Six employees from overseas affiliates of POSCO have set foot on Korean soil. They have come to take part in the Global Mobility Program (GMP), a job rotation program established by the POSCO headquarters in Korea.
As part of its effort to achieve an “Open & Collaborative Global HR,” POSCO started the GMP last year. The program is designed to train excellent local employees working in overseas affiliates. The P-grade employees, who are in leadership positions at their overseas affiliates and have high growth potential, were selected to learn more about POSCO’s unique working style through conducting projects assigned individually by each affiliate and carrying out actual work tasks in the Korean HQ for five months.
Through the GMP, POSCO expects to enhance work synergies by making use of the expertise and technologies specific to each country and affiliate. The overseas affiliates, in turn, will strengthen their business competitiveness by improving the professional competence of their local employees. They will also be able to access the working style of the HQ and develop their human network worldwide.
The participants for the first GMP in 2016 are six outstanding employees from five overseas affiliates: POSCO-China, POSCO-Mexico, POSCO-Maharashtra, POSCO-VHPC (Vietnam) and PT Krakatau POSCO (Indonesia). The two-week introductory training started July 4, and the program runs until the early December. POSCO has doubled the introductory period of the training, to better help the employees adapt to Korea quickly and improve the efficacy of the training.
During the first week of the training at POSCO Group University in Songdo, Incheon, they focused on learning the working style of POSCO HQ through assignments and studying the company’s history, the CEO’s philosophy, POSCO’s Enterprise Portal (EP), POSCO Total Innovation Methodology (POSTIM), report writing and gaining an understanding of the company’s different culture, all of which are required to settle quickly into their departments. In particular, the Korean language classes were well received, and the international employees appreciated learning useful terms and expressions for their jobs.
Participants received onsite training at Pohang Steelworks for five days starting on July 11.
Last year, it was just a field trip to the steelworks, but this year it was expanded into a training session to improve their understanding of the steel-making process and the site. In addition, theoretical lectures were also added to this year’s program, along with the field trip, so that participants can systematically learn the process of steel making. The onsite training provided the employees, who are neither production workers nor engineers, with an opportunity to experience the field beyond their own job role.
The GMP launched last year, evolving from POSCO’s Global Challenge, which operated from 2008 to 2011, to train and foster superior local employees. Through three sessions of the program last year, 23 overseas employees successfully learned the working style of the HQ in Korea.
POSCO plans to continue with the group-wide systematic HR training as part of achieving its concept of “POSCO the Great,” fostering future business leaders and experts who embody POSCO’s spirit.
The second session of the GMP will be held at the end of this year.