Realizing that establishing ethical values through repetitive and everyday education is a prerequisite to the institutionalization of ethical management, POSCO continuously conducts training using various methods. Moreover, after the 3rd anniversary of the ethical standards announcement, a further step has been taken for the prevention of unethical practices by the constituents and to promote the adherence to corporate ethics of all corporate activities including the decision making process and work processes with interested parties. In connection with this, ethics education is strategically & continually being conducted covering each job and position.
- Ethics education sharing with directors’ course (newly established in 2007)
- Since the education of directors by the Ethics Bureau is considered difficult, POSCO proposed in January 2007 a method wherein the directors -- after voluntarily studying ethical knowledge and acquiring foundation -- educate the employees assigned to them.
As a result, the Ethical Bureau named this course “Ethics education sharing with directors”; all directors including those from subsidiaries have been taking part in such education since June 2007. - “Ethics education for key members” designed to promote ethical leadership
- Guided by the belief that key members taking the lead is important in institutionalizing ethical management, POSCO conducts group training on an annual basis through leadership courses for department and division heads, team leaders, plant managers, persons in charge, and foremen. The leadership school courses help individuals make the right decisions and play the assigned roles through case studies. Furthermore, to promote the receptiveness of the trainees, POSCO develops various methods such as dramas, dilemma case quiz, video, and online tests each year.
- Education tailored to each department: “Mobile ethics class”
- To discuss dilemma cases that may occur while employees perform duties and to provide systematic and professional ethics education, POSCO has been operating a “Mobile ethics class” since March 2006. To provide ethics education, lecturers from the Corporate Ethics Practice Bureau personally visit front offices and provide 1~3 hour education based on tailored subjects that suit the characteristics and requirements of the department. This education earns raves because employees can gain access to fresh news tackling the recent issues of corporate ethics and have an opportunity to discuss dilemma cases that have always piqued employees’ curiosity.
- “E-learning ethics education”: an essential course for all employees
- POSCO provides e-learning education to all employees for up to 20 hours per year per person. To sustain employees’ interest in learning corporate ethics, POSCO changes the subjects of e-learning every year under the theme “Fresh & Fun.”
E-learning is provided consistently step by step every year: General concept of ethical management (2004), Case studies on ethical standard (2005), In-depth study on practice guidelines (2006), and POSCO ethics completed with small practice (2007). - Expansion of “ethics education for subsidiaries”
- To expand ethical management to the POSCO Group level and to promote the synergistic effects of the ethics practice, the Corporate Ethics Practice Bureau -- since 2006 -- has been conducting training for some 960 key members from 18 subsidiaries including POSCO Construction & Engineering.
- Ethics education sharing with interested parties
- Believing that the success of ethical management can only be realized with the participation and understanding of interested parties, POSCO is conducting proactive activities. In connection with this, the CEO -- in the early phase after the ethical standards were proclaimed -- personally sent letters requesting participation in ethics practices and cooperation to customers, suppliers, outsourcing partners and other interested parties.
Furthermore, POSCO held corporate ethics presentation meetings in Pohang, Gwangyang, and Seoul for the representatives of interested parties. They included corporate ethics presentation for new customers, corporate ethics workshop for the management of customers, and ethics presentation meeting for material suppliers. The meetings sought to announce the results of implementing ethical management, explain the details of the ethical practices that must be observed by interested parties by citing specific examples, and enlist cooperation and participation. In relation to this, POSCO introduces “Examples of POSCO’s ethical management” to organizations related to corporate ethics or other companies such as the Federation of Korean Industries, BEST Forum, and Anti-corruption & Civil Rights Commission, endeavoring to play the roles of a leading ethical management enterprise.