2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 50 Tips for Handling Employee Relations
"Sis, do you think Boss Zhang is crazy? Boss Tan said he didn't have time, but he still insists on having this dinner party. We finally got two days off."

"Alright, it didn't take up any of your time. After you finish eating, you can do whatever you want. Just tell me."

"Oh, if only it were dinner, then I could sleep until the afternoon."

"Stop muttering, let's go shopping after dinner."

Jinpeng Trading operates on a one-day-off-week system. When there are shipments to be made, employees have to go to the factory to help out with temporary workers. The workload is not heavy, but there is not much time to rest.

With New Year's Day falling on the weekend, sisters Li Yanning and Li Jinglan were able to take two days off, a rare treat since joining the company.

On this rare two-day break, Mr. Zhang insisted on organizing a dinner party, and even scheduled it for noon.

This made Li Jinglan extremely resentful; it would be so much better to stay home and sleep on such a cold day.

Zhang Xupeng still doesn't understand one thing: employees don't actually like hanging out with their boss, especially on holidays, even if they have a good relationship during the week.

Tan Jincheng didn't want to go for this reason as well. Why bother with so many gatherings? If you just give them more money, they'll call you grandpa. There's no need to cultivate any kind of relationship.

Even compared to its peers, Jinpeng Trading's employees' income is considered above average, not to mention someone like Li Jinglan who used to tighten screws in an electronics factory.

These days, assembly line workers earn only a few hundred yuan a month, and aside from free room and board, they have no other advantages.

However, in December, with her basic salary plus subsidies and commissions from her Taobao store, her monthly income was close to 3000 yuan, several times what she earned on the assembly line. This was enough to make her work wholeheartedly.

Tan Jincheng even felt that this kid was having some ulterior motives. He often saw him getting close to Li Jinglan. To be fair, although Li Jinglan looked a bit silly, she was quite good-looking.

When recruiting employees, Tan Jincheng prefers those who are honest and seem a little simple-minded. They don't need to be too smart; they just need to be able to do the tasks assigned to them.

At the beginning of the century, opportunities were everywhere, and very smart employees didn't stay long; they would seize any opportunity to go it alone.

Recruiting employees is a skill in itself, regardless of the era. But honest people are always the easiest to control, and honest employees are even more so.

In Tan Jincheng's eyes, the Li Yanning and Li Jinglan sisters are just like that. This year, the company expanded its recruitment, mainly hiring honest people.

When Tan Jincheng arrived home in the evening, he saw Zhang Xupeng lying on the sofa playing on his phone. He couldn't help but tease him, "Hey? What are you doing at home? Didn't you go shopping with Xiao Li?"

"What do you mean, shopping with Xiao Li? What nonsense are you talking about?" Zhang Xupeng denied.

"Do you think I'm blind? You've been hanging around Xiao Li a lot lately, do you have a crush on her?"

"Bullshit, how could that be? You're slandering me."

"Give me a break, otherwise why did you organize this dinner party today?"

"I was trying to increase employees' sense of belonging and cultivate their loyalty to the company. Besides, her sister is there too."

"Okay, okay, how's the training going?"

"The party ended after dinner."

"You shouldn't disturb your employees' private lives during their holidays. If you really like her, then go for it. I don't object to that."

Seeing that Zhang Xupeng seemed about to object, Tan Jincheng immediately stopped him, saying, "But if you two really start dating, she won't be able to keep her job. Think about it yourself." In their previous life, the two of them didn't earn their first 10 yuan so easily. It was understandable that Zhang Xupeng didn't have any other thoughts back then, but now he spends almost every day surrounded by women. With his youthful impetuosity and some money in his hands, it's normal for him to have some thoughts.

Love between men and women is human nature; however, it shouldn't interfere with my money-making endeavors. I have bigger goals to achieve.

Tan Jincheng's words startled Zhang Xupeng, who subconsciously asked, "Why?"

"Are you really stupid or just pretending? If you succeed in pursuing her and Li Jinglan becomes your girlfriend, will she still have the mind to work?"

Needless to say, if the pursuit fails, the person will definitely have to leave the company.

Tan Jincheng wasn't worried about Li Jinglan leaving, as he could easily find a replacement. However, he was concerned about how it would affect Li Yanning's work mood, as a suitable and hardworking merchandiser was hard to find.

This is also a drawback of having relatives or friends working in the same company, but it is also the most common problem for small companies these days, a characteristic of the times.

Migrant workers from rural areas often lack a sense of security and tend to stick together. If employee relations are handled well, the company will be very stable and production capacity will increase dramatically; if not, they will leave en masse.

Some radical ones even forgo their wages and run away with the buckets, just to rip off their boss.

It's common for people to collectively demand a raise when things are busy, which is why Tan Jincheng only wants to hire honest people. Honest people aren't like troublemakers; they don't cause as much trouble.

"No, I don't like him at all," Zhang Xupeng still stubbornly insisted, but his voice was much softer.

Tan Jincheng's words made him fall into deep thought.

"I've already eaten dinner. If you haven't, you can take care of yourself." Seeing that Zhang Xupeng was no longer talking, Tan Jincheng didn't bother with him and went into his room.
-
Monday, the first working day of 2005.

Le Jiakai is an ordinary staff member at the Beicang Tax Bureau, responsible for reviewing the legality and compliance of export tax refunds for some enterprises within its jurisdiction.

Of course, due to seniority, only some small-scale foreign trade companies were assigned to Lejiakai.

Export tax rebates are a common practice internationally and a powerful means to enhance the export competitiveness of domestic enterprises. This is why many trading companies and factories are able to offer export prices lower than domestic prices.

Many cities offer conveniences to businesses in terms of procedures in order to encourage exports.

However, where there is profit, there are bound to be people who exploit loopholes. There are quite a few companies that illegally obtain profits through false exports or other means.

Le Jiakai's job is to identify companies with abnormal tax refunds.

I currently own a foreign trade company that has been established for less than three months and has only four employees enrolled in social insurance. Le Jiakai has checked and found that two of these four are the bosses, so there are only two actual employees.

But this insignificant company received a tax refund of over 20 yuan in less than three months.

A tax refund of 20 yuan is not much in a port area like Beicang, which is full of foreign trade, but it is quite high for the companies that Le Jiakai is in charge of.

It's unusual that this company reported so many cases in just over two months since its establishment.

It seems I need to report this to the section chief.

(End of this chapter)