My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 520

“This type has their own standards and constantly pushes others, especially their subordinates, to meet those standards.”

“And?”

“What is the purpose of the Audit Department?”

“Well, um, the purpose is certainly… pointed.”

“Exactly.”

The Audit Department must find irregularities and corruption. They must constantly investigate suspicions and keep the entire organization in check.

“These organizations need strong internal cohesion. One of the best ways to achieve that is through a powerful leader.”

“That’s true, but…”

“Of course, there are countermeasures. Place So Eun-ah under Woo Ja-in.”

“Isn’t she also a target for dismissal?”

So Eun-ah. She is currently a candidate for dismissal. Her analysis is… gentle, and she’s the type who avoids conflict, preferring to maintain amicable relationships. However, this personality makes her unsuitable for fierce competition, hence the dismissal consideration.

“So Eun-ah tries not to make enemies. She gets along well with everyone.”

“So, she’s… agreeable? You’re sending someone like that to the Audit Department?”

“That’s precisely why I’m sending her. If Woo Ja-in becomes the leader, reports will drastically decrease.”

“What?”

“Woo Ja-in exhibits an overbearing and aggressive tendency. She will put severe psychological pressure on informants.”

There are people like that within the police force too. People who treat informants like criminals, wielding their position as police officers as a form of power.

“She’ll probably bark at them to tell the truth outright.”

If an informant is treated like that, who would want to report anything? Naturally, the informant will feel alienated.

“Is that so? Well, I suppose that’s true.”

“When conducting audits, people try to use someone righteous. But ultimately, that righteousness is just a personal opinion.”

For example, if someone is embezzling and tells a righteous person that they had no choice because their parents are sick, what will that kind and righteous person do?

They’ll probably try to quietly overlook it, regardless of the company’s official stance.

“But that’s not a decision the Audit Department should make.”

The Audit Department should pursue the truth, uncover everything, obtain information, and then send it to the Chairman.

The authority to forgive should rest with the Chairman.

“It’s not a matter of justice, but a matter of the power to forgive. If that collapses, the hierarchy collapses.”

“Hmm…”

Bae Deok-gi groaned, having never thought about it that way.

“The best person for the Audit Department isn’t a righteous person, but someone who bites everyone.”

“But the person receiving the reports shouldn’t be like that.”

“Correct.”

The person receiving the reports should be someone who makes the other person feel comfortable and protected, someone with whom they can share their true feelings.

“So Eun-ah has no enemies. She gets along well with everyone. She doesn’t put undue pressure or threats on the other person.”

She is perfectly suited to receive reports.

“But isn’t she… spineless?”

“I don’t think so. This type doesn’t share their true feelings.”

“What?”

Bae Deok-gi tilted his head at those words.

“She gets along well with everyone. A so-called ‘insider.’ And she cares for everyone. That’s how it appears on the surface. But looking at the records she’s achieved, she couldn’t have reached this position with that mindset. In terms of war, she’s a virtuous general.”

“A virtuous general?”

“Yes.”

She operates based on benevolence, righteousness, and virtue. So, she doesn’t have many enemies.

“Frankly, the work efficiency of this type of virtuous general is inevitably lower compared to the ruthless type who grind people down.”

That’s the biggest reason she’s being considered for dismissal this time. No matter how you look at it, her performance is lower compared to the ruthless type, and from the perspective of the higher-ups who must make cruel decisions, a ‘soft’ person isn’t helpful.

“But she does her job. The other person will probably think So Eun-ah empathizes and leads them well. But frankly, So Eun-ah’s type will avoid getting too close.”

“Why is that?”

“It’s mentally exhausting.”

Friendly and close to everyone? Some of those types, conversely, avoid others getting too close because they find emotional exhaustion bothersome, so they just pretend to be friendly.

“I don’t understand.”

“It’s a kind of defense mechanism.”

If I’m friendly with that person, I won’t have to deal with emotional strain due to hostile relationships. I just want to do my job.

“So Eun-ah is exactly at that level.”

“Hmm, so So Eun-ah wears a mask and sympathizes with the informant, but she doesn’t hide it in the middle.”

“Yes, because it’s her job.”

She’s not the type to rise to a higher position, but she’s a good person to manage moderately and extract information from.

“In contrast, Do Ji-won is someone who absolutely must be kicked out.”

“What? Why? He’s a person recommended for a president-level position.”

Clearly, Do Ji-won’s performance is outstanding enough to be recommended for a president-level position. He has produced good results wherever he goes, and that’s why his name came up as a candidate regardless of faction. But he should be dismissed?

“There are definitely good results when he’s there. But if you look at the records after that, the story changes.”

“After that?”

“After he’s transferred to another position, companies start to see a drop in sales after one year or two to three years.”

“Isn’t that because the other people are less capable?”

Park Do-joon shook his head at those words. It might seem that way, but that’s just a numerical illusion.

“No. To be precise, the sales drop in places where he was involved in businesses targeting the general public, while sales remain the same in businesses targeting other companies.”

“So?”

“In these cases, it’s not that the successor is incompetent, but that the predecessor has cannibalized the future.”

“What?”

“Isn’t that a common occurrence within companies? There was the car engine manipulation incident, wasn’t there?”

There are many guys within companies who manipulate things to inflate profits and then run away. This is because stock options are often included in the contract conditions based on the performance at that time.

In fact, many executive-level employees have such contracts. Especially if they are sent to even a small factory.

“If it’s a normal company, the company’s sales will be stable or the decline will not be significant, whether he leaves or not.”

Because a truly capable person diversifies the revenue model and establishes a system so that it runs normally whether they are there or not.

“But in cases where they cannibalize the future to inflate their performance, the system isn’t in place.”

“Cannibalize the future to inflate performance? I don’t understand.”

“Let’s take Burger Factory as an example.”

Burger Factory was once the number one hamburger franchise in Korea. But now it has fallen to third place.

The difference between first and third place may be subtle, but why did Burger Factory, which was once number one, fall?

“The president changed the revenue model.”

From delicious bread to tasteless bread, from high-quality patties to low-quality patties. Instead of soaking the sauce sufficiently, they tried to save money by spraying it, desperately trying to lower the unit cost.

“The human tongue is sensitive.”

People who initially came to Burger Factory trusting the franchise will know that the taste has changed.

“At first, they might think, ‘Is it just my taste buds?’”

But after going once, twice, three times, they will realize that the taste has changed.

“In the short term, lowering the cost will naturally lead to a surge in sales.”

“Hmm…”

But it doesn’t taste good. The moment that image is created, people stop going to Burger Factory. The reason is simple: because it doesn’t taste good.

“Is that what you mean by cannibalizing the future?”

“Yes.”

Do Ji-won will probably show quick results by reducing costs. In fact, it’s possible to quickly rise for a short time using that method.

“But if people’s trust declines after that, sales will plummet.”

But the person who reaped those profits has already left.

“Usually, that becomes visible from six months to two years after that person leaves.”

“But there’s nothing like that for factories?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Are the factories that receive and use products from Hyunseong Group larger than Hyunseong Group? Of course, they are smaller. And most factories lack the technology, so they receive parts from large corporations and use them as components.

“There are no alternatives, is there?”

“That’s right. Of course, there are also very large companies.”

For example, companies like Waffle in the United States.

“But Do Ji-won isn’t at the level to deal with such places. Not yet.”

“Not yet…?”

“And the biggest reason why he shouldn’t be promoted is that he succeeded through cost reduction.”

“Why? Isn’t that a bad thing?”

“No, it’s not a bad thing. But since he only succeeded through cost reduction, all he knows how to do is cost reduction.”

Cost reduction is an efficient way to reduce spending. However, all companies around the world know this, but they don’t do it beyond a certain level. Why? Because behind cost reduction is the obvious proposition of quality degradation.

There is no such thing as quality improvement through cost reduction in this world.

“Below the level of director, they can boast about it as their achievement.”

It’s obvious. They earned so much. So, it’s good to promote.

“But from the president level, that’s not possible.”

The president must look to the distant future. They shouldn’t be happy about saving 30 billion won right now. Because more than 300 billion won worth of customers will leave in the future.

“This is the trap of capital.”

“The trap of capital?”

“It’s too obvious.”

A person who makes a lot of money is capable. It’s a very natural proposition in a capitalist market. The problem is whether or not the value of the company can be maintained in the process.

A person who earns money while maintaining and increasing that value is capable, but what about someone who doesn’t? They’re just exchanging the company’s future for money.

“The Italian luxury goods group… Where was it? Anyway, look there.”

“Ah, I know where you’re talking about.”

“That’s where they’re really capable.”

In Italy and France, there are luxury goods groups. Companies that have acquired numerous luxury brands and created a vast empire are among the highest-earning in the world, despite producing very few products.

“But most of the luxury goods that come from there are made in China.”

As commerce intervened in luxury goods, they had to maintain profitability, so it was only natural to move factories to places where they could make money.

However, even though the company moved most of its factories from China, it is still called the empire of luxury goods.