English job titles become new norm for Hyundai Card

Hyundai Card CEO Chung Tae-young

By Park Jae-hyuk

Hyundai Card and Hyundai Capital have officially begun using job titles in English, instead of those in Korean, as part of their efforts to become more globalized financial services firms.

Chung Tae-young, the vice chairman and CEO of both companies, wrote on his Facebook, Friday, their ranking system has been revised into a three-level system with “associate, manager and senior manager,” starting this year, from a five-level one with “sawon, daeri, gwajang, chajang and bujang.”

The new job titles will be commonly be abbreviated as “asso, manager and senior,” according to the CEO.

Chung stated in November 2019 that his companies would streamline their five-level ranking system to three, so as to break their hierarchical structures to allow their employees a sense of freedom to become more creative.

He said the use of English job titles is intended to allow for better collaborations among Hyundai Card and Hyundai Capital subsidiaries worldwide.

“Some people may think the English job titles are unnecessary in Korea, but I thought global cooperation would be difficult if each subsidiary in Korea, the United States, China, the United Kingdom, Canada, Brazil, Russia, Germany and Vietnam uses its own job titles,” he wrote on his social media.

“The new job titles can also help intuitive understanding of outsiders.”

The CEO said he had deliberated until choosing “associate” over “assistant manager.”

“Although assistant manager is similar in meaning to daeri, it feels like a job title used among conservative European and Asian companies. Assistant also means helper who plays passive roles, and it is hard to shorten the title. It is also strange if every employee is a manager,” he said.

“We finally decided to use associate, because the title is simple and powerful, and is used at professional and intelligent companies.”

Based on the recent streamlining of the ranking system, the financial services units of Hyundai Motor Group are expected to accelerate their efforts to expand presences in foreign countries.

Hyundai Capital set up financial subsidiaries in the U.S., China, the U.K., Canada, Germany and Brazil and advisory units in Germany, Russia, India, Brazil and Australia.

Hyundai Card has also begun entering the foreign markets, since the credit card issuer decided last year to take over a 50 percent stake in FCCOM and establish a joint venture with the Vietnamese financial firm.