The discovery of the organization's DNA and the development of organizational culture and leadership: Interview with Lotte Retail Media Network HQ.

Many companies invest significant effort in building an organizational culture that allows employees, ranging from dozens to thousands, to work towards a common goal and in a unified manner. During this process, there are concerns about whether the implementation will be merely formal and whether it can be realistically applied.

This year, Retail Media Network HQ has conducted an organizational culture diagnosis using Specter's program, "Team Inside," to assess their organizational culture and initiate activities aimed at making progress. We spoke with Jeong Do-im, the head of the Talent Development Team, about how the implementation process and results of Team Inside are being utilized.

[Three-Line Summary]

• Team Inside analyzes individual member data to inductively understand the characteristics of the organization, allowing for a deep understanding of not only the phenomena of organizational culture but also the underlying causes.

• Unlike traditional diagnostic methods, it analyzes organizational culture and performance from multiple perspectives based on the working styles of individuals that make up the organization, providing practical directions for improvement.

• Not only at the HQs but also extending to employees of subsidiaries, diverse feedback is collected within the organization, which is actively utilized to improve organizational culture and leadership.

Introduction of the Person in Charge and Lotte Retail Media Network HQ.

Nice to meet you. Please introduce yourself briefly.

Nice to meet you, I am Jeong Do-Im, the head of the Talent Development Team at Lotte Retail Media Network HQ. My main responsibilities include leadership, organizational culture, and recruitment, with a particular focus on internalizing leadership through leadership assessment and training.

Please introduce Lotte Retail Media Network HQ briefly.

Lotte Retail Media Network HQ oversees 11 retail affiliates of the Lotte Group and was officially launched in December 2021. With over 40,000 employees, it is a large organization where the HQ presents and supports a long-term vision that enables the affiliates to create synergy together.
In particular, it operates based on the vision of becoming ‘the first shopping destination for customers’ and the H.P.O model for achieving high performance.

What tasks do you perform in leadership, organizational culture, and recruitment?

Leadership defines the behavioral standards of leaders necessary for achieving business goals and encourages change. First, we created leadership standards applicable to all subsidiaries. We established the <4S+ Servant Leadership> model, reflecting the characteristics of the organization and the retail industry. Based on this, we are planning leadership assessments and developing content such as training videos and storybooks, as well as training programs to facilitate internalization.

Organizational culture, we plan and conduct an annual survey for subsidiaries to evaluate the working methods of the HQ. We carry out assessments at the end of the year and the beginning of the next, followed by debriefing sessions with representatives and executives. This year, we collaborated with Specter on this project for approximately four months.

Recruitment is an area I have been interested in, and I took on this responsibility starting last year. I have been involved in various aspects of recruitment, including recruiting new graduates and experienced professionals, internal transfers within the group, and campus recruiting. This year, for the first time at HQ, we also conducted a unified recruitment process for new employees that can create synergies among subsidiaries.

Examples of Building and Internalizing Organizational Culture

Many companies struggle to build and implement organizational culture. I am curious about the process of directly creating the '4S+ Servant Leadership Model' and successfully internalizing it within the organization.

Recognizing the need for consistent leadership standards among retail media network affiliates, a '4S+ Servant Leadership' model was established through workshops, interviews, and surveys by rank. This model incorporates a 'customer-first mindset' and 'leading by example' as elements of servant leadership, creating a leadership model tailored for the retail media network sector. It was not easy to derive a direction while communicating with the holding company and affiliates over the course of about a year. However, since this is the HQ’s role, it could not be abandoned.

After establishing the framework, it was essential to translate it into business results. To encourage leaders to participate in the change, various activities such as developing training materials, videos, and storybooks are being conducted. I believe that this process, where everyone in the Lotte Retail Media Network sector moves towards the same goal as One Team based on a unified leadership model, is truly meaningful.

Flexible Organizational Culture

Lotte Retail Media Network HQ is making new and diverse attempts that have not been seen in the industry so far to foster a flexible organizational culture.

Let's Sammul, Happy Hour, and Family Day are being implemented, along with the opening of representative offices. These initiatives are considered essential elements for achieving high organizational culture performance; thus, new and diverse attempts are being made.

What has been the response from the members?

I witnessed the participants' reactions shift from skepticism to interest. In particular, the 'Let's Sammul' initiative, which involved small meetings with Vice Chairman Kim Sang-hyun, has been held over 50 times in the past two years. Observing the participants' responses has given me the belief that even small, consistent efforts can lead to significant changes.

Efforts to Build Organizational Culture

Utilizing Team Inside

What are the reasons for start utilizing ‘Team Inside’?

I believe that understanding the true DNA of the entire organization could lead to a better organizational culture. However, existing organizational culture assessments could only identify phenomena, and I wanted to verify and confirm the underlying causes of those results through data.

I thought that by first analyzing the work style data of each individual in the Specter team, we could inductively understand the characteristics of the organization, which would allow for a deeper understanding of both the causes and the phenomena.

In other words, I expected that Team Inside could help analyze the causes, thereby aiding in understanding the true DNA of the organization.

You were already conducting other assessments.
How did you persuade the internal team when utilizing Team inside?

Although it may seem similar to existing assessments on the surface, I explained that the approach is different and complementary. I emphasized the need for a multifaceted analysis of organizational culture, starting from the individuals that make up the organization rather than just looking at the organization itself. This includes examining the relationships between the organization and its members, as well as between different organizations.

You expanded the Team Inside not only for the HQs but also for the employees of the affiliates, right?

The HQ requests feedback annually to present a long-term vision that enables synergy among various affiliates. This year, we significantly expanded the scope of the feedback process by conducting a Team Inside session. Additionally, we implemented a mutual evaluation within the HQ to compare the HQ's own perception of how affiliates view it.

Not only the staff but also executives and all CEOs participated in this process. The response rate increased by 30% compared to last year, allowing us to gather meaningful feedback.

Results and Utilization of Team Inside

Did you find any differences between HQ and the retail media network affiliates in the results of Team Inside?

Yes, while communicating via email or phone, we discovered some misunderstandings or points that were not clearly understood. Therefore, we plan to increase direct communication in the future.

You have been thinking a lot about not just ending with the organizational culture diagnosis but also about the actual application. How have you utilized Team Inside?

We conducted workshops for team leaders, executives, and affiliates executives using keywords related to work styles. Since the diagnostic results were presented across three dimensions—personal, departmental, and HQ—participants were much more focused. Everyone appreciated using the work style keyword stickers provided by Specter to leave direct feedback on the results.

We also shared the improvement directions for HQ based on these results. It was the first time that subsidiary representatives and executives provided individual feedback, so they might have been curious about how it would be utilized. However, I believe their curiosity was alleviated as they reviewed the improvement directions that incorporated their feedback.

The Lotte Retail Media Network HQ received three reports based on the Team Inside results. How do you plan to utilize them?

This time, we conducted debriefings three times, focusing on leaders such as HQ team leaders, executives, and subsidiary representatives/executives. It might be beneficial for each department to gather all team members based on the organizational reports to share their thoughts. For example, we could list key tasks and discuss what working methods are necessary to accomplish these tasks, as well as what the actual results are compared to our expectations.

I have been considering a workshop where individuals can reflect on their work styles by comparing the keywords “Me that I think I am," "Me that I want to be," and "Me According to Assessment Results." This would allow employees to think about their image and career within the company. There are also similar and different tendencies that emerge within the organization. I was thinking it might be a good idea to support the costs for meals when individuals with different tendencies come together.

Finally, the reference report has already been used as a basis for conducting one-on-one meetings.

We are grateful that you are utilizing the diagnosis in such diverse ways. :)
If someone were to ask, "How is the implementation of Team Inside?" what do you think you would say?

I have actually received that question quite often.
Just like the saying, "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it," a data-driven diagnosis is essential for accurately understanding and improving organizational culture. If you're unsure about how to answer the question, "What is our company's organizational culture?" or if you're feeling overwhelmed about where to start in improving and managing the organizational culture, I would definitely recommend trying Team Inside.

As we conclude the interview, could you please share your thoughts or reflections?

It was a meaningful time to share about the organizational culture and leadership improvements at Lotte Retail Media Network HQs. I always welcome communication with HR professionals who are engaged in similar work. If you have any questions regarding this, please feel free to reach out. Thank you!