In association with Machwuerth Team International
Human resources issues have become the most pervasive of problems for the majority of foreign based companies in China. Among such, nowhere is it more prevalent and severe than in the area of retention. Those who have worked in China would be in unanimous agreement that there is an incredibly capable workforce in the Motherland. Yet curiously, ongoing topics to discuss remain those of addressing why Chinese white-collar employees frequently change their jobs and planning strategies that companies can employ to prevent such tremendous loss.
In the last few years the most common scenario was that of white-collar workers who stay two or three years with prestigious MNCs to add the name of such well-respected companies to their CV, and then go looking for “better-packaged” jobs. Annual staff turnover rates of over 40% in mainland China confused foreign headquarters. They could have never predicted that the growing mainland is so different from territories such as Hong Kong and Taiwan; China had become not a different country but a different world.
Conditions arising that may make Chinese change jobs
- Lost promotion opportunities
- No PERFECT future career development can be foreseen
- Repetitive work perceived as boring
- Feeling over-qualified when compared to colleagues
- A distrust of superiors or company surfaces
- Team/department leader resignation
- Company stuck in crisis
- Insecurity arising from the one-year contract system
Nowadays, many are dissatisfied with their current situation and never slow the search for better opportunities. They are not only seeking financial success, but also fulfillment of social status. Thus the commonly perceived quick solution seen in high salary/bonus will not be enough to persuade Chinese talent to settle down.
Retaining Chinese Talent – International HR principles combined with localised strategic retention system The existing international standard HR principles in hiring, training, and promoting are still key advantages in establishing an effective retention methodology. Nevertheless, also necessary is a localised strategic retention system that decreases the turnover rate, in sympathy with the five major Chinese talent culture factors:
1) High expectations for career development
2) A hunger for learning and self-capacity building; sensitivity to loss of face
3) Social status ambitions
4) Importance of employer-employee “Guanxi”
5) Work-Life Balance
The Localised Strategy
In China, most 40-plus professionals lack English-language ability, forcing foreign employers to place the younger 20-30 generation in higher positions than is the corporate norm elsewhere in the world. Nevertheless, it is not always a negative trait to have a younger crowd in the organization; they are more eager and have the energy to learn, and with their tendency to showoff they will never let down an expatriate executive.
Hands-on training is your debut in making your young, aggressive Chinese workforce feel comfortable and confident with staying in your organization, since most of them are junior and lack the professional experience of their seniors. A higher value is placed on company-sponsored training in China than anywhere else in the world, and thus one of the most effective solutions to reduce turnover is to constantly and systematically offer professional training. Foreign companies enjoy a distinct advantage in this respect since they can also offer international professional exposure through overseas training. When employees feel the company is taking their growth and career development seriously, they will naturally become loyal.
Learn more about this localised system for retaining talent in next month’s edition of The Nanjinger!
