Yangcheng Evening News reporter Hang Ying

  Zhang Yong, chief executive of Haidilao, stepped down a week after issuing a profit warning and labelling consumers negative news.

On the evening of March 1, Haidilao issued an announcement on the appointment of management personnel. Deputy CEO and COO Yang Lijuan was transferred to CEO, Chairman of the Board and former CEO Zhang Yong will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board and Executive Director, and Li Yu will be appointed as Haidilao. As the chief operating officer of mainland China, Wang Jinping served as the chief operating officer of Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and overseas regions.

  Just a few days ago, Haidilao announced that the company will turn a loss in 2021, with a net loss of 3.8 billion to 4.5 billion yuan.

As soon as the news of personnel changes came out, Haidilao closed at HK$17.84 on March 2, with a total market value of HK$99.440 billion.

Compared with the peak time last year, the market value of Haidilao has evaporated by 370.56 billion Hong Kong dollars.

  The mentoring system has not kept up with the times

  According to the content of the announcement, several of the newly appointed management are all representatives of the first-line grassroots counterattacks successfully cultivated by Haidilao. Among them, Yang Lijuan, the "best waiter", is the most.

She is the key figure in leading Haidilao to the national market, and is the eldest apprentice of Zhang Yong's "begging for nothing".

  According to reports, Yang Lijuan dropped out of school in Jianyang County to help her family pay off debts in her early years and worked as a waiter.

Because of the machine, Zhang Yong, who came to eat at the door, took a fancy to her and offered her a salary of 160 yuan to dig her, which was much higher than her salary of 120 yuan at the time.

Faced with the promise of a high salary, Yang Lijuan did not accept it, and did not join Haidilao until the restaurant owner who used to work went to other cities to develop.

At that time, Haidilao had just been established for a year.

  Yang Lijuan can be regarded as the big apprentice brought out by Zhang Yong, and she always has an "enterprising spirit" in her.

With his dedication and dedication, at the age of 19, Yang Lijuan became the store manager of Haidilao Jianyang's first store.

Therefore, Yang Lijuan is known as the "best waiter".

  As of the announcement, Yang Lijuan holds 179.7 million shares of the company, and Yang Lijuan has the right to receive an annual director remuneration of 1.5 million yuan, a CEO annual remuneration of 2.7 million yuan, as well as discretionary performance bonuses and other benefits.

  Yang Lijuan's growth history of Haidilao just reflects the management model of the mentoring system implemented by Haidilao. As a listed company, Haidilao's salary system and management model still follow the mentoring system of small workshops, and the salary of the store manager is linked to the performance of the apprentices. .

The traditional management model has hit the crazy expansion speed. It turns out that Haidilao is a little tired of dealing with it.

  From the perspective of store expansion, the listing year of 2018 and 2021 are key nodes for Haidilao.

In 2018, Haidilao was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In the remaining two years, its stores increased from 466 to 1,597. The epidemic has not slowed down its expansion, and an average of one new store will be opened every day.

But in the second half of last year, Haidilao made an emergency brake and announced the closure of 300 stores.

  Zhang Yong once reflected on his mistakes, and he admitted that his crazy expansion was blind self-confidence.

In November 2021, Haidilao launched the "Woodpecker Plan".

According to reports, Yang Lijuan is the leader of the "Woodpecker Plan" and is responsible for the important operation and management of the plan.

The announcement issued on March 1 also mentioned that Yang Lijuan will continue to be responsible for the implementation and promotion of the "Woodpecker Plan".

  The announcement shows that since the implementation of the "Woodpecker Plan", the company's internal management and operations have improved significantly.

A research report released by Everbright Securities in late February showed that Haidilao’s turnover rate in January this year increased from December last year, reaching 106% of the same period in 2021. Basically flat, reaching 70% of the same period in 2019.

  Different from Yang Lijuan, 36-year-old Li Yu and 38-year-old Wang Jinping, the two newly released chief operating officers, are measures to rejuvenate the management of Haidilao.

According to the announcement, the two will assist the CEO to improve the operational efficiency of the different regions of the group and strengthen the supervision and implementation of the company's management and execution.

It is worth noting that both Li Yu and Wang Jinping have experience in developing and managing overseas markets for Haidilao.

  Zhang Yong once said that there are two ways to die for Haidilao in the future: one is a food safety problem. Once it occurs, Haidilao may close its doors tomorrow, which Haidilao has already encountered; the other is an internal management problem. , the death process may last for months or even years.

Before this transfer arrangement, in August last year, Haidilao's board of directors added 7 young executive directors, which were considered to be the follow-up to the "succession plan".

Combined with this management change, Haidilao is very determined to seek internal adjustment.

  The hot pot overlord has fallen to the "altar"

  As the "wind vane" of the hot pot industry, Haidilao is experiencing its biggest hurdle in its 28-year history.

On February 21, Haidilao issued a profit warning, and the net loss in 2021 is expected to be 3.8 billion to 4.5 billion yuan, almost eroding the profits of the past three years; of which 3.3 billion to 3.9 billion yuan came from closing 300 stores, which led to the disposal of long-term assets. One-time loss, impairment loss.

  On February 23, Standard & Poor's, an international authoritative credit rating agency, placed Haidilao's rating on a negative watch list.

Standard & Poor's said that Haidilao's cash flow level was lower than expected last year, coupled with the uncertainty of corporate operations in 2022, even excluding one-time projects, its performance is still worse than expected.

  "I'm not very optimistic about the new CEO coming to power." China's food industry analyst Zhu Danpeng told the Yangcheng Evening News reporter that Haidilao's current crisis is the aging of its brand, scene, and service system, including the entire system.

Changing a CEO will not play a big role in improving the current status of the entire Haidilao.

"Of course, with Yang Lijuan's coming to power, there will definitely be some new measures introduced, but the overall effect remains to be seen."

  In Zhu Danpeng's view, innovation and upgrading is an inevitable choice for Haidilao's rescue.

In the current scenario, Haidilao's original system advantages no longer exist, and it must learn from new brands.

  On March 2, Haidilao opened up 0.30%, and then oscillated down, closing at HK$17.84, down 1.22%, with a total market value of HK$99.44 billion.

In February last year, Haidilao’s share price reached an all-time high of HK$85.75, and its total market value was close to HK$470 billion.

In just one year, the market value of Haidilao has evaporated by 370.56 billion Hong Kong dollars.