Kellogg’s Korea HR director promotes versatile working situations, advantages
By Ko Dong-hwan
The human useful resource chief at Kellogg’s Korea is bringing in a brand new organizational tradition. The Indian nationwide goals to make her firm probably the most welcoming to its workers by accommodating their private wants as a lot as attainable — from paid maternity depart to arranging numerous non-work exercise classes throughout work hours and early depart days for workers to take pleasure in extra free time.
Ritika Lal is aware of that slicing work hours with out adjusting the workers’ wages is a money-losing affair. Nonetheless, the HR director of Kellogg’s’ regional places of work in Hong Kong and Taiwan in addition to Korea thinks it’s a needed endeavor.
In an interview with The Korea Occasions at her workplace in Seoul, Lal stated that extra corporations ought to begin introducing such inclusive welfare insurance policies as a result of workers’ wants have grow to be so various that they will not be attracted by standard gives.
“Versatile advantages permit our folks to deal with self-customization. Every individual is completely different. Increasingly more HR wants to start out considering past a one-size-fits-all method,” Lal stated. “And the suggestions — from our workplace in Seoul in addition to our manufacturing unit in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province — has been very, very constructive. Reasonably than seeing it from a cost-lens perspective, we selected to see it from an worker’s perspective.”
Lal has already launched the identical insurance policies in Taiwan and Hong Kong below the corporate’s Gold Customary coverage. The HR chief is aware of that completely different workers have completely different wants.
“HR has developed from the previous when there have been simply two or three customary advantages and firms would give a retirement profit or a depart profit for everybody. It was the identical method for everyone,” Lal stated.
“Now, particularly with the newer generations, folks have completely different wants. A few of them don’t need to have a household however would need to have day off for his or her hobbies, medical checkup, journey or training. We attempt to take a look at our advantages in a method folks discover what fits them personally.”
One in all Kellogg’s Korea’s latest welfare insurance policies contains six months of absolutely paid maternity depart and one month of absolutely paid paternity depart. These apply to all workers, whether or not common or contracted. The corporate has even newly employed workers who have been about to go on maternity depart.
“We needed to remove slightly little bit of the monetary burden. Youthful workers typically suppose that taking day off to have youngsters is kind of costly,” she stated.
The corporate beforehand launched a versatile work system that permit workers to go away work one hour early each Friday, depart at 1 p.m. one Friday every month and work at home twice per week. The corporate on Aug. 19 held Complete Well being Week to spice up workers’ psychological well-being, encouraging workers to hitch in and climb the steps to the workplace, colour remedy, tea ceremony courses and video games.
Due to such insurance policies, Kellogg’s Korea has acquired numerous accolades, together with being named a Household-Pleasant Licensed Firm by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Household 4 instances in a row and 2023 Korea Greatest Firm to Work for certification by GPTW Korea.
“As a multinational firm, we need to make certain there’s an analogous expertise on sure advantages for workers whether or not they’re working in India, Korea, Singapore or within the Center East,” Lal stated.