In March 2020, more than 100 countries shut down in order to curb the spread of COVID-19. During the past year, many companies were forced to adjust and pivot their business to accommodate for our new normal. And here at SK hynix, it was no different.
We moved to remote working in accordance with the government’s shelter in place order, and we stayed flexible to the sometimes-daily changes of the pandemic and the changing needs of our team members, partners and communities alike.
Exactly year later, we continue to strive to make a difference for our employees and communities. In this article, we look back at the last 12 months, on what we’ve learned about our company and, what we’ll continue to take with us.
We must rely on each other
At the beginning of COVID-19, our corporate social responsibility teams got to work finding the best relief organizations so that we could help the communities around us who struggled the most. A few ways we helped out in our communities this past year included:
“It’s very meaningful to be able to contribute to the communities in the US, especially in the time of COVID-19,” stated Tony Yoon, Head of SK hynix memory solutions America. “I am happy that SK hynix supports healthcare workers and low-income families who are going through tough and challenging times.”
As we continue to fight the pandemic, we will continue searching for ways to help those in need of help.
Our people are the core of our company
Our people are the core of our business, and this year confirmed that more than ever. Even though working had changed, our employee’s engagement remained high and are able to derive meaning from their work. It’s our responsibility to help take care of their fundamental needs and equip them with the tools they need to be successful.
As we continue to adapt to the new normal, SK hynix will continue its commitment to its people – wherever they are and however we can. These continued efforts towards connection will deepen relationships across our network and create an even more cohesive workforce.
“Employees are connecting to their office remotely and can do everything as if working from the office, even social benefits and corporate activities,” said Alexey Chugaevsky, Engineer / SSD FW Verification at SK hynix memory solutions Eastern Europe. “We still can take care of our health doing physical exercises online, do yoga and just have fun while celebrating holidays and participating in different workshops and online-events. Thanks to SK hynix memory solutions Eastern Europe, we are safe being isolated ‘physically’, at the same time we are still together, being connected ‘socially’!”
We stay connected in more ways than one
Our teams quickly adapted to new ways of working, and while they encountered new obstacles, they discovered new opportunities too. As we continue to prioritize working from home, staying connected is continually important.
We introduced programs like “Let’s Reconnect” in SK hynix America to keep employees connected and engaged beyond their work. In offices across the globe, teams gathered virtually through video chat to build relationships and keep connected.
“It was a great experience to see everyone’s face and connect with colleagues,” stated Larry Huynh, Corporate Recruiter at SK hynix America. “I hope we have another ‘Let’s Reconnect’ challenge soon.”
According to the results of a working from home survey conducted late last year, we were successful in responding to our employees’ needs. Moving forward, we will continue to focus on helping our employees feel engaged and comfortable while working from home or in office through frequent communication no matter where they are.
“In my opinion, a high level of trust, healthy motivation, and well-developed culture of experimentation helped us to stay connected during this year,” said Sergei Musin, Tech fellow / Advanced Algorithms at SK hynix memory solutions Eastern Europe. “While working in the global multicultural team for years, we developed strong collaboration skills; therefore, we just adapted our global work habits to remote work with a fast trial-and-error approach.”
Good leadership goes beyond business
At SK hynix, we all have common desire for excellent performance and services, and we rely on our leaders to set an example on how relationships can be built, sustained and grown through mutual trust, consistency and transparency. This not only helps to create an empowering corporate culture for our employees but reflects back positively on our relationships with customers and partners.
Our customer-centric business approach has led to closer and deeper interactions with our partners, making it successful for both parties throughout the relationship. Though we haven’t been able to meet in person for a while, we have still managed to achieve so much together with our partners.
We continued to growth personally and professionally
Over the past year, we actively established ourselves for future growth by smoothly proceeding acquisition of Intel NAND businesses and completion of our M16 fabrication plant. Additionally, we have increased our investment into environment, social, and governance with the establishment of an ESG management committee to discuss strategies to create new opportunities in this field. SK hynix furthered this commitment by joining RE100 (declaring 100% use of renewable energy by 2050) and issuing green bonds for investment in environmentally friendly businesses.
Whether it was a new hobby or further-education accomplishment, our employees during this time showed their desire to growth both personally and professionally as well. This passion is why offices globally often host learning and development events to continue building on their skills. In fact, SK hynix America hosts a learning series every month, which invites employees to share their knowledge and expertise with the wider network and positively reinforce each other’s work.
Hongwei Duan, Senior Manager of SK hynix memory solutions America
The Learning Organization Series is a great platform to keep employees on the technical frontier and connected with each other during this unprecedented pandemic. It provides us an opportunity to virtually learn and improve together as a team which we cannot do physically. Kudos to the organizers!
What we’ll take with us
Though this past 12 months has been unprecedented, we learned from and relied on each other, doing what we can, where we can, to make an impact on the people and the communities that surround us. We want to again say “thank you” to the people who keep our company – and our communities – moving forward, especially during times of crisis.
As we look ahead, we will bring these learnings with us and keep pushing ourselves to be at the forefront of not only the next-generation technology we deliver, but the growth, success and development of our colleagues, partners and communities.
