The sense of "closure ritual" in daily life: The work discipline I set for myself
One and a half to two hours before getting off work every day is my unshakable "work review time". It's not a requirement from the company. I'm just afraid of living a life of "busy work without purpose". I cross off the tasks completed for the day, mark the unfinished ones in red, and clearly list the priorities for tomorrow. It's like sorting out the "threads" of my work. When I lock my computer around 7 o'clock, I always feel that "today was not wasted". This kind of proactive organization makes me feel more at ease than working overtime itself. After all, a chaotic work state is the most exhausting form of internal depletion.
"Being seen" in that conversation: The warmth of year - end bonuses and salary raises
Yesterday, just before getting off work, the boss called me over. The first thing he said wasn't "I have something to talk to you about", but instead he handed me an envelope with the year - end bonus and said, "Everyone in the company gets it, and you're no exception." These words were more touching than the actual amount of money. It wasn't a standard judgment of "You meet the requirements", but an affirmation of "I haven't overlooked your efforts". Right after that, he added, "Your monthly salary will be increased by 500 yuan, starting next month."
I sat in the meeting room, a bit in a daze. Clearly, I was still blaming myself for "not doing well enough in terms of quality in the second half of last year" and thinking, "Is there anywhere I didn't do well?" But the boss's words were like a warm stone. What he saw was not just "the part that wasn't done well", but also my drive to push other departments forward. I helped the purchasing department streamline the process, gave optimization suggestions to the production department, and even tackled the most troublesome printing department.
The sense of accomplishment in overcoming the "bottleneck": The printing department's turnaround battle
On the first day I joined the company, the boss said, "The printing department is the bottleneck." - The production capacity was restricted, and the quality was unstable. Even the workshop supervisor frowned and said, "It's impossible to manage." I wrote this sentence on the first line of my memo and kept thinking about it for almost half a year. I talked to the printers about their pain points (for example, they had no motivation with piece - rate pay), calculated the production capacity data with the supervisor (for example, 30 minutes could be saved during the plate - changing time), and worked with the HR department to formulate a "performance incentive plan". Instead of setting indicators randomly, we wrote into the regulations that "printing 100 more sheets will earn a 20 - yuan bonus" and "reducing the defective rate by 1% will add 50 yuan".
At the end of last year, when the "Best Progress Department" was being evaluated, the Printing Department won first place. That day, the workshop team leader patted me on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Now the workers are scrambling to work overtime for fear of missing out on the bonus." Looking at the "Progress Award" pennant on the wall, I suddenly realized that the so - called "solving the bottleneck" is nothing more than "turning the boss's concerns into your own concerns" and then turning "your own concerns" into "everyone's concerns".
The sudden "fork in the road": The dilemma between interview notifications and personal growth
My phone vibrated this morning—a job interview invitation from a new company. I stared blankly at the screen. On one hand, there is the current "recognition": the boss gave me an annual bonus and a salary raise, and the printing department's plan has just been implemented. On the other hand, there is the itch of "wanting to grow": I once told the boss that "I want to recharge myself this year". It's not that I want to job-hop; I'm just afraid that "my current abilities won't be enough to handle future tasks".
After struggling for the whole morning, I replied to the other party with "Let's decide next week." — It's not an evasion. Suddenly, I understood that the so - called "choice" has never been about "choosing the better one," but "choosing the one that better meets the current needs." What I need is not "the high salary at the new company," but "the room for further advancement."
"Self - reflection" in performance management: I'm also an "employee" in need of motivation
Recently, my mood has been a bit up and down. I spent half a year turning around the employees' morale (previously, there were always people in the workshop saying "it's the same whether you do more or less"). I clearly saw them change from "just getting by" to "competing to do things". However, I suddenly became depressed myself. It wasn't until the boss talked to me that I realized: the motivation of employees needs to be recognized, and so does my own effort.
During this period, I've sorted out my insights on performance management into "Four Steps". Each step is the result of having experienced setbacks
Step 1: Grasp the key minority and set benchmarks. First, find the influential senior employees in the workshop. For example, Master Wang in the printing department. Set an award for over - fulfillment for him, and he got an extra 500 yuan that month. Only when everyone sees that people around them can get benefits will they believe that the reform is not just empty talk. At this time, when promoting the system, the resistance will be reduced by half.
Step 2: Use "achievements" to resolve resistance. When changing the system, there will definitely be people who complain that it's "troublesome". I don't argue with them. Instead, I post the production capacity table of the printing department at the entrance of the canteen: "We printed 20,000 more sheets this month, and each person gets an extra 300 yuan." Then I secretly change the "unreasonable items" in the plan. For example, I replace "deduction for being late" with "full - attendance bonus" and "fine for defective products" with "quality compliance award". More importantly, "report progress to the supervisor": Send an email once a week, writing about "what was done today", "what problems were encountered", and "what support is needed". Occasionally, the boss will reply with a comment like "This data can be further refined", which helps me avoid many blind spots.
Step 3: Amplify the achievements to create a momentum. On the day when the Printing Department won the Best Progress Award, I asked the Administrative Department to make a Reform Achievements Board and pasted the before-and-after data together: Production capacity increased by 25%, and defective product rate decreased by 18%. It's not for showing off, but to let other departments see: You can do it too. Later, the Procurement Department came to me on its own initiative and asked: Can you help us come up with a similar plan? This is influence – you don't have to force others to change; instead, let them want to follow suit.
Step 4: Promises should be "alive" rather than "rigid". I told the employees that "salaries will be raised upon meeting the targets", but it's a "floating salary increase": if the targets are not met for two consecutive months, the increased part will be deducted. It's not about "scheming", but about making everyone maintain a "sense of urgency" - reform is not a "once - and - for - all" thing, but a continuous action to "maintain the achievements".
The "foolish way" of reform: Let the data speak and win people's hearts with rewards
I have a "rigid rule" for reform: rewards account for 90%, and punishments only account for 10%. It's not about "being a nice guy"; it's because I've seen too many bad consequences of "managing through fines" —— employees will avoid problems instead of actively solving them. For example, the last time there were missing prints in the printing department, I didn't impose a fine. Instead, I worked with them to find the cause (the film hadn't been checked), and then introduced a "first-piece inspection award": print 10 pieces first for each batch of work, and if there are no problems, give a bonus of 20 yuan. As a result, the missing print rate dropped by 40% directly.
There is also a habit: Every time I carry out a reform, I will keep two sets of data - the "baseline" before the reform and the "result" after the reform. For example, regarding the "page - changing time" in the printing department, it was 45 minutes before the reform and now it's 15 minutes. When the data is presented, no one can argue.
Two years' "minor achievements": From "changing oneself" to "influencing others"
I've been in the company for two years, and I haven't done any "earth - shattering deeds". First, I reduced the "scrap rate" of the Quality Department from 8% to 3%. Then, I helped the Printing Department turn things around. After that, I assisted other departments in streamlining their processes. What I'm most proud of is not "winning any awards", but one day when I passed by the workshop and heard a worker say, "Now there's a sense of purpose in our work."
Suddenly, I understood that the so - called "reform" has never meant "overthrowing everything". Instead, it means "persistently doing the right things" — turning the boss's "concerns" into one's own "goals", transforming the employees' "pain points" into the "selling points" of the system, and changing one's own "depression" into the motivation to be "noticed".
Just like this morning when I was staring blankly at the interview notice, I suddenly burst into laughter: Whether I choose the new opportunity or not, what I should always adhere to is the spirit of "doing things thoroughly" — after all, those who can overcome bottlenecks can always become "the needed ones" wherever they are.