After three months of training, the market development team returned from Shanghai. They belonged to a new branch, and I was in charge of administrative affairs during the preparatory phase.
This was the company's first new office established outside Zhejiang Province, and the preparation process was challenging. Although the German parent company had thorough and efficient plans, and departments collaborated seamlessly, some details were still not properly coordinated: the transportation expenses for the marketing staff could not be reimbursed in a timely manner from headquarters, and the department manager asked me what to do.
According to the company's defined authority, the HR manager was not authorized to sign off on expense requests for the marketing department. With no other options, out of a sense of professional responsibility, I used my own money to cover the employees' transportation costs.
Seven months later, the new branch was successfully completed and scheduled to open on a chosen date.
Deng Feike smiled and praised me for doing an excellent job, then asked if there were any issues I needed resolved.
I remembered the expense receipts were still with me, so I briefly explained the situation. Deng Feike immediately agreed to have sufficient operating funds transferred from the Shanghai office. Then, he suddenly thought of a question: "So, more than 10,000 RMB—all paid out of pocket by employees?"
"No, the employees didn't pay anything themselves. The finance department said the new branch didn't have a general manager, and company policy meant no one had the authority to approve these expenses, so I covered it myself."
"So you mean you used your own money to pay this expense for the company?"
"Yes, sir. I felt obligated to resolve this issue," I said, somewhat proudly.
But he shook his head: "No! No!"
No? Did I hear that wrong? Had I made a mistake?
Seeing my hurt and indignant expression, Deng Feike softened his tone: "By doing this, you've hidden a real problem within the company, preventing the issue from being properly identified and addressed in a timely manner. Tell me, how can the company improve its management and processes? We plan to open other branches—this problem will persist. Haven't you considered that this is an issue the company itself must resolve? Is this something an individual can solve? As the company grows, isn't this an important issue? If left unresolved, what kind of trouble could it cause?"
My agitated emotions instantly calmed. Perhaps my Eastern mindset was indeed flawed. An employee's sense of responsibility isn't always positive or correct. At least in this case, my sense of responsibility had been excessive.
