Companies have employees train like Marines to bolster morale, teamwork and competitiveness


TAEAN, South Chungcheong Province ― About two dozen men and women shout military chants at the top of their lungs as they jump off from an 11-meter tower with ropes tied around their legs and hips.

Wearing a Marine uniform, no one dares to back out.

“I was really scared before jumping. But it gets much easier after the first jump,” said Jie Tae-hwan, a sales employee of Narae Nanotech Corporation which makes display and mobile components.

“My muscles ache from all the drills, but it’s not as bad as I had imagined. It’s actually quite fun.”

Jie and his fellow trainees at Marine Academy, a private agency whose ex-Marine drill instructors run training camps on Taean’s Anmyeondo, joined Narae Nanotech this year.

People in their 20s to 40s of different work positions do grueling exercises arm in arm from 6 a.m., take part in guerilla training and row boats all day with 15-minute meals and short breaks in between.

Even before their brief meals, they shout chants like “We create the world’s strongest, most invincible Narae with iron will and faith in victory!” in military tone at the direction of the stern-faced drillmaster in a red cap and a red shirt.

They eat in silence and bellow once more before returning their food trays.

The drill instructor, Kim Kyung-ho, says one of the hardest parts of his job is coming across trainees who show unwillingness or discontent.

“Young people these days are freewheeling and unrestrained. Many are selfish,” Kim said.

“They don’t complain out loud, but it shows in their faces and actions that they want to leave.”

In the end, however, most trainees feel good about themselves. Some write truly touching thank-you letters to the instructors when they leave, according to Kim.

“Both onshore and offshore training are physically challenging, but most trainees prefer exercises in the water using rubber boats as it helps them relieve stress,” said Han Kyung-woo, chief drillmaster at Marine Academy.


Merits of boot camps

Whether they are for fresh recruits or middle managers, Marine Corps-style camps or overnight hikes and marches have been on Korean companies’ human resources agenda for years.

“Doing this every year would be too much, but I think it will be worthwhile for new recruits like us or senior staff facing promotion or retirement,” said Lee Joo-hyun, an employee of Narae’s finance department.

“If anyone asks me about the Marine camp, I’d definitely recommend it.”

Kim Dong-ho, a research staff member at Narae, said it allowed people from different departments to bond and develop a cooperative spirit.

Boot camps are a regular part of employee training for many big companies such as POSCO, Hyundai Motor, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Shinhan Investment Corp.

“The new recruits find it backbreaking in the beginning, but generally feel glad they did it at the end of the day,” said Kim Min-kyu, an official at Kumho Asiana Group which runs a one-day boot camp during its month-long training period for fresh recruits.

“Rolling in the mud together definitely helped me feel closer to my colleagues. It helps enhance teamwork.”

Female trainees often shed tears during the grueling Marine Corp drills, and some sustain minor injuries such as rope burns, bruises or cuts from sea shells on the shore.

But problems are rare as the instructors take extra caution for safety and do not push the trainees too hard, Han said.

The camps for new recruits, aimed at reinforcing commitment, teamwork and leadership skills, have various lengths and curricula.

The most popular two-night, three-day programs start with mental training to prepare the trainees’ attitudes toward the course and basic physical exercise sessions for a warm-up on the first day.

Guerilla training and offshore exercises take place on the second day, followed by watching videos on the Marine Corps spirit as well as discussions in the evening on how it can be applied at work.

The program usually ends with a mountain hike on the last day during which the young rookies are encouraged to make fresh resolutions and psyche up for a new chapter in their lives.

“Some people think of the training camps as a vestige of military culture, as something oppressive and high-handed, but they are downright wrong,” said Lee Hee-seon, chief of Camp Tank.

“The camps are about helping trainees improve communication, teamwork and self-confidence through challenging themselves, so their companies can tide over the hard times.”


Other morale-boosting programs

But not everyone is positive about having office workers go through Marine training.

“I don’t know why they do it. Giving the employees more days off would be much more effective to increase productivity,” said a management-level office worker in his late 40s.

Shinhan Bank tried the Marine-style training for new recruits only once in 2008, and never did it again.

“I am not sure why my predecessors stopped doing it, but I guess they didn’t want to give the new recruits a sense of coerciveness by sending them to a Marine camp in a country where all men are drafted to the military,” said Suh Jin-young who is in charge of employee training.

“The Marine Corps camps certainly deliver a good message, but I am personally skeptical about whether that message needs to be conveyed in that particular way.”

Rookie employees of Shinhan Bank go on all-night marches instead through Mungyeong Saejae, the mountain trail that allowed scholars in the Joseon era living in the southeastern part of the peninsula to pass over the Sobaek mountains to get to Seoul to take the state examinations.

Following the footsteps of the countless people who walked the 35-kilometer trail to fulfill their dreams centuries ago can be a meaningful experience for the new recruits as they start their careers, Suh said.

“They also take part in volunteer work and street campaigns to promote newly opened branches of the bank, which inculcates Shinhan’s ‘customer-focused’ corporate values and raises their loyalty to the company,” he said.

“All the shouting out loud on the streets also helps timid people grow more confident.”

In June, the Seoul Administrative Court ruled that Hana Bank should cancel the six-month suspension on a 53-year-old manager surnamed Kim who broke away from a Marine camp and refused to take part in the training.

Kim, who had spinal disc herniation and visual impairment, had been sent to the camp as part of a program for underperforming employees.

The court ruled that forcing Kim to attend the Marine camp infringed on his personal rights, adding that the camp wouldn’t help him learn knowledge or skills required for his job.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)