KTO Sets Example for Restructuring Public Corporations
By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
The Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) is seeking to distance itself from some of the negative features that have typically been associated with the nation's some 300 public corporations ― lax management and incompetence.
The agency announced a set of measures to overhaul its personnel management, with the aim of ousting underperformers through the incorporation of a ``draft system'' for the first time for a public corporation.
The system entails top managers selecting their staff members based on work performance. Failure to be selected three consecutive times will result in dismissal. So far, similar practices have been gaining ground in private corporations.
Under the system, three out of the 21 top officials recently failed to secure an appointment. Additionally, four other senior-level staff members will be soon removed.
Ultimately, some 121 senior officials, or 17 percent of the total staff, will end up leaving the KTO in May, expanding promotion opportunities for outstanding performers irrespective of their years of service there.
Underperformers will be given intensive training.
These are seen as some of the toughest measures adopted by a public corporation for personnel restructuring.
The KTO is hoping that the new system will play an important role in countering the prevalent public perception that public corporations operate under an ``iron rice bowl'' mentality, a Chinese term referring to occupations with guaranteed job security, steady income and benefits regardless of one's level of commitment to quality performance.
``The purpose of the personnel restructuring is to transform the KTO into a more ambitious organization,'' Lee Charm, president of the tourism agency, said during a press conference Monday at the organization's headquarters in central Seoul.
``Frankly speaking, it is true that the KTO has previously functioned without much ambition or creativity, even though the field of tourism requires creative and passionate minds,'' Lee said.
During the press conference, Lee stressed that filling the KTO with dedicated talent is essential to raising the competitiveness and status of Korea's underdeveloped tourism industry.
``With the iron rice bowl mentality, we cannot properly fulfill this mission,'' Lee added. ``We must give incentives to passionate workers and shed uninspired ones who serve only as hindrances to the organization.''
Lee said that the draft system was devised by a special 25-member task force that gathered staff opinions. However, the KTO's union is reportedly unconvinced of its effectiveness.
As part of efforts to advance its management, the KTO will also streamline its 25 overseas offices.
``We will close some offices in Europe and the United States and utilize on-the-spot PR experts instead. But we will expand our Southeast Asian branches, in light of the increased interest in Korea there.''
The reform comes at a time when many state-funded corporations have been streamlining their organizations and adopting stricter guidelines against incompetent or corrupt officials.
The Korea Exchange approved the resignation of Monday nine senior officials who had been investigated by the prosecution for lax management.
The Korea Consumer Agency demoted 50 percent of its top-level officials and closed down four departments. Eight out of 26 department directors were demoted.
The Lee Myung-bak administration has been trying to advance the public sector through personnel and organizational restructuring.
During the previous administration, the wage increase rate at public corporations was 20 percent higher than large enterprises, and nearly double that of small businesses. But the state companies' net profits from 2003 to 2007 stood at a mere 69 percent of their private-sector counterparts.
A survey of 113 public corporations by Rep. Lee Eun-jae of the Grand National Party showed that they spent around six billion won over the last three years in bonus payments to executives.
During the same period, 44 of them, or 38.9 percent, suffered over two trillion won in financial losses.