Bosses on a charm offensive

Employees can lay down their demands to private companies

The day has finally arrived when a job seeker in China is in a position to tell a would-be employer, "You'll have to win me over." Paradoxically, it comes at a time when unemployment is relatively high.

Many employers in the country, especially foreign ones, agree that knowing how to recruit local talent holds the key to the door behind which the treasure of the unimaginably huge Chinese market lies.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that employers have begun to feel the difficulty of attracting and retaining top local talent as employees opt to work for State-owned enterprises and change jobs more frequently.

Zhaopin.com, one of the country's biggest job-hunting websites, has, with Peking University's Institute of Social Science Survey, done a survey on China's job market over the past several months. The report and a list of what are said to be the top 30 best employers in China were published on Dec 13.

Under current economic circumstances, most job seekers prefer SOEs or public institutions with good perks but relatively low pay to foreign and private companies with high pay but less attractive perks, the report says.

"Surveys show SOEs remain the top choice for top talent, and the preference for foreign companies is withering, but some foreign companies are still doing an extraordinarily good job," says Guo Sheng, CEO of zhaopin.com and a former partner at McKinsey China.

Fourteen foreign companies or joint ventures with an international background feature on the top-30 list, the rest being SOEs and private companies.

"Some job perks in China such as education and hukou, or household registration certificates, cannot be bought, and the value of perks tends to be more stable than salaries, given inflation," Guo says. "Yet foreign companies can make up for being unable to offer such things by using more aggressive, tailored approaches to attract Chinese talent."

The report says a sound salary and benefits system is the gold standard for the best employers, followed by respect for employees, principles of justice and fairness, opportunities to upgrade skills, and a pleasant working environment.

"Respect for employees this year became the second most important standard for a good employer, replacing a bright outlook for the occupation of previous years," Guo says.

Jennifer Jin, head of human resources at Standard Chartered Bank (China), one of the top 10 best employers on the list, says: "Respect means accepting and appreciating employees' personalities, encouraging their ideas and accepting their freedom of choice."

Staff at Standard Chartered enjoy a "free Friday", which means young employees are allowed to wear a T-shirt and jeans to work rather than a suit. Employees who want to get further education or travel can enjoy gap years during which their position will be kept for them. The managers, mostly born in the 1960s and 70s, hold weekly seminars with employees who were born in 1980s or 90s to find out about their ideas and wishes.

"We regard all of this as respect or, to be more Chinese, renqingwei, or human warmth, and what we get back for that respect from our employees is far and beyond what we expect," Jin says.

Providing a personal touch is what the SOEs and private Chinese SMEs are good at, and foreign employers need to keep that in mind if they want to attract Chinese talent, especially women, the report says.

It also emphasizes the importance of attracting women as employees, reflected in an award for the employers that most females value. "Female employees may be better in particular occupations," Guo says. "Compared with male employees, females are more concerned about balance in their work and life."

Tian Wei, CCTV host and consultant for the United Nations Development Programme, commenting on the award for employer most preferred by women, quoted Eleanor Roosevelt.

"'A woman is like a tea bag you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.' For an employer, it is wise thing, and to their competitive advantage, to have the courage to ask women to shoulder heavy loads at critical moments."

Standard Chartered offers childcare for young mothers who work for the bank, which is rare in SOEs or private companies in China, Jin says.

A big problem for foreign companies in China, especially for newcomers, is that Chinese employees change jobs much more frequently than those in Western countries, Guo says.

Hu Yimin, human resources planning manager at Shanghai Volkswagen, says that in China, changing jobs frequently does not imply a lack of loyalty.

"Unlike employees in Western countries, people pay little price for changing jobs in China and those who switch jobs are protected by law," Hu says.

Shanghai Volkswagen, a 50/50 Sino-German joint venture, is among the top 10 on this year's best employer list. Hu says the value of the best employer title is inestimable.

"When a customer wants to buy a car, he can take one and try it. But it is much more difficult for a job seeker searching for a good employer. An internship for three months is a lot of time and is energy consuming, and not every company welcomes interns.

"But if an independent third party gives an objective and reliable assessment of employers and there is general agreement on the findings in the job market, it greatly benefits employee and employer alike."

Shanghai Volkswagen won its ranking largely because of its sound training and rewards system. Of the recruits it takes on each year, more than 90 percent are graduates who receive informative and practical training.

"We prefer college graduates to job changers because they are more flexible," Hu says.

"It not only helps reduce the stress for college graduates in looking for work, but also promotes a feeling of fairness among experienced people already with a company, who are usually highly paid."

Guo of zhaopin.com says Chinese employees think highly of pre-employment training and continuing training after a person is employed. However, what makes things difficult for employers is that employees often want to be trained not only in skills they use in their position, but in other skills that the trainee will be able to use in another job.

Shanghai Volkswagen says it provides training only to sharpen the skills and techniques related to a particular job.

"In most cases, trainees feel insecure if they take unrelated courses," Hu says.

"For example, technical people, even those with great expertise, usually want to learn management because managers may be on higher pay and enjoy better benefits. This should not happen. A good employer should offer a clear and fair path of promotion for employees. Technicians have to be told that if they focus on skills, technology or research that are valuable to the company, they will be rewarded appropriately."

Oracle, one of the top 20 best employers, and a leader in IT innovation, says it is vital for employees at all levels to be committed to learning and self-improvement.

"We provide the training structure and education materials to nurture talent and expertise through professional development courses across all our solutions," says Shu Yang, recruiting director at Oracle North Asia. "And to support that personal growth, we create an environment that allows employees to balance career and personal time through flexible working hours, education leave and time management training."

xiaoxiangyi@chinadaily.com.cn

Employers valued most by females are recognized at the China's Best Employer Awards Ceremony in Sanya, Hainan. Provided to China Daily

(China Daily Africa Weekly 12/20/2013 page22)