Expanding firms zero in on local talent

Chinese companies look for African experience to bridge business cultures

Chinese companies will employ more foreigners abroad in a bid to boost local expertise in an increasing number of overseas operations.

The anticipated jobs boom, which corporate heavyweights and officials say is already beginning to happen on a modest scale, is expected to pick up pace as Chinese overseas investment increases in line with the government's global business strategy.

Market experts say Chinese companies are already experiencing a shortage of qualified local candidates for middle and senior management roles in Africa and are beginning to realize the benefits of employing key personnel in overseas markets.

The prospect of greater investment in the European Union after November's EU-China summit is also expected to gradually increase demand for talent there, too.

The catch, say officials and employers, is that only those foreigners who have experience and knowledge of both their local market and China will be in line to benefit.

Zhong Yanguang, deputy director of the Information Research Center of International Talent, which helps the government agency overseeing foreign employment in China, says Chinese companies are increasingly realizing the need for more local expertise in new markets.

"If a company wants to expand its market in a foreign country, it has to know the local culture," he says. "The Chinese government has called on private companies to go abroad. However, we have more companies that fail in going abroad than those that are successful. Talent plays a key role for companies going abroad, especially foreign talent."

But Zhong says China is specifically looking for candidates who can act as a "bridge" between markets and cultures.

"A person who once studied or worked in China can better play a role as a bridge," he says. "Obviously, the need for these sort of people is on the rise."

Speaking at a job fair in Beijing, Zhong says clothing giant HOdo Group is a good example of the new employment model opening up to foreigners in Chinese companies.

"When HOdo Group founded their office in London, they hired a British employee here at the China jobs fair. He stayed in China for more than five years, then was sent back to the UK to work as the company's general manager there. The company said their British employee did a very good job, and exceeded their expectations."

Zhong says his department, which is also affiliated with the running of the government-backed China jobs fair, has been asked by HOdo to help them repeat that successful experiment in the US.

"Now, HOdo is asking us to find them a US citizen to work for them in Los Angeles," he says.

At the job fair for foreigners in Beijing in November, a host of companies were canvassing for the right kind of talent to employ in their overseas operations.

Ruhn Power Corp was looking for sales managers for Rwanda, Ethiopia and Tanzania. Hentong Optic-Electric Co wanted systems engineers to work in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. China Hasan International Holdings was seeking senior finance managers and administrative directors for operations in Saudi Arabia and Angola.

Zhang Ce, human resources supervisor for Qingdao Hanhe Cable Co, says his company is hiring foreigners to work in Africa because they can "communicate well with the local people".

"People from these destination countries are the best choice," he says. "But they should have experience in China. This is very important. We judge whether they have enough experience through their Chinese level of experience."

Douean Gut-Serge, 40, from Cote d'Ivoire, is completing a master's degree at Tsinghua University hoping to land a role in marketing or finance with a Chinese company. Depending on pay and conditions, he would consider returning to Africa to work for a Chinese company.

"I think it's a very good strategy," he says. "China needs to go to Africa, but it's good to go there with people from Africa, too. It's a good way to improve business in Africa, because they are people who know the culture, the business climate there."

It's not just China that wants foreign employees that have China experience under their belt. Multinationals and foreign companies are also jumping on the bandwagon.

Nigerian banker Adebayo O. Olarewaju, who works for one of Africa's biggest financial institutions at its Beijing branch, says both local and multinational companies in China are increasingly seeking employees with experience in multiple markets.

Just over a year into a three-year rotation in China, he says his bank is routing African employees through Beijing in order to build up a pool of talent who will be skilled in Chinese business practices and culture.

Adebayo says many of his friends and associates in Beijing have been hired locally by Chinese or multinational companies that need staff who have an understanding of how things work in Africa, as well as China.

Some, like Adebayo, will eventually be relocated to Africa where they will bring their China experience to bear in head office.

"For any African, what you can bring to the table to make you have a competitive advantage is to understand both your own and Chinese cultures," he says. "Anyone who wants to work for a Chinese interest in Africa needs to understand China."

Michael Christiansen, Asia-Pacific regional president for Danish biotechnology firm Novozymes, says his company predominately hires Chinese staff for their local operations.

But one area where Christiansen anticipates there will be growth in employment opportunities for foreigners in China - and for Chinese in the West - is in the growing tendency of companies to place individuals with experience of multiple markets in "ambassador roles" in overseas positions.

"We have had such positions before and we are starting to do that more and more," he says.

Xun Yannian, vice-chief economist and manager of human resources for Zhuzhou Times New Material Technology Co, says his company is expanding and needs the right type of foreign talent to jump aboard.

"Our company is broadening our overseas markets, mainly in Europe, Russia, and the North and South Americas," he says.

"The people we need should have a good professional background, a master's degree from a recognized university, preferably be younger than 35, and will previously have studied, lived or worked in China. Those who have a basic command of Mandarin are preferred. These sorts of people will know the cultural, policies, laws and customs of their homeland as well as Chinese culture, laws and customs."

Xun says the company's policy is to have these foreign employees work in China for about three years before reassigning them to one of its overseas subsidiaries where "they will take a lead role".

"Now, we need people from the UK, the US, France, Germany, Brazil and Spain."

Huiyao Wang, director-general for leading think tank The Center for China and Globalization, says the numbers show why more Chinese companies will be employing more foreigners abroad.

"Last year, China's overseas investment reached $72.2 billion, and this year, China's foreign investment is expected to top $100 billion for the first time," he says. "China needs the global talent that can help it expand and do business overseas."

The future composition of the workforce for Chinese companies abroad is clear, Xun says.

"We will gradually employ mainly local people."

(China Daily Africa Weekly 01/03/2014 page8)