浮雲客棧股份有限公司

A reasonable level of freedom

1. The boss is extremely authoritarian and also very disrespectful toward employees. Example: a catchphrase is, “You’re not doing any work.”

2. To meet the boss’s demands, most senior managers merely go through the motions to placate the boss, while the problems remain unresolved.

3. All processes are set by the boss, so the managers here are merely the boss’s pawns. They can only follow the boss’s instructions and are not allowed to have their own ideas.

The company looks very impressive—the kind that could bury you in money.

The company asked me to come in for an interview and fill out a bunch of logic questionnaires, wasting an hour and a half, only to say in the end that they wouldn’t hire me because I lacked work experience. They were just messing with me.

Fuyun Inn looks quite impressive

All the properties are owned by the company itself

Capital exceeds that of ordinary companies

There’s a reason the turnover rate is high.

Let me talk about the interview process.

I proactively applied for the Information Equipment Administrator position, with a salary cap of 45K.

HR: Please provide three time slots from Monday to Friday, between 9:30 and 16:00, for an interview.

Me: I’m currently still employed, and taking time off during working hours means losing pay. Could we schedule it later after work or on Saturday or Sunday?

HR: The manager hasn’t provided any other time slots.

Me: …All right, then. I took half a day off (-1,000).

I originally applied for the Information Equipment Administrator position. Later, when arranging the interview time, I noticed that they were also recruiting an Information Manager, so I asked HR whether I could apply for that position instead.

HR: Come for the interview first, and bring it up with the interviewing manager in person.

Me: All right.

When I arrived… HR (speaking Mandarin with a Hong Kong accent) led me to a meeting room.

I was given 30 minutes to fill out my résumé and complete a test (logic questions of average difficulty).

About 20 minutes later, HR came back, and I handed in the test.

Five to ten minutes later, the COO (female, speaking Mandarin with a Hong Kong accent) came in.

She had a blank expression and looked over my résumé.

COO: This position only pays 45K, which is lower than your current salary (48K). Why do you want to switch?

Me: Because… so…

COO: Tell me about your work experience.

Me: I entered the industry in 2000…

COO: This job involves… We use Dingxin, xx, and yy. Do you think you’d be okay with this compensation?

Me: I’d also like to try applying for the Information Manager position. I feel there may be more room for development here.

COO: … (She gave no response and neither agreed nor disagreed.) Do you have any other questions?

Me: …No, not really.

COO: We’ll notify you within a week if you’re selected.

She immediately stood up and showed me out…

The entire exchange lasted no more than 15 minutes.

My impression from speaking with this COO was that she was just going through the motions of conducting an interview. I’m guessing the IT department may already be without a manager.

Normally, the head of the hiring department should interview an IT candidate first to confirm their technical abilities and experience. It’s rare for someone to immediately focus on compensation and go on about this and that. It made me feel that this person had very poor emotional intelligence.

She also didn’t respond to my intention to apply for the manager position.

So, given her poor attitude, I didn’t bother asking any other questions.

I took unpaid leave and lost pay to attend the interview, only to be met with a poker face.

She didn’t even intend to ask me a few more questions. If I wasn’t suitable, why invite me in the first place?

Losing pay would have been one thing, but after spending an hour on the journey and résumé-related preparation, the whole thing was over in less than 15 minutes. Those interested in interviewing here, please think it over carefully.

Although the president is a fortunate big-time landlord, the people underneath him may not be up to par. Remember to appreciate your blessings, oh oh oh.

1. The manager, Uncle Bo, is very kind.

2. The work is actually quite simple because you only need to meet what the boss wants; you don't need to worry about whether it has any meaning.

Any kind of relationship~

If you merely listen to other people's instructions and carry them out, without expressing your opinions or communicating (meaning that in a conversation, you sincerely accept what I say, and I sincerely accept what you say), then regardless of your position, you are only a frontline employee (an executor).

Even when you do the right thing, you may be criticized; even when you want to do the right thing, you still have to seek approval. Gradually, you will become very humble and submissive~

Then leave! That is how a slave mentality is formed.

If you have children, this will gradually seep into your life and be passed on to them, since work occupies the largest proportion of the time people spend awake each day.

Only true clarity about life will bring blessings later.

The reasons I mentioned above for leaving are, in my view, the shortcomings of Fuyun Liguang Wanjia Taiju Group.

The most crucial reason behind these shortcomings is that, no matter how many chief operating officers have been replaced, none has been strong enough to change President Lin's thinking. Some COOs probably tried to speak up, while others simply took the easy route and went along with the president. As for the current COO, I think her abilities are somewhat insufficient. She probably does not really understand how to build the company's internal processes, and she also appears to lack the ability and confidence to lead strategy-oriented talent with equivalent capabilities (this is my personal observation).

Mr. Lin's management thinking has a major BUG: he believes that, since the company spent a great deal of money purchasing a large amount of Dingxin software, the primary focus of every department should simply be to execute the Dingxin processes correctly. He even believes that company training can improve every department merely by teaching the knowledge built into Dingxin.

That is a major blind spot~

Software like Dingxin is a tool that helps departments and the company complete the work they are supposed to do. Becoming extremely proficient in the knowledge contained in the tool only means that you are very good at using the tool (and become well suited to switching jobs and working as a consultant for Dingxin); it does not mean that you truly understand the work of the department.

Take finance as an example: being familiar with Dingxin's invoice procedures does not mean understanding the country's overall invoice procedures and regulatory framework. Focusing only on Dingxin creates a tool for entering invoices correctly, but it does not create accounting and finance experts for the company.

If someone is not a finance and accounting expert, they will not be capable of building standard operating procedures for their department. In addition, at Fuyun, changing operating procedures requires going through a president who cares only about the accuracy rate of Dingxin procedures, as well as a Hong Kong-based COO overseeing Taiwan operations who does not understand much about Taiwanese regulations. With so many obstacles, this company cannot even produce the simplest work-management procedures.

Those who truly understand the situation, have noticed this blind spot, and know how difficult it is to change the two senior executives would naturally leave. How could they possibly stay?

Some people work only for money, while others want both money and a sense of accomplishment. If you only want money and do not care much about your future development or whether the atmosphere you absorb here will become a problem when you are older and change jobs in ten years, you can continue here stably. But if you care about having the opportunity to change jobs in the future while possessing skills that better match the employment market, then unless you leave and gain experience while you are young, it will probably be difficult to find a better job in the future.

The elderly man in the management office was very kind.

If you drive to the interview, you can park underneath the Fuyun Hotel without paying a parking fee, which is pretty nice.

If you have good abilities, the boss does not object to the salary you ask for (although the Hong Kong–籍 COO might be jealous).

The following is purely based on my personal experience~

1. In my view, the COO is someone who can lead frontline employees but cannot lead mid- and senior-level employees.

2. Five or six people have cycled through the position I joined over the past two years, meaning that, on average, someone leaves about every four months.

3. The real reason I resigned was this: During the interview, I thought the COO was very capable, and the president seemed very willing to provide room for planning. However, after observing things for two days, I realized that the COO was actually quite weak.

4. Why do I personally think the COO is not strong? My views are as follows:

4-1. The Hong Kong–籍 COO is still unwilling to accept the changes in Taiwan’s labor environment and continues to manage Taiwanese employees according to Hong Kong customs. In my opinion, failing to recognize reality is a sign of weakness~

4-2. The management style has led to a high turnover rate. A large number of resignations began to occur, but instead of being able to stop the bleeding, there was no response strategy—just relying on time to deal with it~ That is weak.

4-3. Although her title is COO, she only does the work of an on-site supervisor or hotel manager. After two years, the internal systems are still a mess. The company is paying COO-level money for someone who only does a hotel manager’s job. That is weak.

4-4. “Being busy” cannot be an excuse for someone capable. It is merely a matter of planning time and priorities. That is weak too~

She says she is too busy to reorganize the back office, then uses being busy as an excuse to let the people brought in to help reorganize the back office keep leaving....

Either the logic is so contradictory that it is weak,

or her time-management ability is very weak,

or she naively wants to have everything—the horse to be good while also buying it without feeding it early.

The combined scale of the several companies is not large~ It is not some huge, highly structured hospitality and catering business~

Even if the people helping reorganize the back office are busy, they should still squeeze the time out somehow, like creating cleavage by pushing the breasts together, so that the short-term pain is better than prolonged suffering. If she cannot even handle something this basic, that is weak!

4-4. The turnover rate among people she personally interviewed and hired is also quite high.

If this is not because she frequently misjudges people, then her ability to lead newcomers is insufficient, or she tends to put people in the wrong positions. All three possibilities are signs of weakness—it is only a question of which one~

4-5. The three mid-level managers she personally promoted belong to three different companies. None of them is capable, yet she has never proposed a practical talent-development plan. She only chats and complains with the president, as if she thinks that simply placing the managers she promoted there will somehow make them grow abilities on their own.

Either she lacks awareness of the need to train managers for the company~

or she has not realized that her position and role require her to do this~

or she simply lacks the ability to do it~ All three point to weakness~

All I can say is~

It is almost never the case that the average employee strength under a truly strong manager is not strong.

That is a fact ^^

When experienced, highly successful people are willing to work for your company, failing to seize the opportunity or failing to make a proper effort to recruit them is also a form of weakness~

Then, after they come and leave, you say there was something wrong with them~ without realizing that the probability that you misjudged them yourself is quite high~ That is still weakness~

Unless excellent people have a savior complex, they will not waste their career development waiting for you to change or trying to save you. The foundation of every job is an exchange of value—that is a very simple principle.

Understand what “the era of severe labor shortages” means~ That is a COO’s basic responsibility~

Automation does not mean that people are unnecessary.

As long as you need people, you must clearly define what kind of talent you want,

what kind of talent you can attract,

and why that kind of talent would be willing to come and stay.

Therefore, you need to understand that the meaning of a severe labor shortage is this:

Even if you know what kind of person you want,

you must first compete with industries across Taiwan.

Your ability to acquire talent and retain them is one of the indicators of your level of competitiveness.

I also need to clarify:

When I say “weak” and “wrong,” they are not the same thing.

When I say someone is weak, I am simply sharing my evaluation of them in my mind; it is not the same as insulting or belittling them.

It is only because, among the other COOs I have witnessed, I classify her as being at the strong, average, or weak level.

In short, to me, evaluation is merely a matter of degree or level; it carries no implication of insult or belittlement~

When you want someone who can deliver immediate results, that person is also waiting for you to provide an environment in which they can do so. If you do not first prepare the rules and systems, yet still demand a COO who can deliver immediate results, I also consider that relatively weak thinking and logic~

Because “immediate-results capability” is called that for a reason~ It does not mean the person understands your company deeply enough~ But for them to demonstrate that capability, your systems and operating procedures must be easy for them to find so that they can put it into practice!

Do not bring in a newcomer to help you establish rules and systems. Newcomers themselves need time to learn and figure out the rules and systems. If you have a COO, they should be able to direct relatively familiar internal partners to establish the rules and systems properly, rather than making a newcomer do it. This is extremely basic; if they do not understand it, I also think that is very weak~

To sum up everything above~

In my judgment, the COO is not very capable and seems like a beginner. I feel that during the interview I misunderstood the illusion that the COO was very strong~

Once I became clear about what I wanted, I left~

That is all from my personal rambling. Just take it as after-dinner conversation XD~

A side note~

I wonder whether a COO who came from a sales background would understand this~

In this era, offending one employee means offending the 500 to 1,000 online friends around them on Instagram and Facebook.

No matter how much the second generation tries to market the company~ there will always be a chance that someone will come out and criticize it~ Believe it or not ^^

Often, all it takes is one comment:

“I personally don’t believe that a company that treats its own employees like XXXX~

can really provide XXXX-level service or food to its customers~”

And that is enough~

Honestly~ I feel that over these past two years~

The COO and president of this company have experienced the pressure of employee turnover and actually need psychological healing without realizing it.

To some extent, the turnover rate is the result of their being trapped by certain shadows and pressures that they cannot resolve themselves, projecting them onto many people and producing the same outcome.

(When several different and unrelated samples in the same environment produce the same result, but you criticize the samples instead of examining the environment, that is truly, truly, truly weak.)

Experienced people who do not want to get caught up in a quagmire of psychological pressure will leave quickly.

Those without experience will try to endure it and see how things go, until they discover that their own mental health has also become unhealthy, at which point they decide whether to leave—or simply get used to it.

Resilience is related to ability, but they are not absolutely correlated~ You need to understand this ^^

The workplace is the workplace—it is a place to make money or exchange work for a sense of achievement.

The money has to be good enough for it to be worth enduring the pressure.

A sense of achievement is difficult to satisfy; if you do not need the money, there is no reason to stay and fight to the death.

If you spend the same amount of time somewhere, there is no reason not to love yourself more and go somewhere that can satisfy you to the same degree, or more~

Managers who are unclear-headed will keep saying that their subordinates lack ability, but have no action strategy.

Managers who lack ability will join the executives in criticizing employees for lacking ability, while being unable to require the managers beneath them to plan and manage properly.

But when someone asks you to give more to the company, they are usually thinking very clearly: they want to be able to keep making that money for a little longer~ ^^

In this generation, employee growth and change are often not produced by punishment, but by encouragement.

Senior leaders with too little experience will not understand this ^^

What I have described is what I experienced at Fuyun Liguan. It may not be the same as other people’s experience,

but going through it was very good for me, because it made me feel extremely happy in my next workplace.

I felt happy to be developed and nurtured.

I felt happy that my supervisor had the ability and time, and was willing to understand the difficulties I encountered.

I felt happy that the company provided the knowledge required for my position instead of making me constantly learn how to operate tools.

I felt happy with the way my salary and benefits were provided.

I felt happy that, when I first joined a workplace, I was guided instead of having to figure everything out on my own while waiting to die.

All of these kinds of happiness became tangible to me elsewhere only because Fuyun Liguan was unable to provide them.

There is an employee cafeteria (employees pay for their meals)

The hotel looks grand

I interviewed for a graphic designer position, and the interviewer said that the role also requires learning marketing. Companies elsewhere also require employees to handle both marketing and graphic design; this is the trend, and photography skills are also needed.

Responsibilities include: graphic design and planning for the hotel, Italian restaurant, French restaurant, and rental property brands

I saw on the official social media page that decorations are put up during holidays, and this role is also responsible for the decorations

Business trips are required to provide support at travel exhibitions, approximately three or four times a year, as well as handling the graphic design for the exhibitions

The interviewer did not ask many questions and hurriedly ended the interview and left

..

Overtime is unpaid; compensatory leave is prioritized. Overtime cannot be claimed for meetings, and advance notice is required when submitting a claim.

Everything must follow procedures and be submitted through the appropriate request form.

When requesting a stationery item, you must provide a specific reason. The purchasing process takes nearly a month.

Employees are expected to help the company save money and not waste printer ink, copy paper, and other supplies.

There are many complicated policies and procedures.

It is a family-owned business.

Turnover is high across all departments.

Cooperation between departments is poor.

Regarding management issues, you can look at the other floors; what they wrote is factual.

There are many company Line groups.

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The office is on the second floor. It appears to be an area converted from a rented space, so the atmosphere feels somewhat enclosed and stuffy.

Before the interview, you have to take an intelligence and logic test. They score it after you finish, but the questions are completely unrelated to the position’s professional requirements, so I’m not sure what the purpose of the test is..

The actual interview Q&A time was quite short. After asking just a few questions, the interviewer said they were busy and that we would stop there for today.. :(

Before the interview, I waited in the lobby of the student rental housing on the first floor

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Very high turnover.. Witnessed around 10 people leaving the company at once...

The systems are inadequate

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The company’s systems and processes are cumbersome

High turnover

Emphasis on teaching materials and procedure manuals

Personal belongings cannot be kept on the desk

Strict management

Apart from the administrator being very kind, I can't find any other advantages.

Before the interview, you have to spend an hour completing a logic test and filling out your résumé.

During the interview, the manager seemed very disrespectful and spoke unclearly and indistinctly, making it impossible to understand what he was saying. When I repeatedly asked questions to confirm what the manager meant, he became impatient and ultimately said directly that I was not suitable.

Professional, and the salary is okay.

The office atmosphere is cold and coworkers are indifferent. It feels like everyone has only recently joined... At lunchtime, everyone eats separately, and there isn't much interaction!!