Lee Hae-jin “I am also thinking about other ways to share my results”… ‘Compensation Controversy’ Burns Still

This is a question and answer that was missed at the Naver Online employee conference on the 25th. The company held’Companion Day’ for all employees from 2 pm on the same day and broadcast live in-house. Founder Lee Hae-jin, Global Investment Officer (GIO) and CEO Han Sung-sook, responded. The event was held amid a request for’compensate for performance’ from Naver, which doubled the ransom (market cap) in one year.

Naver has often held in-house meetings since 2019, and this GIO has also participated. This year’s event attracted attention due to the conflict between labor and management in Naver. Among Naver employees, dissatisfaction that’the company achieved record-high sales and operating profits last year, and employees’ incentives are the same as usual’ has risen to the surface. At the conference on this day, a question was raised about what the incentives are based on.

GIO Haejin Hae-jin said, “I am very grateful to the employees who have worked hard so far,” and the sensitive response was taken by the management team. CEO Han Sung-sook said, “We have been rewarded mainly by organizations that showed movement for growth rather than short-term profits.” Chief Financial Officer Park Sang-jin (CFO) emphasized investment in research and development (R&D), saying, “It is important to grow a pie of profit in order to increase corporate value in the long term.”

At the meeting, questions and answers about stock options (stock options) also went back and forth. Naver has paid stock options to all employees since 2019, and can exercise a total of 390,000 shares from the 27th. The expected profit per capita is more than 19.6 million won (based on the closing price on the 25th).

Naver is a corporate group with a total of 1,870 regular employees in 42 affiliates (as of 2020, Fair Trade Commission). In terms of net income, it was ranked 12th among domestic business groups, up 18 places from a year ago (30th in 2019). In terms of market capitalization (63 trillion won), SK Hynix is ​​the third place to compete for second place in Korea.

GIO Lee Hae-jin owns a 3.73% stake in Naver. However, the company’s influence and symbolism are still enormous. The founder’s words are still important to Naver’s organizational culture and vision. This is why’Lee Hae Jin responds’ frequently appear at Naver union rally.

At the conference that day, a question about the company’s title was also raised. Naver revived the unregistered executive system by creating a new leader position in 2019. Kakao has no unregistered executives. There are also internal and external concerns about whether Naver, which started as a startup, becomes bureaucratic. On this day, the GIO replied, “I think the title of’~nim’ is appropriate (for (leaders) too), and “I like calling you’senior’.”

Earlier on the 23rd, Naver’s union met with this GIO and said,’Employees are deprived of compensation for less compensation than other companies’,’In fact, employees of affiliates who work with Naver and Line are excluded from compensation’, and’Every time an organization is established or business changes, one-sided It conveyed arguments such as that the movement of manpower is achieved.

After the meeting, the union made a statement, saying, “A specific and essential answer to the issue raised by the union was not included,” and said, “Please review the request for making Naver, where people are everything, healthy.”

About the rapid growth and rapid changes the company has experienced over the past year, employees also wanted an explanation from the founder. Naver announced the integration of SoftBank and its Internet business in Japan at the end of 2019, and in August of last year, it spent 340 billion won to acquire Japanese delivery company Demaekan. In January this year, it spent 650 billion won to acquire the global web novel platform Whatpad. At the conference that day, questions were asked, “What is the investment standard?” and “I want to know the company’s vision.” Accordingly, this GIO promised to give an in-house lecture, saying, “Let’s meet in two weeks about the global challenge strategy.”

From March, the official name of this GIO will be’Chairman Lee’. He is the co-president and chairman of Japan A Holdings, which will be launched on the 1st of next month. A Holdings is a holding company that controls Z Holdings (a Yahoo Japan operator) that integrates Rhine (Naver subsidiary) and management. This GIO, which has been drawing the big picture of the company rather than management practices for a while, is going to the front of the Japanese business. Naver-Softbank holds a 50-50 stake in A Holdings.

Reporter Shim Seo-hyun [email protected]