Workplace reviews and discussion: 台灣大車隊股份有限公司

This refers to the business division of the large fleet located in the capital of the Tang Dynasty

Pros

The department atmosphere is fairly decent (especially compared with headquarters)

The junior employees are generally young and easy to get along with

The salary should be fairly acceptable for employees with three to five years of experience

(Specifically referring to the department of a certain female manager)

1. Takes credit upward and is timid externally,

but subjects subordinates to endless verbal abuse and humiliation.

Example:

Midyear, she painted an overly rosy picture for upper management, proposed a new model, and received a promotion.

She also doubled the KPIs set by upper management for us. After implementation, there were actually many difficulties. Despite working overtime every night and visiting clients every day through tremendous hardships, we still brought in quite a few clients, including several well-known chain brands, and achieved the expected target, earning the manager strong praise from upper management. Yet toward subordinates, she continued to berate us every day, saying things like, “Your performance is so terrible…”

(The reason was discovered when a manager from another department mentioned that our department had met its target. The manager had even been praised, with upper management asking why everyone in our department looked so miserable.)

2. No overtime pay or compensatory leave

I personally was not very concerned about this point, but it feels terrible when ours is the only department in the entire division that cannot claim it. Not to mention that our entire department always ends up being among the last to leave.

3. Likes to claim she has an American-style management approach

But in reality, she even counts how many cigarettes people smoke in a row and calculates how long you have been away visiting clients without returning. Meanwhile, after finishing her own external visits, she goes straight home at 5:30 p.m. (the company’s scheduled end time is 6:00 p.m.).

4. Does not allow transportation expenses to be claimed

I have worked at quite a few companies, both large and small, and I have never encountered one where employees doing external work could not claim transportation expenses. Not allowing claims would be fine if she simply explained that the budget was tight and we all needed to get through the difficult period together. But in reality, she is unwilling even to walk a route that is ten minutes from the MRT station and takes a taxi, charging it to company expenses. How are we supposed to accept that?

Side note: Before I resigned, I closed a major deal that should have kept the department safe through Q1. The manager was delighted and said we could claim NT$500 in transportation expenses per month… haha.

5. Weekly reports are burdensome, and reports are considered more important than anything else

I have rarely encountered a workplace where preparing reports is considered more important than generating results. Every week, we spend an entire day preparing reports, including performance figures and trend sharing, then another half day in meetings. That is not even counting the time needed for external work. Besides never having enough time, we would also be criticized if the report was not written well. As for what counts as “not well written,” I doubt anyone knows…

P.S. Personally, I believe that a manager who bears responsibility for performance is performance-oriented. But she manages field staff as though they were back-office employees, which is unacceptable.

6. Despite being a frontline manager, she never listens to the details

This is a startup division, so many matters need to be discussed and adjusted constantly. But the manager only asks about the results. When the results do not meet expectations, she has no interest in understanding the causes or problems in greater depth—she simply berates you and tells you to figure it out yourself. Asking only about results is not necessarily a problem, but she should understand the circumstances clearly. I believe this directly affects the judgment of higher-level management and the allocation of resources, leaving us with an even harder and more difficult job.

7. Messages must be answered promptly

If you do not reply on LINE within 30 seconds, she gets upset, especially on the night before a report is due, when she has already gone home early. We struggle until nine or ten at night and finally submit the report, only for the manager to message us on LINE saying she is dissatisfied with certain parts and wants additions. No matter where you are, you must reply immediately and make the revisions. Otherwise, she will find something to berate you about in the next day’s report (even if you have already added the information). I would go to the gym to exercise and check LINE every minute, terrified of missing a message. It was truly unbearable.

8. Extremely petty, with an enormous sense of authority

Whatever needs to be done, she only gives orders and never does anything herself. She would ask us to buy coffee for her, even when there was nothing she needed to do and she simply did not feel like moving.

At department dinners, she liked having subordinates flatter her. If no one responded when she spoke, she would immediately change her expression, but everyone paid for their own meal. I really do not know why I should spend my own money and personal time after work accompanying a manager to dinner.

The most classic example: There were two employees with birthdays in the department. She suggested going out to celebrate after work and made it clear that she would not pay. She even went to the restaurant without ordering anything, saying she would share dishes with another colleague. They did share dishes, but the manager did not pay… (Not to mention that other colleagues had treated her to coffee and meals several times. She was always the one who suggested where to go, but ultimately never paid…)

9. Extremely impatient

Lack of ability or poor judgment would be understandable, but she is unwilling to listen properly to others. If she does not understand someone after three sentences, she immediately becomes embarrassed and angry, telling you to think it through and come back later. Yet I constantly saw her unable to win an argument with managers from other departments, and in the end, we were the ones who suffered…

I believe every company has its own circumstances and problems, but here the issue is simply the manager. I am grateful to her for helping me understand how great an impact a manager can have. Department colleagues are gradually leaving one after another. Before the Lunar New Year, I am doing a good deed by posting this in the hope that it reaches someone who needs to know. If you are considering joining, please think very carefully!!!