Dawn of Life

Lin Yue thought this was the perfect opportunity to break the ice, so she said sincerely, "I understand you've been under a lot of work pressure lately. But HR and department heads are never adversaries; they're partners. Our goal is also to achieve high team efficiency, because that's also part of our HR performance. So completing a project isn't the end goal; the project's impact on the team is."

Yin Jie was taken aback at first, then looked away and said somewhat awkwardly, "Last time I was rude because I listened to Zhang Wei and misunderstood that you were targeting our department for the director's position."

When Yin Jie is under a lot of pressure, he goes to the stairwell to smoke. He used to occasionally run into Zhang Wei, who was also there for a smoke. Lately, they've both been going more frequently, so they often bump into each other. They sit on the stairs, take a deep drag of their cigarettes, let it swirl in their lungs, and then exhale, along with their frustrations about the company. In the workplace, sometimes all you need to do to become friends is create a common enemy.

Zhang Wei seized the opportunity to steer Yin Jie's emotions toward the "Competency Model": "I was clearly in charge of this project, but Lin Yue, seeing that Qin Lan had left, became envious of the HR Director position and snatched it from me. Moreover, as an HRBP, Lin Yue was not capable of handling this project. In order to impress the boss, she completely changed my original plan."

He then added mysteriously, "You need to be careful. I heard from Lin Yue's subordinates that she made it clear at the meeting that President Sheng has opinions about the technical department, so Lin Yue is preparing to use your team as a sample to curry favor with the boss."

Upon hearing Yin Jie's words, Lin Yue quickly pieced together the recent events. During the last small team meeting, someone, whether intentionally or unintentionally, told Zhang Wei the meeting's content. Zhang Wei then deliberately distorted the content before telling Yin Jie, but he retained the exact time, place, and people involved, making Yin Jie, who didn't understand human resources, completely believe him.

Lin Yue leaned forward and analyzed to Yin Jie, "Based on the job level requirements you've written, 40% of the technical team are senior technicians, 50% are intermediate, and only 10% are junior. This distribution can only indicate two possibilities: either the skill requirements are written too low, and you, as the department head, are lenient with the team; or your management has serious problems. If there really are so many senior and intermediate technicians, why is the department's performance unsatisfactory? The conclusion must be that you haven't made good use of these people."

After a pause, Lin Yue added, "Of course, you could say there's a problem with my proposal, but all the proposals I've received from various departments so far are reasonable."

After listening to Lin Yue's explanation, Yin Jie's expression immediately turned sour, as if he had been thoroughly betrayed by Zhang Wei. He went back and immediately revised the draft, giving it to Lin Yue.

The first phase of the project was quickly completed, and all staff below the manager level were assigned appropriate positions. The focus now shifted to managers and above. Before starting this part of the work, Lin Yue planned a get-together with her team. Besides reassuring everyone, she was also concerned about whether someone was truly the "mole," and she needed to investigate.

That day, Lin Yue asked Sheng Xing if she could take the team out for a meal. Each manager in the company receives 100 yuan per month for team building activities. She had previously tested the waters with Sheng Xing and found that he had no intention of making any changes to the HRBP team. Moreover, the first phase of the project had indeed gone well, so she felt comfortable submitting her application. Sheng Xing readily agreed and even granted them special permission to leave work an hour early.

After leaving Shengxing's office, her phone rang. She glanced at the call from Xiaoyu through Xiaotiancai (a children's education platform), and quickly answered. Soon, Xiaoyu's tearful voice came through: "Mom, when is Dad coming home? I don't want to go to after-school care anymore. The food there is bad, and the classmates are noisy. I want to go home and do my homework."

Every word Xiaoyu said was like an incredibly sharp needle piercing her heart, causing her great pain and drawing blood drop by drop.

After calming Xiaoyu down, she hung up the phone and sat at her desk in a daze until Xiaoyu came over and called to her, "Sister Lin, everyone's ready, can we leave now?"

She quickly composed herself, stood up, and, as lightly as possible and cheerfully as she turned off the computer, replied, "Let's go."

The HR office was a large open space. Before setting off, she loudly announced to everyone who could ride with colleagues and who could share a taxi. Xiaoyu leaned close to Lin Yue and whispered, "Sister Lin, aren't we being a bit too high-profile? I saw those people in the shared service center looking quite unhappy."

Lin Yue smiled without saying a word; this was indeed intentional. She wanted her team members to know that Shengxing treated them well and that there was no intention to disband the entire HRBP team. More importantly, she wanted Zhang Wei and his ilk to see that she had the ability to fight for their interests, to unite them, and to prevent them from trying to harm her people again.

Thirteen people found a private room and filled a large table.

Lin Yue's team is all girls, and the atmosphere at their gatherings is always great. There's no need to deliberately find topics to liven things up, nor to worry about anyone's feelings. The main focus is on dry rice, and the most common topics of conversation are how delicious this dish is and how good that soup is.

Actually, there's no need to say anything deliberately; the goal of reassurance has already been achieved. The fact that they were able to apply for a get-together at a time like this and leave an hour early shows that their team holds a certain place in the boss's eyes, indicating job security.

But today, she had another purpose. After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they were more relaxed and started talking about everything from work to family, and then to how everyone was doing lately.

Lin Yue was quite familiar with the five major business plans that Zhang Wei reported directly to her. This time, she had two suspects. One was Yuehua, who was from the same hometown as Zhang Wei and they were relatively close. However, Yuehua had a good sense of propriety, so if the information came from her, it was very likely intentional.

Another one is Xiaoyu, who is preparing for her wedding. She seems more anxious than anyone else about the rumors of her department being eliminated, and has asked Lin Yue about it several times. Lin Yue knows that Xiaoyu plans to have a baby after getting married, so stability is extremely important for her at this stage. Therefore, she patiently tries to comfort her each time, but Xiaoyu is easily swayed and lacks willpower.

This is a significant weakness for an HRBP, although she is efficient and has strong execution skills. Lin Yue believes in utilizing people's strengths, and she will be tolerant or compensate for their weaknesses. If Xiaoyu revealed the information, it was probably unintentional. She is still in charge of the Yin Jie team, and this outcome is certainly not what she wanted.

Lin Yue kept an eye on them and guided the conversation as needed.

Yuehua was clearly more stable at heart, unfazed by the company's current state. She casually mentioned that she felt Zhang Wei had been acting strangely lately, and that she hadn't participated in the lunch break with the group. Her demeanor was as reliable as ever, making Lin Yue feel at ease.

As always, Xiaoyu was loud and boastful, complaining to everyone that she was exhausted lately. Although marriage is supposed to be a matter for two people, it seemed like the wedding was all her responsibility. Hiring a wedding planner, choosing a wedding dress, checking out the venue, and even preparing wedding candy, cigarettes, and alcohol were all things she did by herself.

Then, looking aggrieved, she asked everyone, "Has the division of labor between men and women become unbalanced from the moment of the wedding?" She then asked several married colleagues how to balance family and career in the future.

Someone said, "You should ask Sister Lin about this. Look how busy she is with work, yet she still shares updates about her son on her WeChat Moments from time to time." Lin Yue's hand, which was picking up food, paused noticeably, and a bitter smile appeared on her lips. She didn't respond to what everyone was saying.

She desperately wanted to tell everyone that everyone's social media posts were "fully furnished," while her own life wasn't even "bare shell." But she couldn't bring herself to say it; she was mocking herself for being just as concerned with appearances as Liu Cuiying.

Suddenly, Xiaoyu said helplessly, "The things that HRBPs do and the things that business leaders do overlap to some extent. I'm worried about the career development of this position. In comparison, the positions in the shared service center are more stable."

Lin Yue looked up at her and casually asked, "So, do you have a target job you'd like to switch to?"

Xiaoyu frowned and quickly replied, "Training is better. SSC is too tedious and the salary is too specialized. Training is more in line with my organized personality."

The dinner party ended quickly, and Lin Yue gave Xiao Yu a ride home. She was now certain that Xiao Yu was the one who had leaked the meeting's contents to Zhang Wei. So, after telling Xiao Yu about her conversation with Yin Jie the day before, she asked, "Did you mention our meeting to Zhang Wei?"

Xiaoyu was visibly startled, straightening up from where she had been leaning back in the passenger seat, and then said timidly, "Sister Lin, I didn't mean to."

Then Xiaoyu recounted how Zhang Wei promised her, how he would find a way to bring her into his team, and how he would help her improve her professional skills. Although Xiaoyu was skeptical of Zhang Wei's words, she felt that having another way out was always a good thing.

So their relationship grew closer, but she didn't intend to reveal information to Zhang Wei. It was just that when Zhang Wei always seemed particularly eager to know, she picked out some non-essential information to tell him in order to get closer to him. Who knew he would spread it around and completely change the story.

Lin Yue brought the car to a smooth stop at a red light, turned her head to look at Xiao Yu, and sighed softly, saying, "What a silly girl, she doesn't even realize she's being used as a pawn. In our position, we must be careful what we say. It's better to say nothing than to say too much. Information already has a funnel effect, not to mention some people with ill intentions."

Xiaoyu then sincerely apologized to Lin Yue. Lin Yue, from the perspective of Xiaoyu's direct supervisor, analyzed her career plan and discussed in depth how Lin Yue could help her, based on the current situation of the company.

At the weekly meeting, Lin Yue reported that the first phase of the "Competency Model" project was progressing smoothly, with all team members below the second-level department having their job levels determined. She looked up at Qian Minmin from the compensation department and Zhang Wei from the training department and said, "You can start working on salary adjustment plans and training programs based on the current competency model."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Wei and Qian Minmin said almost in unison, "We can't do it according to your plan."