Chapter 265 Incentive System
The soap factory began to expand.
With eighty strong men working at the same time, their speed was truly impressive.
With Old Man Zhao personally overseeing the work, Cheng Wanwan didn't need to worry about anything on the site.
She was discussing recruitment with Old Mrs. Zhao.
"No one in the village is unwilling to work. The men get eight hundred coins a month, and the women and maids get six hundred. There are plenty of people vying for the jobs," said Old Mrs. Zhao. "Zhao Yougui, his son Shagen, and his cousins are all honest and hardworking. The whole family is welcome..."
Cheng Wanwan interrupted her: "If the whole family comes to work in the soap factory, who will do the farm work in the fields?"
Although the current dynasty is open, it still tends to prioritize agriculture and suppress commerce. If commercial activities affect agricultural production, her soap workshop may not be able to continue operating.
“Only two processes in the soap factory require strong men; all other processes are done by women and young girls. Each family can only send one able-bodied man to work.” She said as she pondered, “Currently, there are eighteen workers in the factory. If we recruit another fifty, that will be almost a hundred people. We will need someone to manage them and inspect them to prevent anyone from slacking off.”
Grandma Zhao nodded: "Leave the management of these people to me, I guarantee they'll be obedient!"
Cheng Wanwan smiled and said, "Then I'll pay Mother eight hundred coins a month, and she can come here to manage people, okay?"
"Managing people is just a side job, why would I ask you for wages?" Old Mrs. Zhao waved her hand, her face completely unconcerned.
"It's not enough to just manage them; there's also employee performance evaluation," Cheng Wanwan explained in detail. "Each month, three to five outstanding employees are selected and given a reward of one hundred coins each. In addition, employees who are present every day for a month without being late or leaving early can also receive a reward of twenty coins..."
Grandma Zhao's eyes widened: "You pay them such high wages every month, how can you give them extra bonuses? Do you think money grows on trees?"
“With incentives, everyone will work harder instead of just going through the motions,” Cheng Wanwan said earnestly. “The outstanding employees each month need to be selected by Mom herself, which is a tough task. Also, with more people, we need to select team leaders to manage things. How to select team leaders and who to choose are all things that Mom needs to consider.”
Grandma Zhao straightened her back and nodded solemnly: "I will definitely take care of these things for you!"
Having taken on the task, the old lady worked even more meticulously and diligently.
Cheng Wanwan sat in the courtyard and continued to refine the various rules and regulations. With few employees, she could still manage them through relationships, but the number of employees would only increase in the future. Therefore, she had to list all the rules and regulations one by one, post them on the workshop wall, and have everyone read them aloud...
While she was busy, she suddenly remembered something and quickly called Zhao Ergou, who was also busy, over: "Go to Manager Yan's place and pay the remaining few hundred taels of silver. The shop should be transferred to... to my name. Also, take measurements of every part of the shop, upstairs and downstairs, so I can design how to decorate it."
If there are four sons in the family, it would seem like favoritism to suddenly give one of them a sum of money. So, it's best to temporarily register it all under her name and then divide it up gradually when the family property is divided later.
Zhao Ergou took nearly a thousand taels of silver to town to buy a shop.
After Cheng Wanwan finished writing down the rules and regulations, she called Cheng Zhao over to copy them several more times. Her handwriting was not good, but Cheng Zhao's handwriting was praised by everyone.
The written rules and regulations were posted on the wall of the soap workshop.
A crowd gathered around to watch.
"Who can read this? Please read it to us quickly."
Zhao Dashan stood to the side and read it aloud.
"As long as you work every day, without being late or leaving early, you'll get a reward of twenty coins?"
"Select five outstanding employees each month and reward each of them with one hundred coins?"
"Besides the wages, we also get extra rewards. Aunt Dashan is so generous."
"I'm not going to chat with you guys anymore, I'm going to get to work. I want to be an outstanding employee this month!"
"I heard that the outstanding employees are selected by Grandma Zhao, I'll go ask her what's going on..."
Old Mrs. Zhao was trying on clothes in the room. She was going to start working soon, managing people, and she needed to wear nice clothes, right? However, she only had three or four outfits in total, and after trying them all on, she still wasn't satisfied. These clothes were somewhat unbecoming of her current status...
Just as I was trying, the yard suddenly became noisy.
Grandma Zhao hurriedly went outside.
"Grandma Zhao, I heard your shoulder hurts, let me give you a massage."
"Oh dear, your clothes have a tear. Take them off quickly, and I'll sew them up for you."
"Stop, stop, stop!" Old Mrs. Zhao took a step back. "Stop all of you fawning over me. The monthly outstanding employees are selected based on your usual performance. Instead of wasting time fooling around with me, you should go back to work!"
Her stern and impartial demeanor made everyone realize that backroom deals were out of the question and that they had to work hard.
So, one by one, they immediately returned to the workshop and started working.
Normally, they could finish work around 5 PM every day, but on this day, even after the sun had set, there were still a few men and women working in the workshop. They only reluctantly went home when Zhao Sanniu came to lock the door.
The early winter nights come quickly.
I had just finished eating and hadn't even washed the dishes yet when it got completely dark.
Zhao Sanniu and Zhao Sidan were practicing standing meditation in the yard. One of them chopped wood while practicing the standing meditation, and the other read a book while practicing the horse stance.
Inside the room, a candle was lit on the table. Cheng Zhao and Shen Zheng were also reading. Once winter was over, the provincial examination would be held, and every day and night was especially precious.
Wu Xiaochui was also learning to read. Zhao Sidan had written the characters on a piece of paper beforehand. He kept the paper in his pocket and would take it out to read it from time to time. By the end of the day, he could remember at least ten characters. When he had free time, he would use a twig to draw on the ground and then he would remember how to write them...
The little granddaughter Zhao Yuezhu was already asleep. Wu Huiniang sat at the table, sewing clothes for the child by candlelight.
Zhao Ergou and Cheng Wanwan were discussing the shop: "This is the land deed for the shop, it's all been processed. This is the structural diagram of the shop that I drew, and the dimensions are all marked on it."
Cheng Wanwan took the size diagram and nodded, saying, "After I draw up the design, you will mainly focus on the shop decoration. This is our family's first shop, and every aspect must be perfect."
The main selling point of her shop is Hui Niang's unique culinary skills, so it needs to be a bit high-end, with a good environment and good service, so a higher price is acceptable.
Although she had never been involved in interior design in her previous life, she had visited hundreds, if not thousands, of restaurants. Having seen so much, she naturally developed her own ideas.
That night, as Cheng Wanwan was going to sleep, she kept thinking about the renovation plan, and eventually fell asleep.
The next morning, as soon as she got up, she started drawing, sketching and writing on paper with a charcoal pencil. Before long, the general idea came to her.
Just as she was about to call Zhao Ergou over to explain in detail, a carriage stopped in front of her house.
She got up and went outside, only to find that it was Master Wang from Ping'an County.
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