Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 439 Talented Individuals

"Compared to Boss Yan, this is all small change! What, Boss Yan, are you too busy with that mine to get involved in water-reducing agents?" Zhao Changhe asked warily.

The market is big enough that, in theory, there shouldn't be much to worry about in terms of competition, but Zhao Changhe is genuinely concerned about Yan Hui's entry into the market.

"I asked for a friend," Yan Hui explained casually.

Zhao Changhe certainly didn't believe Yan Hui's words. He thought for a moment and said, "President Yan, if you want to invest in this project, we can sell some of our shares and expand the factory together."

As a fellow first-tier agent for Laiwu Steel in Jinan City, Zhao Changhe knew Yan Hui very well and had heard many things about him. He knew the whole story of what happened to Zhu Hong; Yan Hui withdrew, and Zhu Hong suffered a huge loss, still unable to recover. However, Zhu Hong didn't dare to cause any trouble for Yan Hui in the face of such a situation, indicating that Yan Hui was not as simple as he appeared.

As for Yan Hui's performance in the steel market from September to December last year, it was remarkable. At that time, most steel agents were losing money, while Yan Hui made at least 20 million yuan in cash!
Moreover, just when everyone thought Yan Hui would become arrogant because of this, he chose to retire gracefully and even announced last month that he had acquired a high-quality calcite mine in Linzi!
Because Zhao Changhe's business area was far from Yan Hui's, the two never had much competition, so their relationship was relatively friendly.

"Mr. Zhao, you've misunderstood. I wouldn't buy shares in a profitable company and share in the profits. It makes me sound like some kind of bad guy! Don't worry, I won't compete with you. I'm just getting a general understanding." Yan Hui knew that if he were to buy shares in this company, it would definitely cost an exorbitant price, and he wouldn't gain any decision-making power. He wouldn't do something that purely wastes his own resources.

"Mr. Yan is too polite. If everyone were like Mr. Yan, our market would be more harmonious." Zhao Changhe breathed a sigh of relief.

His current capital level is nowhere near that of Yan Hui, and his talk of selling shares was just a test.

"Once my mine is fully operational, I'll treat everyone to a meal. Mr. Zhao will definitely do me the honor of joining us," Yan Hui tentatively suggested.

"Definitely!" Mr. Zhao replied with a smile.

"Okay, I'll hang up now." Yan Hui smiled and hung up the phone.

Sure enough, his steel industry peers also found out about his mining deal.

After hanging up the phone, Yan Hui said to Wang Yongjun, "General Manager Zhao is a decent person. We're practically family in the industry. Water-reducing agents aren't a big project, so I won't get involved with his side. I'll go take a look at the company you found soon."

"Yes." Wang Yongjun nodded.

Logically, Yan Hui shouldn't be involved in recruiting new employees, but he had high hopes for these students, so whenever he had free time, he would participate in the interviews and ask Zhang Tiemin to help him screen them.

In the course of half a month, Zhang Tiemin recommended six people to him, all of whom were relatively mature among the students, and Yan Hui met with them all.

Yan Hui wants people who are worth cultivating, so he has his own logic for selecting people.

First is personal image. Yan Hui prefers sunny, positive, and ambitious people with plenty of energy and drive. A lifeless young person is definitely not suitable. As for very composed individuals, Yan Hui feels they are more suited for research; Chen Jian can handle that. He's looking for the company's core members. Second is communication and logical reasoning skills. It's not that people with STEM backgrounds are necessarily good at communication and reasoning. Yan Hui likes people who can accurately express their opinions and dislikes those who simply parrot others. Logical reasoning is a core element for learning new skills and mastering new ideas in the future.

Thirdly, emotional intelligence and a sense of responsibility are key elements for long-term relationships.

Confident but not arrogant, self-aware and able to learn on their own.

Although recent graduates are relatively mobile, those who stay are actually quite loyal. Yan Hui hopes that both sides can be more honest with each other.

When it comes to honesty, that's actually the most crucial thing.

Yan Hui has been working and doing business for 15 years now, and he can see through these students at a glance. Honest communication is the best option.

To Yan Hui's satisfaction, all six of them were quite honest.

Come to think of it, someone who isn't honest simply wouldn't be able to get past Zhang Tiemin.

After careful consideration, Yan Hui kept all six people. There were two people he didn't particularly like, but who had good potential, so he kept them at the calcium oxide factory.

Of the remaining four people, his favorite was Zhou Gaojun, Professor Wang's prized student and a master's student in chemical engineering. His academic performance was relatively average, and he struggled to complete his graduation thesis, but he possessed a keen business sense and good organizational skills even in school, making him a well-rounded individual. Yan Hui hired him at the plywood company for 8000 yuan a month.

The salary wasn't low, but the plywood business was a small one. Yan Hui wanted Zhou Gaojun to grow here and learn about the steel formwork market from Wang Yongjun. Zhou Gaojun himself chose this position, feeling it was an excellent opportunity.

The second person is Li Xiucheng. He is an undergraduate student and used to be the head of the external relations department of the student union. He is particularly good at communication, studies well, and is very quick-witted. Yan Hui arranged for him to be Pan Chen's secretary, to assist Pan Chen in handling the work of the tile factory, with a salary of 6000 yuan per month.

The third person is named An Yi. He comes from a well-off family and is an undergraduate student majoring in computer science. Yan Hui thinks that he has a very strong sense of logic and is also good at overall planning, so he plans to keep him working at the future group headquarters.

The fourth person was a girl named Yang Jing, a mechanical engineering major who loved powerlifting. She appeared delicate but was incredibly resilient. Yang Jing came from a modest family and earned her tuition through part-time jobs throughout university. Despite this, she still had many hobbies. After talking with her, Yan Hui decided to keep her at Heng Hui Chemical and planned to bring her into the future group headquarters to work with him.

Yan Hui offered both of the two people who wanted to stay at headquarters a salary of 6000 yuan a month, which was a very good salary in 2009. Both of them wanted to start work as soon as possible. Yan Hui said that they could come to the company to wander around if they didn't have anything to do, and they would officially start work after they received their graduation certificates in June.

Besides these six people, Yan Hui recruited 20 others. Ten of them were given to the newly established calcium oxide company and mine, while the other ten were assigned to other companies. As for the recruitment of technical, financial, and business personnel, Yan Hui delegated the work to Chen Jian, Zhou Ping, and Song Zhiyuan; he wouldn't directly participate in those areas. The people he wanted were those who could potentially take charge independently in the future.

In the next one to two years, Yan Hui will continue to recruit talent on a large scale and gradually build a team. The plan is to stabilize the group by 2010 and then consider where to go next.

(End of this chapter)