How to Fit In as an Expat Executive in China

在全球经济风雨飘摇之际，中国的就业市场相对来说还算是块避险宝地，而且中资企业也很热衷于广招贤才，因此越来越多担心自己就业前景的外国高管将目光转向了这里。似乎之前从来没有这么多的跨国公司高管正积极地考虑在中资企业找份工作。不过，猎头企业罗盛咨询公司(Russell Reynolds Associates)告诫那些即将加盟中资企业的高管说：你到了中国就会发现不同之处。AP它这里说的是中国公司有时让人难以把握的企业文化。除此之外，罗盛在一份名为《高管从跨国企业转投中资公司指南》(Guidelines for Senior Executives in Transition From Multinational to Chinese Companies)的报告中还列举了其他七点注意事项。这篇长达五页的报告着重强调了初来乍到中国公司的人可能碰到的切实困难，诸如孤独感政治问题以及沟通难点等，并就提出了应对建议。罗盛说一位管理者要适应这样的变化需要一年时间，比他/她适应一家跨国企业的时间长一倍。报告称，刚刚受雇的新人若想拥有影响力，就应该要求自己能直接向最高管理层汇报。这种情况对华裔雇员来说同样适用，有时甚至更重要。人们普遍认为华裔人士更有可能收到中资企业的聘书。罗盛说，据其观察，仅有一半的管理者能从跨国企业顺利过渡到中资公司，并和新东家携手共进。 大多数外籍高管的离职都不会激起太多反响。真正让人们关注的是当一个孤军奋战的“老外”划不动中资企业这艘大船时。例如本月阿梅里奥(Bill Amelio)从联想集团有限公司(Lenovo Group Ltd.)首席执行长的位子上黯然离职。不过，对于大多数人来说，中国提供的就业机会显得越来越具有吸引力。普华永道(PriceWaterhouseCoopers)本周发布的一份研究报告显示，中国是亚洲一个主要的委派目的地。这个结论可能不尽准确，部分原因就在于越来越多的企业将它们的亚太总部设在中国，因此一些高管也被派到了这里。但是该调查还发现，即便是新加坡和香港的公司也把中国当作了一个重要的高管派驻地。眼下，学生和工人黯淡的就业前景给中国社会带来了冲击，本土媒体自然也察觉到了上文提及的正面变化。 无庸置疑，中国确有自己的就业问题。今年的毕业生受到了尤其严重的影响，中国社会调查所(Social Survey Institute of China)的数据显示，目前只有三分之一左右的学生找到了工作。调查显示，11座大城市的受访学生越发对就业市场持续吃紧的前景感到担心。但是，海外就业市场似乎更不济；而且中国猎头展现出了在海外招贤纳士的热切愿望，尽管他们将更多关注华裔而不是西方人。截至目前，中国最大规模的招人行动是在金融领域展开的，尽管华尔街已分崩离析，中国的金融业却一直保持上升势头。包括上海北京等市的政府官员都参加了海外招聘活动。当然，对于那些适应了西方跨国公司做事方式的人来说，就算到了中国以外的国家也有会碰上和本土文化不兼容的情况。此外，中国以外的其他国家也想从海外招来千里马。近年来，考虑到部分日本经理人不愿意对公司进行大刀阔斧的改革，因此一些一流的日企也在考虑招聘外籍经理人。不光是中国能提供一些看起来很不错的工作机会，人们甚至有机会去应聘“世上最好的工作”。现在澳大利亚就在打着这个旗号招聘大堡礁岛屿看护员呢。James T. Areddy（“中国日志”（China Journal）关注全球第一人口大国的发展变化，《华尔街日报》获奖团队数十位记者倾情献稿，Sky Canaves主笔。欢迎读者发送邮件至[e-mail]或在下面评论栏中发表评论和建议。）


Its job market looks like a relative safe haven in stormy economic times and its companies are eager to deepen their talent pool, so China is getting a lot of attention from executives elsewhere worried about their own employment prospects. More than ever, it seems, taking a job with a Chinese company is an option executives in multinationals are keen to consider.Yet, executive recruiter Russell Reynolds Associates has a few words of warning for those set to sign on to get paid in yuan: “It’s different once you’ve been there.”That point, about the sometimes difficult office culture in Chinese companies, is one of eight concerns Russell Reynolds lists in its five page draft called “Guidelines for Senior Executives in Transition From Multinational to Chinese Companies.” (Click here for the Russell Reynolds report). The report highlights the realities of loneliness, politics and communication problems that some newcomers are likely to encounter at Chinese companies and offers ways to deal with them. The firm says it can take a year to make the transition, about twice as long as it takes someone to get used to a multinational company’s culture. It notes that immediately a new recruit should demand to report to top management, to gain leverage.Such factors apply as much  sometimes more-  to people who are ethnic Chinese, a group considered most likely to actually get hired into a Chinese company. Russell Reynolds says in its “observation” that as few as 50% of executives survive the transition from multinational to Chinese company and stay with the new employer. Most departures don’t make much noise. What does get noticed is when the odd foreigner at a Chinese company doesn’t work out, such as when Bill Amelio was replaced this month as chief executive of Beijing computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd. Still, for many, the Chinese job market is increasingly attractive. A PriceWaterhouseCoopers survey released this week described China as “the key assignment location” in the region (click here for PWC report). The results were skewed partly by the fact that an increasing number of companies have their regional headquarters in China so that is where the senior people are located. But PWC also found that in Singapore and Hong Kong, China postings come with a certain prestige attached. Such sentiment at a time when job worries among students and factory workers have colored moods in China didn’t escape notice in China’s press. No doubt, China has its own job problems. This year’s crop of new graduates appears particularly vulnerable, with only about a third so far finding a job, according to sample survey data from the Social Survey Institute of China that found that students it polled in 11 big cities are increasingly anxious that the job market will remain tight. But job markets seem in worse shape overseas, and Chinese recruiters have shown eagerness to hire talent from elsewhere, though again much of the focus has been on ethnic Chinese rather than Westerners. Some of the most aggressive efforts by Chinese companies to recruit have been seen in the country’s financial industry, where executives see a long upswing despite the diminishment of Wall Street. Government officials of several Chinese cities, including Shanghai and Beijing, have participated in the recruiting drives.Of course, China isn’t the only country where a local culture can be seen as a hurdle for people used to a Western multinational way of doing things. Nor is it the only country where key companies have looked beyond recruiting their own nationals for positions. Some Japanese managers’ reluctance to embark on radical shake-ups has led to foreign managers being brought in by high-profile Japanese companies in recent years.As good as some positions in China might seem, there’s still time to land the world’s best job. Resumes are being accepted to work as an island caretaker in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.James T. Areddy