返回首页
Han Ximin
MISS Liu once was an employee of the Shenzhen Fangsheng Human Resources Service Co., a subsidiary of Beijing Foreign Enterprise Human Resources Service Co. (FESCO), offering a wide variety of human resources solutions to foreign enterprises.
Part of her job was to recommend and arrange interviews for eligible candidates for her clients, most of which were foreign companies. However, at a recent job interview she arranged for an applicant, she was invited by an Australian company to work for it in Australia instead of the applicant. This was because she had spent six years being educated in Australia and was considered more adaptable to life there.
“The ability of cross-culture communication is one of the most important factors when foreign enterprises or multinationals recruit employees in China,” said Nie Youcheng, general manager of Shenzhen Fangsheng. “Cross-culture communication includes language skills and respect for the culture and customs of respective countries.”
When foreign companies recruit employees, they generally consider three factors such as their global operations, localization of workers and transfer costs. In the process of localizing their workers, they need Chinese with good English language skills and overseas working experience in addition to their professional skills, according to Frank Yu, chief human resources consultant with WesternHR, organizer of the 2007 Conference on International Exhchange of Professionals & the 27th Golden Collar World Job Fair.
But Yu pointed out it was hard to make both ends meet and have a perfect match for both employers and employees because it needed time for employees to be immersed in the culture and management of foreign enterprises.
There are four perfect “matches” for an employer to find a desirable employee, or vice versa, Yu said.
The four matches include: suitability for the vacancy, good team work skills and colleague cooperation, understanding and support of the company’s growth and development goals and salary satisfaction.
The rules also apply to Chinese enterprises which plan to expand into the international market.
More multinationals were likely to recruit Chinese for senior positions where they have overseas educational backgrounds, good working experience and were more adaptable to the Chinese environment than foreign executives, said Peng Jing, executive marketing director of WesternHR.
However, the number of foreign employees working in Chinese firms or their subsidiaries in other countries are on the rise with the fast expansion of Chinese firms into the global market.
“The teaming-up of Chinese employees with foreign elements will help improve the profile of these enterprises. If foreign workers want to succeed in Chinese companies, they need to learn as much Chinese as possible and adopt a rational attitude towards their income,” Peng said.
