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Review focus: staff training, self motivation, training programs, teams, attitudes, efficiency, foreign managers, effective approach, western companies, language problems
Asian Business Code Words Index NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company Asian Business Strategy & Street Intelligence Ezine
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During the early decades of the Communist regime, young Chinese were not taught personal responsibility. Instead they were conditioned to believe it was the government's role to take care of them. They were also raised in an environment in which personal enterprise was against the law and brought sure, swift punishment, leaving them with little or no self-motivation. The first challenge facing the foreign employer is to break down the mental block that prevents employees from thinking and acting like individuals. The second challenge is to convince them that not only they, but China as well, will benefit if they show personal initiative and go beyond the usual "do as little as possible" attitude. This mind-set is not as easy or as simple to break as the expatriate business person might think. For one, pressure on the individual to remain submerged in the crowd, to not be more aggressive or more ambitious than the next person, is very intense. As long as the individual concerned is subject to the authority of the Chinese side, both social and economic sanctions are very likely to be severe. Training programs appear to be most effective when they cover groups that work together and individuals can be brought along at more or less the same speed. In any event, the retraining must be constant and consistent, with both the rationale and procedures repeated over and over. One of the most difficult points for a new employee to grasp is the idea of doing things promptly. The typical reaction, when asked to do something, is to readily agree to do it, then lay it aside indefinitely and often forget about it. This is not done to be obstructive or uncooperative but because no importance is attached to the action or the need to do it immediately. "Fortunately this reaction usually involves relatively minor things. The really big, vital things are more likely to get prompt attention," noted an expatriate manager. Overcoming this mental block does not always mean success in retraining a new Chinese employee. One of the most sensitive areas in the foreign employer - Chinese employee relationship is pay scales. It is very difficult for many Chinese to accept the idea that a foreigner is worth from twenty to fifty times more than they are when it comes to monthly salary - even when they know the foreigner is highly skilled and contributes far more to the enterprise than they do. They are not used to thinking in those terms, and put it on a human-to-human level. While Chinese employees generally do not confront foreign managers directly with what they perceive as an unforgivable injustice, they complain bitterly behind their backs. A few who have become more outspoken will say, "How can you expect me to work any harder or do as much as you do when you are getting paid twenty times more than I am?" Because of this factor and others, new young Chinese employees seldom have any concept of being members of a team, particularly a team that includes foreign staff. Without long, hard training, they simply cannot see themselves as members of a special group, working hard together, in a spirited fashion, for the benefit of the company and themselves. Some foreign managers approach this problem head-on, repeatedly telling their employees: "You are not working for the Chinese government! You are working for "X" Company! This company supports you and your family! Your responsibility and loyalty is to this company!" Foreign managers report that it takes about six months of daily, consistent re-indoctrination and on-the-job training to develop an acceptable attitude, and a modicum of efficiency in the typical employee. This generally does not mean that employees can be left unsupervised, however. Probably the point most often emphasized by foreign managers is the importance of following up on every order given, on every detail of work that is supposed to be done. Some managers report that, even after four years of working with the same group, the need for supervision and follow-up continues unabated. For one thing, say these managers, their Chinese employees do not automatically think beyond the immediate question or situation. "When an office staff member, or a clerk in a hotel or shop, is asked a question and does not know the answer, the typical response is 'I don't know', and they go no further. It does not occur to them to ask someone else or refer the questioner to someone else," explained one manager. "It is like talking to a blank wall. You have to persist to get anything done." The most successful foreign managers also emphasize the importance of being completely honest and forthright with Chinese employees, to let them know clearly what is expected of them and why. The last thing one should do it treat employees as if they were dumb, said one foreign manager. "Even the rawest recruits we get in here are not dumb. Far from it. They just have to be taught a new system of thinking and doing", the manager added. Of course, language is often the root of employee problems. The standard of English among Chinese employees of foreign companies is still relatively low, and despite the fact that more and more expatriate managers are able to speak Mandarin, the linguistic gap remains wide. Said a manager in a joint-venture hotel: "When employees are left on their own they develop their own way of working, which is most often slow and seemingly without serious purpose. If an outsider comes in and tries to change the system, they will strongly resist. About the only effective approach is to identify one or more people in the group who are more open-minded, who will listen and learn and become your ally. Working through these allies, you introduce new concepts and methods very gradually, bits and pieces at a time. There will come a time when the productivity of the group has obviously increased dramatically, which is generally followed by a gradual acceptance of the new system." "In the process of converting employees over to a new system, it is important to recognize effort and success with special perks, such as giving them a little extra time for lunch or occasionally letting them go home early. Having training sessions away from the workplace is also appreciated. It is important to keep everyone in an upbeat mood, which requires a great deal of personal effort. Training sessions can be made lighthearted instead of stiff and formal." Western companies should be wary of relying entirely on Hong Kong Chinese for their managerial staff in China. Hong Kong Chinese tend to take the authoritarian approach, something that mainland Chinese strongly resent because that is the system they are trying to eradicate from their society. A very personal approach that includes a lot of compassion will often get the manager much further. Singapore Chinese are decidedly more likely to use this approach. Austrian, German, and Swiss managers, often seen as being excessively dogmatic and having little interest in the personal lives of their employees, also come in for their share of criticism. As is often the case, however, generalizations about Chinese workers are often wrong and unfair. While millions of Chinese do seem to sit or stand around, doing very little, millions also commute, often by bicycle, for up to four hours, to and from work, in all kinds of weather. The important thing is to treat each person as an individual and take their total environment into consideration. The most successful managers say the most effective management approach is to treat employees like family - be concerned about them, take care of them, and make sure they understand and appreciate what they are supposed to do to deserve such a relationship. The least successful manager is the one who takes a harsh, critical approach and complains a lot. Despite policies announced in 1988 making it legal for companies to get rid of undesirable employees, the procedures for firing workers are precise and cumbersome. Any company that wants to terminate an employee has to be serious about it. Employers must document the undesirable behavior of the employees for several months, warn them to mend their ways, and then consult with the labor union before initiating any action. There are several legal entities involved in the firing process, including the Labor Bureau, the local labor union, and the government administrative agency responsible for the enterprise concerned. Each of these is subject to national, provincial, and municipal laws. Each of these entities investigates the complaint against the employee, votes on whether or not to sanction action, tries to mediate between the worker and the employer, and then, if they all agree that the worker should be dismissed, action is approved. "It is all quite new to us, and both complicated and difficult", said one Chinese official, "but the situation should improve along with the economy." One of the more upsetting characteristics that has traditionally been associated with the Chinese, and is especially pertinent in today's China, is their propensity to go into business for themselves whenever the slightest opportunity presents itself. A typical example of this is regularly demonstrated when companies establish central purchasing offices. It is almost axiomatic that people in the buying office will make side deals with their suppliers, getting a piece of the action. In the worst scenarios - which have happened to a number of Western companies recently - the managers of the buying offices did not maintain any office records of what was being bought or from whom, kept the names of the suppliers secret and, of course, made out like bandits. The foreigner involved in any kind of enterprise in China faces a set of new circumstances. Ilse Massenbauer, principal of Beijing's Lido Kindergarten, talked about her experiences: "There are so many highs and lows in working in China. It is exciting one moment and depressing the next. At this stage in China's evolution the foreigner has to make many sacrifices to live and work here. I was here for eight months before I was able to have a real discussion with my staff. They simply would not talk. They could not understand that I wanted to be their friend. "Nobody sees anything they are not told to see or does anything they are not told to do. They have very little sense of time. If you change anything you have to start over again, explaining why over and over again. You have to watch everything. It is very much like dealing with children." Massenbauer said that none of her staff would take the lead in asking questions or bringing up matters that needed to be discussed. "They almost never take an idea or problem to top management. They talk a lot among themselves but seem unable to come to a conclusion about anything, except when the oppose something." "It took workmen four months to build a playground that could have been done in two or three weeks. They spent most of their time sitting around, talking and smoking. When I complained, they smiled. They could not understand why I was so frustrated. You need to be very honest and frank - not hold back. You also need a break every three or four months, or you burn out." She added: "Those who fraternize with foreigners are severely criticized. There is tremendous amount of jealousy toward both foreigners and the Chinese who associate with them."
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Boye Lafayette de Mente is one of our regular monthly columnists at the 
| This month's column is excerpted from Chinese Etiquette & Ethics in Business, by Boye Lafayette De Mente available from NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company |
© Boye Lafayette De Mente & the Asia Pacific Management Forum 2000
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