On May 19th at Room 101 of the Halla Human Resources Development Center, 15 ESG managers from each affiliate gathered together to take part in a heated discussion. The topics for that day, which was the fourth day of ‘ESG Specialization Training,’ were ‘Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)’ and ‘Creating Shared Value (CSV).’

It is not easy even for those in charge of CSR to establish a CSR management strategy that reflects ESG values. It took more time and energy than expected to apply clear missions and goals to CSR, which has been just vaguely considered a ‘good thing,’ and converting them to measurable indicators.

The managers all took part in lectures, discussions, and presentations throughout the day without showing any signs of exhaustion. On their way back home after all the lectures, they all looked more determined with their eyes shining brightly,

‘ESG management’ has emerged as a hot topic throughout the industry and has established itself as a major keyword of corporate management. Halla Group is also making various efforts for a sustainable future in which firms and society coexist based on sustainable management.

For 6 days from May 16th to 23rd at Halla Human Resources Development Center, there was 'ESG Specialization Training’ provided for ESG managers in all affiliates. They all gathered together and struggled to find ways to promote ESG at Halla Group throughout the week.

Today, let’s check out in detail the honest opinions of the ESG managers that participated in Halla Group’s 'ESG Specialization Training Program’ as well as the contents of the program.

 

One course a day about key ESG tasks with a focus on enhancing practice-based competencies

Halla Human Resources Development Center divided the real-time online ESG program for hands-on workers into different industries within the group and conducted the program across 6 sessions from April 19th to May 11th. The participants were able to obtain basic knowledge about ESG management in the common course focused on industry-specific cases of holdings, automobile, and construction, after which they could proceed with the specialization course later, which covered more intensive content.

The specialization course was conducted face-to-face at Halla Human Resources Development Center across 6 sessions from May 16th to 23rd.

The specialization course had a curriculum focusing on the 'Six Major Tasks of Sustainable Management,' such as ▲Human Rights Management and Safety ▲Governance and Ethical Management ▲SCM from the Perspective of ESG ▲CSR/CSV Workshop ▲Corporate Energy Goals ▲Technology-Based ESG,  all of which could be applied immediately to business.

The lecture was conducted by forming teams to gather ideas for action plans and sharing the results. This was followed by a lecture on ESG in business practice that introduced evaluation indicators and best practices. The participants had their eyes glued to the results of the ESG diagnosis along with expert analyses disclosed by each affiliate.

They claimed that it was a good opportunity for them to think about how to set the direction for ESG. They were particularly satisfied with the introduction of best practices by companies in the same industrial cluster as well as the various methods of evaluation.

“This program helped me more clearly understand the meaning and background of CSR/CSV I had known only as CSR,” said Manager Kim Si-hye from Mando Sustainable Value ＆ Relations Team. “I realized that CSR is a field that receives relatively less attention in ESG management, but still needs to be expanded since it helps return corporate benefits to society and carry out ESG management activities.”

“ESG is not a task that can be performed by a single department or individual, but can be practiced properly only when multiple departments and stakeholders actively participate together,” said Halla Human Resources Development Center HR Training Team Pro Kim Young-tae who organized this training program, encouraging employees to participate in practicing ESG management.

Halla Human Resources Development Center plans on fulfilling its social role and responsibility with continuous ESG training at the corporate level. Finally, we interviewed Mando Manager Kim Si-hye and Halla Corporation Green Management Team Leader Choi Don-keo who attended today’s training and listened to their feedback as well as their future plans.

 

Interview 1: Manager Kim Si-hye, Mando Sustainable Value ＆ Relations

Q. Briefly introduce how Mando is managing ESG.
A. Mando manages ESG based on the 'Six Major Tasks of Sustainable Management.’ Employees from each field meet regularly to set goals and discuss activities and improvement plans for building global data. In addition, we’re setting and managing mid- to long-term goals by ing key indicators out of over 600 indicators made based on the requirements of global rating agencies and clients. Later this year, we’re planning to focus more on dealing with global ESG evaluations.

Q. What do you remember most from today’s training?
A. I was particularly drawn to the case of CSR using the company’s core competencies. I remember the CSR activity by German cleaning solution provider Kärcher, which cleaned cultural heritage sites and landmarks worldwide. The company has been cleaning 80 world heritage sites for 46 years using its eco-friendly pressure washers. I think Mando can also plan a CSR activity aligned with the business, which the employees can relate to.

Q. What does ESG mean to you?
A. I would like to define ESG as a ‘new perspective.’ I was able to study and learn a lot thanks to ESG and gained a broad perspective about things I didn’t know before. I also got into the habit of thinking about everything around me in association with ESG. Thanks to that, I’m practicing sustainable consumption even in my everyday life. (Chuckle)

 

Interview 2: Team Leader Choi Don-keo, Halla Corporation Green Management Team

Q. It might not have been easy to take the first step in ESG management. What is the key to getting such good results?
A. There are three things I always emphasize to the team members. First, “do something.” You can’t find any problems without moving. Second, “look around.” You can’t just sit down and solve the problem if you don’t know what’s missing. Look around, and only then you’ll find the solution. Finally, “pay attention.” For ESG management, you must pay attention to social phenomena. Otherwise, you won’t see the climate crisis. If you do something, look around, and pay attention to social phenomena, you will definitely realize the need for ESG. Once you do these three things, I believe ESG will be smooth sailing.

Q. What was most helpful in the ESG specialization course?
Most participants responded positively and were satisfied with the course. Many of them say that they could shed new light on why ESG management is necessary. Personally, I was impressed by the ‘Safety Evaluation Methodology’ I learned yesterday. It really helped to learn about the new evaluation criteria and various evaluation methods.

Q. Same question. What does ESG mean to you?
I would like to say that ESG is ‘transparency.’ Our chairman also mentioned once before that ‘ESG is about transparent management,’ which I totally agree with. I think once we transparently disclose everything we have, we can see what we can change. Without transparency, there is no room for change, which means there will be no improvement at all. The problem is not just about doing something wrong. We can only start to change when we know what we did wrong and try to make things right.