It is probably the single greatest challenge facing companies in China (or any developing country, for that matter) today and probably well into the future - how to hire and retain good people. Of course, many would say that this is true in any country at any time. But there are special challenges in developing countries like China, and finding the right people is particularly challenging to those who are most vulnerable -companies just starting out and small companies that won't be hiring a large staff. In this column, I will describe some risks and challenges, and offer several recommendations to give you a framework that will help you avoid the revolving door of disappointment that recruiting in China can be.
One result is that you don't have a lot of people with experience leading, managing and working in efficient, effective organizations. China's new managers have been learning on the fly. They're learning quickly, but in some respects not as quickly as the economy is growing. In part, this is a result of the fact that many Chinese companies compete on low-cost labor alone, which tends to be a crutch that inhibits the development of business skills and genuine managerial effectiveness.