Wang Xingshan: Building a Strong Middle Class

Wang Xingshan, Vice President of Inspur Group, has always been known for being good at leading teams. After several changes in work within the group, each time he is transferred, he can leave behind a stable and capable management team. In 2001, Wang Linwei was appointed as the president of Inspur General Software Co., Ltd. (referred to as Inspur Generalsoft). He made a 100% major adjustment to the management, boldly employed new people, focused on team building internally, and focused on customer relations externally. In the second year, sales increased by 41%, a record high. In 2003, the company's sales increased by 60%, and it was selected as the "2003 Fastest Growing Enterprise in China's Management Software". In the management software market, Inspur Tongsoft has the largest market share in the papermaking, coal, petrochemical, securities, pharmaceutical and other industries.

Why do you pay special attention to the development of the middle level?

Inspur Tongsoft provides software services and has high requirements for on-site decision-making. So I'm going to move more power down and hopefully they can make the right decisions and do good customer service. It is difficult to delegate without a strong middle layer. It's like playing football, I pass the ball to you and you have to be able to keep playing well.

Then there is the need for innovation. A lot of innovation in our industry comes from the front line. In the process of customer service, customers may ask some difficult questions, and this process of giving opinions or being critical is actually the time when sparks of innovation are generated. To capture this and turn a customer's problem into a product highlight, more talent is needed.

So how do you effectively authorize?

First of all, there is a foundation. Before authorization, you should be more familiar with and trust this person. I'm also not trying to be bold in delegation, but I have to do it in order to strengthen the ability to respond quickly. The ball shouldn't be held all over me, it has to go down. Whoever you give it to should have a talent map in mind, which may require long-term precipitation. Maintaining trust and familiarity with people and understanding who does what is the minimum a leader should have. For me, we now have more than 1,000 people, I can follow about 50-70 people, and I am familiar with less than 10%.

The second is results-oriented. When delegating power, it is very important to consider who should have what kind of performance.

Sometimes I also care about the process. The monitoring of the process mainly considers the risk problem, and then whether it can be given some methods, but the intervention is not very much. I was more of a teacher, friend, and sometimes a bystander in the process. This communication is not only good for work, but also helps to build personal feelings.

In addition to effectively empowering and exercising the on-site decision-making ability of the middle-level, what other measures are there to cultivate the middle-level?

We have a nine-character policy called "select seedlings, burden burdens, and teach methods". We place more emphasis on recruiting new graduates, but identify with our culture and values.

The way to take the burden is that you should learn to be a coach, and you shouldn't rush up immediately when you see that you are down. We had a misunderstanding in the past: I asked him to do one thing, and after a little thought, he told me whether it would work, but I discussed it with him, and he would do as I said. The burden is just to tell some principles first. He should think carefully and come up with a plan for me. If I am not satisfied, I may not tell him immediately, but should let him go back and think about it. That kind of practice in the past will make him develop a sense of dependence, which is not good for cultivating people.

Teaching method means that it is impossible for you not to help him completely in the process. After you force him, you will give some proper guidance. Leading a team should be included in the process of work, and teach methods in the process.

We also have job rotations. Those who do project management now may do demand analysis in the future, or do pre-sales consultation again. This is often the case. Marketing and R&D have fewer rotations with such a large span. Rotation is not good for the company's efficiency and focus, but it can give you the opportunity to learn again and let you understand more levels. When you are a leader in the future, you can understand both the market and R&D. Those who were only rotated should be the target of training.

When we train cadres, we also pay more attention to the influence of informal organizations. Some people may not see how powerful they are in a formal organization, but they may perform very well in a relatively free and relaxed environment in an informal organization. In informal organizations, one can also see a person's ability to coordinate, organize, and communicate. We set up football clubs, basketball clubs, etc. If you become a small leader, you also need to have the ability to coordinate. Also have public relations ability, learn to apply for fees to leaders. So use some informal groups and see how certain people are doing.

What was the biggest challenge in building the mid-rise?

There are two. One is that a certain person's ability is very strong, but he is not very integrated with the corporate culture and values, and it is difficult to make a choice at this time.

Another confusion is that the principle of our construction of the middle layer is to give priority to internal training, supplemented by external introduction. However, our business is growing rapidly, and training takes a long time, so we still have to introduce talents. The integration between imported talent and self-cultivated talent is a big challenge. If the imported talents become officials immediately, there will be conflicts of one kind or another, and there may be some conflicts among the insiders. If you don't let him become an official immediately, it may be best to work for a year to get used to it, and then transfer the power to you when everyone recognizes you. But they may not like it, and they may want to show it when they come.

How did you solve it?

Between personal abilities and corporate culture, prioritize corporate culture. Regarding the issue of integration, firstly, we give the imported people a vaccination in advance. We must adapt first, and then perform. It should be in this order, not the other way around. This is true for importers. For insiders, the development of the company needs fresh blood from the outside, and innovation is needed, and close breeding is not enough. It is still necessary to constantly communicate and consider in a neutral situation in order to ensure this integration.

In terms of building the mid-level team, what are the results so far?

I started to care about this issue in 1999 when I was the manager of the Beijing company. I have also gained a lot in this regard. When I first worked as a manager of a Beijing company, I set up a team myself, and then when I was transferred out, I handed over this power smoothly.

The overseas business department that later prepared Inspur. After a while, I was transferred again. What remains of the overseas business unit is still a complete team.

I'm more than satisfied: where I've worked, it's been running smoothly since I left. This is what a professional manager should do.

I think a manager's contribution to the company should not only produce profits and products, but also produce talents.

I also evaluate our middle-level managers in the same way: not only whether you have completed your tasks this year, whether you have good customer satisfaction, but more importantly, whether you can bring a group of people behind you. .

To judge a person's ability to lead a team, don't just look at the evaluation given to me by the human resources department, I want to hear more from customers. I listen to customers not only to ask how satisfied they are, not only to know how the market is, but also to know how they respond to my employees, and customers are often more real.

How do you ensure good cooperation between the middle management?

Two aspects. The first aspect is to solve the problem from the perspective of the company's operation mechanism, which emphasizes face-to-face communication and exchange. To increase the time of the meeting, it does not have to be a formal meeting, but also an informal meeting. Increase face-to-face communication and avoid emailing entirely, as one of the biggest problems is that it reduces the chance of people seeing each other.

Understanding can only be achieved through communication, and this communication is most effective face-to-face. Face-to-face communication is not just language communication, but a comprehensive communication. Sometimes it is also a kind of communication without speaking.

The second aspect is to work hard to create a culture. The practices of some Japanese companies that I have seen in Japan have inspired me a lot. In some companies in Japan, even local people have to live together, called "co-housing", to study and live together. This has a great impact on the cooperation of future department managers. After three or five years, these people may be managers in different departments, and there will be a sense of closeness after living together. We do not implement such a system now, but we pay more attention to artificially establishing some informal organizations and artificially creating some interpersonal relationships. Good cooperation and communication depend not only on organizational mechanisms, but also on the creation of culture and relationships.

The third is proper job rotation, which makes it easier to empathize. Once there is empathy, it will be easier to understand each other, and therefore there will be good cooperation.

Wang Xingshan: Building a Strong Middle Class

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