In this season of gratitude, SK hynix has a lot to be thankful for. First and foremost, we’re grateful for our employees and the important contributions they make each day at work. It’s thanks to their hard work that, despite the difficult circumstances of the year, the company as a whole has achieved such success this year.
It was in this spirit of gratitude, teamwork and mutual reinforcement that SK hynix employee Eunho Lee Technical leader (TL) of Space Design Team and Seung-hun Choi TL of Mobile Platform Team created the “HyThanks” program in 2017.
The idea started with a simple ‘thank you’ note to a colleague, and has since grown into a collaborative digital platform that allows SK hynix employees from around the world to send and receive letters of gratitude and support. We’ve also added a “lucky roulette” feature that adds rewards at random to senders and recipients. Eunho Lee TL explains:
“Due to the nature of our business, collaboration is a very important factor of our work. To give you an idea: before they are completed, the small chips we produce must pass through more than 600 main processes and thousands of hands. If a problem arises, it is necessary to work together in order to resolve it quickly – making cooperation an essential competency for our team members.”
Since that first note in 2017, over 310,000 thank you letters have been sent to and from colleagues across our offices. While mutual appreciation has always been a part of our model at SK hynix, the HyThanks platform has made it systematic.
The Power of Gratitude
Let’s hear from a few employees about the impact of HyThanks on their experience at SK hynix over the years:
Jennifer Lee
SK hynix America, SOLAB Team
“Especially during this period of work from home, we need that little extra something… So, I intend to use ALL of my allotted HyThanks cards before they expire this year. Not to sound corny, but if you appreciate the people around you that do the little things to make your day better, life is better – because little things matter too!”
Juhee Kim
SK hynix Inc. Solution Development
“I think the lucky roulette of HyThanks is fun for the members. It seems to be a comfortable event for both senders and recipients as the company provides small rewards as well as just gratitude. Sometimes both the sender and the receiver are excited to drink coffee and celebrate together with points given from the roulette.”
Jason Lee
SK hynix Inc., DRAM Product Planning
“I’ve experienced HyThanks both as a sender and a recipient. In the first case, I sent a HyThanks to someone I’ve been working with for over a year on resolving technical issues for customers. In the second, I received a HyThanks from our junior team after six months of working as their mentor. With the activation of HyThanks, we’re able to express gratitude very often, and as a result, we’ve created an atmosphere where we can collaborate with our hearts and minds.”
Thanks, HyThanks!
At SK hynix, it is our belief that when employee satisfaction is high, high-quality performance follows. Through programs like HyThanks, Let’s Reconnect and VOICE, we are building and nurturing a community of caring, attentive and enthusiastic employees that in turn produce excellent work.
According to a recent “work from home” survey, even throughout the many disruptions of the year, employee engagement remained high. This, according to Eunho Lee, is no coincidence. It’s thanks to the scientific power of gratitude:
“Feeling and expressing gratitude is a positive emotion linked to dopamine secretion. Dopamine is transmitted to the prefrontal cortex of the brain, resulting in a variety of intelligence enhancements, including memory. HyThanks is a prime example – in fact, our analyses show that employee relationships and collaboration have improved since we started HyThanks.”
