Why did all employees of YoungLimWon Soft Lab go to Japan together?
Wan Seok Yoon, Global Marketing Content Manager
“Would you believe it if I said that over 400 people, including all employees, customers, and partner companies, went abroad to celebrate the company’s 30th anniversary?”
That’s exactly what YoungLimWon Soft Lab (hereinafter YLW) did. And it’s not the first time, which is even more surprising.
Initially, all employees went to Cambodia’s Angkor Wat and Vietnam’s Halong Bay, the second time to Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia, and this third time to Osaka, Japan.
The reason why YLW held its 30th-anniversary event at the Hilton Hotel in Osaka, Japan, is to expand its business into the Asian market, using Japan as a base and branching out to countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand.
Japan has over 30,000 companies that are over 100 years old. Particularly in Kyoto, companies like Kyocera, Murata Manufacturing, Nintendo, and Nidec Corporation are located. Geographically close to Korea and sharing a similar culture based in the Sinographic sphere, YLW started its business in Japan, a market five times larger than Korea, a long time ago. The Japanese market is not easy to enter. YLW experienced many trials and errors over the years. In 2017, YLW established a local subsidiary in Tokyo named EverReform, conducting Cloud SaaS ERP and SystemEver businesses. YLW aspires to become a company that surpasses 30 years and reaches a century, building on its SystemEver business.
Young Bum Kwon, CEO of YLW, set the goal to achieve ‘4Aces’: $100 million in sales, a stock price of 100,000 won, an average annual salary of 100 million won for employees, and becoming number one in Asia. Moreover, YLW plans to complete and focus on enhancing AI ERP within three years.
Another emphasis by the CEO is on personal autonomy in this era of individualism. He has always emphasized employees’ autonomy, and this event was no exception. Employees organized a TFT autonomously and created a travel app to share information.
During the 4-day trip, except for the dinner event on November 11th, where everyone gathered, all other schedules were freely planned by the individuals.
Employees formed groups of four and made their travel plans. Some went on package tours, while others chose free travel. They experienced the exotic charm of Kyoto, enjoyed hot springs, shopped for Japan-exclusive products, and had fun at pubs arranged by YLW, drinking beer and highballs, laughing with colleagues. Additionally some people enjoyed the night at clubs.
Despite the large number of people traveling together, the trip was well-conducted with mutual consideration and autonomy.
“That’s why we are already looking forward to the 40th anniversary!” 😀
