Sights Set on Retention

An extract of an article by Anthony Lin, published in the Shanghai Business Review Magazine (www.sbr.net.cn)

Retaining employees remains a straining and costly challenge in China, forcing businesses themselves to think outside the box looking for and investing in innovative approaches.

As Shanghai’s employee turnover rate hovers at a high rate, businesses are looking outside the norm of salary hikes and upgraded benefits to keep up with competition vying for talent, particularly in middle management levels on up. After all, a company with any given size of budget can only pay any employee so much. The traditional wage race, as one might call it, has its limits, ending in attrition.

An uphill climb

If the name of the game is retention, then companies have to look for, even create, pieces that keep employees happy and to keep employees – full stop. Ultimately, if these alternative HR approaches are realised properly, the company not so much keeps up with the competition as it keeps competition at bay. Beyond that, whatever ‘poaching’ occurs may be more easily accepted as a natural symptom of a fast-growing market.

China’s staff turnover rate is extremely high (varying across industries) and the retention of good staff is a major challenge. Managers in China are typically 5 years younger than their counterparts in for example, Hong Kong, Singapore, Germany and Malaysia and investment in this group of people is highly important. That investment can cover a wide range of components, from an office redesign to recognition of good work – even an on-site gym.

Cool and comfortable abode

A company has the option of refurbishing the office, perhaps the most apparent and tangible improvement. If done properly, it could well effect the most immediate results in employees. The idea, as touted by several office furniture companies, is to make the workplace, well, a kinder, gentler, more comfortable place. These furniture companies talk about strategy and design in what can be considered a holistic approach to work and office. “It’s not just about the physical environment of work,” says Frank Rexach, who runs Haworth’s operations in China. “It’s also about who [the employees] are interacting with, about where the barriers are.” In China, as in India, the United States and Europe, the Holland, Michigan-based company provides a free consulting service to clients looking for an office upgrade. The service, performed via its ‘ideation lab’, uses various tools and methods to study businesses at the grassroots level – that is, a cross-section of employees – to gather information as “indirect ways of extracting their needs,” says Jeremiah Lee, Haworth’s Ideation Director, Asia Pacific. The ideation team globally includes experts in various faculties, from cogno-psychologists to sociologists to designers. The approach, considered a mix between science and design, “looks at problems at an integrated fashion,” says Lee.

Steelcase, another company selling office furniture coupled with advice for the office, provides a “three-phased approach,” based on “ask, observe and experience,” in analysing a client’s needs, says Jason Taper, Sales Director, Shanghai and Central China. “This forms the basis for creating a future workplace that will help people work more effectively, help the organisation use space more efficiently and create a better work experience.”

There is yet another aspect of the HR challenge in China. It can be as much about personnel turnover as about rapid personnel growth. As companies gain new employees, “people need to maximise use of their space while the company looks for a larger office,” says Haworth’s Frank Rexach. “The challenge is, how do you make the space livable?”

Working Out, Working Well

As health consciousness grows among Chinese people, more companies in China will begin to incorporate fitness into the workplace. At least that’s what a company like Technogym hopes to see. But, more than that, the company is on its way to making that happen with the belief that working out leads to working well. And, what better way to show China’s companies the business benefits of fitness than to piggyback on the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, where Technogym will be the official supplier of fitness equipment. But Technogym prefers to look beyond just fitness, putting more weight on the term ‘wellness’ – and, more specifically, ‘corporate wellness’. “Wellness,” says Marco Treggiari, Managing Director of Technogym in Shanghai, “is a broader concept than fitness.” ‘Fitness’ connotes that a person wants to “look good,” he adds, whereas ‘wellness’ means that person wants to “feel good.” “Take care of the wellness of your staff by providing a small gym in the workplace.” With that belief, Technogym has its sights set on a larger, longer-term target: Corporate China. “Offer a gym to your staff, and you’ll get back a sense of loyalty and belonging,” says Treggiari. Some of the benefits he cites are that employees become more motivated and healthier, and, thus, take less sick days. Also, employees working out together, perhaps even alongside their boss or CEO, allows another form of interaction, as the experience of various existing clients has shown. An office gym, of course, carries a price, but “the return on investment is high,” says Treggiari.

Back to Basics

Still, striving to achieve employee satisfaction and, thus, retention, does not have to entail major hardware overhauls. For businesses that opt not to increase expenditures on renovations, office furniture or new facilities, as innovative or effective as these may be, there are other approaches, from company-sponsored excursions to career development, that can be incorporated into the HR strategy and can show similar end results. In fact, some of these have been part of traditional business practices, just not fully realised. But, when properly executed and maintained, they can mean a world of difference to employees and employers alike. David, Shanghai-based Managing Director at public relations firm Hill & Knowlton, makes every effort to care for his employees, including their physical and mental health. The company has a doctor in Chinese medicine visit the office on a semiregular basis or on a need basis. Zhao proceeded to set up a staff welfare team, represented by members of various departments, to better gauge the total needs of the firm, from the desired goods for the pantry to employee insurance policies. In maintaining staff satisfaction, the firm uses various other ways. It recognises employees for good work with “Employee of the Month” certificates displayed above the copying machines. It selects certain employees for exchanges with overseas offices, such as Hong Kong, Tokyo or Toronto, or take the entire staff on an overseas trip around New Year’s. On top of it all, Zhao makes an effort to speak with each of his employees – or “colleagues”, as he prefers to call them – on a personal basis once a week.

Towards a similar end, Unitor China conducts a ‘Climate Survey’ on an annual basis. “This provides information of what our people are thinking and what they expect from the company,” says Jennifer Xu, HR Manager of the Norwegian company specialising in marine safety equipment and environmental products. It also established a company-subsidised social club, allowing employees to organise events or activities.

Keeping it Fresh

Then, of course, there’s the more substantial element of job advancement and overall career development of each employee – and not least of all, the potential leaders in the company, which is crucial in order to retain good staff.