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직원들은 소? 롯데의 이상한 사내 캠페인

By 석지현

Published : July 10, 2015 - 15:04

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롯데그룹의 사내 캠페인 포스터가 “직원을 소에 비유했다”라는 이유로 뒤늦게 도마에 올랐다. 


문제의 발단은 지난 3월 롯데그룹 인재교육원이 배포한 황희 정승의 ‘검정 소 누렁 소’ 포스터 삽화에서 시작됐다.

포스터 삽화의 에피소드를 보면 한 선비가 농부에게 “어떤 소가 더 일을 잘하냐”라고 묻자 농부가 조심스럽게 선비에게 귓속말로 “아무리 미물이지만 짐승이라도 저 안 좋은 말을 알아듣습니다”라며 “둘 다 저의 소중한 소입니다”라고 말한다.

‘무심코 한 말이 상처를 주지 않도록 주의하고 칭찬과 배려의 말을 독려하자’ 라는 것이 본 캠페인 취지라는 회사 측 설명에도, 선비는 경영진, 농부는 관리자, 소는 사원으로 해석되면서 직원들의 비난이 쏟아지자 결국 그룹은 포스터를 폐기시켰다.

해당 포스터는 롯데그룹의 80개가 넘는 계열사에 배포되었던 것으로 알려졌다.

롯데제과에 근무하는 A씨는 “우리가 소처럼 (시키는) 일만 하는 대상으로 바라보는 것인지 굉장히 기분이 나빴다”며 “상하관계, 명령 하달로 대변되는 한국 기업문화의 현실을 보여주는 것”이라고 말했다.

이는 본지가 지난 9일 영문으로 소개하면서 외신에서도 “한국의 대기업 문화와 근무환경”을 보여주는 사례로 소개되고 있다.

인도의 유력한 영자 일간 신문인 인디안 익스프레스 (Indian Express)에서는 “(롯데의) 이러한 논란은 한국의 과중한 업무와 부족한 휴일 및 명령하고 복종하는 경영자와 직원 사이의 관계를 상징적으로 보여준다‘’고 소개했다.

코리아헤럴드 석지현 기자 (monicasuk@heraldcorp.com)

<관련 영어기사>

Lotte Group, South Korea’s fifth-largest conglomerate, has come under fire after disclosing a poster featuring cows symbolizing employees, initially designed to encourage workers.

The poster, which was put up in March, shows “seonbi” asking a farmer which of his two cows is a harder worker, and the farmer replies “they are both my precious cows.”

A “seonbi” is a word used to refer to scholars during the Joseon dynasty, and the poster is a depiction of an anecdote about Hwang Hui, a 14th-century scholar and politician.

In the popular traditional tale, the farmer also whispers to the scholar singling out the better cow and explains that even animals have feelings.

While the moral of the original story is to be accepting of others’ faults, Lotte’s posters were immediately pulled down from the buildings of more than 80 Lotte affiliates after criticisms rose over its insensitive metaphor.

“We noticed that some people were feeling uncomfortable with the campaign. It was  pulled down immediately,” group spokesman Park Sang-sub said.

Much like the English expression “work like a dog,” cows are used in the Korean language to describe very hard-working people or situations that demand strenuous effort.

However, such expressions also carry a negative connotation as cows were work animals, tools to be ordered and used.

“It was designed to tell employers that they should give more compliments to subordinates to motivate them to work harder,” the spokesman said. 

Whether intended for good or not, employees at Lotte said they found the metaphor highly offensive.

“I wasn’t sure if the management was telling us to work like cows — being forced to work all the time and take orders passively,” a 31-year-old worker at Lotte Confectionery said, wishing to stay anonymous.

Some industry watchers said the poster was a disturbing tell-tale sign of the conglomerate’s corporate culture, and more broadly, Korean conglomerates as a whole.

“Even when there are wrongdoings at the top management level, employees have no choice but to keep silent (to keep their jobs). Due to this corporate culture, huge-scale wrongdoings keep occurring,” said Lee Hae-gwan, a former chair of a labor union at KT, a South Korean telecommunication company.

Peter A. Underwood, a business consultant and the author of “First Mover,” said in an interview with The Korea Herald last month that strict seniority and hierarchy in organizations have enabled the country to make a great economic leap in a short period of time, but it may be a great barrier for greater transformation.

However, this formula for Korea’s economic success is now an impediment as the country transitions into a creativity- and innovation-driven knowledge economy, he stressed.

By Suk Gee-hyun (monicasuk@heraldcorp.com)