Workers are "annoyed" by annual meetings

The article "Annual Meetings Can't Stop!", which is known as a mouthpiece for workers, has become popular. It makes people wonder how annoying annual meetings are. Let's read the article and see what everyone thinks!

The difficulty lies in being "forced to participate and not being able to refuse".

Today is the time when major companies are holding annual meetings intensively. Workers who are forced to attend the annual meetings have brought the New Year's Day movie "Annual Meetings Can't Stop!" to the forefront. This "workers' mouth replacement" movie currently has a Douban score of 8.1, and the predicted box office has reached 1.1 billion.

Before the movie was released, some viewers complained that they didn’t want to watch it because they “hate annual meetings the most.” Unexpectedly, the clip in the movie in which employees wrote songs to complain about the company at the annual meeting went viral on short video platforms, with many viewers saying that this clip should be shown on the Spring Festival Gala, and that “workers have suffered from annual meetings for a long time.”

Why are workers so afraid of annual meetings? "Focus" talked to 5 workers, and their common feeling is that the most terrifying thing about annual meetings is that they are forced to attend and cannot be refused. The holding of an annual meeting hides workplace hierarchy and power oppression.

They told "Dingjiao" that generally speaking, the format of the annual meeting, what performances will be offered, who will attend, and what to wear are all determined by the leadership. Some companies have departments draw lots and form groups to dance "Subject Three", while some leaders require employees to wear short skirts, "the more revealing the better."

Workers not only have to rehearse and edit videos after get off work, but also have to buy performance clothes at their own expense. At the same time, in an annual meeting, leaders cannot be too tired, but they have to be the protagonists of the party, and someone has to pour wine and toast. Even if some departments win the first prize for the annual meeting program, the bonus is basically confiscated.

The annual meeting seems to be a microcosm of the workplace - overtime, workplace PUA, flattery, toast culture... This is why "Annual Meetings Can't Stop!" can be a hit. Workers see many familiar and heartbreaking scenes in it, but they can only be like Penny (homonymous with "rebellion") in the movie. Although they are unwilling, all they can do is to carefully balance self-esteem and survival in the workplace.

The following are the stories of these workers attending the annual meeting. In the new year, I wish everyone can have fewer grievances and more gains in the workplace.

1. Is forcing girls to dance in a girl group at the annual meeting considered PUA in the workplace?

Qingqing | 23 years old, Internet industry in Shanghai

The first company I worked for left me with the shadow of being forced to attend annual meetings.

At that time, there were fifty or sixty people in my department, but no one was willing to perform. So my direct supervisor asked me and two other girls to represent the team and dance a girl group dance.

When the leader called my name for the first time, I made it clear that I knew nothing about dancing. The other two girls would go to the dance studio to practice dancing after work. They had the foundation and were willing to perform, but I didn't have enough basic skills and was unwilling to participate.

But my personal wishes were ignored, and the boss verbally asked me to participate in the performance every day in the office. What I don't understand is, first, why no boys participated in the performance; second, the team had performed funny dances with a lot of people before, and I could have participated in such dances, so why did I have to dance a girl group dance this time; third, why other colleagues' refusal was effective, but my refusal was a futile struggle?

In response, the leader said that the annual meeting performance had a certain appearance requirement, and hoped that I would bring honor to the department. He directly pulled me into the dance rehearsal group and asked us to rehearse together during lunch break every day. Not only that, the leader even asked the lead dancer to buy me performance clothes directly, and asked that "they should be clothes for dancing in a girl group, and they should be nice, the more exposed the better, and the shorter the skirt the better."

I couldn't accept this arrangement and didn't even go to a rehearsal. In the end, because of my tough attitude, the leader changed it to a cross-dressing dance with a man dressed as a woman and a woman dressed as a man. But although I escaped the "dance disaster", I still couldn't escape the "toast disaster" at the annual meeting.

Although I had set up a persona of "being allergic to alcohol and unable to drink" when I joined the company, my supervisor still insisted that I toast at the annual dinner and asked me to take the initiative to pour wine for the dozen people at the table, "There are people from other departments here, don't spoil everyone's fun." In the second half of the annual meeting, someone from the sales department also toasted me and said, "This is the first time I toast someone else. Before, others always toasted me." I could only laugh awkwardly and respond with juice.

Because of the discomfort and embarrassment at the annual meeting, I resigned immediately after the meeting.

As a post-00s, I don’t want to be suppressed by the hierarchy in the workplace. Respect is mutual. In the eyes of our generation, working is just a means of survival, but we not only need to survive, but also need to live. We don’t want to be forced to do things we don’t want to do, and we don’t want to use our off-get off work time to rehearse the annual meeting program. But in the eyes of the leaders, this is a manifestation of irresponsibility and lack of collective honor, which I don’t agree with.

After chatting with my friends, I found that many companies hold annual meetings not just to reward employees. If they really want to reward employees, they should give more rewards and respect employees' wishes. The annual meetings I attended were more like a compliance test to see where your bottom line is, whether you can obey, and whether you can handle it well. This feeling is particularly bad.

Finally, I resigned because of this reason. I realized that this kind of "compulsion" might not only happen at the annual meeting, but also in all aspects of future work, so I chose to escape quickly and stop wasting time.

2. I have to rehearse for an hour every day after get off work, so I quit

Momo | 34-year-old Shanghai foreign trade industry practitioner

I just quit my job some time ago, and the direct reason was that the company’s annual meeting was about to begin.

I hate our company's annual meeting. Every September or October, the company announces the date of the annual meeting, and department leaders will put the preparations on the agenda. That means we have to brainstorm and make suggestions for the annual meeting program three months in advance.

The leaders of our department have very strict requirements for the program. It cannot be simple songs or crosstalk. The program must be creative. At the same time, due to limited funds, we cannot buy props that are too expensive.

In the end, the leaders basically chose some popular programs on short video platforms to perform at the annual meeting. Most of them required us to lower our status and destroy our image to make people laugh. Some of them were even a bit vulgar in my opinion. Our department has performed dances, sitcoms, etc.

In the past three years, our department's four or five people have been required by our leaders to participate in the annual meeting program. One month in advance, we have to spend an hour rehearsing every day after work. The leaders personally take care of the details and the movements, and all the movements, expressions, and lines must be exactly the same as in the original video.

One year, we worked from home. Our company also held an online annual meeting, requiring each department to film the program into a video and play it at the annual meeting. The video was only three minutes long. We rehearsed for a month, and my colleagues edited it for two or three weeks. The original finished product was already very good, but the leader said that the sound was suddenly a little quiet in a certain place, so my colleagues went back to work and edited it again.

The annual meeting program will be scored and ranked by leaders, and there will be prizes for first, second and third prizes. Our department has won first and second prizes. The first prize seemed to be 1,000 yuan, but the prize money was ultimately used as activity funds for dinner and was not given to us.

Our annual meeting process is to listen to the leaders' work reports in the morning, party performances in the afternoon, and dinner in the evening. The annual meeting must be held on the weekend. Everyone basically regards the annual meeting as a work task. When they attend, they look tired. After the annual meeting, everyone feels relieved.

Although our department's performances at the annual meetings in recent years have been good and the leaders are very satisfied, I don't feel a sense of accomplishment. I am particularly opposed to this kind of formalism. Rehearsals take up my off-get off work time and are demanding of all the details. That little honor is nothing compared to my efforts.

Of course, the core reason for my resignation was the long-term depressing work atmosphere in the department. My boss treated me differently from other colleagues, and the annual meeting only accelerated my resignation. If I could get a month's year-end bonus by the end of the year, I gave up the year-end bonus to avoid the annual meeting. I really didn't want to suffer for several months like in previous years.

After all, we workers have no right to refuse such a request. One of the requirements of our performance appraisal is to cooperate with superiors to complete other matters. I think this is actually a serious infringement of our personal rights. Things like this squeeze the space of people in the workplace smaller and smaller.

3. The annual meeting has become a personal show for the boss, and employees are forced to publicly express their determination

Xiaolu | 30 years old, Beijing Internet industry

Our boss is a very serious person. During one of the annual meetings, the administrative department publicly solicited proposals for the annual meeting . Many people submitted interesting proposals, such as performances, games, and outings, but they were all rejected by the boss in the end. A week before the annual meeting, we received a notice: the annual meeting will be held in the company, and the main content will be speeches. The boss will speak, and employees will also speak on stage.

We were speechless. In fact, there are many young people in the company, some of whom love to play and are good at playing. Each department can produce several people who can show their talents. We want to hold a big party and push these people to perform. The atmosphere must be very good.

Maybe the boss and employees have different understandings of the "annual meeting". The boss thinks it is a "meeting" and part of the job and will not let employees let themselves go.

So on the day of the annual meeting, everyone in the company sat in the largest conference room for most of the day, listening to the boss's speech. The boss talked about the company's vision, corporate culture, and then commented on each department head. I think it was mainly empty talk.

This process was very boring, because these contents were basically covered in the company training, but usually it was the business manager who conveyed them, and this time it was the boss who spoke in person. The boss seemed to enjoy the feeling of standing on the stage and giving orders. I felt for a while that the annual meeting was a one-man show specially arranged for him. He was the actor, and the employees were the audience.

In the afternoon session, after the heads of major business units finished speaking, the boss took over the microphone and acted as host, randomly calling on employees in the audience to come up to the stage and speak, with a requirement that the speech last no less than 5 minutes.

The scene was suddenly silent, and I saw that everyone around me lowered their heads, afraid of being seen by the boss. The first person to be called on stage was a programmer from the next department. He was obviously unprepared and very embarrassed after he came on stage. He stood there for almost a minute and then talked about what he had done in the past few days, like a running account. However, before 5 minutes, he was interrupted by the boss and left in disgrace.

Then the boss started the "training" on how to be a speaker, which probably lasted more than half an hour. Then he called on the people to do the work, and everyone was very nervous and it was really frustrating.

After some training on the spot, the later the speakers went on stage, the more "glorious" their speeches were. They basically talked about achievements, expressed their determination, echoed the boss, and even flattered him publicly. I felt that everyone's speeches were empty, but the boss was very happy. When I went on stage, I mentioned a few problems I encountered at work, but I was "driven" off by the boss before I finished speaking.

At the end of the annual meeting, there was a lottery session. Everyone drew the prizes quickly, received their prizes, had a simple meal at the company, and then went home.

This is very different from my understanding of an annual meeting. I think since it is an annual meeting, the protagonists should be employees and the atmosphere should be relaxed and joyful, but the company treats employees as tools and does not allow anything unrelated to work.

Later, an old employee told me that the company once held a large-scale annual meeting with rich content, and the employees had a great time, but the boss quickly stopped this approach because he felt that he did not feel involved. More precisely, he was not the one standing in the center of the stage.

4. The raffle is just to fill up the time and the show is torturous. Who says young people have to be multi-talented?

Yang Ge | 27 years old, Internet industry

I have been in the workplace for less than three years and have attended two annual meetings held by two companies. The three things I hate most about annual meetings are drinking, raffles, and performances.

For me, eating and drinking with people I don’t know well is a large-scale social event. I think the annual meeting lottery is just a time-consuming part . The “mysterious grand prize” is often worthless, but the whole process is lengthy and very time-consuming.

Of course, the most torturous part is definitely the performance. This part makes me feel like I have to perform for the "landlord" after working hard for a year. This is actually a joke I saw a few days ago, but it fits the annual meeting stages I have experienced.

The first company I joined was very small, with only 20 to 30 people, but they forced each department to produce a show. There were only me and two other older women in my department. I naively thought that I could get away with it because I was usually introverted. As a result, the two older women said that they would give a young person like me a chance to perform, but in fact they made fun of my performance every day. I really don't understand, who said that young people must be versatile?

I finally decided to sing "Boundless Oceans and Vast Skies" solo. After the two older sisters found out, they insisted on helping me to change the lyrics, saying that I had just arrived and did not fully understand the company's values. I do n't know how many times I refused, but the two were very satisfied with their work. I sang the original version at the party, and they "complained" to the boss on the spot, saying that they helped me change the lyrics to praise the company, but I didn't use it. Unexpectedly, the boss said, "Xiao Yang, this is you being immature."

In fact, I usually work hard and often help with some physical work such as moving things. But after the annual meeting, I didn't want to talk to them anymore, so I started to work hard with headphones on. The only sounds in the office were the two of them chatting.

Because the company's style was too old-fashioned and the salary was not good, I changed jobs in the second month after the New Year.

I changed jobs to this medium-sized company, and I still can't avoid the annual meeting. This company has a lot of young people, but the style of the annual meeting is too self-indulgent. The routine in the past two years is to draw lots to perform a show, which is a great "torture" for someone like me who has no talent.

At the last annual meeting, our department was selected to perform the collective program "Nobody", and it was a cross-dressing version. That day, the audience laughed so hard that they fell over, and the four boys in our department spent the most embarrassing three minutes of their lives on stage.

At the annual meeting in late January this year, they came up with a very torturous way of playing: breaking up departments and dividing them into groups by drawing lots, and the performances were also decided by drawing lots.

A few days ago, a group drew "Subject Three", which became the most watched program in the company. My group drew the male and female duet "Rooftop", and everyone has been randomly selecting "Mandarin Duck Songs" these days. Fortunately, my presence is not strong, and no one CUEs me.

At this annual meeting, I hope I only have to endure the embarrassment of sitting in the audience and watching the show. Why do employees need to develop in all aspects of morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics and labor when they just go to work and do a job? When will the torturous annual meetings be rectified?

5. Not only dancing but also toasting, holding an annual meeting is more tiring than going to work

Xiao He | 28 years old, Hebei environmental protection industry

Every year at the annual meeting, our company requires each department to perform a show. Every time this happens, I, a person without any talent, have a headache. This year, the company raised the requirements again. Departments with more than five employees need to submit two shows. Fortunately, we are within the standard line.

However, even if I only had to prepare one program, I still found it difficult. Because none of my colleagues in the department were good at singing or dancing, we discussed and decided to perform together. The department leader also joined us and chose a relatively simple Chinese dance, "Wanjiang Dance", on our mobile phones.

We issued the notice on December 18, 2023, and the annual meeting will be held on January 19, 2024. It seems that there is nearly a month of preparation time, but I think it is far from enough.

First, after practicing once, we found that this dance was difficult. Although we also danced last year, it was in the form of a medley and relatively simple, but we still practiced for a long time. As for the subsequent performance on stage, it still turned out to be a square dance, not to mention that this time it was a somewhat difficult Chinese dance.

Secondly, we have very little time to rehearse. We are usually very busy at work, so we can only rehearse for a short while when everyone is relatively free, just before getting off work. But now the year-end summary and the beginning of the month closing are rushing together, and we are so busy that we don’t even have time to eat, let alone rehearse.

We don't have any plans for rehearsals. We don't have a set number of times a week to practice. We just practice a few moves at a time. There is still more than half a month before the annual meeting. We have only practiced once, for about ten minutes.

Our company leaders attach great importance to the annual meeting and will invite external guests, such as suppliers and customers, to participate in the annual meeting to keep in touch. There will also be a lucky draw, and the prizes are pretty good. Last time, the first prize was 5,000 yuan. The number of participants is not large, 30 to 40 people draw 10 prizes, but I have never won once.

The company also gives employees an annual meeting clothing allowance of 80 yuan per person, and the excess amount needs to be paid by yourself. Last year, we first bought clothes from an online store, but returned them because they didn't look good, and then went to a physical store to buy another one, but the one we bought in the store could not be reimbursed. This time, a top cost 140 yuan, and we also had to buy a fan, which exceeded the budget, so we had to make up the rest by ourselves.

At the annual meeting, we also have a toast culture. Everyone in a department has to walk to the leader's table in an orderly manner to toast. Every time, I hide behind the department leader.

All the above situations have caused me, a person with social anxiety, to dislike attending the annual meeting. It is incredible to think that a worker with no talent since childhood was forced to dance three or four times just for the annual meeting.

Our company leaders like to hold annual meetings, thinking that they can increase team cohesion, but based on my experience over the years, I don’t think it makes much sense, and holding an annual meeting is even more tiring than going to work. If I don’t have to perform, but just eat and watch the performances, chat with colleagues, and draw prizes, I will be more relaxed.

At the request of the interviewees, Momo, Xiaolu, Qingqing, Xiaohe and Yangge are pseudonyms in this article.

Author: Hanmo, Bruce, Wen Gu, Xiang Yuan, Xing Xing, Editor: Bruce

WeChat public account: Dingjiao (ID: dingjiaoone)