Korea as talent developer?

Yesterday, we had the story about the 6 executives that wanted to leave LG Electronics to move to Pantech, another Korean company (but were “forced” back).

Hidden (no, not really) on page 2 of the Asian Wall Street Journal of yesterday (link needs subscription) was another story about a great employee in Korea. This time, we talk about Eric B. Kim, executive vice president of Samsung's global marketing operations, departs just as the South Korean company is finishing a review of ad agencies and preparing a new brand strategy. He is leaving for Intel to become their marketing chief.

This is actually good news for Korea, because it shows that its companies do something right – it the headhunter rings your phone, and tries to get people from your company to another, you are doing something very right. If they leave, however, you did something right earlier, but failed to keep it up. It is not money and a bigger paycheck that makes people leave (not always, for that matter). It is the culture in your company, and the career opportunity and growing responsibilities that give a company the edge. If you do things right in your employee’s careers, they don’t want to leave, as this would mean a step back from them.