Tae-Gyun Shin is the managing director of the consulting and leadership team at Samsung Human Resources Development Center where Samsung trains its core employees. With an MBA from Boston University and a Ph.D. in HR, Dr. Shin now 48, has long had an interest in what he calls “permanent growth.” “HR is the backbone of corporate growth,” he says, “and you'll find people linking corporate life to limitless creativity through HR development.”—Craig Bromberg

What are Samsung’s biggest challenges in terms of attracting top talent?
There’s a new wave in corporate management. In his most recent book Revolutionary Wealth, Alvin Toffler says that society is shifting its focus from information to creativity, so competitive businesses must now find a way to create new knowledge in order to maintain their lead. These changes have also given Samsung new challenges and as a result, Samsung’s annual management principle this year is “creative management through creative innovation.” The only way to become a world leader in this creativity-based society is to pioneer new ways of doing business and producing better products, so we have to break past the unknown to become a first mover. Creative management can be realized through new technologies, products, and markets, which means that we need imagination and creativity from our leaders and top talents. Finding and developing the core of creative talentwithin Samsung is our biggest challenge today.

Can a truly entrepreneurial culture dedicated to innovation co-exist with Samsung’s Korean roots?
Ever since its foundation in 1938, Samsung has maintained a talent-based management philosophy using the slogan “A company is its people.” This people-first philosophy served as the growth engine of Samsung and made Samsung into what it is today. What is particularly noteworthy is that other global leading companies such as GE, DuPont, and Johnson & Johnson also have a talent-focused company culture. In this sense, Samsung’s people-first philosophy is part of a global trend shared by many of the world’s leading global companies.

Does Samsung’s digital ecosystem create a need for new competencies?
We are always looking for people with particular talents in creativity, learning, global focus, and social awareness. Creative people lead the future with passion and challenging spirit, and demonstrate flexibility, creativity, and conviction. Learning people continuously absorb new knowledge and skill-sets with boundless energy to become experts in their areas. Global people think and work as global citizens, absorbing the differences of diverse cultures, religions, and age. Social people know how to work in cooperation with others and fulfill their responsibilities as members of one society through social contributions. Today, we are making every effort to recruit and develop people with these four characteristics, and believe they will be performing at the highest level in this age of limitless global competition.

General Electric is famous for its slogan “Lead or Get out of the Way.” What slogan should we think of when it comes to Samsung?
“People always come first.” That has been the core philosophy of Samsung human resources development ever since it was founded. The strategy of Samsung HRDC is to strategically support management’s engagement with the HR process. This means we have paid particular attention to creating our own training brand, continuously developing globally competitive courses, and bringing globalization to all areas of HRDC.

Samsung’s HR development is based on three key words: Value, Leadership, and Global competence. “Value” means value sharing programs which bring together all Samsung employees under one banner. “Leadership” refers to development programs that systematically identify and develop next-generation leaders. “Global” means enhancing our employees’ global competencies by developing their global business and foreign language skills.