Chapter 32 Standards for Directors
In order to implement her company's philosophy of working happily from nine to five, Lin Ruoyan would put at the back of the queue those candidates whose resumes said they had not taken a single day off all year and did not ask for overtime pay. After all, the upper level will set the tone, and with such a director, the department will definitely become inward-looking and the company's atmosphere will become unfriendly.
The land has been purchased, and the director of the design department must be appointed.
After much deliberation, Lin Ruoyan chose a woman named Zhao. Compared to several other male candidates, Lin Ruoyan felt that women were easier to communicate with and more receptive to the vision she instilled.
Ms. Zhao Xingxing didn't receive her undergraduate degree from a prestigious university like Peking University or Tsinghua University, but she did graduate from one of the so-called "Old Eight" schools in the School of Architecture. She also received her master's degree from a prestigious Ivy League school in the United States. People like her are generally more pragmatic and don't have the arrogance of those from top universities.
After graduation, Zhao Xingxing worked in a master firm in Country D for a year, and then came to the firm's branch in Beijing as a project architect. He has some practical experience in residential design.
This professional, who graduated from a domestic university, studied abroad, and then worked at a foreign design firm, has a rather impressive resume among the candidates for design director. However, their shortcoming is that they lack a domestic first-level registered architect certificate. While this certificate holds considerable value, it requires five years after completing a bachelor's degree and two years after completing a master's degree. The nine exams required are valid for eight years, and while some pass the exam quickly, many still struggle to pass it in eight years.
Judging from Lin Ruoyan's real work experience, Ms. Zhao did not obtain a first-level registered architect certificate, and may not know much about domestic design standards, market demand, aesthetic preferences, and the various aspects of approval and construction.
Domestic residential projects are often constrained by traditional logic. If you completely adhere to foreign aesthetic standards, you'll inevitably run into obstacles and suffer losses.
Take the simplest example, for example, the view. Chinese people would definitely not accept a room with a cemetery view outside their window, whereas in some Western countries, this is a selling point. After all, cemeteries likely won't have tall buildings for the next 100 years, so the unobstructed view outside the window, surrounded by flowers and green grass, is a tranquil and natural environment perfect for recuperation.
Many residential buildings abroad have unique designs that emphasize individuality, with east-west orientations, polygonal shapes, and arc-shaped forms that convey a sense of freedom and romance. Meanwhile, in China, especially in northern regions like Beijing, square housing layouts are highly valued, with all spaces ideally facing south and offering north-south ventilation.
Lin Ruoyan was well aware of these preferences, so she didn't insist on the design director mastering them. After all, she was the one who made the final decision on the project design. Those who considered themselves familiar with domestic residential design often harbored prejudices and were less likely to accept the opinions of Lin Ruoyan, an "unprofessional" leader.
In addition, Zhao Xingxing's advantage is that he is familiar with international design trends. In the future, in order to spend more money, Lin Ruoyan will definitely introduce well-known foreign design companies. With a design director with a background like Zhao Xingxing, it may be easier to connect with them.
HR Director Wen Erya hadn't worked in real estate before, and wasn't omniscient. In her opinion, wasn't it common practice to hire men for real estate design and construction jobs, as they were more intimidating when they supervised the construction sites? But seeing Zhao Xingxing's impressive resume and image, she decided to place him behind the other male candidates to make up the numbers.
Unexpectedly, the first person Mr. Lin asked to interview was Zhao Xingxing. This made Wen Erya wonder if Mr. Lin was planning to start with the person he least liked and then decide on one after comparing them all.
Wen Erya had no idea that Lin Ruoyan had no intention of interviewing every candidate. She would interview the first one she thought was the most suitable. In order to confirm it earlier, wouldn't she be able to continue eating, drinking and having fun with the time saved?
An interview is essentially a two-way process: the boss chooses the employee, and the employee chooses the boss and the company. Only when both parties are attracted to each other can future collaboration flourish. Otherwise, a forced marriage is a bittersweet affair, and sooner or later, it will inevitably lead to separation.
Lin Ruoyan thinks Zhao Xingxing is a good person, but he has studied abroad and worked in a foreign-funded design firm for several years. Zhao Xingxing, who has seen the world, may not be willing to work in a small, unknown real estate company like hers.
So, what we talk about when we meet is, of course, the benefits and treatment.
The salary and benefits doubled compared to Zhao Xingxing's previous level, the bonus had no upper limit and did not need to wait until the end of the year, it was paid every month, and there were a lot of paid leave items, which always impressed Zhao Xingxing, who had seen the luxurious treatment of foreign capital.
Lin Ruoyan thought that people who had worked abroad or for foreign-funded companies would definitely adopt the relaxed and relaxed work environment of being paid and not working overtime, which would be a good start for her company. With this in mind, Lin Ruoyan and Zhao Xingxing had a pleasant conversation.
Especially after visiting the office environment, Zhao Xingxing became more and more satisfied.
Lin's Real Estate Company occupied an entire floor. Each director had his own cubicle, and even the regular employees had spacious workstations, with large corner desks totaling three to four square meters, perfect for viewing and drawing. Best of all, there was free coffee, a water bar, a refrigerator, and a microwave, along with treadmills, weights, and other fitness equipment. This saved her time from going to the restaurant or the gym, allowing her to focus on design without worrying about working overtime. The conditions were much better than those she had at the foreign design firm.
Now the design offices of foreign-funded enterprises in China have also adapted to the local customs. Domestic design institutes are so demanding that the units that draw construction drawings are chasing them for design drawings every day. How can they not finish them quickly?
There's also the time difference. It's daytime in Country D, so the foreign designers finish their work and send it to the design firm in China. When they get off work there, it's just the start of the day back home. Sometimes we even have to work late into the night to wait for the D team to get started and discuss concepts. A 24-hour day feels like 25, so efficiency is boosted.
So the company provided coffee, allowed her to cook her own meals and even exercise, and these thoughtful considerations deeply touched Zhao Xingxing.
The working environment was good, there was a direct subway access to the Financial Street within the Second Ring Road, the salary was double what it was before, women also had two days of paid vacation per month, and it was a director position, so Zhao Xingxing decided to sign the contract and join the company immediately.
Lin Ruoyan then asked Wen Erya to give all the resumes of design candidates to Zhao Xingxing, allowing her to form her own team. Salaries for the department staff weren't a problem; the only requirement was that the design department be fully staffed with all the necessary expertise.
Zhao Xingxing, an architecture major, was responsible for all the other specialized areas of the department, including structural engineering, plumbing, electrical engineering, interior design, and landscaping. Zhao Xingxing was surprised by the trust her boss placed in her to lead a team, and immediately became energized. After completing the onboarding procedures, she immediately began work and began the tasks assigned by her boss.
Although Wen Erya felt that the unmarried and childless Zhao Xingxing was not as good as the several married male candidates, but since her boss liked her and she was only in charge of design, how many millions of dollars could the design fees cost in the future? So she just agreed.
The cost department and the engineering department are the ones that spend the most money. In order to make the project more profitable with less investment, Wen Erya decided to stick to his own opinions in those two key departments and lay a solid foundation for the company's personnel structure.
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