Hana Bank is set to allow employees to wear business-casual attire to create a relaxed working environment, industry sources said. 

The lender has recently decided to adopt a more casual dress code as more than 80 percent of its employees surveyed were in favor of the plan. It has not decided yet when to implement the new dress code.

The dress code transition is part of the financial company’s move to prove itself as an innovative bank.

“To achieve innovation, the bank must create an innovative work atmosphere. A business-casual dress code will leave room for employees’ personal expression, satisfying different tastes of clients. Let’s set the new dress policy as a starting point for the bank’s innovative drive,” said Hana Bank CEO Ji Sung-kyu. 

Bank customers are familiar with financial services offered by bankers with a polished appearance wearing bespoke suits. But for now, employees’ self-expression through casual outfits will better serve bank customers with different needs and preferences, the bank official explained.

Responding to a rapidly changing finance environment, including the digital transformation, local finance circles have been ramping up efforts to create a casual work environment to boost employees’ creativity, with KB Kookmin Bank and Woori Bank already embracing a loosened dress code.
 
Also, in an effort to ease hierarchy in office culture, Hana Bank recently recommended employees call their bosses and executive members by English nicknames, while omitting their job titles, officials said. For instance, the bank’s chief Ji Sung-kyu is being called “glocal,” a combination of the words “global” and “local” during an executive meeting, which is his registered English nickname, officials said. 

By Choi Jae-hee (cjh@heraldcorp.com)