About Yun

Bio

I am a PhD researcher at Yonsei University and an HR Manager at SANY Group, working at the intersection of social science, human behaviour, talent development, and organisational change.

My journey has taken me from studying Human Resource Management and Marketing at the University of Queensland, to exploring social science and behavioural research at the University of Amsterdam, data analytics at the National University of Singapore, and now Global and Area Studies at Yonsei University. Along the way, I have worked with organisations including SANY, CATL, Ford, and IKEA, turning ideas about people and organisations into real-world practices.

I am especially interested in a simple but powerful question: What makes people grow? I explore this question through research into human behaviour, organisational development, leadership, learning, and culture — and through my everyday work with people.

Outside academia and HR, I am a coffee educator, marathon runner, drummer, and lifelong learner. I enjoy discovering connections between seemingly unrelated worlds: how coffee creates communities, how running builds resilience, how music teaches collaboration, and how small changes in human behaviour can transform an organisation.

I believe some of the most meaningful ideas emerge when we cross boundaries — between research and practice, business and society, data and human experience.

I'm passionate about

I am passionate about people, behaviour, learning, and the small things that create meaningful change.

Professionally, I am fascinated by human behaviour: why people make certain choices, what motivates them to learn, how culture shapes behaviour, and how organisations can create environments where people feel trusted, challenged, and supported.

Academically, I enjoy exploring these questions through social science and behavioural research. Professionally, I test them in the real world through talent development, leadership development, employee experience, and organisational culture.

But curiosity does not stop when I leave work. Coffee is another world I love exploring — not only as a drink, but as a combination of science, craft, culture, and human connection. Running teaches me patience; drumming teaches me rhythm and collaboration; travelling and studying across different countries continually challenge the way I understand people.

Ultimately, I am passionate about understanding people — and turning that understanding into better learning, better organisations, and better human experiences.

Things you might not know

People are sometimes surprised to discover that my life outside HR and research is quite varied.

I am deeply involved in specialty coffee as an SCA-certified coffee professional, educator, and competition judge. I enjoy both the science behind brewing and the conversations that happen around a cup of coffee.

I am also fascinated by behavioural research. Give me an interesting question about why people behave the way they do, and I can happily spend hours thinking about research design, interviews, data, and patterns.

Outside work, I run marathons, play the drums, and have trained in nutrition and fitness. Marathon running has probably taught me one of the most useful lessons in both research and life: you do not need to move fast all the time — you just need to keep moving.

So depending on the day, you might find me discussing organisational behaviour, analysing research data, brewing coffee, running 42 kilometres, talking about nutrition, or playing the drums — sometimes all in the same week.