Workplace reviews and discussion: 汎武事業股份有限公司

Leaving work

Sharing these impressions on behalf of the original poster; the text is rather long and may not be suitable for those who are not considering applying.

The company name has been withheld, but the company has posted job openings year-round on both three-digit- and four-digit-numbered job websites for many years. There are also inquiry posts about it on the forum. As a distributor of electrical and mechanical equipment in Yanchao, it should not be unfamiliar to those seeking sales positions or assistant vacancies.

After the company moved to its new location and the new warehouse was completed, unlike most hot sheet-metal factories, air conditioning was installed in the office area, and multiple fans were also installed in the work area. The working environment can be described as relatively cool and comfortable. If salary, leave, and overtime are not taken into consideration, warehouse management is an excellent choice.

The company conducts inventory counts twice a year, in the middle and at the end of the year. These are the busiest periods for warehouse management staff. Both counts have approximately one month of preparation. The closer it gets to the inventory count, the longer the overtime hours become. In addition, the year-end inventory count takes place around New Year’s, which is usually a holiday. All warehouse management staff must attend; those who take leave will have it deducted from their attendance record.

Overtime pay is provided and calculated in half-hour increments. Any period shorter than half an hour is compensated with merit instead. Perhaps for ease of calculation or visual simplicity, the multiplier for year-end overtime pay drops the final digit, with one boxed meal provided as compensation. (If one boxed meal is not enough to fill you up, you can wait until you get home to eat again.)

In principle, everyone in the company except those in the finance department must undergo one month of warehouse training upon joining. Due to turnover, this may be extended depending on the circumstances.

The company is centered around sales, allowing sales staff to build up extensive networks both inside and outside the company. Externally, the company has been in business for 30 years and has a stable customer base, so cold prospecting is not required. However, because of staff turnover and customer reassignments, customers never have enough time to become familiar with you. Internally, chasing customers is just as common as chasing departed sales staff, so you can also meet many new faces—if you are still there by then. The company has approximately 100 employees, and the number of people hired and then leaving within a year can reach nearly 50 person-occurrences. Since that is still less than half the total, it can be said to be quite stable.

Each sales representative is assigned an assistant. Assistants start work at 8:30, while sales representatives start at 8:00, so sales representatives have a half-hour gap without an assistant every day. Assistants must also take turns covering the phones during lunch, answering calls and informing customers that we are on lunch break. In the industrial control department, assistants are replaced at a rate of approximately one person every six months. Assistants who resign voluntarily are informed in advance, but assistants whose employment is terminated involuntarily are informed and dismissed on the same day. Department transfers are handled the same way. Handling matters assigned by supervisors during lunchtime is an everyday occurrence.

If external causes such as traffic jams caused by natural disasters or accidents prevent you from arriving at work on time, you must use your own annual leave or compensatory leave to take the time off. In particular, try not to get stuck in traffic on Mondays, as the company holds an all-hands morning meeting. In addition to reciting the company’s guiding principles, everyone sings the company song, making it harmonious and lively.

To avoid delaying sales staff’s business and customer-visiting schedules, all meetings are held after working hours. There is a monthly meeting every month and a quarterly meeting every quarter. If the monthly and quarterly meetings cannot be finished, everyone meets again on Saturdays. Saturday meetings occur an average of once a month, except that this time there is no boxed meal or overtime multiplier. To improve the professional knowledge and standards of the sales team in the electrical distribution department, the company provides free training two evenings after work every week. If the two days are not enough, the company is willing to sacrifice Saturday to continue. In addition, to strengthen company cohesion, the company holds a one- to two-day mobilization meeting and experience-sharing competition during a holiday or weekend at the beginning of every year to welcome a new beginning. All employees must participate, and of course one boxed meal is provided.

Performance targets are adjusted every year. If last year’s target was met, it is raised; if last year’s target was not met, it is also raised. The system is open and transparent, with no need for negotiation. If you meet the target, there is of course a performance bonus, but the calculation method is rather complicated. Once the monthly performance target exceeds one million, the company will certainly not shortchange you or your assistant over the roughly hundred or so dollars in bonus—after all, you still have to split it with your assistant. If the collection rate for that month is below 95%, the company may reclaim the bonus. But quibbling with the company over a mere few hundred dollars would make a salesperson seem rather petty.

Although there is no employee trip, this year the company provided each person with several hundred dollars in travel funds for independent use. Of course, use this subsidy on a holiday when there is no meeting, or take personal leave.

The company’s training is comprehensive and its meeting schedule is efficient. As for the Labor Standards Act, which is most directly relevant to employees, the company will make every effort to comply when it wants to and is willing to comply. The promotion system is also relatively half-transparent rather than entirely opaque. There was once a publicly announced promotion of an employee that was later rescinded for special reasons. The situation took an unpredictable turn, changing from clear skies to cloudy ones. It is a wonderful workplace that newcomers must not miss.