Tag Archives: China Recruitment

Global Spotlight on China

1

Recruiting in China can seem like looking for a needle in a haystack but despite the challenges, the market is full of potential talent “China’s got a huge problem,” David Arkless, the vice president of the International Confederation of Private Employment Agencies (Ciett), tells Recruiter: “It’s got one of the fastest-growing economies the world has ever seen.” A nice problem, perhaps, but one exacerbated by the widespread issue Arkless describes, of “too many people with too many of the wrong skills, or no skills”. And indeed China’s magnitude is frequently seen as a problematic element in the country. Anthony Thompson, regional managing director for Greater China at recruiter PageGroup, says in such a huge market, it is “very easy to become overwhelmed by the size and achieve very little”. “Unfortunately, we need to say no to various business opportunities if we don’t have specialist experience,” he says – which “can be frustrating”, but is “essential for long-term credibility”. Greg Allen, global head of resourcing at assurance and advisory firm Lloyd’s Register, with several offices in China, could easily be inundated with applicants, given the size of the labour market. You don’t want that, he says, any more than you want candidates being put off by thinking that that will happen. “Make the recruitment process too slick, they think ‘well, it’s too easy, and everyone’s going to go for it’,” he says. “You have to make it overtly challenging.” While recruiting in China seems almost like looking for a needle in a haystack, one type of candidate stands out for many firms: returning Chinese expatriates. There is a drive to recapture the talents of those who left to seek their fortune overseas, PageGroup’s Thompson saying such individuals are “in many respects the ideal candidate” for many businesses. Meanwhile, Robert Parkinson, founder of Beijing-based recruiter RMG Selection, describes increased wariness around Western expats. Yes, there are “areas of the market that you simply cannot find the skills locally, for example leisure and hospitality”, Parkinson says, but parachuting in a Westerner is no longer always seen as a great option. There is, nonetheless, demand for “people like me who have been here nine years and really understand China. I think there are a lot of expats who don’t, they are simply here for a short period – then go back.” Vivian Ng, managing director for China at Morgan McKinley, says that there are, “relatively speaking”, not so many roles for English-speaking Westerners any more. And certain Chinese firms, she says, increasingly seek candidates from diverse regions of the country who “can speak in dialect and drink local wine with clients” to serve the local market. In some respects, China is becoming more inward-looking, “because it is the domestic market that is full of potential”, she says. This domestic market is full not just of business potential, but also of good talent. Sean Howard, international managing director of assessments firm Talent Q, admits that in such a huge candidate pool, “dealing with that kind of volume is a massive challenge”. But the information the firm has got out of all those candidates shows something significant. “It’s not massive differences,” Howard notes, “but where people are saying there is a talent shortage, no there’s not, in terms of potential”. He says that Talent Q data points to the fact that Chinese workers “are actually a little stronger verbally and numerically than certainly the UK, and the rest of the world, so they are smarter”. China, then is not just big, but it’s also clever. Views of China 1 July saw amendments to China’s Employment Contract law come into force, heavily tightening the rules on when an employer may hire temporary staff through agencies. See Recruiter, February 2013 (p12). Manpower had just 10 sites in China until around seven years ago, chairman David Arkless (also Ciett vice president) tells Recruiter. Now its offices and partnerships in the country total 1,000. Areas where PageGroup’s Anthony Thompson says activity is “very high”: • Retail: especially luxury and e-commerce • Property and construction • Technology: both R&D and manufacturing • FMCG • Pharmaceuticals and healthcare Sam Burne James

– Read the original version at: http://www.recruiter.co.uk/analysis/2013/08/global-spotlight-on-china/

RMG Selection Officially Selected as the Commended Winners of The Asia Pacific Global Recruiter Industry Awards 2013

  We are delighted to annouce that we are officially selected as the Commended Winners of The Asia Pacific Global Recruiter Industry Awards 2013!!! GR awardRead more at http://www.theglobalrecruiter.com/news/commended-winners-identified-for-global-recruiters-asia-pacific-awards/4552  

China Dream Sours for Foreign Companies (Chinese version)

最近,北京当局对外国企业进行严厉审查的事件频频发生,对此,英国《金融时报》8月9号发表评论文章称,在中国的新领导人习近平宣称的“中国梦”之后不久,对于一些国际最强大的公司来说,很快就变成了噩梦。 文章说,习近平在今年3月继任主席之后发表的讲话暗示,为与中国经济实力相匹配,将采取更加自信的方法,于是,政府调查和媒体报道都开始针对外国投资者,这正在变成国家公务的一种常见特征。 中共的官员称,这只是解决不正之风的更广泛的努力,但是一些外国企业的主管们抱怨,在新的中共领导班子下,外国公司遭遇了特别严厉的审查。 文章举例说,当发改委针对六家外国奶粉公司以反竞争定价政策罚款一亿一千万美元时,那些猜疑在本周被实施了。其中,六家中有五家是世界知名的跨国企业,包括美国美赞臣、达能集团的多美滋和新西兰的恒天然集团。 文章评论说,这是中国2008年制定的反垄断法的第14条首次被这样高姿态的实施。这条法律禁止公司对其产品制定最低零售价。而这一罚款决定仅仅发生在中共警方调查英国制药巨头葛兰素史克,指控其职员行贿的几周之后。 文章说,所有这些外企都不敢挑战中国当局,葛兰素史克甚至称他们的职员可能违反了中共的法律。其他在中国的投资者不得不抵挡中国官媒的媒体的宣传运动,这些宣传运动包括指责他们犯了象质量控制缺陷和客户服务差这样的“小点的罪行”。 比如,4月1号,苹果公司的首席执行官库克(Tim Cook)高调的在中国因“误解”而道歉,并强调苹果公司对中国的“巨大尊重”。中共官媒曾指控苹果公司“贪婪”和“无比傲慢”的行为。   由于国营的中央电视台(CCTV)三月份高调进行的调查报告,称大众车的变速箱有问题,导致大众在中国召回38万辆车。 曾在中国工作过的分析师 史蒂芬-冰(Steven Bing)说:“作为中共的官员,调查国有企业是困难的。所以,如果你想要整顿体制,杀鸡儆猴的话,就把外企做为目标。”但是,中共官员否认有联合起来针 对外国投资者的举措。周四(8月8号),发改委否认调查奶粉市场的定价政策是因为反外国人的偏见所致。 一些观察者相信,北京反对外企的行动仅仅是更大范围政府运动的一部分。上海奥睿律师事务所(Orrick)的竞争律师卡洛克辩论说:“我认为反外国人偏见并不像有些人想的那么严重。在实施反垄断法的背后往往有其它动机。” 其中最主要的就是,中共当局决心平息公众对高物价的不满,特别是铺天盖地的宣传运动就是为了在每个中国公民的思想中培养习的“梦”与每个人都相 关的观念。正如人力中介公司、罗迈国家商务咨询(RMG Selection)的帕金森(Robert Parkinson)所说:“对于年轻职员来说,北京的生活成本已经到了疯狂的地步。” 奥睿律师事务所的反垄断法专家洛基尔(Ms Lockyer)女士认为,当局会利用反垄断法作出更多行动,她说:“之前,《反垄断法》都是关于合并法和合并申请的,但是,去年开始就有迹象表明还有别的事情会发生。特别是发改委增加了人力,这是它要开始摩拳擦掌的信号。” 新三才记者李莲编译报道

China Dream Sours for Foreign Companies- Financial Times

Government investigations and state media exposés targeting foreign investors have become a regular feature of the country’s business landscape By Tom Mitchell in Beijing The “Chinese dream” articulated by China’s new president, Xi Jinping, is fast becoming a nightmare for some of the world’s most powerful corporations. Mr Xi’s speech, on his accession to the presidency in March, hinted at a more assertive approach to match China’s economic power – and since then, government investigations and state media exposés targeting foreign investors have become a regular feature of the country’s business landscape. Public officials say this simply reflects broader efforts to tackle bad practice, but some executives complain that foreign groups appear to be encountering particularly heavy scrutiny under the new leadership. Those suspicions were reinforced this week, when the powerful National Development and Reform Commission fined six baby formula manufacturers $110m for anti-competitive pricing policies. Five of the six companies were well-known multinationals including Mead Johnson of the US, Danone’s Dumex unit and New Zealand’s Fonterra group. This first high-profile enforcement of Article 14 of China’s 2008 anti-monopoly law, which bans companies from imposing retail price floors for their products, came just weeks after an explosive police investigation into bribery by staff at GlaxoSmithKline, the UK pharmaceuticals group. None of the milk powder companies is challenging the NDRC’s penalties, and GSK has said some of its employees may have violated Chinese law. Other investors in China have had to fend off state-media campaigns accusing them of lesser sins such as quality control failings and poor customer service. Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook, made a high-profile apology on April 1 for “misunderstandings” and stressed his company’s “immense respect” for China. State media had accused the company of “greedy” and “incomparably arrogant” behaviour, citing complaints about substandard after-sales service for Chinese customers. Volkswagen recalled 380,000 vehicles because of gearbox problems highlighted by an investigative report in March by CCTV, the state broadcaster. For some executives, the critical drumbeat in the five months since Mr Xi and his premier, Li Keqiang, formally took power has been too intense to be dismissed as a coincidence. “They may have found something against these [foreign] companies,” said one lawyer who defended a multinational targeted in the NDRC’s baby formula investigation. “But what about the Chinese companies?” “As a government official, going after state-owned companies is difficult,” adds Steven Bing, an analyst who previously worked in China for several western pharmaceutical groups. “So if you want to make an example of someone to fix the system, you target the foreign companies.” Chinese government officials reject suggestions that there has been a co-ordinated effort to gang up on foreign investors. On Thursday, the NDRC denied that its investigation into pricing practices in the baby formula market was coloured by anti-foreigner bias. In a statement on its website, the commission dismissed such speculation as “groundless” and welcomed the “important” role played by foreign investors in China’s economy. The government’s defenders point out that a Chinese company, Biostime International Holdings, paid the highest fine in terms of percentage of annual revenues, equivalent to 6 per cent of turnover. Illinois-based Mead Johnson paid the largest fine assessed: Rmb204m ($33m), or 4 per cent of its China unit’s turnover. The anti-monopoly law allows the NDRC to impose fines ranging up to 10 per cent of a company’s annual revenues. Two foreign companies, Nestlé’s Wyeth Nutrition unit and Meiji Dairies of Japan, were also included in the NDRC’s probe but were not penalised. Some observers believe that the action against foreign companies is merely part of a much bigger government campaign. “I wouldn’t say the anti-foreigner bias is as strong as some people might think,” argues Veronica Lockyer, a competition lawyer with Orrick in Shanghai. “There are often other motivations in the background for anti-monopoly enforcement.” Chief among these is the government’s determination to assuage public discontent over the high price of essential goods and services, especially as an aggressive propaganda campaign attempts to foster the idea that every citizen has a stake in Mr Xi’s “dream”. As Robert Parkinson, at recruitment company RMG Selection, says: “The cost of living in Beijing is just crazy for younger workers.” Spiralling healthcare costs are of particular concern to the government, and many suspect this is a factor in the criminal probe into alleged bribery and corruption by some GSK employees. The NDRC is separately conducting a review of pricing practices in the pharmaceutical sector. The high cost of foreign milk powder brands also makes them an easy target. Demand and prices have soared in the five years since tainted domestic formula products killed several babies and made thousands more sick. Some lawyers also point to a long but quiet build-up in pricing and other anti-monopoly investigations that targeted both foreign and local companies and predate the Chinese leadership transition. Before these investigations, enforcement of the 2008 anti-monopoly law had focused on asserting Chinese regulators’ right to weigh in on the world’s biggest merger and acquisition agreements. Glencore is selling a Peruvian copper mine, which could fetch about $5bn, as a condition for Chinese clearance of its merger with Xstrata. “Previously the anti-monopoly law was all about merger law and merger filings,” says Ms Lockyer. “But there were signals last year that something else was going to happen. The NDRC in particular had an increase in its personnel. It was a sign that it was beginning to flex its muscles.”

Read the origional version at: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/4c9d9f06-00bd-11e3-8918-00144feab7de.html

Logistics & Shipping Industry: Build your Sales Team beyond the Client List

Control-Your-Sales-Team

China’s Shipping & Logistics industry is hungry. Whether they are Global Top 10 or medium-sized, every carrier and freight forwarder is looking for the same talent: Excellent sales people to get ahead of competitors.

A regular used measurement for a good sales person is the ownership of direct business, summarized as a client list. This list of yearly/monthly shipments is often regarded as the “hard skill” of a sales person. The quality of this list often decides whether an offer is extended or not. But how relevant is a client list for the hiring decision?

For a sales people, an employer is a platform to develop new business. A sales person depends on the operational strength of the company. A job change would be a rational option only when the new employer provides a better platform for the candidate’s current and future business partners.

Thus, the client list is only relevant when the hiring company can provide a stronger platform (operations, customer service, shipping rates etc.) than the candidate’s current company. If not, the candidate’s clients would have little incentive to transfer. This may leave the candidate empty handed.

Rather than merely looking at the candidate’s current shipments, companies should recruit sales people fitting their own strengths and weaknesses. Companies should realize that only a small proportion of sales persons would actually be qualified for their business niches. Consequently, it becomes incrementally important to have your selling points ready to attract those truly value adding sales people.

 Ruben Van Den Boer Consultant and Logistic specialist at RMG Selection      

Archives