LG, KT run innovative training programs for staff

At 10 p.m. on a freezing Friday, young people soaked in sweat and steam coming out of their mouths entered an LG Group in-service training center in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province.

They were 915 newcomers to the company and completed LG`s 13-day key training program "LG Action Training (AT)."

This year, LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo urged his employees to engage in fierce competition by stressing the importance of "intensity," and his request was first applied to the training for new hires. The training emphasizes strong will and spirit and led to the reinforcement of the action training.

In the past, those joining the program had to go on a 40-kilometer march in areas near the in-service training center. New hires this year, however, had to run 20 kilometers on flat land and another 20 kilometers in mountainous areas and carry out two to four difficult missions at six points.

They were divided into groups of ten and had to produce no dropouts.

They faced difficult missions from the outset. Only those who solved cryptograms and arithmetic operations got started. Kim Jong-ryong, 28, whose team finished first, said, "Thanks to a fast start, we could rest more than other teams after lunch and dinner. Latecomers couldn`t take a rest after meals."

New employees have to run from 10 a.m. though 10 p.m. the same day to get higher marks than others. A 24-year-old employee, Kim Nam-hee, said, "I heard even soldiers walk in a march but we kept running here."

After the closing ceremony Saturday, the exhausted Kim is known to have almost crawled home.

An unusual scene unfolded at a point near the finish line. Forced to skip rope made of vinyl, they tied socks and gloves to the rope to add weight. Trainees said they were surprised at LG`s true nature after having considered the group softer than rivals.

Lee Joo-hyeok, 28, a new hire at LG Chemical, said, "I was a Marine but the LG AT program was really harsh," adding, "The program gave marks by prompting competition among individuals, groups and teams and stirred up a competitive spirit by awarding badges or stickers to those who placed first."

LG`s emphasis on intensity was also applied to promotions. Chairman Koo told 93 newly promoted executives at a resort in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday, "Let`s lead the market by taking the initiative in our business and work intensively in every field to take LG to the next stage."

He also urged them to work pleasantly and grow together with partner companies.

One of Korea`s leading telecom companies KT has also adopted unusual training methods. Lights were turned off and 20 candles were lit on an auditorium stage at a KT in-service training center. Four men dressed as the angel of death placed four coffins on stage one by one.

Going around the 129 spectators in the auditorium, the angels of death selected four people to wear shrouds and lie in coffins amid the sound of wailing.

When KT announced Friday that it achieved record performance last year, all 97 executives and 32 union leaders, including Chairman Lee Suk-chae and the company`s union leader Kim Gu-hyeon, got separate training at a training center in Daejeon.

This is the first time all KT executives and union leaders have gotten together.

The two-day program that began Friday was titled "Oh, Happy Day and Miraculous Two Days." No mention of the company, marketing or strategies was made over the two days to emphasize experience over training.

Participants had an average age of 52 and said they were "reborn" after dancing, crying, laughing and even experiencing death. They learned how to laugh loudly and shouted the slogan, "Thank you for the meal, hahaha," when they ate.

The program comprised four parts: "Dance, healing" in which trainees danced to the old Korean pop song "The Window in the Moonlight" by Urban Children; "Fantastic Communication" in which they played games; "Mental Change" in which they expressed joy, anger, sorrow and pleasure; and "Experience Death" in which they entered coffins after writing wills.

KT revived the death experience section, which was popular among company training programs 20 years ago.

Seo Yoo-yeol, president of KT`s home consumer division, said, "Rather than promoting hard work, the program is designed to heighten morale, enhance self-respect, and spread a positive virus."

Heo Jin, in charge of education and propaganda at the KT union, said, "The program will help management and labor care for each other and co-exist by turning a rigid corporate culture into an energetic and harmonious one."

The program was originally developed for employees of the division, who deal with the stagnant fixed-line market. With the number of staff marketing fixed-line telephony and high-speed Internet services declining, many of them are gripped by a sense of inferiority.

For 6,500 sales representatives who took part in the program, a sense of inferiority was turned into one of self-respect.

Thanks to the program, the number of new subscribers to high-speed Internet services doubled from 240,000 in 2009 to 470,000 last year. The number of subscribers overall is 7.4 million.

foryou@donga.com