China Staff articles from November 2006

China Staff archives from November 2006

Gazing into the crystal ball of human capital: Mercer Human Resource Consulting tells China STAFF about the four key areas in human capital that are fast taking hold across the region: healthcare, M&As, human capital factors and executive compensation. Take note, business leaders!(Cover story)
November 1, 2006... Healthcare is becoming an increasingly large component of companies' budgets. According to Mercer's Health & Welfare Survey conducted between 2002-2004, 16% of respondent companies in Hong Kong in 2002 were spending an amount equivalent to 2%...

Winning the graduate recruitment battle in China: what do graduating students from top Chinese universities find most attractive in an offer of employment? If you choose "competitive compensation", "international career opportunities" and "good career reference", you are right on the money according to a survey Universum Communications conducted across Chinese campuses this year.(Employer Branding)
November 1, 2006... Graduate recruitment in China poses special challenges for the HR community that is unheard of in other talent markets, according to Henrik Schmidt, VP of Universum Communications, Asia Pacific. "First of all, China is a huge country, and the...

Is China ready to welcome the world--in English? With the Olympics less than two years away, China's hospitality sector is facing a severe shortage of English speakers as other sectors poach qualified staff.(language at work)
November 1, 2006... The Beijing Olympics are less than two years away. New subways and roads are under construction. A spiffy downtown is arising out of the rubble of some of the city's once stately courtyard homes. An Olympic Village of stadiums, arenas and other...

Eight ways to more effective performance management: when an employee does not perform according to his or her manager's expectations, effort must be made to rectify the situation. Professor Maimunah Aminuddin highlights the importance of giving appropriate feedback to employees to help them improve the quality of their work.(performance management)
November 1, 2006... Managers need to learn how to give feedback and how to deal with the emotions of their subordinates. Clearly, the giving of feedback to an employee is the responsibility of a line manager. This task cannot be passed on to any other party,...

Working long hours can be counterproductive: some companies are finding that it is more important for employees to work smart than work hard, Michael Taylor writes. To pull this off, employees must also believe they can accomplish as much in less time.(organisational effectiveness)
November 1, 2006... The government in Hong Kong took a bold step earlier this year by implementing a five-day work week for civil servants. Despite the government initiative, however, a survey undertaken by Community Business, a locally based body that promotes...

Maternity leave rights: pregnant employees have antidiscrimination laws that cover them from the day they fall pregnant until well after the birth of the child. Whether it is maternity leave rights or wage entitlements, Pattie Walsh and Deborah Papworth of Minter Ellison caution that mistreatment would be unjustifiable.(Hong Kong employment watch)
November 1, 2006... Q: We are a medium sized manufacturing company based in Hong Kong. One of our female employees has recently informed us that she is 3 months pregnant, and wishes to take some time off before and after the birth of her child, starting from April...

Termination of employees under criminal investigation: the local regulations pertaining to Shanghai, Jiangsu and Liaoning provide explicitly for how employers might dear with an employee accused of criminal liability. Graham Brown and Wei Xin explain what's considered fair grounds for dismissal under the circumstances.(labor law)
November 1, 2006... Q: We have been told that one of our salesmen is apparently being investigated regarding a criminal offence. Our staff has told us that he has been interviewed by the police. So far as we can tell, it is not work related and we do not know all...

Employee turnover rates (1) in Mainland China.(Statistical table)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Employee turnover rates (1) in Mainland China 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Average 8.3% 12.1% 11.7% 11.3% 14.0% 13.8% Median 7.3% 9.8% 9.3% 9.8% 11.6% 11.3% ...

H K managers' purchasing power best-off among Asian peers.(Hong Kong News)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Senior managers in Hong Kong should count themselves the luckiest in Asia, with good salaries, favourable tax and moderating cost of living, according to a survey conducted by ECA International. According to a report in the Hong Kong...

Hong Kong poses threat to New York as global financial service leader.
November 1, 2006... New York risks losing its status as the world's primary financial centre to fast-developing centres like Hong Kong, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a newspaper article. Mayor Bloomberg called the practice of corporate leaders...

Mainland's tax squeeze places Hong Kong firms under duress.(Hong Kong News)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... An ordinate number of factories in the mainland face severe difficulties now that the rebates for value-added tax paid on overseas sales have been removed or reduced, China Daily quoted industry representatives and politicians. The operators...

Government-endorsed minimum wage required for online job site.(Hong Kong News)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... Employers who wish to place recruitment ads on the Labour Department's online job centre for cleaning and security workers will now have to offer a government-endorsed minimum wage. Permanent Secretary for Economic Development and Labour...

Stock investments contribute half of China's Social Security Fund profits.(China News)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... China's Social Security Fund racked up investment income of RMB12.14 billion in the first nine months of the year, at a yield of 6.01%, reported China Daily. Thanks to the bullish market for the first half of the year, stock investments...

China targets 2007 unemployment rate below 4.6%.(China News)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... China aims to help an additional 9 million urban people find jobs and keep the registered urban unemployment rate below 4.6% in 2006, "People's Daily Online" quoted a senior Beijing government official as saying. Tian Chengping, minister...

Minimum hourly-wage standards announced in 29 provinces and regions.(China News)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... China has announced the minimum hourly-wage standards in its 29 provinces and autonomous regions excluding Guangdong and Xinjiang, China Daily cited sources with the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MLSS). All provinces and...

China's annual GDP to grow by 7.5% in next 5 years.(gross domestic product)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... China's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow by about 7.5% annually in the next five years, said Xinhua News quoted Ma Kai, Minister of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), as saying. Ma told the World...

Execs lack "vision for the future".(business innovation and leadership survey)
November 1, 2006... AUSTRALIA -- Executives here are lacking clear strategies and a vision for the future, with government organisations containing the worst of the bunch, a new study conducted by the Australian Institute of Management and Monash University's...

Jakarta exempts expats from language test.(regulations over work permit for foreigners)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... INDONESIA -- Expatriates working in Indonesia will be spared from sitting for an Indonesian-language test which the Government plans to introduce for foreigners wishing to obtain work permits. Manpower and Transmigration Minister Erman...

Age "not a key business issue".(skilled labor shortage, survey)(Brief article)
November 1, 2006... UNITED KINGDOM -- Only a quarter of organisations or 26% in the United Kingdom considered the ageing workforce to be a key business issue, research has found. The 26% figure showed what companies thought about the impact age would have on...