You started with Siemens in Germany, and have worked in several other countries. What similarities and differences have you encountered in China, compared to elsewhere?

W.M.: When I started my first overseas assignment back in 1981, in Australia, I was “a small potato,” and the world was so unlike the one we witness today. The business environment in China is different from what I have experienced in other places in that the pace is much faster. People are eager to learn, show innovative thinking, and, too, sometimes use an unconventional approach to solve problems.  This has to do with the fast economic development of the country and, as a result, there is a new generation of young Chinese after Cultural Revolution. In addition, today’s communication possibilities, including the Internet, intranet and mobile devices, make China much more open and  catch up with western standards. Many topics come faster. For instance, one trend that I see has just recently reached China is “work-life balance”. People here work very hard. And now they start to pay attention to the topic of a balance.


China has a vast work force, yet companies often struggle to recruit sufficient qualified staff. How does Siemens approach and deal with this unique issue in China?

W.M.: There is a “war for talent” going on. We are in the middle of it, but I think Siemens is positioned quite well. Salary is one of the key factors to attract employees in China, which is similar to other parts of the world. But it certainly does not stop there.

First, Siemens has been in China for more than 100 years. In China’s society, Siemens is a strong brand and a reliable partner. People know Siemens, trust Siemens. Secondly, we have more than 50,000 employees in China, and they are all Siemens ambassadors and potential recruiters. We have a very strong internal referral channel. Plus, we offer a huge number of internships to university graduates that help us assess the abilities, strengths and weaknesses, while the person gets a feeling for what it is like to work for Siemens.

The way we retain good people has a lot to do with trust and long-term commitment from both sides. Money is not enough. Continuous training, an open and transparent performance management and development planning process and a customizable compensation package help us to keep the right people. For instance, we give our employees via a Flexible Benefit Program the option to invest in pension plans, buy benefits for their family members or choose to have all flexible benefit money paid out in cash. We want them to choose what they really need and not want the company thinks is right for them.


Siemens has about 50,000 employees across China. How difficult is it to find, keep and manage high-quality personnel, especially in the western and central provinces?

W.M.: Our approach is more or less the same as in the eastern parts of China, with one major difference. Graduates that we hire in the west or central parts of China are given the opportunity in a 12 – 24 months trainee program to work in our facilities in Beijing and Shanghai. I can tell you, this is a big motivation for young adults and they love to work at our sites in these big cities and spend their free time exploring what they don’t have back home. Our task is then to bring these people back ‘home’ because we need good people in tier 2 or 3 cities, too.


How do you do this?

W.M.: It is indeed a challenge. Very often, we motivate them by offering interesting and challenging positions to help them to explore and grow. Instead of applying “pressure” to return home we offer retention concepts to work in tier 2 or 3 cities.

This all comes at a cost but we not only fight with other multinational companies for talent. More and more local companies are becoming very good at picking the right people and offering very attractive packages. Some years ago, multinational companies were often favoured over Chinese firms, as the local companies could not offer an international career. But this has changed. There are new players in the market, and Siemens needs to invest wisely to keep the right people at the right place.


How have the roles of expat staff changed in regard to Siemens' China operations in recent years?

W.M.: Out of the more than 50,000 employees Siemens has in this country, 99.60 per cent are Chinese. The 200 expatriates that we have here on temporary assignments fulfill specific tasks. The typical expat job, as it was defined a few years ago, does often not exist anymore. Foreigners are managing projects of an international scale, are responsible for a whole region, such as Asia Pacific and are setting up local operations in China for Headquarter Business Divisions.

At the same time, we have more than 100 Chinese managers that work for Siemens overseas on a one-year or longer assignment. Personally, I believe it does not matter whether we hire a local or a foreign person for a specific job and it is not a matter of passport. The thing that matters is that we assign the best person available.


What impact will China's new Labour Contract Law have on salary costs, and how is Siemens adapting its HR strategy for the new law?

W.M.: I don’t think the new labour law increases the cost for our company substantially, as long as the enterprise is growing in China. Siemens worldwide has always followed the labor laws and regulations and in China we even provided better employment conditions in very close cooperation with our labor unions. Our company is used to changes in labour laws in other countries; this is nothing new. I also believe that the new law helps protect the employees and lifts China to international standards.


But recent surveys reveal that many Chinese, and to a lesser extent foreign companies, have to cut overheads and let workers go due to rising costs?

W.M.:  Yes, this is true. But I don’t think that can be credited to the new labour law, except that these companies simply did not comply with the old labour law in the first place.

Meanwhile, I hope that very soon more details on the actual implementation rules are available.  For instance, the law can be interpreted in several ways by different law firms. What is missing is an 'official, clear and consistent view' that would allow all parties involved to follow a common standard.

 

Last update : Thursday, 05 June 2008

Keywords : Siemens, HR, Labour Law, Talent, Interview

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