The next morning, Wang Dakai went to school to complete the withdrawal procedures.
In the afternoon, he found Fang Bai.
Fang Bai handed him five thousand yuan, telling him to sign up for driving lessons, and also to learn how to give gifts and interact with people; this was the first social lesson given to Wang Dakai.
This money included tuition fees, money to buy a bicycle, expenses for gifts to the instructor, and a basic monthly salary of one hundred yuan, with adjustments made later for any over or under payment.
He wasn't worried about Wang Dakai running off with the money; if that were the case, recognizing the person early would be worthwhile, preventing any hidden dangers for the subscription certificates.
When the subscription certificates are bought and sold, Wang Dakai will witness even more wealth; right now, this is an opportunity for Fang Bai to test him.
Wang Dakai held the five thousand yuan with a heavy heart, never expecting his boss to trust him so much, which made him very excited and unsure how to thank Fang Bai.
"Boss, I will diligently learn to drive, learn my skills well, and come back early to repay you."
"Be careful not to cause trouble; if money can clear the way, then use money!
If you really get into trouble, don't be afraid, but make sure not to leave any hidden dangers for yourself.
Note, we are not gangsters; we are doing legitimate business, so don't get involved with gangsters.
But as the business grows, it's inevitable that some people will target us; you need to be aware of this, just like you're carrying five thousand yuan now, perhaps many thugs want to rob you; in this era of making money, you must learn to be low-key and not show off your wealth."
"Boss, I understand; I will keep your instructions firmly in mind."
"Hmm, get out of here," Fang Bai waved his hand.
Currently, learning to drive usually happens at the grain station's motor pool; ordinary units don't have that many idle vehicles.
"Alright!" Wang Dakai chuckled heartily, clutching the money in the black bag as he left.
After Fang Bai finished with Wang Dakai's matters, he rode his motorcycle to Jiayu Company; he hadn't been there for a few days.
Qin Donghai had already bought the new equipment: a Z3050 radial drilling machine and a 6140 universal lathe, costing over sixty thousand yuan including tax.
Currently, the company's main work involves turning and drilling, with no milling, grinding, or other processes, nor does it require welding or painting.
If a milling machine were used, it would indicate more complex machining processes, while a grinding machine is for surfaces requiring extremely high roughness, which is not needed for valve body processing; only critical sealing surfaces like those on gate valves, which require anti-leakage properties, demand grinding.
Workers for the new equipment have also been hired; currently, the company has a total of 6 employees, two of whom work night shifts.
Nowadays, Qin Donghai no longer personally operates the machine tools; he is mainly responsible for product quality inspection, delivery, and other miscellaneous tasks.
Inside the workshop, he was holding a vernier caliper, measuring data, and directly picking out any problematic pieces he found.
If the machining allowance for the size is too small, it can still be reworked;
If the machining allowance is too large, for example, if a drilled hole's diameter is too large, it cannot be directly reworked; it has to be taken for hardfacing and re-machining, or directly scrapped, as reworking is more troublesome than new machining.
Jiayu Company does not have welding machines or welders; typically, they send items to other workshops for welding.
Now, Jiayu Company is quite well-established, more advanced than other small workshops.
It can be said that the company is on the right track.
Fang Bai stood outside the door observing for a while before Qin Donghai noticed his arrival.
Qin Donghai stood up, pressed his somewhat sore back, and walked towards Fang Bai, sighing, "Yesterday, we worked on a batch of parts, but the castings had too many sand holes, so we had to return them; it really delayed things."
Fang Bai hummed in response; let alone this era, even twenty or thirty years later, the casting processes in various foundries in Wen City hadn't improved much, and valve bodies often had casting defects like sand holes.
This can't be blamed on these foundries; over these decades, there haven't been any major innovations in casting technology, just sand casting and precision casting, these two methods, which don't rely on equipment.
"When you find problems, deal with them promptly, otherwise, all the work will be in vain; strictly control quality."
Fang Bai said, simultaneously giving him a look to go outside.
Qin Donghai understood; they went to talk outside the workshop, besides, the processing noise inside the workshop was very loud, making it difficult to hear each other.
The two came to a tree outside the workshop, and Fang Bai asked:
"Brother Qin, there's a little over a month until the New Year; do you have any plans to give these workers year-end bonuses?"
"No year-end bonuses; they get paid for how much they do."
Qin Donghai replied as a matter of course; giving year-end bonuses was something only units did, right? Did they have to give them too?
Looking at the surrounding workshops, it was rarely heard of giving year-end bonuses to workers.
Only a foolish boss would give them, right?
Fang Bai's eyes widened, and he puffed out his cheek with his tongue, somewhat speechless.
His father-in-law was really playing the role of a capitalist vividly.
But he also understood that in this era, bosses giving benefits were often forced by competitors, not something they'd do proactively.
Information was still limited back then; truly a good era.
Sigh, how ironic!
After a moment of silence, he changed the subject and asked, "How many days of holiday do you plan to give?"
"It depends on the order situation; our company has 6 workers, 4 of whom are from out of town and need to go home for the New Year, so the holiday period will be quite long, probably two or three weeks," Qin Donghai replied, also observing Fang Bai's expression, wondering if he would be unhappy about this arrangement that would delay everyone's earning money.
Fang Bai pondered for a moment; since many workers are from out of town, companies in Wen City usually start work relatively late after the New Year, typically after the Lantern Festival.
This year, Chinese New Year's Eve is February 14th, and the Lantern Festival is March 1st.
"We are a formal company now, so let's set the holiday time early so everyone has time to buy train tickets; the holiday can start a bit later, on February 11th, and work can resume around the 17th of the first lunar month, making it exactly 20 days off," Fang Bai said.
Qin Donghai misunderstood, thought for a moment, and agreed, saying, "20 days off, that works too; starting too early won't get us many orders anyway, as workers from all factories come back to work quite late, usually after the Lantern Festival."
"Let's give out a red packet for starting work; those who come on time will get money, otherwise, some workers won't come back after the New Year, and recruiting new people will delay our production.
Also, let's give a year-end bonus; for instance, Master Zhang has been with you all along, give him a month's salary as an incentive, and for those who just joined not long ago, give them a few tens of yuan as a token.
Since we're making money, we shouldn't be too stingy with our employees."
Fang Bai said, thinking about currency depreciation, and reminded, "I estimate that recruiting workers will be even more difficult next year, and workers' wages will rise significantly.
Passively raising workers' wages might save some money, but workers won't have a sense of belonging.
I'm more worried about our several sets of workholding fixtures and drill bushings; if these workers jump to other factories, our advanced technology will be leaked, but this is very difficult to avoid."
Qin Donghai felt that increasing benefits for workers was somewhat uneconomical, thinking that some workers just look for where the pay is higher, so what's this talk about a sense of belonging?
If the pay is low, what sense of belonging is there?
Currently, the company's wages are already not low, and he has indeed made money, so giving workers year-end bonuses and start-of-work red packets is fine; the goal is to retain skilled workers.
What Fang Bai said also made sense; some of his management philosophies were quite advanced.
Like his mention of 5S, the workshop already feels much tidier than before, looking much cleaner, with tools placed in designated locations, making it more efficient to find tools.
If the workpieces are arranged haphazardly, when he needs to inspect them, seeing the mess makes him unhappy, and the inspection efficiency is much slower.
Before getting off work, he required each employee to spend a few minutes cleaning the floor and equipment.
"Year-end bonus and start-of-work bonus, no problem, it won't cost much money," Qin Donghai agreed, happy about making big money this year.
Fang Bai advised, "For our company to grow, we must have welfare benefits that attract and retain talent.
If we don't have high-skilled technical workers, we can't make high-value-added products, can we? Just making low-end products and earning hard-earned money, are you willing to do that?
There must be incentive measures to encourage workers to innovate; this workholding fixture, it can't always rely on me for design.
If the company gets big, do you think it can still rely on me for design? Is that possible? We need to motivate employees.
Without rewards, who would be willing to do it? If it were you, you wouldn't be willing either."
Qin Donghai pondered briefly, feeling it made a lot of sense, and agreed, "Fang Laodi, you're right; we need to look further ahead and not be too stingy.
The more stingy you are, the less big money you'll make."
Fang Bai nodded, understanding his father-in-law's stinginess.
Not just him, but all workshop owners in Wen City had this personality.
"Hmm, it's good that you understand; next, let's implement some reward measures, such as for quality, tooling, and process improvements, gradually, step by step, without using drastic measures.
If you use drastic measures, people won't be used to it and will be very resistant; you must pay attention to this point in management.
Now that the factory is small, it's suitable to implement these, and you can keep an eye on it.
If the factory gets big, and you try these, you won't be able to monitor so much, and it will be difficult to make it work."
Fang Bai slowly explained, instilling advanced management concepts in his father-in-law.
The first step was to instill 5S, which now has some semblance of order, but to do it well, to truly apply it flexibly and improve production efficiency and quality, it will take at least two or three years.
What does it mean to do it well?
Workers are able to do it consciously, knowing when to stop, doing it just right, without affecting production, rather than only doing it when management reminds them, just going through the motions.
The second step is to instill a compensation management system, which is one of the core aspects of a company.
Basic salary, bonuses, penalties, allowances, benefits, KPI, etc., must balance the company's income and expenditure; it's not simply about paying more money being good, as that increases labor costs for the company, and then how can it make a profit?
It is very difficult to manage compensation well, even for experienced HR professionals, because every company's situation is different.
Fang Bai understands some of it, which comes from years of management experience, but he cannot say he has a comprehensive grasp, let alone mastery.
He is currently also pondering and re-learning through practice.
He does understand one essence, which he figured out in his previous life: how to meet employees' expectations while paying the same amount of money.
Currently, Fang Bai is instilling these basic management concepts in his father-in-law; he needs to apply them basically, practice for a long time, and it will also depend on his comprehension.
When the company grows, it will certainly need to hire professionals for management, but as a senior executive, one should understand some basic knowledge.
A company's desire to grow is not just talk.
Qin Donghai is now the nominal major shareholder of the company, but he is in a weaker position; who told him that the orders were brought in by Fang Bai, and he also knows more than him, so he can't help but admire him.
On Fang Bai's side, he speaks his mind as if he doesn't know Qin Donghai is his father-in-law; after his relationship with Qin Shuyu is revealed, many things will be difficult to say, unless after marriage.
Watching Jiayu Company grow rapidly, especially seeing his father-in-law's management ability slowly improve, he felt very happy.