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- Human Resources and Payroll in China 2016-2017 (5th Edition)
Define Job Title
Defining the right job title will have a significant impact on how well a company will be able to
attract qualified candidates. For instance a multinational company in China might be restrained by
their internal policies to set a job title as “team leader” or “senior engineer”, which would otherwise
be designated as a “manager” at a local Chinese company.
A problem arises when candidates who would have considered the job opportunity for its content
and compensation decline it simply because they would have to downgrade themselves from a
“manager” to “non-manager” title. Many international companies have therefore implemented a
unique system for job titles in China, in which the title “manager” is integrated in more positions,
and even created new “job titles” that do not exist in any other country.
Generally candidates in China experience increasingly high performance pressure and expectations
from their partner, parents and extended family, so they expect faster promotions. Therefore, to
facilitate this demand, a company might consider adding more intermediate hierarchical levels.
For example, whereas a company’s home market may only have “Account Managers”, this role in
China could be split into“Junior Account Managers”and“Account Managers”. In China, a lower level
of standardization exists when it comes to job titles and their related job content. This provides a
certain flexibility for defining job titles within an organization.
Types of Employees in China
Candidate
Type
China
Cultural
Fit
Chinese
Language
Ability
English
Language
Ability
Other
Language
Ability
Know-how of
Industry Best
Practices
Academic
Strength
International
Exposure
Employment
Stability
Market
Availability
Salary
Expectations
Local
Chinese
(no overseas
experience)
+ + + + + +
+
-
+
+
-
+
+ + +
+
Chinese
returnees
(with
international
exposure)
+ + + + + + +
+
+ +
+ +
+ +
+ +
+
+ +
Overseas
Chinese in
Asia (e.g.
Singapore,
Taiwan,
Hong Kong)
+ + + + + + + + +
+ +
+ +
+ +
+ +
+ +
+ +
Overseas
Chinese
outside Asia
(e.g. America,
Europe)
+
+
+ + + + +
+ + +
+ + +
+ + +
+ +
+ +
+ + +
Foreigners
(Non-
Chinese)
-
-
+ + + + + +
+ + +
+ + +
+ + +
+ +
+ +
+ + +
+ Low, + + Moderate, + + + High