Employee retention in China

Transcription

1 Employee retention in China Knowledge workers and the enterprise - Chinese Employees Perspectives German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou, School of International Business, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

2 Strength of enterprise The people are the key whether a company is successful or not. People are the first factor. If your people don t have any skills or no experience the company will have no future. For the development of the company the people are the most important factor, number one. Chinese employee, WFOE, Guangdong, (Interview 42) SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

3 Method & Sample - Research Project IPR / Knowledge Management 100 qualitative in-depth interviews with knowledge workers Companies: WFOEs, JVs, Chinese AGs, Chinese Ltds Sectors: Automobile, Engineering, Electronics Provinces: Beijing, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Jilin, Shanghai Departments: Sales, Purchasing, Production, R&D, HR Nationalities: 2/3 Chinese, 1/3 Europeans Education level: Chinese mainly Bachelor, Germans mainly Diplom (MA level) Language of interview: mother tongue SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

4 Challenges Strained labour market Shortage qualified personnel Employee turnover SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

5 Challenges Strained labour market Shortage qualified personnel Employee turnover [Qualified and experienced employees] contribute to the development of the enterprise and the general manager certainly does everything to retain the key employees, who are important for the company. This is not the case with less qualified employees. If they go it is probably not a big loss in contrary to the qualified employees. Chinese employee, WFOE, Shanghai, (Interview 56) SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

6 Major issues for employee retention in German WFOE, Liaoning, Compensation and benefits Relationship and emotion Retention Career development Environment SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

7 Major issues for employee retention Transfer of knowledge Perception of knowledge Opportunities for learning / training Opportunities for career development Relationship and emotion Communication cultue Enviroment Corporate culture Corporate identity SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

8 Relation of employees and enterprise Perspective of enterprise Part of human capital Perspective of employee Work as means to earn a living Professional development Self-fulfilment Reciprocal relationship employee - enterprise: If the company does well, I shall do well SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

9 Knowledge management Knowledge management is the acquisition and use of resources to create an environment in which information is accessible to individuals and in which individuals acquire, share and use that information to develop their own knowledge and are encouraged and enabled to apply their knowledge for the benefit of the organisation Harman, Christopher, Managing Human Resources in the Knowledge Economy, 7th Global Forum on Reinventing Government Building Trust in Government, June 2007 Vienna, Austria SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

10 Connection Knowledge management and HR management Knowledge transfer Training Applying Acummulating experience Career development Enterprise benefit creating value Employee benefit enhancing value SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

11 Transfer of knowledge - Differentiation New entrants New entrants with work experience Career development Well directed transfer of kowledge SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

12 Perception of knowledge New Entrants: What has been learned in school / university Adaptation from school learning to applying knowledge at work What is important for work Uncertainty SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

13 Uncertainty Sometimes, when you did not succeed in finishing your work or have failed, you then changed your work place immediately. However, you did take something along, have seen how people do their work right in this environment, how you should work in this environment. Therefore I think, at each work place you will gather some experience and knowledge. Were there any changes over time? Yes, I have to say this was the case. In the beginning you only thought about how to do the thing you had to do, how you can adapt [ ] and only later you realise that all this is knowledge and experience. Chinese employee, WFOE, Shanghai, (Interview 68) SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

14 Accumulation of knowledge and experience Employee Enlarge knowledge Apply knowledge Accumulate experience Change of perception by experience Enterprise Opportunity for learning / Training Supportive environment / encouragement Attitude SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

15 Accumulation of knowledge and experience What can be learned in the enterprise enlarge knowledge Opportunity to improve Professional competence Communication skills Accumulate experience Social skills Managerial skills SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

16 Opportunities for career development Expectations towards the enterprise: Responsibility for development opportunities Has to offer platform Personalised responsibility SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

17 Change of perception by career development When I started in the company I didn t think about knowledge, [ ] it was very simple, [ ]. Only in the position I am in now I realised that the dimension of knowledge is much more comprehensive. What influenced this change? [ ] I think this is connected to my understanding about a production enterprise. Because in the beginning I didn t really understand anything about the operational processes. Furthermore, this has to do with the changes of my positions, before I didn t have to understand that much. But now, if you are a manager or get promoted to a higher position you also have to enlarge your understanding. And another thing, which is connected to this, I realised that [ ] knowledge is not only that what is written in books. Chinese employee, JV, Jilin, (Interview 93) SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

18 Relationship and emotion Transfer of responsibility Development of trust Problem: Interference by superiors Blurred responsibility seen as lack of trust Harmful for employee retention SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

19 Relationship and emotion The third aspect is that he can develop. To provide a platform wouldn t be bad, but some, how should I say this, [ ] because there are the elders in the company it is not easy to handle some things [ ]. If you want to do some things it is not (necessarily) the case that you cannot do it, but that you don t have the opportunity. [ ] If you appoint someone as project manager you have to give him authority. There should not be any obstacles. Chinese employee, WFOE, Shanghai, (Interview 56) SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

20 Communication culture Within departments Reservation towards sharing knowledge Reservation to pass knowledge - the master will starve if he passes everything to the apprentice. Chinese employee, JV, Shanghai, (Interview 52) Between departments Conflict of interests SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

21 Communication culture Outcome: Negative impact on work atmosphere Loss of trust Harmful for employee retention SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

22 Environment Establishing Good work environment Good work atmosphere Employee relationship Care for the employees Feels like family Social responsibility (especially in southern China) SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

23 Corporate culture Transfer of knowledge Relationship and emotion Communication Environment Corporate identity SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

24 Corporate identity How to prevent this (employee turnover)? The sense of belonging plays an important role. If an enterprise wants to retain the employees it (has to manage) that they (develop) a sense of belonging. If it does not succeed with this it is easy for example I double your salary if you work for me, sometimes he certainly will leave. But in China the sense of belonging has only a share of 50 percent, another factor is the money. And certainly there also are personal factors. Chinese employee, WOFE, Guangdong, (Interview 41) SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

25 Favourable impact on employee retention Corporate culture of Reciprocal relationship Mutual interests Means to create Corporate identity and loyalty SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

26 For the company, for the employee, if both have a future, then employees will consider to stay with the company. Chinese employee, JV, Shanghai, (Interview 52) SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,

27 Our special thanks goes to the companies enabling our survey and the participating employees for their openness. SIB, Hochschule Bremen Dr. Renate Krieg German Chamber of Commerce in China Guangzhou,