10 Star Signs
By Frank Mulligan
In China hiring is job number one. But what about the times when you have gone through the process and have actually found someone you think is a strong fit for your company. How can you be sure that they are the right one?
What are the signs you did a good job in the hiring process and got yourself a Star, or at least a good employee:
1. Stars hit the ground running and things seem to happen quickly. Look for solutions to problems you have been fretting about for some time, and also for problems you never even thought you had.
2. Fitting in comes easily to Stars. If you find have an instinctive level of comfort in the information you are willing to share with a new recruit, like as not you have done a good job in hiring them.
3. Good staff have sufficient understanding of themselves to get over the cultural contraint on having opinions in China. They also know how to express these opinions without alienating everyone on the time. Look for the new staff member speaking up at meetings.
4. Consistency is key. If the candidate at interview says he plays tennis and you see him heading out the door to play tennis you have a greater chance that the stars were not in your eyes when you interviewed him.
5. The candidate had an interesting personality at interview and they still have. And it doesn’t grate on your nerves.
6. You are not having to continue selling them the role after they have joined. This is the case with many candidates in China who take jobs on the basis that there is a 3-month probation period, during which time they can decide if they want to stay, or not. Call them the Unstable Dwarf Stars. True Stars know themselves well and see the fit that the new role has with their career.
7. You just learned a new thing. Even after many years in the business.
8. At interview you identified the new employee’s motivation as a general dissatisfaction with the status quo in his previous company. On the job you can see that he wants to work in a new way.
9. At the very least you have the sense that there is no need to pass judgement on the new employee yet. There are no signs that there is a specific problem. This may be the case if you are busy, and everyone in China is busy.
10. They haven’t complained yet, and there is no hint of a soon-to-be request for a higher salary.
Frank Mulligan, Talent Software
(Ed: This is an ongoing series of posts that presents specific items of actionable advice for HR in China. Call it the Top 10 things to do, or not do.)
August 31st, 2008 at 4:33 pm
I do agree with your points which are well founded based on your experience. When it comes to having new employees that are able to, as you state “get over the cultural constraint on having opinions in China”, I find they need to be encouraged to break out of the normal mold. This is the case in an office where most of the staff is from China. Mixed offices where there are people from western cultures are more conducive to this type of behavior.
September 1st, 2008 at 5:12 am
Frank
These all resonate with me, but the points you mention occur after the hiring decision has been made. What’s your top 10 list of suggestions on how to maximise the chance the new person being a star BEFORE making the decision to hire?
September 3rd, 2008 at 12:28 am
Great points, but I think it is easier to say Chinese need to “get over the cultural constraint on having opinions in China” than it is for it to happen. The “cultural constraint” is a set of rules of behavior and belief 1000s of years old and reinforced in both formal and informal education.
Only after Chinese students start speaking up (disagreeing/questioning) to teachers and parents will getting over the cultural constraint be something most Chinese can do through self-examination or request.
I call it the Chinese mother perched on Chinese shoulders, reminding them to be polite and scolding them when they are not. And going against your mother is never easy.