Talent Management Trends in China

Worldwide ERC recently published a survey of 116 companies on trends they anticipated regarding talent mobility in China. Below are some interesting survey results for assignment management structure and top destination cities.

Structure for Managing Assignments in China 

Respondents were asked how assignments were managed by their companies. The results were not surprising in that there still remains a desire for a shared-responsibility focus in many companies.

• 49% - Centralized in corporate headquarters
• 36% - Shared responsibility between corporate HQ and regional/local offices
• 13% - Decentralized, managed at regional or local offices
• 02% - Other

Among NuCompass clients, we have found that while there oftentimes is a desire at the corporate level to control management of global mobility programs from a central source, there can be resistance from divisional offices who have individual preferences in program management or supplier selection. These preferences are usually related to having more confidence in managing inbound moves on their own due to knowledge of local customs/information and long term relationships with local suppliers that a regional office does not want to lose. While centralizing global program management can be challenging, it can be done effectively with the right strategy.

Top 5 Assignee Destinations in China

The companies were surveyed as to the top destination cities in China. The percentage show is the number of companies ranking the city as one of the top destinations:

• #1. Shanghai – 75%
• #2. Beijing – 60%
• #3. Guangzhou – 25%
• #4. Shenzhen – 19%
• #5. Chengdu – 11% (tied)
• #5. Dalian – 11% (tied)

Second and Third-Tier Chinese Cities

Respondents were asked about their anticipation regarding the expansion of moves of Chinese Nationals into second and third-tier cities. 

While the vast majority felt that activity would remain the same (80%), there are still indications of expansion plans into other areas of China as opportunities increase. As would be expected, the leading indicator of future expansion is in short-term assignments, which carried the highest percentage of increase (18%) in the survey.