VP is my elder cousin by more than 10 years and not to mention my favourite when we were kids. He has been around in Spitland, helping with the business even before I came over. Before anyone suspects any resentment as a result of my arrival, there was none. Dad made sure that he remained as No.2 even when everyone knew I was going to be heir apparent. I didn't have a problem with this arrangement for after all, it takes more than a single person to run the business and we need every helping hand that we can get. A trustworthy helping hand, if I may add.
We have a tongue-in-cheek saying here about the Spitlanders. "The capable cannot be trusted. The trustworthy are not capable." Bear in mind this is just a cheeky proverb and I can find enough exceptions to blow this saying apart, albeit not without some effort.
Then, there was a turn of events when VP left us to pursue another venture back in Ta1wan. Relations did sour a little as we felt abandoned. His venture hit a dead-end and was back with us after a year. His return means he has to start from the bottom of management and that means that he has to report to me from then on. Still, there wasn't really much of a problem given that I for one don't really like to pull rank on people and I absolutely hate office politics, if I can avoid it at all.
We get along well at work but we do clash in the office as a result of our management style. I for one, rule with an iron fist. Discipline is rule #1 for me. If I decreed it, it must be done. No ifs, no buts. Just get it done. I am very result-oriented and I reward heavily for a job well done as much as I punish heavily for mistakes. VP, on the other hand, wants to be Mr Popular. He makes it an effort to ensure everybody is happy before he dared to make a decision. On the surface, he appeared to be doing a great job as it seems like everybody love him and listen to him. It gave him the appearance that he is in control of his people. Even when it come to results, or the lack of it, he will step up to be the sacrificing martyr shouldering all the blame. Hence, making him even more popular.
I have the 4Fs when it comes to managing people.
Fair. Friendly, Firm but never Familiar.
VP may be friendly but he breached the fairness and familiar principle as those who were in his camp would be under "his care" regardless of performance. And these bastards took advantage of this and climbed over his head. Just who is in control over who, started to look very questionable. Too many times, have I heard complains that these "protected people", knowing that VP is backing them, walked around the factory like they owned it and bullying all those around them.
Ou was one such character. He was the supervisor of the materials warehouse (MW) and was a total slacker. Then word spreaded around that some of our suppliers are connected to him, giving him kickbacks while at the same time delivering us materials of inferior quality and at times, incorrect quantity. It wasn't until another staff ratted him out and Ou was proven guilty before I personally fired him and his team (all of which happened to be "VP's people". It was an honest coincidence.), in spite of VP's vigorous protest. VP felt threatened as I was deemed to be trimming his power base. There was also rumour that VP was getting kickbacks but there was no proof and we highly doubt it as the amount involved was petty by VP's stature.
Like a stinky corpse, the sorry state of affairs at the MW, finally floated to the surface. It was so poorly run that I decided to take over personally. Our original arrangment before this, was that I take care of everything outside of the company i.e. sales, marketing, shipping etc. while he is in charge of everything within the company i.e. production, HR, warehousing, purchasing. By this take over, I am breaching our lines and it appears to be an insulting slap to his face. In a way, it communicated that he was doing such a poor job over there, that I had to step in and do it for him. To add salt to wound, I relieved him of purchasing and handed it over to another cousin and hence dropping him another rung down the pecking order to No.4.
The thing about family business is that it can be messy at times as we do not have a formalised structure like those of bigger businesses. Still, we managed to keep the boat afloat despite potholes here, there and everywhere. Embarassingly, our MW, due to the fact that it's a hotspot for corruption, has never been in order since Day 1.
The person who blew the whistle was Hu. A local graduate but with a very simple mind. His straightforwardness can be a blessing as well as a weakness. Blessing in the sense that he followed everything by the book which prompted to sound the alarm on Ou but weakness in the sense that due to his inflexible stubborness, he isn't a very popular figure with those who work with him.
VP, is not a bad person in general, but for a VP, he is damn fucking petty for a VP. He hated and marked Hu for getting Ou fired and being one of those who refused to kiss his ass. Ever since Hu was appointed by me to run the MW (and I taught him warehouse management ala SAF-style), VP has been nitpicking at everything in the MW. Whenever, something is lost in the MW, VP would make a big deal out of it. Objectively, I would investigate every single matter and if proven that the fault lies with Hu, punishment would be meted out accordingly. The first case was a matter of missing hardware. It was negligence on the part of Hu and he took responsibility like a man. A rare find in a man considering most, if not all, Spitlanders are experts in pointing fingers at everyone else except themselves. The punishment was published on the company's notice board and it cause quite a shockwave throughout the company. I fined Hu a full month's pay.
6 months later, with Hu continuous efforts and sacking and replacing almost everybody in the MW, we passed our stock audit. Our first time ever, after being in business for 15 years. From the figures in the finance department, we easily saved a monthly average of RMB 50,000 during our 6 months of cleaning up. I doubled Hu's pay together with a big bonus. People in the company were starting to warm up to Hu for as much as they disliked Hu in the past, they all admitted (even grudgingly for some with gritted teeth) that they have never seen the MW in such outstanding order.
The move to double Hu's pay was not without resistance as VP controls HR. While individual pay matters was supposed to be confidential, word of Hu's reward was leaked, the very next day (fast!), throughout the company and rumour was spreading that I was practising favouritism i.e. I am no better than VP, which I originally chided him for the same practice.
We had a mole amongst us and it was easy to figure out who couldn't keep his bladdy mouth shut.
Nothing wanting to confront him over this nor wanting to start a war within the company. I backed off and came up with an alternative scheme to reward those who have done well. It has come to a point (as far as VP was concerned) that whoever, I reward for good performance is naturally in the opposite camp from him and some are afraid of the repercussions of a marked man like Hu. I just cannot understand this paranoia of his to want to polarised this company. I don't buy this "one-company, two-camps" nonsense nor do I have any intention to do so. It looked like he was pulling all the stops to prevent me from gaining popularity. Yes, this place is a sad state of affairs as the person who gives out money for whatever reason is often the person most well-liked, unfortunately.
Anyway, that is just one-way street thinking on his part and I can't even give a rat's ass about it.
If offering monetary incentive was such a big problem for HR then so be it. I just needed to come up with an alternative scheme.
I call it the "Yum Cha Money (饮茶钱).
I have a entertainment expense account and because of the fact that I don't really entertain as much, I more often than not, have surpluses at the end of each month. I used this money as performance incentives instead of going through the "proper channels" which VP is sure to give me all kinds of stick for these "extra unecessary expenses".
This CNY, I gave out Tea Money in the form of red packets. Ranging from a modest token RMB 10 to RMB 500. I even have an assistant manager that got nothing from me as I told him point blank that he is the only one that I singled out as I was particularly unhappy with his performance for the past year. Still, I told him that I would still like to keep him around as he has to potential to improve. I told him the money is there for him to take but he needed to come get it on my terms. I think he got my message and we shall see if he is motivated enough to make it back into my good books.
As for VP, I can't help but be disappointed with him ever since his return. He is after all, still family and I do hope that he will come around soon.
Perhaps, I should write about his nonsense in the past year in another protected entry.
We have a tongue-in-cheek saying here about the Spitlanders. "The capable cannot be trusted. The trustworthy are not capable." Bear in mind this is just a cheeky proverb and I can find enough exceptions to blow this saying apart, albeit not without some effort.
Then, there was a turn of events when VP left us to pursue another venture back in Ta1wan. Relations did sour a little as we felt abandoned. His venture hit a dead-end and was back with us after a year. His return means he has to start from the bottom of management and that means that he has to report to me from then on. Still, there wasn't really much of a problem given that I for one don't really like to pull rank on people and I absolutely hate office politics, if I can avoid it at all.
We get along well at work but we do clash in the office as a result of our management style. I for one, rule with an iron fist. Discipline is rule #1 for me. If I decreed it, it must be done. No ifs, no buts. Just get it done. I am very result-oriented and I reward heavily for a job well done as much as I punish heavily for mistakes. VP, on the other hand, wants to be Mr Popular. He makes it an effort to ensure everybody is happy before he dared to make a decision. On the surface, he appeared to be doing a great job as it seems like everybody love him and listen to him. It gave him the appearance that he is in control of his people. Even when it come to results, or the lack of it, he will step up to be the sacrificing martyr shouldering all the blame. Hence, making him even more popular.
I have the 4Fs when it comes to managing people.
Fair. Friendly, Firm but never Familiar.
VP may be friendly but he breached the fairness and familiar principle as those who were in his camp would be under "his care" regardless of performance. And these bastards took advantage of this and climbed over his head. Just who is in control over who, started to look very questionable. Too many times, have I heard complains that these "protected people", knowing that VP is backing them, walked around the factory like they owned it and bullying all those around them.
Ou was one such character. He was the supervisor of the materials warehouse (MW) and was a total slacker. Then word spreaded around that some of our suppliers are connected to him, giving him kickbacks while at the same time delivering us materials of inferior quality and at times, incorrect quantity. It wasn't until another staff ratted him out and Ou was proven guilty before I personally fired him and his team (all of which happened to be "VP's people". It was an honest coincidence.), in spite of VP's vigorous protest. VP felt threatened as I was deemed to be trimming his power base. There was also rumour that VP was getting kickbacks but there was no proof and we highly doubt it as the amount involved was petty by VP's stature.
Like a stinky corpse, the sorry state of affairs at the MW, finally floated to the surface. It was so poorly run that I decided to take over personally. Our original arrangment before this, was that I take care of everything outside of the company i.e. sales, marketing, shipping etc. while he is in charge of everything within the company i.e. production, HR, warehousing, purchasing. By this take over, I am breaching our lines and it appears to be an insulting slap to his face. In a way, it communicated that he was doing such a poor job over there, that I had to step in and do it for him. To add salt to wound, I relieved him of purchasing and handed it over to another cousin and hence dropping him another rung down the pecking order to No.4.
The thing about family business is that it can be messy at times as we do not have a formalised structure like those of bigger businesses. Still, we managed to keep the boat afloat despite potholes here, there and everywhere. Embarassingly, our MW, due to the fact that it's a hotspot for corruption, has never been in order since Day 1.
The person who blew the whistle was Hu. A local graduate but with a very simple mind. His straightforwardness can be a blessing as well as a weakness. Blessing in the sense that he followed everything by the book which prompted to sound the alarm on Ou but weakness in the sense that due to his inflexible stubborness, he isn't a very popular figure with those who work with him.
VP, is not a bad person in general, but for a VP, he is damn fucking petty for a VP. He hated and marked Hu for getting Ou fired and being one of those who refused to kiss his ass. Ever since Hu was appointed by me to run the MW (and I taught him warehouse management ala SAF-style), VP has been nitpicking at everything in the MW. Whenever, something is lost in the MW, VP would make a big deal out of it. Objectively, I would investigate every single matter and if proven that the fault lies with Hu, punishment would be meted out accordingly. The first case was a matter of missing hardware. It was negligence on the part of Hu and he took responsibility like a man. A rare find in a man considering most, if not all, Spitlanders are experts in pointing fingers at everyone else except themselves. The punishment was published on the company's notice board and it cause quite a shockwave throughout the company. I fined Hu a full month's pay.
6 months later, with Hu continuous efforts and sacking and replacing almost everybody in the MW, we passed our stock audit. Our first time ever, after being in business for 15 years. From the figures in the finance department, we easily saved a monthly average of RMB 50,000 during our 6 months of cleaning up. I doubled Hu's pay together with a big bonus. People in the company were starting to warm up to Hu for as much as they disliked Hu in the past, they all admitted (even grudgingly for some with gritted teeth) that they have never seen the MW in such outstanding order.
The move to double Hu's pay was not without resistance as VP controls HR. While individual pay matters was supposed to be confidential, word of Hu's reward was leaked, the very next day (fast!), throughout the company and rumour was spreading that I was practising favouritism i.e. I am no better than VP, which I originally chided him for the same practice.
We had a mole amongst us and it was easy to figure out who couldn't keep his bladdy mouth shut.
Nothing wanting to confront him over this nor wanting to start a war within the company. I backed off and came up with an alternative scheme to reward those who have done well. It has come to a point (as far as VP was concerned) that whoever, I reward for good performance is naturally in the opposite camp from him and some are afraid of the repercussions of a marked man like Hu. I just cannot understand this paranoia of his to want to polarised this company. I don't buy this "one-company, two-camps" nonsense nor do I have any intention to do so. It looked like he was pulling all the stops to prevent me from gaining popularity. Yes, this place is a sad state of affairs as the person who gives out money for whatever reason is often the person most well-liked, unfortunately.
Anyway, that is just one-way street thinking on his part and I can't even give a rat's ass about it.
If offering monetary incentive was such a big problem for HR then so be it. I just needed to come up with an alternative scheme.
I call it the "Yum Cha Money (饮茶钱).
I have a entertainment expense account and because of the fact that I don't really entertain as much, I more often than not, have surpluses at the end of each month. I used this money as performance incentives instead of going through the "proper channels" which VP is sure to give me all kinds of stick for these "extra unecessary expenses".
This CNY, I gave out Tea Money in the form of red packets. Ranging from a modest token RMB 10 to RMB 500. I even have an assistant manager that got nothing from me as I told him point blank that he is the only one that I singled out as I was particularly unhappy with his performance for the past year. Still, I told him that I would still like to keep him around as he has to potential to improve. I told him the money is there for him to take but he needed to come get it on my terms. I think he got my message and we shall see if he is motivated enough to make it back into my good books.
As for VP, I can't help but be disappointed with him ever since his return. He is after all, still family and I do hope that he will come around soon.
Perhaps, I should write about his nonsense in the past year in another protected entry.
- Voxeros
1. OLLie left...
hmmm.. You cannot fire VP right?
Thursday, 22 February 2007 2:01 am :: http://ooohlah.lah.cc
Woah. That is a whole lot of politics. hmmm.. You cannot fire VP right?
2. JayWalk left...
Ollie: It's a matter of weighing the pros and cons and I feel that the company will still be better off keeping him despite all the nonsense.
Ollie: It's a matter of weighing the pros and cons and I feel that the company will still be better off keeping him despite all the nonsense.
3. spinnee left...
but that's what makes working life more challenging. ;)
afterall, it's very mind satisfying if you could win through all these morons.
Thursday, 22 February 2007 10:36 am
SO POLITICAL !!!! but that's what makes working life more challenging. ;)
afterall, it's very mind satisfying if you could win through all these morons.
4. sunflower left...
Thursday, 22 February 2007 4:47 pm
I like you management style... thumb up! 
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