Workplace reviews and discussion: 寬淂有限公司

1. The company’s performance is growing.

2. Other than the managers, the relationships among the other colleagues are very good.

1. The company’s systems are very chaotic, and the turnover rate is extremely high. In a small company of around twelve people, six employees left within three months. Almost no one stays for more than a year. There are probably one or two salespeople who stayed relatively longer, but they also left after between six months and a year; most others did not stay for more than three months.

2. The sales manager and chairman are often away on business trips and not in the office, which means many decisions cannot be carried out. Yet they constantly rush subordinates. If you respond to a customer first because of time pressure, you are likely to be harshly reprimanded afterward. It makes you want to roll your eyes.

3. Sales staff handle everything. Needless to say, quoting prices and processing orders are included, but following up with the factory, arranging shipments, preparing shipping documents, and so on are also all part of the job. Anyone accustomed to having a sales assistant should think carefully. The manager would even say, “Last year, that salesperson always packed up and left on time. Why can’t you finish everything?” (Because sales grew to twice the previous year’s level, for goodness’ sake.) Moreover, the chairman wants to do many things, and the directions are scattered, sometimes leaving employees unclear about what the company’s actual positioning and purpose are.

4. Everyone takes turns doing cleaning duties every week, including cleaning the toilets and taking out the trash. During the year-end deep cleaning, you may also have to scrub the floors. Consider whether you can accept this. Sometimes, while you are working, you hear the garbage truck and have to rush outside to take out the trash. You really do not know whether you came to work as a salesperson or as a cleaning lady.

5. In the past, each department had to work one weekend day every month. During interviews, they said it would simply involve casually organizing documents and so on, but in reality it meant continuing to work. This also applied when there were consecutive holidays. However, with the current one fixed day off and one flexible rest day system, the company probably would not dare make this demand anymore.

6. There were instances when the company was unwilling to grant all the days off during consecutive holidays (the red-letter holidays announced by the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration). Everyone had to strongly insist before the holidays were approved.

(It was only granting the red-letter holidays announced by the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration, with no additional days off.)

7. Employees must work entirely according to the manager’s work habits. You cannot have your own way of doing things. For example, the company does not provide cabinets or drawers and also prohibits you from keeping many things on your desk; otherwise, they will think you are unprofessional and lack an effective, organized way of working. This company culture is more suitable for fresh graduates and not for salespeople who have already worked for many years.

8. The company has many activities, and they are often held on holidays. Because the managers love running marathons and participating in triathlons, they often invite everyone to join. If you are not interested or decline to participate, they may think you do not fit in with the team. Besides, work is already exhausting enough, and on weekends you just want to rest rather than exercise.

9. The chairman is very good at encouraging people, but after a while, it feels like he is just making empty promises. The sales manager is capable but has little time and is not very good at managing people, which leads to frequent resignations among the sales staff.

10. Since the company is a factory converted into an office rather than a conventional office, even when the air conditioning is on, it often does not feel cool in summer, while it is extremely cold in winter. The environment is not very good. Also, because the space was converted from a factory, the lighting is rather dim. The desks and chairs were purchased according to the chairman’s preferences rather than being standard ergonomic office furniture. Therefore, the office space is not very comfortable.

11. You cannot leave freely during working hours. If you are accustomed to a free and flexible office culture, this place may not be suitable for you.