Most workers would be happy to stick to a job if it offers career development opportunities and a good working environment.
Most workers would be happy to stick to a job if it offers career development opportunities and a good working environment
HONG KONG: Employers in China who are fretting about surging salaries on offer to staff may be encouraged by evidence that employees are looking for more than a fat pay packet.
While job-hopping is rampant amid a talent shortage, there are growing signs that many Chinese would be happy to stay with an employer if it can offer career development opportunities and a good working environment.
“Clearly the China market is hot and people are changing jobs for better pay. But pay is not the be all and end all,” said Gary Burnison, chief executive of US-based recruitment firm Korn/Ferry International . “People want to feel they are treated well and that they belong.”
In China, people often leave a company because they cannot get on with their immediate boss or feel they have no role to play, said Burnison. Some innovative companies are putting employee relations at the top of their agenda.
Nanfang Lee Kum Kee Co, which makes Chinese sauces and health products in southern Guangdong province, has introduced a “happiness index”. Any time a manager meets a member of staff he’ll ask how happy the employee feels on a scale of one to 10. “If the number drops the supervisor needs to find out why,” said Sammy Lee, managing director of Nanfang. “We want to make sure everyone is happy.”
This approach may be unusual in China but Nanfang enjoys a staff turnover rate of less than 10% — in manufacturing where turnover rates of 50% are not unusual — and was voted among the 10 best employers in Asia this year by global human resource company Hewitt Associates. “Pay is not the key issue,” said Lee. “You’ve got to pay the market rate if you want to be competitive, but you also have to encourage staff to engage in their work and be happy.”
In a Hewitt survey, conducted every two years, career prospects replaced pay this year as the top motivation for employee engagement at 154 foreign and local companies in China.
“Compensation is critical in attracting staff but in terms of retaining people in China other things such as working environment, training and career opportunities become more important,” said Heather Wang, head of human resources for General Electric Co. in China.
As a global company GE can offer long-term careers in a variety of industries and countries but it says it faces a challenge in developing staff quickly to keep pace with business expansion in China.
“We want people in China to get to the next level a year earlier than we would in more mature markets,” said Wang.
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