So, turnover in China is spiralling seemingly out of control. Why is this? Why has a full-scale talent war broken out? In previous blogs, I touched on two of the major reasons.
China's pool of talented, skilled and experienced employees is far too shallow. Since the days of Deng Xiaoping, China has been growing, and growing fast - in each of the past six years it has enjoyed double-digit growth. On face value, this is great news. China is developing faster than any other nation in history and, as a consequence, Chinese people are enjoying far greater economic freedom. However, dig a little deeper and things get a little more complicated. Much of this growth may have been built on Chinese manpower, but talent and expertise imported from elsewhere. Even now, two decades after China first began to seriously open to foreign investment, too many multinational organisations look away from the mainland for managers and highly-skilled staff.
So - even after the economic miracle we have seen in China - why is there still a dearth of Chinese talent? This brings us to the one of the major reasons behind the war for talent. Even with talent so scarce, organisations are not doing enough to develop their existing employees. To continue our military metaphor, many organisations are developing a 'siege mentality'. They are charging into the job market with all their guns blazing to fight it out over the scraps of talent that are available. Their weapons of choice - salary, benefits and promotion.
The problem with the tactics most organisations are employing is that, ultimately, they are self-defeating. Even if they bring victory in the short-term, they serve only to prolong the conflict. For example, if an organisation manages to lure in a skilled and experienced new hire with the promise of a lofty position and bump in salary, they satisfy their immediate needs, but sew the seeds for problems further down the line. Each salary increase they offer sets a precedent for both employers and employees. The employee sees that their talents are saleable assets, they can auction off to the highest bidder. The organisation learns that if it wants talented employees, it needs to open its wallets.
To use one final ‘talent war’ metaphor, organisations need an olive branch. They need to make peace. Rather than fighting it our for one or two talented individuals, they need to develop the talent within their own team.
China's pool of talented, skilled and experienced employees is far too shallow. Since the days of Deng Xiaoping, China has been growing, and growing fast - in each of the past six years it has enjoyed double-digit growth. On face value, this is great news. China is developing faster than any other nation in history and, as a consequence, Chinese people are enjoying far greater economic freedom. However, dig a little deeper and things get a little more complicated. Much of this growth may have been built on Chinese manpower, but talent and expertise imported from elsewhere. Even now, two decades after China first began to seriously open to foreign investment, too many multinational organisations look away from the mainland for managers and highly-skilled staff.
So - even after the economic miracle we have seen in China - why is there still a dearth of Chinese talent? This brings us to the one of the major reasons behind the war for talent. Even with talent so scarce, organisations are not doing enough to develop their existing employees. To continue our military metaphor, many organisations are developing a 'siege mentality'. They are charging into the job market with all their guns blazing to fight it out over the scraps of talent that are available. Their weapons of choice - salary, benefits and promotion.
The problem with the tactics most organisations are employing is that, ultimately, they are self-defeating. Even if they bring victory in the short-term, they serve only to prolong the conflict. For example, if an organisation manages to lure in a skilled and experienced new hire with the promise of a lofty position and bump in salary, they satisfy their immediate needs, but sew the seeds for problems further down the line. Each salary increase they offer sets a precedent for both employers and employees. The employee sees that their talents are saleable assets, they can auction off to the highest bidder. The organisation learns that if it wants talented employees, it needs to open its wallets.
To use one final ‘talent war’ metaphor, organisations need an olive branch. They need to make peace. Rather than fighting it our for one or two talented individuals, they need to develop the talent within their own team.
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