11 / 127
Human Resources and Payroll in China 2016-2017 (5th Edition) -
11
1.2 Profiling
- By MiriamWickertsheim, Director, Direct HR Shanghai
The profiling stage is a critical planning phase in the recruitment process for the development of
a resource-efficient, fast and effective approach to ensure the suitability of a new hire within an
organization.The cultural and experience gaps between Chinese and foreignmanagers in companies
operating in China often results in conflicting assumptions with regards to job content and candidate
qualification criteria during the hiring process. Awell-executed profiling exercise will serve to bridge
these gaps to minimize misunderstandings and avoid hiring unqualified employees.
Throughout the profiling stage, the HR representative shouldmaintain close contact with the hiring
manager, as strong communication is necessary when specifying company needs, job content,
job title, candidate profile and compensation details. Especially when the HR manager and hiring
manager have different cultural backgrounds, good communication ensures that assumptions for
the position are aligned and complications are minimized throughout the recruitment process.
Analyze Company Needs
In order to assess a company’s recruitment demands, an inventory has to be conducted of the
functional areas that need to be covered. The defined functional areas are then broken down into
specific job content. Clusters of job content are then categorized into distinct positions. Finally, the
number of professionals needed is determined by the output required on the demand side, as well as
themarket availability of professionals with the skillsets to cover the pre-defined job content. In China,
companies have often resorted to hiring more staff to counter the high fluctuation of employees.
Additionally, a prevailing scarcity exists of Chinese professionals with the necessary skill sets to fill
senior technical and management roles. Accordingly, companies have been observed to hire a
larger number of employees to fill such positions as compared to other more mature markets such
as the United States and Europe. For example, a German engineering manager tends to have more
years of experience, is more versatile, and is able to handle a larger variety of tasks compared to a
Chinese equivalent. This often results in a company separating what would normally be done by
one manager in other markets into two or more distinct positions in China.
Specify Job Content
Job content should include the job’s objectives, responsibilities and duties. Due to the scarcity of
versatile Chinese professionals, it is common in China for the originally defined job content to be
adjusted after having reviewed the availability of skillsets in the labor market.