Chinese employees are often accused of not being willing to take risks and therefore fail to be innovative. And yet, many firms in China are trying to do new things and therefore require innovation. In my view, risk-taking behaviour in China is quite similar to other countries. I believe the reason that China has the reputation of not taking risks is because of a few cultural patterns. One is the fact that Chinese employees are generally not very quick to speak up.

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In light of the financial downturn, many foreign invested and domestic companies in China have been laying off their employees in masses. Though much of the focus has been in the manufacturing sector with stories of massive lay-offs and factory shutdown, very few industries will be completely immune to the downturn – forcing many employers to consider downsizing as an option to weather the storm. This, coupled with the…

Read the rest of  “Practice and Procedures for Termination of Employees Due to Financial Difficulties in China – Part 1” or post a comment >>

During presentations Western audiences ask questions, Chinese don’t. But you need audience feedback to ensure they understand your points. What can you do? Absent a weapon how can you get Chinese to ask questions?

An easy, if time consuming way is quite simple: don’t leave. Chinese will ask questions, even good questions showing exactly what they don’t know, they just won’t…

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By Andrew Hupert

Part of the new recession-mythology is the notion that certain companies will emerge from this crisis stronger than they were when the global downturn started. Like many myths there is a grain of truth hidden deep within the cocoon of thrice-repeated tall tales. When the dust settles, there will indeed be a few new winners and a handful of impressive transformations. Many tough-guy bosses are in for a shock, however, when their best people suddenly take advantage of the recovering job market to jump ship.

HR issues will make or break your company’s recovery. Recessions don’t end with an official announcement or the change of a headline. Recoveries are murky and uneven – and there is an excellent chance that your firm or industry will lag others on the way up. Read the rest of “Survival is not enough III: Recovery & the HR Crisis” or post a comment

By Frank Mulligan

After a few weeks of not listening to the endless doom and gloom on CNN and the BBC (I was on holidays), I seem to have removed the monkey from my back.

It’s a liberating feeling to leave the downturn behind, even if only momentarily.

But not everyone is in this fortunate position. Most staff in China have never had to deal with an economic downturn before, and they are likely to go through a process of denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally, acceptance. HR’s job is to get them through the stages faster than they can by themselves. It is not helping that the Olympics in Beijing happened so recently, but there is little you can do about this.

The faster you get them from denial to acceptance, the quicker you can tap into their inate abilities, and get them to contribute to solving the particular downturn in your company. But what could you do to help them through? Read the rest of “Downturn Tools for HR – Reassure Your Chinese Employees” or post a comment