Park Jae-hyuk is a seasoned journalist who has provided comprehensive coverage of South Korea's corporate dynamics, economic policies, industry challenges and the global positioning of Korean companies. Based on the articles he has written since joining The Korea Times in 2016, his investigative approach has helped readers understand corporate governance, economic trends and business strategies shaping South Korea’s economy.
Korean banks' corporate culture draws complaints in India
An aerial view of New Delhi / Gettyimagesbank
By Park Jae-hyuk
Text messages allegedly sent to an Indian employee from the general manager of a Korean commercial bank's New Delhi branch.
Local employees complain about Korean managers
By Park Jae-hyuk
Korean banks in India appear to have a long way to go to better understand their local employees and narrow the cultural gap, although it has been almost three decades since the lenders made inroads into the world's second-most populous country.
Earlier this week, emails written in English and Korean were sent to several executives and employees of a Korean commercial bank here and in India to condemn the general manager of the bank's New Delhi branch for his alleged irregularities, harassment and violations of COVID-19 guidelines.
“He uses tools like issuing warning letters for even small matters, which includes clauses like termination of services,” the letter reads. “Employees working for more than 10 years at the bank and those rewarded by the headquarters on multiple occasions have received these letters, and in every meeting, they are threatened with losing their jobs.
“In every meeting, he behaves very rudely and keeps insulting the employees. He tells employees that he pays their salary and they have to return at least five times that to him.”
According to the letter that was also sent to The Korea Times, the Korean general manager forced local employees in close contact with people infected with COVID-19 to stay at the office, leading to 24 out of 59 employees in the branch getting infected.
“Regional managers had to do at least three meetings with clients and visit the office,” the letter reads. “They could not go home from 9:30 to 6:30 and had to come to the office immediately whenever he asks.”
The whistleblower urged the bank headquarters to conduct an independent investigation and audit to find the truth and punish him for his “king and slave kind of dictatorship.”
The bank's headquarters denied the claims, saying there were similar complaints before from some of its Indian employees. According to the bank's spokesman, the company will not take action against the general manager because he did nothing illegal.
“Because of the uniqueness of India, the country differs greatly from Korea in culture,” the spokesman said. “Some local employees face difficulties in understanding Korea's top-down corporate culture and our efforts to encourage them.”
If the complaints have mainly resulted from cultural differences as the spokesman said, however, other Korean banks in India could face similar problems because they have also maintained rigid corporate cultures that are regarded as much stricter than those of other industry sectors.
Experts warned that continuous complaints from Indian employees could lead to fiercer labor disputes and endanger the operation of Korean businesses there.
“Indian employees tend to show interest in the labor union when they feel they are not recognized by their superiors,” a Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) official said.
Since Shinhan Bank opened its first branch in the South Asian country in 1996, Korean banks have continued to enter the country. They have expanded there in line with the Moon administration's New Southern Policy aimed at consolidating ties with India and ASEAN nations.
According to the Reserve Bank of India, the Korean banks doing business there are Shinhan, KB Kookmin, Woori, Hana, Busan, Nonghyup and the Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK).
Experts advised them to make more efforts to understand the culture of India to avoid repeating the mistakes of many Korean and foreign companies that left the country after severe conflicts with local employees.
“Korea is a country with a culture which prefers strict rules, teamwork and perfect order, but India's culture prefers flexible work hours, individualism and generosity toward difference because of its diverse religion, culture, race and class,” the KOTRA official said.
“Korean managers should frequently encourage local employees and must avoid insulting them in front of others.”