Tag Archives: China Employment Agency

Born to Win – Episodes 125 – RMG Manager on Hubei ETV

Watch RMG on TV: http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDE2MDM3NDgw.html

Tencent Company was Trapped – RMG Senior Consultant on The Week

腾讯受困

我们发现一个部门或一个事业部,甚至一个小团队若喜欢想着分配任务、规划组织架构、谁负责什么、确定KPI、定期检查开会,最终你会发现这些事情也很重要,但如果你欠缺对产品细节的把握、对用户需求的琢磨、对用户反馈的重视、在行动上是不是一抓到底,这些才是成败因素。剩下的管理都是配合的手段,要让管理为产品服务。”腾讯CEO 马化腾在2012 年全球移动互联网大会上,面对台下上千名观众坦诚吐露“帝国当家人”的苦恼。就在这次发言之后,腾讯调整组织架构的传闻四起,并伴随着2012 年第一季度财报的公布,成为舆论关注的焦点。

2005 年腾讯进行过一次重大组织调整,根据庞杂的组织结构与繁多的业务条线分出八大单元,其中业务体系分为:无线业务、互联网业务、互娱业务、网媒业务;为支持日常运营分出四大支持系统:运营支持、平台研发、职能系统和企业发展系统。而今盛传的消息中,腾讯将现有组织架构分为六大业务线。但截止发稿前,腾讯对此消息没有证实,仅称一切以公司公布信息为准。

传闻中的另一大焦点,是负责腾讯战略投资的总裁刘炽平“被离职”,尽管马化腾驳斥该传闻,但传闻并非偶然。“他确实在观察外面的机会,相对于马化腾这样的保守型领导人,他则是激进派。”罗迈国际商务咨询公司(RMG)资深顾问Amanda 告诉《东方壹周》the week,过去两年腾讯在战略投资上出手阔绰、眼光长远,完成了对移动互联网战略的布局,但同时腾讯也进入了一个发展的关键节点,对产品的精耕细作成为重心。对刘炽平来说,如果不能给他更好的机遇与平台,寻求外面的机会是很正常的。Amanda 认为,如果刘炽平离开,那也是经过公司高层反复讨论的结果,是马化腾与刘炽平双向选择的结果。

《东方壹周》the week 了解到,腾讯内部对调整架构一事都缄默期口,但腾讯搜搜、腾讯电商及微信将被独立出来的传闻甚嚣尘上,甚至还有裁员一说。但Amanda 认为裁员传闻站不住脚。“腾讯在吸引人才方面一向很成功,裁员对腾讯来说负面影响太大,且成本巨大,腾讯不会这么做。只是部门合并带来的损失不可避免。”

目前腾讯从上至下至少2 万名员工,涵盖从互联网增值服务、移动通讯软件、游戏、电子商务、媒体、广告等众多业务条线,众多部门对公司资源争夺战也屡屡发生。据传,精于产品研发的腾讯广州研究院受到马化腾高度重视,但暗地里与研究院有竞争关系的其他部门正想方设法减少微信在他面前的曝光次数。

艾瑞咨询行业分析师由天宇向《东方壹周》the week 谈到,调整后,腾讯会把资源集中放在更重要的战略业务板块,腾讯在各地的分公司已开始了对总部资源的分流,如北京分公司以往只是网媒业务所在地,但现在越来越多客户端业务也被分到了北京。腾讯研究院部分部门被分流到了直接与业务对接的产品系统,都彰显了腾讯对产品开发创新的重视。

据了解,腾讯此番调整组织架构着重三个方向:一是更好地把握社交互联网趋势;其次充分发挥大平台优势,让腾讯保持小公司的灵活角色,保持对技术与趋势的敏感度;最后是增强开放协同效应,实现与业界合作伙伴共赢局面。这种局面与“产品经理”出身的马化腾在公开场合提及的潜台词不谋而合:在移动互联网发展中,一个月能先做什么至关重要,甚至决定生死。产品经理和公司最高负责人都要深入思考,哪些是最核心、最适合发展的路线。

“移动互联网结合的特性特别对,很多种玩法,到底哪一种最适合?没有人知道,要自己去揣摩、探索。”对马化腾来说,守事业的方式改变了,以产品创新为核心的战略思路是腾讯占据下一个10 年的支柱,组织架构调整只是迈进的一小步。

Read the article: http://theweek.cn/news/201205/23/20120523150400252309_1.html

Read the magazine:  https://www.rmgselection.com/images/rmg%20news_tw_may_am.jpg

Gray Shade of Offshore Customer Management in Standard Chartered Bank – RMG Partner on 21 CBH

渣打不是个案 外资银行“离岸客户”管理灰幕

当渣打银行对其私人银行员工吴伊甸涉嫌帮助农行支行长孙锋洗钱一事三缄其口,一位渣打内部人士向记者透露了一些关键要素,或可揭开偶然事件背后鲜为人知的必然逻辑。

据该人士透露,为拓展市场,渣打私人银行部曾在2011年间,进行了一系列大力拓展离岸私人银行客户的动作,其中不乏一些较为激进,甚至有违规嫌疑的行为。吴伊甸正是在此期间入职,而她的外籍身份也更便于为国内客户办理离岸业务。

在中国严格的金融监管体制下,以离岸业务见长的外资银行,在国内开展私人银行业务时,遇到了不少困惑。一些较为激进的外资银行大胆打“擦边球”的同时,也累积了风险。

不过,该人士称,如今渣打策略已经修改,不再向客户经理下达离岸客户指标,重新转向在岸业务。与此同时,中国区私人银行业务条线也已经整体降级,由直接向新加坡总部汇报改为向香港汇报,中国私人银行业务在渣打的总体业务中亦有逐渐边缘化的趋势,

记者就此事向渣打银行公关部人士求证,但截至发稿前,仍未收到回复。

“离岸客户”纳入考核

对于外资私人银行而言,外汇产品、全球化布局是其优势所在,但鲜为人知的是,一些银行背后还暗藏“输送客户”交易。

一位前外资银行私人银行部高管、后转投中国某股份制银行私人银行部人士透露,向国外介绍客户并不是一件新鲜事,早在他任职期间就存在,但根据每次负责人的不同,策略会有所变化。该人士从2008年开始任职外资私人银行部,并于2009年离开。

渣打的改变从2011年1月开始。一个不得不提的关键名字——魏元科(Ryan Gwee),2011年1月底被任命为渣打银行私人银行中国区总裁,彼时他已经在渣打私人银行任职超过10年,在新加坡和香港担任过多个管理职位,获任前担任渣打银行(香港)私人银行客户经理主管。

2011年1月之后,私人银行部的业务发展策略开始向移民和资产转移倾斜。一位前渣打员工称。推荐海外私人银行客户亦被纳入内地私人银行客户经理的考核指标,甚至包括“要在国外完成盈利和存款”指标。

渣打私人银行2011年3月14日的联合每日报告显示(下称“3.14报告”),每位客户经理的名字后面,除了“已经存在”和“2011年新增客户数”栏目外,额外增加了一栏“Throw”,细分为“Cases Thrown”和“Successful Cases”。

“之前没有Throw栏。”前渣打员工解释,“已经存在”和“2011年新增客户数”代表的是内地客户情况,“Throw”代表的是内地客户经理推荐到海外渣打私人银行客户的情况,其中“Cases Thrown”代表推荐的客户数,“Successful Cases”代表成功推荐的客户数。

3.14报告显示,不少客户经理已经有成功案例。东部区域一共推荐了6位海外客户,成功3位;南部区域一共推荐了5位客户,成功2位;北部区域一共推荐了13位,成功7位。从总体数量上看,海外客户已经占相当比例。

此外,当日报表还显示,从2011年1月1日到3月14日,中国区新增在岸客户25位,新增离岸客户13位,新增的海外客户数量几乎占内地新增客户的一半。其中,一位名为“Cindy Jiang”的客户经理的海外业绩居首,一共推荐了6位海外客户,成功4位,但其内地客户数量为零。

但前述转投某中资私人银行人士称,这不符合常理,基本上不会出现一名客户还不是在岸客户就已经成为离岸客户的情况,“一定要先在国内开户后,再推荐过去。”

但前渣打员工笃定地称,Cindy Jiang没有任何在岸客户管理经验,只做离岸客户。“2011年5月前,渣打每日报表都有离岸客户指标。但后来去掉了,改在私下统计。”

设立香港结算中心

王伟(化名)是当时渣打离岸私人银行客户中的一位。

在印有渣打私人银行抬头及某内地分行地址的纸张上,王伟申明“2011年1月,本人在**(某内地城市)渣打银行私人银行中心要求,渣打私人银行经理陈俊安协助开立香港渣打私人银行账户做投资用。特此证明。”落款为王伟签名及联系电话。

前述渣打私人银行人士称,王伟还不是内地私人银行客户,客户经理就直接对其进行海外私人银行业务的营销。当时,为了发展更多离岸私人银行客户,渣打银行为内地客户直接在内地开设离岸私人银行账户,尽管这与相关法律有所冲突。

“过去也有香港客户经理来内地拜访客户,但不能直接帮助客户开户或者办理业务。一方面,大陆规定不可以在内地的营业网点中做海外业务,另一方面,根据国外规定,需要有‘号码’(当地从业资格)的人才能开户。”

但这两者都有办法规避。前者可以在银行营业网点之外的场所办理,后者则要借助部分客户经理的特殊身份。

“获得‘号码’的两种方式,找在国外有资格开户的人,或者把国内的客户经理变成有资格的人,显然前者容易得多。”前述人士介绍。

同魏元科一起来到中国的,还有其两名下属——陈俊安(Sean Chen)和Vivian Tang,二者及魏本人均为新加坡籍,都拥有国外开户资格,陈即为王伟证明中提到的客户经理。

此类客户经理多为外籍人士,知情人士称,“因为在香港、新加坡等地开户不需要摄像,所以很容易进行暗箱操作。”

据该人士透露,为了推进这一策略,渣打中国区私人银行还在香港设立了结算中心,把中国内地推荐来的海外客户的需求放在同一个结算中心,产生的利润可以为境内的业绩评定加分。甚至对客户经理许诺“将来有一天客户积累多了,可以直接去国外做客户经理。”

一名在渣打私人银行成立初期即任职的人士称,简而言之,过去是通过“卖客户”获得提成,但并不正式,很多承诺不了了之,而结算中心的模式较正式,但其实“算也算不清楚”,后期做不下去。

但上述结算中心做法并未获得渣打官方确认。

中外资模式之辩

渣打私人银行的如上变局背后,是外资私人银行管理机制和发展模式的困境。

在香港、新加坡等地,私人银行主要服务于全球范围内的离岸资金,拥有税收方面的优惠政策和相对发达的资本市场,因此许多富人将财富交由设立在此的私人银行管理,私人银行甚至定位为“离岸私人银行”,为离岸人士“管钱”并满足他们巨额资金的投资需求。

“在香港和新加坡,外汇没有管制,客户经理可以背上其他区域的指标,而在中国这是违法的。”一位新加坡本地银行的私人银行人士称。

形成鲜明对比的是,渣打银行前中国区私人银行总监陈庆(魏元科的前任)在接受媒体采访时曾表示,要加强在岸私人银行业务的发展。陈1997年入职渣打后,一直在国内工作,直到2010年8月离职。。

陈庆认为,与私人银行传统的“离岸”财富管理不同,中国内地私人银行市场将是“在岸”市场。她说,在中国发展私人银行不能局限于财富管理模式,银行应该整合自身在企业银行等方面的传统优势,为客户提供全面的金融服务。

与陈庆共事过的一位渣打私人银行员工认为,当时渣打是所有外资银行在岸私人银行中最好的,拥有会所、专属会客区等良好的硬件设施,以及35岁以上、5年以上公司业务或个人业务从业经验的本地工作团队。

2011年下半年,魏元科离任,渣打新的私人银行部总裁低调上任。知情人士称,其英文名为Sherry,过去在渣打银行负责培训。

由于其至今尚未公开露面,外界难以得知如今渣打中国的策略,但据知情人士称,目前,渣打的私人银行业务已经回归常态,更加注重在岸业务的发展。

4月19日,一位知情人士透露,渣打中国区的私人银行业务已经整体降级,执行低成本路线——降低总体薪金;并由过去直接向总部汇报改为向渣打香港私人银行部汇报。此外,现在的薪酬由和内地、海外双挂钩改为只和内地挂钩,内地不再背负新加坡和香港的业绩压力。

不过,亦有观点认为,外资银行在国内很难开展在岸业务。一名外资银行私人银行人士认为,外资银行主要的优势是外币产品和离岸业务,在国内的主要客户基础是在华的香港人或其他外籍人士。与中资银行相比,无论产品的多样性(尤其是人民币理财)或是客户规模都不能相提并论。

一位猎头公司人士透露,很多在华外资私人银行的客户经理都非常少,即使在北京这样的城市也只有“个位数”。而记者了解到的一些中资银行,客户经理动辄超过百位,仅一个私人银行中心的客户经理就可多达几十位。

此外,客户数量上,外资银行也远不能和中资银行相提并论。

就个别客户经理而言,通常中资银行客户经理可有70至100位客户,为了保证服务质量还要将客户转给其他客户经理,而外资银行客户经理常常在寻找客户的窘境中,有的只有20或者30位左右客户。

总量上,多家中资私人银行客户数量过万,例如2011年末中国银行私人银行客户约为2.4万人,而股份制银行也都为“千”级。但一些外资银行只有“百”级别。

人事更迭频繁

外资银行中高管“空降”的案例并不少见,一个常见的问题是“不了解中国的法律”,且通常会引发一系列的人事变化。

据前渣打员工介绍,2011年上半年,魏元科、陈俊安和Vivian Tang,分别担任上海、北京、深圳三地私人银行主管的同时,原有高管或离职、或调任其他部门,原有客户经理也大量离职。管理上,魏元科直接向位于新加坡的东半球私人银行区域主管汇报,并实质上拥有业务范围内的人事权,并不与渣打中国发生过多关系。

一位与魏元科相识人士回忆,“魏元科做了很多年财富管理,是一个非常好的客户经理。但是他对中国市场不太熟悉。”

实际上,外资私人银行人事一向更迭频繁。根据不完全统计,自2007年渣打银行成立至今已更换4任中国区负责人,分别是周幼兰、陈庆、魏元科和Sherry,区域的动荡更多。“北京区域在3年半中更换了5任负责人,其中一位担任了1年半。其余每位平均不到半年。”一位知情人士称。

罗迈国际(RMG)商务咨询有限公司合伙人曹迪表示,外资私人银行人员的平均流动率在30%左右,而中资私人银行不到10%,因为一些外资私人银行的文化“较为激进”。

表现为,考核上定下诸多指标,完成留下,完不成离开。另一位一家国际猎头公司银行业招聘专员认为,这种业绩压力以及经营策略的不稳定会造成人员的流失,此外重用外国人也是很多外资行的通病。

一名外资私人银行高管认为,外派的一些人开始就会想好“只是在中国几年”,会有一些短视的做法,而且合适的人员很难找,“外资私人银行的模式不适合中国,外来的人很难融入这个市场,但本土的人员又不适应外资银行的文化。”

曹迪说,近年来一些外资银行开始注重本地化,不少高管为本土人士升迁,比例可以达到50%左右。

记者注意到,现任渣打私人银行北京区域总监汪海燕曾是该行的内地客户经理,中国区负责人也为内地员工升迁。或许,在经过数年摸索后,外资私人银行能够寻得在中国发展之路。

Read the article: http://epaper.21cbh.com/html/2012-04/20/content_22390.htm?div=-1 http://www.21cbh.com/HTML/2012-4-20/5MMzcyXzQyMTc5MQ.html

China’s Next Top Scout – RMG CEO on China Daily

More headhunting companies are coming to the fore in finding candidates for domestic firms

Each time Li Yunqing, the director of human resources at Digital Leader Tech Co in Beijing, tries to fill a new position in the company, she struggles to find the right person from a list of candidates on the Web. Often, she finds that an Internet search for talent frustrating. What’s worse, she says that when candidates come in for an interview, most have not bothered to read the job description. “This is seriously a waste of time for my work as well as for the company,” says the 30-year-old executive at the high-tech firm.

But help is, and has recently been, popping up in greater numbers in China in the form of headhunting companies, which Li says has made her work much easier. As more and more Chinese companies strive to compete against multinational companies and find success in the global economy, more are using recruitment services as a way to find top-level talent and stay ahead.

According to the report for Executive Search Industry in China, in 2006 there were approximately 3,000 headhunting companies in major Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. This year, there are currently 23,000.

Foreign headhunting companies first established offices in China 15 years ago but their practices initially focused on multinational companies, helping them find employees to work on the Chinese mainland.

In most cases, the recruiters gravitated toward hiring Malaysian Chinese, Singaporean Chinese, candidates from Hong Kong or Taiwan or Chinese returnees from the United States.

But during the financial crisis in 2008, as many multinational companies suffered and put a temporary halt to global recruiting, demand for talented employees from domestic companies grew. And as China surfaced from the recession as one of the most dominant players in the global economy, the need for local talent from Chinese companies skyrocketed.

“When we first entered into the Chinese market in 1998, 90 percent of our clients were multinational companies, but today we see half of our clients from multinational companies, and half from local companies,” says James Darlington, Asian regional director of Antal International, a global HR consulting firm. “This is very impressive as more local Chinese firms started to see how important it is to get the best people.”

Ma Rong, director of headhunting at Sam’s Party, a leading domestic recruitment firm in China, says she believes at least 50 percent of enterprises in China, such as Haier Group, Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co, Inner Mongolia Mengniu Diary (Group) Co, Midea Group and Gree Electric Appliances Inc, are using headhunting companies to find management-level talents to compete on the global stage.

“A few years ago, these Chinese enterprises were not concerned with using headhunters to find middle or top talents for their management team, but now they want to beat the multinational companies,” Darlington says.

Mark Carriban, managing director at Hudson, an international recruitment company that established offices on the Chinese mainland 11 years ago, expects a balance in their portfolio of international and local clients.

Currently, 85 percent of Hudson’s clients are multinationals in China, while 15 percent are domestic. “As many local companies internationalize and acquire business overseas, their HR policies will become more refined. Therefore they will demand more quality recruitment service from foreign headhunting companies,” Carriban says.

He says that as the government shifts economic focus from exporting to increasing domestic consumption, Carriban says there will be more opportunities for Chinese companies to hire domestic talent.

“We have found there is a bigger demand from retail and the luxury sectors as people’s living standards in China get better,” Carriban says.

According to Hudson’s January figures on recruiting in China, 66 percent of companies in the country said they would increase hiring in the first quarter of 2012, an increase from 64 percent the previous quarter. Sectors such as automobiles, healthcare and life sciences, green energy, retail and industrials in China are showing a picture of health and growth this year.

The big question with recruitment services in China, however, is how quickly will a country based on the traditions of using guanxi – which translates to relations and is the central Chinese idea of personal networking – accept recruitment service companies? Is there any room for headhunters in a country where the right guanxi makes all the difference in ensuring that a business venture is successful or a job position is filled?

Robert Parkinson, founder and CEO of RMG Selection, a recruitment consulting company based in Beijing, says Chinese companies will take a long time to truly embrace the concept of recruitment services because guanxi still plays an important role in Chinese society.

Liu Qinghui, a 28-year-old engineer who specializes in designing in antennae for electronics, found his current job through the recommendation of his tutor at college.

“I know I was qualified for this position, but there are so many people out there. Without a recommendation from my tutor, I might not able to pass the resume screening,” he says.

Often it is acquiring the right guanxi with the right people that will determine whether a company is successful in China. Moreover, the inevitable risks and barriers entrepreneurs encounter while doing business in China will be minimized when they have the right guanxi.

“It will take five or 10 years for Chinese people to use headhunting companies for outsourcing,” says Parkinson, 34, who has been in Beijing for almost seven years.

Nonetheless, it is clear to many recruitment consultants like Parkinson that more Chinese companies are finding that the best way to be successful is finding the right personnel.

“I think we are seeing two trends in the Chinese side: Some companies are trying to build a stronger local management team with individuals who have international work experience. So for them, they are looking for more returnees,” says George Fifield, managing director of Korn/Ferry International’s Beijing office. “On the other side, I expect to see a lot of demand from Chinese companies to help them find people in Europe, Australia and North and South America as they start overseas operations.”

“By using these headhunting companies, we could find candidates more efficiently, and most importantly, they are very focused and the candidate they find for us very much meets our requests,” Li of Digital Leader says. “It’s good to use headhunting companies as they have a bigger database of the talent pool.”

Li says many headhunting companies in China provide candidates for their clients until the client is totally satisfied with a candidate. If a candidate is not up to par, the person will not be hired full time after a three-month probation period.

Despite the need for managers among Chinese and multinational companies, there is one major challenge for all of them: a dwindling supply of talent.

Francois de Yrigoyen, deputy general manager of Manpower Group China, says “because (more and more seniors are coming into the period of) retirement and (because of the) one-child policy in China, there is not enough talent for this booming market”.

“The challenge here I think is to build supply – a supply of people who have years of speaking foreign languages, who have lived overseas, studied overseas and have some understanding of what it is like to work in different companies,” Fifield says.

Carriban says they are facing a shortage of high-performing candidates who can make a difference at companies. He also says there is a certain shortage in candidates with leadership skills, sensitivity to multiple cultures and strong English language proficiency.

Many foreign recruitment consulting companies in China have addressed this shortage by offering training courses in English and leadership programs for their clients.

Today, the hottest sector looking for talent is in research and development. According to China’s Ministry of Commerce figures, there are now 1,200 foreign multinational R&D centers in China, representing a $12.8 billion (9.3 billion euros) investment. There are no fewer than 353 such centers in Shanghai alone. Top level talent will clearly be in high demand over the next 10 years.

“When I came to China seven years ago, mostly our practice in China was predominately with multinational companies and very little work with Chinese companies. Today, one-third of our business is with Chinese companies and two-thirds of it is with multinationals in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou,” Fifield says. “But I hope that ratio will flip because we are in China, so our practice should be China-based or China-oriented.”

Read the whole article: http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/2012-04/06/content_14992467.htm

Read the newspaper: https://www.rmgselection.com/images/rmg%20news_cd_apr_rp_2.png

China's Next Top Scout – RMG CEO on China Daily

More headhunting companies are coming to the fore in finding candidates for domestic firms

Each time Li Yunqing, the director of human resources at Digital Leader Tech Co in Beijing, tries to fill a new position in the company, she struggles to find the right person from a list of candidates on the Web. Often, she finds that an Internet search for talent frustrating. What’s worse, she says that when candidates come in for an interview, most have not bothered to read the job description. “This is seriously a waste of time for my work as well as for the company,” says the 30-year-old executive at the high-tech firm.

But help is, and has recently been, popping up in greater numbers in China in the form of headhunting companies, which Li says has made her work much easier. As more and more Chinese companies strive to compete against multinational companies and find success in the global economy, more are using recruitment services as a way to find top-level talent and stay ahead.

According to the report for Executive Search Industry in China, in 2006 there were approximately 3,000 headhunting companies in major Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. This year, there are currently 23,000.

Foreign headhunting companies first established offices in China 15 years ago but their practices initially focused on multinational companies, helping them find employees to work on the Chinese mainland.

In most cases, the recruiters gravitated toward hiring Malaysian Chinese, Singaporean Chinese, candidates from Hong Kong or Taiwan or Chinese returnees from the United States.

But during the financial crisis in 2008, as many multinational companies suffered and put a temporary halt to global recruiting, demand for talented employees from domestic companies grew. And as China surfaced from the recession as one of the most dominant players in the global economy, the need for local talent from Chinese companies skyrocketed.

“When we first entered into the Chinese market in 1998, 90 percent of our clients were multinational companies, but today we see half of our clients from multinational companies, and half from local companies,” says James Darlington, Asian regional director of Antal International, a global HR consulting firm. “This is very impressive as more local Chinese firms started to see how important it is to get the best people.”

Ma Rong, director of headhunting at Sam’s Party, a leading domestic recruitment firm in China, says she believes at least 50 percent of enterprises in China, such as Haier Group, Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co, Inner Mongolia Mengniu Diary (Group) Co, Midea Group and Gree Electric Appliances Inc, are using headhunting companies to find management-level talents to compete on the global stage.

“A few years ago, these Chinese enterprises were not concerned with using headhunters to find middle or top talents for their management team, but now they want to beat the multinational companies,” Darlington says.

Mark Carriban, managing director at Hudson, an international recruitment company that established offices on the Chinese mainland 11 years ago, expects a balance in their portfolio of international and local clients.

Currently, 85 percent of Hudson’s clients are multinationals in China, while 15 percent are domestic. “As many local companies internationalize and acquire business overseas, their HR policies will become more refined. Therefore they will demand more quality recruitment service from foreign headhunting companies,” Carriban says.

He says that as the government shifts economic focus from exporting to increasing domestic consumption, Carriban says there will be more opportunities for Chinese companies to hire domestic talent.

“We have found there is a bigger demand from retail and the luxury sectors as people’s living standards in China get better,” Carriban says.

According to Hudson’s January figures on recruiting in China, 66 percent of companies in the country said they would increase hiring in the first quarter of 2012, an increase from 64 percent the previous quarter. Sectors such as automobiles, healthcare and life sciences, green energy, retail and industrials in China are showing a picture of health and growth this year.

The big question with recruitment services in China, however, is how quickly will a country based on the traditions of using guanxi – which translates to relations and is the central Chinese idea of personal networking – accept recruitment service companies? Is there any room for headhunters in a country where the right guanxi makes all the difference in ensuring that a business venture is successful or a job position is filled?

Robert Parkinson, founder and CEO of RMG Selection, a recruitment consulting company based in Beijing, says Chinese companies will take a long time to truly embrace the concept of recruitment services because guanxi still plays an important role in Chinese society.

Liu Qinghui, a 28-year-old engineer who specializes in designing in antennae for electronics, found his current job through the recommendation of his tutor at college.

“I know I was qualified for this position, but there are so many people out there. Without a recommendation from my tutor, I might not able to pass the resume screening,” he says.

Often it is acquiring the right guanxi with the right people that will determine whether a company is successful in China. Moreover, the inevitable risks and barriers entrepreneurs encounter while doing business in China will be minimized when they have the right guanxi.

“It will take five or 10 years for Chinese people to use headhunting companies for outsourcing,” says Parkinson, 34, who has been in Beijing for almost seven years.

Nonetheless, it is clear to many recruitment consultants like Parkinson that more Chinese companies are finding that the best way to be successful is finding the right personnel.

“I think we are seeing two trends in the Chinese side: Some companies are trying to build a stronger local management team with individuals who have international work experience. So for them, they are looking for more returnees,” says George Fifield, managing director of Korn/Ferry International’s Beijing office. “On the other side, I expect to see a lot of demand from Chinese companies to help them find people in Europe, Australia and North and South America as they start overseas operations.”

“By using these headhunting companies, we could find candidates more efficiently, and most importantly, they are very focused and the candidate they find for us very much meets our requests,” Li of Digital Leader says. “It’s good to use headhunting companies as they have a bigger database of the talent pool.”

Li says many headhunting companies in China provide candidates for their clients until the client is totally satisfied with a candidate. If a candidate is not up to par, the person will not be hired full time after a three-month probation period.

Despite the need for managers among Chinese and multinational companies, there is one major challenge for all of them: a dwindling supply of talent.

Francois de Yrigoyen, deputy general manager of Manpower Group China, says “because (more and more seniors are coming into the period of) retirement and (because of the) one-child policy in China, there is not enough talent for this booming market”.

“The challenge here I think is to build supply – a supply of people who have years of speaking foreign languages, who have lived overseas, studied overseas and have some understanding of what it is like to work in different companies,” Fifield says.

Carriban says they are facing a shortage of high-performing candidates who can make a difference at companies. He also says there is a certain shortage in candidates with leadership skills, sensitivity to multiple cultures and strong English language proficiency.

Many foreign recruitment consulting companies in China have addressed this shortage by offering training courses in English and leadership programs for their clients.

Today, the hottest sector looking for talent is in research and development. According to China’s Ministry of Commerce figures, there are now 1,200 foreign multinational R&D centers in China, representing a $12.8 billion (9.3 billion euros) investment. There are no fewer than 353 such centers in Shanghai alone. Top level talent will clearly be in high demand over the next 10 years.

“When I came to China seven years ago, mostly our practice in China was predominately with multinational companies and very little work with Chinese companies. Today, one-third of our business is with Chinese companies and two-thirds of it is with multinationals in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou,” Fifield says. “But I hope that ratio will flip because we are in China, so our practice should be China-based or China-oriented.”

Read the whole article: http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/epaper/2012-04/06/content_14992467.htm

Read the newspaper: https://www.rmgselection.com/images/rmg%20news_cd_apr_rp_2.png

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