policy
CJ CheilJedang strives to respect human rights of all by preemptively identifying various human rights violations that may occur in management activities and trying to improve them. In 2021, we fully revised the Declaration of Human Rights Management to clarify the content and the direction of human rights management, and conducted activities to self-diagnose potential human rights risks that may occur at our domestic business sites. Starting with internal employees, we will further advertise and offer training activities to increase the understanding of human rights management, conduct human rights impact assessments for our partners and overseas business sites, and strengthen relief procedures and processes in the event of violations.
Governance of Human Rights Management ㅣ The Corporate Sustainability Committee under the Board of Directors deliberates and resolves agenda related to ESG including Human Rights, and promotes items related to human rights management through a dedicated department.
Human Rights Management System ㅣ CJ CheilJedang established and operates the Human Rights Management System for the purpose of achieving ‘Zero human rights risk’ through systematic management of human rights risks.
Human Rights
Impact
Assessment
CJ CheilJedang conducts human rights impact assessments to prevent infringements of the rights of employees and all stakeholders involved in supply chains. Following the human rights due diligence for 15 domestic sites in 2021, we expanded the scope of human rights due diligence to our global sites in 2022. Based on this, we plan to build a standard model and program for due diligence. As part of the human rights due diligence for supply chains, we identify and respond to potential human rights issues. We used a range of academic data and news database, including the U.S. State Department's Human Rights Report and the World Bank's data, to identify high-risk raw materials that may affect human rights. Accordingly, we designated palm oil, sea salt, etc., as high-risk raw materials to human rights and established a management system for them. We only purchase RSPO-certified palm oil for our domestic sites. For sea salt, we monitor news articles and visit supply sources to identify actual risks and take mitigation measures as needed. Based on the human rights due diligence in the domestic sea salt supply chain, we are planning to establish a Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) system to monitor the issues in consultation with relevant departments, aiming to manage human rights issues in domestic and international supply chains for other agricultural products than sea salt.
Grievance
Handling and
Reporting
System
Believing in culture of respect, CJ CheilJedang strictly prohibits any conduct that may violate the rights of employees. The company has an online reporting system for employees to report issues and seek advice. Reports can be submitted with or without names. The system covers unlawful conduct and corruption, as well as issues that hinder corporate culture such as sexual harassment and bullying. In addition to this internal reporting system, all employees and external stakeholders can report through the external system, K-Whistle1), which recently added a mobile reporting channel using QR codes to the existing web-based system. As part of our Whistleblower Protection Policy, we keep the identity and information of whistleblowers strictly confidential and protect them from any retaliation. Reports received are reviewed by investigators while reporters are notified of the results.
1) K-Whistle: An anonymous reporting system powered by database encryption technology and operated by an independent organization (Korea Business Ethics Institute).
Raising Employee
Human Rights
Awareness
CJ CheilJedang is committed to strengthen employees' human rights awareness and prevent human rights risks by offering statutory training and conducting various communication and education activities.
Communication on Human Rights Management:
ESG Newsletter
The June 2022 edition of our monthly ESG newsletter distributed to all employees, featuring human rights management trends and CJ CheilJedang's human rights management activities.
Human Rights Education for Employees
CJ CheilJedang trains all employees for sexual harassment prevention, disability awareness, and workplace bullying prevention. It also provides human rights education for new hires and leaders to promote the awareness and value of human rights in the organization.