14 DAY TRIAL // Huawei has surprised competition in the last couple of years by becoming the number 3 smartphone maker by shipments. This is an impressive feat by itself, but to think that this was possible in just a few years is really a huge achievement.
However, few know that Huawei owes this explosive growth partly to its employees who seem to be very dedicated to their work.
According to Wall Street Journal, company's insiders claim that Huawei's new top spot among the world's biggest smartphone makers is the result of “employees' willingness to sacrifice vacations, forgo overtime pay and, sometimes, risk their lives to further the corporate cause.”
Ruled with an iron fist by Ren Zhengfei, a former People's Liberation Army engineer, Huawei plans to leapfrog Samsung and Apple to become the world's largest smartphone maker in the next five years.
Mr. Zhengfei managed to imbue a certain working philosophy among Huawei's employees, as many of them have become so dedicated that they are willing to drop vacation plans and work overtime without asking for extra payment.
Many employees think and act like Meng Bo, a Huawei novice who believes that “if you dedicate yourself to the company, the company won’t let you down.”
Another example of dedication, as described in the article, concerns Huawei's Chinese workers in West African countries who refused to be evacuated during the 2014 Ebola outbreak, whereas all the other companies had their staff evacuated. They were later rewarded with special bonuses.
“When a crisis occurs, you will find Huawei employees heading toward it” while others flee, said Huawei Chairwoman Sun Yafang in the company’s 2015 annual report.
Furthermore, Chinese staff can agree to sign a “dedicated employee agreement,” which specifically says that they are voluntarily forgoing paid vacation days and overtime. Those who sign the agreement will eventually start receiving shares as part of their compensation.
The company's lore is full of stories of “heroism,” like the fact that Huawei employees in Siberia had to work in subzero temperatures to build network infrastructures, as well as the stories about the Spartan conditions at dormitories with shared bathrooms that employees in Germany had to live in in the mid-2000.
In the meantime, the Chinese company has started to soften its strategy abroad, as many employees working outside China have been offered better conditions in an attempt to attract more workers.