427 Job Hopping (1/2)
Iron Man Training Center.
Max, the owner of the training center, faced the telephone receiver and said very emotionally, ”Mr. Hanks, you have already trained here for two years. If you have any complaints about our training program, we can change it according to your needs. You don't need to go to another place…”
”Max, these two years, I've enjoyed working with you guys. I am also very satisfied with your training program, but I am a hiking enthusiast, and I've always wanted to challenge Mt. Everest. Standing on the highest point on earth is one of my dreams. This is the reason I am changing training centers. As you know, climbing Mt. Everest is a very dangerous thing. It is very taxing on the body. If my physical condition isn't good, I might die on the way, and my body might not even be able to be carried down. I need to be responsible for my own life.”
The voice on the phone paused for a moment, then said, ”One of my friends is also a hiking enthusiast, and we both joined a mountaineering club. Just last week, he successfully climbed Mt. Everest. Before he went, he went to Coach Lee's physical fitness training center and did physical training for three months. So, I also plan on spending three months and focusing seriously on my physical training. Then I will go and challenge Mt. Everest in September!”
Max put down the phone. He looked depressed.
”Another client lost, and it's that Coach Lee's physical fitness training center again! They've already opened up quite a few branches, and they have stolen some of my business,” Max said coldly. He grabbed the performance report for the past three months with a look distress.
In these three months, the Ironman Training Center had lost many of its VIP clients, making its performance deteriorate a lot. In the service industry, the higher-end the customers, the higher the profit. Sometimes, the cumulative profit from several normal clients would not be sufficient to cover for the profits from a single VIP client. It was similar to the profit from selling a luxury villa, compared to the profit of selling dozens of small houses.
Amongst these VIP clients, almost all of them went to Coach Lee's Physical Fitness Training Center. More accurately, they went to coach Li's new branches. And the manager of one of those branches was Chris Payton.
This made Max feel like he had lifted up a stone to smash his own legs. Payton had once come to the Ironman Fitness Center to look for a job, but Max had directed him to Dai Li's training center. Max originally wanted to create trouble for Dai Li. He never thought that within a few short years, Payton would grow to become a coach that was capable of operating independently.
”It can't go on like this!” Max slumped against the chair and lowered his head to think.
That Coach Lee's Physical Fitness Training Center is expanding too fast. They opened three branches in such a short time, but it seems like he doesn't understand that fitness centers are not like chain supermarkets. Opening more stores don't necessarily bring more benefits. The most important thing is to have is talented employees. Coaches are a fitness center's core.
After reaching that conclusion, Max suddenly laughed a delighted laugh. He had a plan.
...
Jones sat on the sofa, quietly looking at the contract in front of him. His face was filled with hesitation.
Jones was a coach. He had worked in many different gyms. Two years ago, he applied to work at Coach Lee's Physical Fitness Training Center.
In those two years, Jones had some achievements. He had some steady clientele in his hands, and at the same time, he also felt that his coaching skills had improved. In the past, he could only work in small to medium sized gyms, coaching ordinary people. Now, he could coach professional athletes.
Not long ago, Dai Li had opened up a new branch, and seeing that Jones was a senior employee of the fitness center, he was appointed to be the deputy manager of the new branch. This counted as a promotion for Jones, but just as he was about to make this big jump, he received the contract that was in his hands.
The Ironman Fitness Center's boss, Max, personally went to see him and gave him the contract. The contract promised to give him a salary that was five times his current salary. It was very obvious, Max was there to scout him away.
Jones was just an average coach. His skill level was limited to normal gyms. As such, his salary was naturally not very high. Going by his actual coaching abilities, the salary Dai Li gave him was very generous. But when he saw the salary that was offered by the Ironman Fitness Center, he was seriously tempted.
Of course, Jones knew that he would have to work for his pay. In other words, if he took the salary, he would have to demonstrate higher value.
I've been working in Coach Li's place for two years. I've learned quite a few things. I've already seen the training programs he makes for professional athletes, and they don't seem to be anything special. I should also be able to come up with them. And now I'm not the same as I was, I definitely can deal with professional athletes.
Jones looked at the salary in the contract again, and he finally made his decision.
...
As the sky began to brighten up, the ringtone from the phone woke Dai Li from his dreams. The caller ID showed that it was an international number. Dai Li recognized that it was an international call from Blake.
”Randy, what's the problem?” Dai Li answered the call.
”Li, I want to congratulate you first on your engagement. I'm terribly sorry for disturbing you at this hour—” Blake started to say, then stopped. ”It is night in America right now, so it should be the morning over there, shouldn't it? Is the sun already up?” Blake asked.
”No problem. I should be up as well.” Dai Li sat up, rubbed his eyes, and asked, ”If you're calling me at this hour, is there a problem at the training center?”
”We've met with some trouble, yes. Yesterday, I received a resignation letter from Jones. I didn't give it too much thought, but today, I received four more resignation letters. Which means, within two days, five of our coaches resigned. And they were all full-time coaches.” Blake then gave the names of the other four.
Dai Li was suddenly fully awake. So far, in Dai Li's training center, there were thirty full-time coaches in all of the branches. Having five resign in one go meant that they lost one-sixth of their people.
Dai Li immediately logged into the system. The team pyramid showed that their names were missing. And the titles that Dai Li gave them had all become vacant. This meant that they were no longer part of Dai Li's team, and they could no longer have a place in the team pyramid.
On the other side of the phone, Blake continued to say, ”I think someone is trying to steal our people. I did some research, and just as I thought, all of the people who resigned went to the Ironman Training Center.”
”Ironman? Their boss is called Max, right?” Dai Li asked.