Lala's life – real or rubbish?
- Source: Global Times
- [09:50 August 09 2010]
- Comments
Wang Luodan as Du Lala. Photo: IC
Plot not too problematical
The war between Lala and Rose
The relationship between capable staff and their superiors is always sensitive and friction may break out at any moment. Such was the relationship between Lala and her administrative manager, Rose.
Lala was promoted to supervisor after she helped re-decorate the office while Rose was on leave. Rose saw this as a potential threat and became antagonistic.
Rose raised the bar by setting a trap for Lala, but Lala sidestepped the trap.
Lala then took defensive action. She found that Rose had broken company rules in an assets purchase and e-mailed the evidence to administrative and human resources executive Scott, who then asked for Rose's resignation.
Lala won the game and successfully replaced Rose as administrative and human resources manager.
Expert opinion
Joy Chen, 10 years in office
"Similar things happened in my office and some colleagues had to resign while others were promoted. I appreciated Lala's valor in defending herself but it is not that easy in real life to find your boss's weakness and collect evidence. It is also very dif-ficult then to convince the company because of the complicated relationships in management."
Lala's self-defence moves against Camilla
The newly arrived administrative supervisor Camilla (who was still on probation) was aggressive and often went over Lala's head, to report personally to Scott and Howard, the CEO of the company.
Camilla's working style offended Lala, and Lala felt threatened - just like Rose had done. She checked with Camilla's previous employer and discovered that Camilla had lied in her CV.
After a secret investigation she reported this to Scott and Lala wound up having to fire Camilla.
Expert opinion
Dolly Wang, 5 years in office
"I think it was reasonable and what I would have done if my subordinates were always going over me and using my boss to make decisions I should have made. Lala began to understand why Rose had set her trap and made things difficult for her when she was promoted. I have been trying to make myself irreplaceable in a certain area in the company I work for. This could guarantee me not being replaced by others who might be more capable."
The office romance
Office romances are banned by most companies, especially transnational companies. Lala and Wang Wei, the marketing executive, keep their relationship secret for years.
But this turns out to be a time bomb when Wang takes the blame for a commercial crime for his colleagues and is forced to leave his job.
When Lala discovered what was going on she collected the evidence to clear Wang.
But she could not get him to return because if he did, an incriminating tape involving Lala and Wang would be handed over to her boss by a jealous colleague.
However every coin has two sides.
Because of this predicament (a dilemma facing nearly every career woman - relationships and work) Lala got a chance to be the administrative and human resources executive.
Expert opinion
Zhang Jun, 3 years in office
"I met my husband in the company I worked for but he quit the job after we married. My company has no explicit rules about this, but experienced hands told me it would have been a huge handicap for both of us, especially if one of us made a mistake. But this sort of thing is difficult to keep it secret. Lala and Wang Wei behaved like lovers in the office and I was curious as to how they could avoid being seen by their colleagues all the time."
