Callan Anderson arrived in Hong Kong at the turn of the century, some three years after the British handed it back to Mainland China to become a special administrative region.
He quickly made it his home and over the years has built himself a reputation as one of the leading experts on regional human resources, business consultants and one of Hong Kong's most prolific authors with some seven books to his name.
China has long held fascination for western executives and many have failed to understand it intricacies and complexities whereas others have led their companies to thrive in what is now the second largest economy in the world. Few people have had the frontline exposure that Anderson. He displays a quick wit and can speak to almost any topic and any industry looking for access to either China's workforce or its burgeoning middle class consumer.
I sat down with Anderson recently in his adopted hometown of Hong Kong to discuss China and Human resources.
IBR: China was the Wild West earlier this decade, many Western firms ventured in and often left battered and bruised by their experience. Is it still the same China or a much easier place to do business in 2014?
Callan Anderson: Companies from the West entering China have a much higher knowledge of doing business with China than a few years ago, and form that, their questions and type of support they need is far more technical and precise than merely opening an office or company on the Mainland.
Where once China was the manufacturing hub of much of North America and Europe, it has slowly switched in polarity to that of a significant market that American firms can no longer ignore to sell into rather than merely manufacture.
I have seen many cases where clients have gone down a very expensive and long process to open and enter into China, only to find their new China company has the wrong type of setup in the wrong zone of a particular city, or even worse, entered China without a holding company in Hong Kong that adds a protective legal layer for contractual or trademark protection than entering China directly – what may work in the Western market may not always be the same outside, thus the previous years of being battered and bruised have greatly reduced as long as the one does their homework and don't use a Western mind in a non-Western environment - just because you "meet" the President of a Bank in China telling you they will fund you, does not actually mean they will or that the President of the Bank works for the bank at all - business cards can be printed with any title or logo they want.
IBR: For western companies thinking of entering China for the first time what's the one most valuable piece of advice you would give?
Callan Anderson: Don't leave your brain on the plane - i.e. you would not sign a contract in your home market in a language you do not understand, so why do that in China?
IBR: How do think the Chinese consumer has changed in the past few years?
Callan Anderson: Chinese Consumers have changed from the mere putting rice on the table, to a generation who have aspirations and in many ways to position themselves in a class system that never really existed. Capitalism with a "small C" has resulted in a need to differentiate oneself from the other 1.4 billion people around you, and those that have managed to make money often are conspicuous consumers who want to show the brand and cost of the items they own - it is not completely over that one could see Chinese tourists wear suits with the logo label still on the sleeve - but knowledge and a level of self-pride has made consumers more knowledgeable and cultured, and as such, the demands on Western goods is higher - thus the demand on firms to produce and sell in China from Western brands.
IBR: Do you think that Western companies still need to import western employees for key positions or is the talent now available locally?
Callan Anderson: The talent pool in China is far better than it was ten or even five years ago - it is still wise to have the key positions held by Western or Chinese Western staff as the three key positions in a Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise are key to the ownership - Legal Rep should be from the holding company as this person can move, sell and decide anything they want as far as the company in China is concerned - General Manager can be local or Western - Supervisor same again. It is wise to build trust with your staff on the Mainland over time, rather than giving them the trust until it is proven unwise.
IBR: Overall how would you describe the China workforce in 2014?
Callan Anderson: Highly skilled, yet easily motivated by money and the ability to change jobs for a few RMB more, or even worse, find ways to blackmail employers into paying large sums to dismiss them - the law is very much based on supporting the employee, especially in a Western firm - this is a an issue of the growing capitalist way and the failure of the China legal system preventing abuse of the laws that can result in bad employee practices.
IBR: How do you see the recruitment business going forward, is the internet and tools like LinkedIn the recruiters friend or will they ultimately change the industry and its offering?
Callan Anderson: Recruitment does not reply on LinkedIN or online methods.. Its still very much advertising and recruitment company searches. Considering the size of the workforce and the importance of Universities, there is generally no shortage of candidates
IBR: How is employment law changed over the past decade and how do you seeing changing in the next decade?
Callan Anderson: The employment law changed to protect migrant workers from employer abuse, but indirectly impacted other more global firms in that you could not employ staff on a short-term contract for less than one year. Similarly, the introduction of laws that allowed a WFOE to employ staff directly, rather than depend on the government registered FESCO meant staff felt they were getting a bad deal, and still wanted firms to use FESCO, despite this not being a requirement apart from a Representative Office. The laws need to move at the same speed as the manufacturing growth and inward investment from foreign firms, where more transparency of how you hire and fire staff - staff are a major part of the corporate growth, yet the inability to terminate staff for poor performance or other more even worse infractions without the fear the labour bureau will come down on the staff's side (no transparency) is not encouraging companies to put key mainland staff in key roles.
IBR: Do you think unemployment is the next major problem for an economy like China or is it more complex than that?
Callan Anderson: Unemployment is not the issue, but the issue is in two parts. 1) manufacturing is in the interior of China, yet most of the people live on the coast (migrant workers) - (should factories move to where the people live or move the people to where the factories are? 2) Social disparity where the have and the have not's cause social unrest - big gap between the really rich and the really poor.
IBR: How do you think the changing expectations of the China workforce will impact China in the coming decade?
Callan Anderson: Cost of hiring will go up - almost comparable to that of Hong Kong salaries already -
IBR: Your are well known as the most prolific writer in Hong Kong, with seven books now. How many more do you see coming?
Callan Anderson: I try and produce two to three per year depending on topics that tweak my interest - they tend to focus on staffing, China or more bizarre topics that are more interesting than the run-of-the-mill books out there.
IBR: Tell us about your writing style? are you disciplined and methodical in your ways?
Callan Anderson: I write with acerbic wit, as to me there is no point writing anything (no matter how serious or funny) unless it has the reader captivated by the writing style. Using sarcasm or shock-statements such as "how to fire staff in China? Remove their chair - they will leave on their own volition at some point" gets peoples attention, no matter of you like it or not. I tend to write more on vacations or evenings when I feel I can spent at least an hour to write... anything less than that means you can't get into the real grit of the book you are writing - I tend to write no matter if I think its good or bad, and then edit at the next day - this means I have had time to think about what I have written and whether it is my actual view, gibberish or the best piece of work I have ever written.
Not everyone will like how I write, and know some of my books get better reviews than others - the ones that tend to include more shocking statements get the best sales.
Publications:
Callan Anderson (2013). 'The Ten Second Resume'.
Creative Airspace: ISBN-978-1-62660-009-6
Callan Anderson (2013).'The Accidental Arsonist'
Creative Airspace: ISBN-56-6784659396375
Callan Anderson (2013).'How to Hire and Fire staff in China'
Creative Airspace: ISBN 9781310891595
Callan Anderson (2013).'Dyslexia- Not for Dummies'
Creative Airspace: ISBN 9781311658883
Callan Anderson (2013).Your Employees Want the Negative Feedback you Hate to Give"
Creative Airspace: ISBN-56-6784659396375
Callan Anderson (2013). Scottish Inventors - How Scotland Invented Everything'
Creative Airspace: ISBN-56-6784659396375
Callan Anderson (2014).Get Your Resume Read'
Creative Airspace: ISBN 9781310891595
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