Yuan Lingzi
While the rapid growth of China's economy is a blessing for most
companies, it is also proving a headache for management faced with
the challenge of attracting, developing and retaining top
employees.
Common methods such as decent salaries and benefits, promotion
and well-designed training programs are no longer sufficient to
retain talent. Lured by abundant job opportunities in the booming
market, talented employees are often poised to jump to the next
opportunity.
One feature of China's job market is that it has plenty of
talented professionals on offer.
But another feature is that demand for talent exceeds
supply.
Owing to the lack of clear messages from CEOs, HR departments
often find it difficult to set criteria for selection, retention
and incentive plans.
Given the reality of China's job market, the right solution
involves several different approaches.
A company should establish a clear "employer brand". It is
difficult for companies, especially small- and medium-sized firms,
to attract talent.
Capital strength alone is not enough, since talents often
consider multiple factors when they decide which company to work
for. Companies should establish "employer brand" and a good image
in the job market just as they do with their product brands.
A clear talent identification system is indispensable. Some
companies cannot find the right talent because they do not have a
clear definition of the kind of people they are looking for.
Adopt a proper incentive system and a favorable working
environment.
A well-designed incentive system will be very helpful to
motivate and retain talent.
A healthy working environment includes not only sound benefits,
but also well-established working procedures that allow employees
to work more smoothly and flexibly and obtain a greater sense of
achievement. But negative environmental factors such as bureaucracy
and corporate politics should be minimized.
Companies should invest more in training managers because many
employees resign due to the incompetence of their superiors.
Companies should retain people with corporate values. Most
companies do this by optimizing their salary system again and
again. But what keeps people in the long run is corporate
values.
Given the fierce competition for talent in China, companies
should not place a high expectation on retention.
A Watson Wyatt survey shows that it is good enough for an
employee to work for a company for three years. People who choose
to stay may not be the best in terms of capacity, but they
recognize corporate values and will grow with the company.
Developing people inside the company is more important than
smart recruitment, given the shortage of experienced talent.
In fact, large corporations such as Motorola and HP all have
long-term training programs. Training means investment, which might
not bring revenue in the short term, but will surely benefit the
company in the long run.
The author is consulting director of Watson Wyatt
Consulting's Shanghai office. The article is based on his speech at
an EMBA forum held at the China Europe International Business
School.
(China Daily January 31, 2007)