World’s Most Attractive Employers 2013 – Who is “In” in Asia?

credit to William Chin

The people at Universum just published their 2013 World’s Most Attractive Employers ranking.  How do companies fare in Asia when it comes to employer of choice and employer branding?  How are students selecting their choice of employers to work for?

Sony, Toyota and Lenovo were the only three Asian companies that made the Global Rankings.

• Sony managed to maintain its 9^th position among Engineering students while falling three spots to 18^th among Business students.
• Its Japanese counterpart Toyota kept its 45^th position among the Business cohort despite taking a slight dip of three positions to 21^st among Engineering students.
• Lenovo, the only Chinese company in the list, improved seven positions to reach 37^th among the Engineering cohort.

Ranking Methodology

The global rankings were based on the responses of over 200,000 students from top universities in 12 countries, including Australia, China, India and Japan, who participated in Universum’s annual student survey earlier this year. Through the survey, they indicated the organisations they deemed IDEAL to work for and why, as well as their career preferences upon graduation.

• Respondents acknowledge the companies they would “consider working for”
• Then select their five “ideal employers”
• The rankings, dubbed the Universum Top 100, measure the employer appeal of companies in the recruitment market.

Asia Pacific Ranking

• Countries covered in 2013: Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan and Singapore
• Total number of students surveyed in 2013: 62,697 (26,246 Business, 36,451 Engineering/IT)

Here are the Top 25 Ranking in APAC

The Demand and Local Talent Gap in the Chinese Market

credit to hamza

China has been one of the fastest developing economies in the past decade, but developments bring new challenges and obstacles along with it. One such challenge, which is becoming increasingly important for the Chinese Market to meet, is addressing the shortage of available leadership talent in the recruitment market.

Indeed, state owned enterprises as well as multinational and local companies are having an increasingly difficult time finding individuals with the right set of leadership and managerial skills to add to their teams. One of the reasons for this is thought to be China’s educational system which prevents the development of critical skills by “relying to heavily on memorization”(Newswise, 2012). Another cause exacerbating the shortage of talented candidates within the Chinese market is the high level of economic development taking place within the country throughout the past decade. This quick growth in the economy has prompted many companies to develop or expand to China within a short span of time, in turn exponentially increasing the demand for talent.

When it comes to company needs two main issues seem to be at the heart of the matter, finding and hiring experienced managers and retaining valuable employees within the company. Senior managers that have a good amount of experience under their belt are becoming increasingly rare to find whilst “commanding a high salary”(Newswise,2012). A study conducted by McKinsey had concluded that one of the biggest obstacles facing companies throughout China is that of recruiting capable managers (McKinsey). In order to solve this problem, “local companies are matching or exceeding MNC salary packages, offering enticing benefits and attractive career paths to senior management” a subject we will be delving into in our next article regarding the importance of Employer Branding (Forbes,2012).

When seeking and keeping the best talent, there are issues to, as Judith Bannister, director of global demographics at The Conference Group notes, “for multinationals, it is now a challenge not only to recruit the best people, but also to develop and retain them”(Bannister, 2012). As the rarity of talented and pragmatically skilled individuals increases so does their leverage when it comes to negotiating with and imposing conditions on their potential employers. “Keeping them after they get them is another problem. Wage increases alone are no longer enough. Companies are trying everything to win the hearts and minds of their increasingly mobile and independent-minded workers” (Sirkin, 2013).

The opportunities for managerial candidates interested in working in China are extremely advantageous, especially for those possessing strong leadership and creative skills. These advantages stem mainly from the quick development of the Chinese economy and heavy foreign investment which has left a gap in the market due to the increased demand for skilled managers. The difficulty for employers in China to find skilled managers has lead them to pay extra attention to the incentives and motivations candidates value the most when working for companies and to heavily invest in their Employer Branding. For this reason, we will next be exploring the subject of Employer Branding and its key role in attracting and retaining high value candidates. Stay Tuned!

Crucial key skills for the Chinese Market

credit to hamza

Previously, we had explored the subject of China and the existing talent gap that is handicapping the local recruitment market; this article will in turn explore the ways in which one can capitalise on this talent gap.

As one of the biggest and fastest developing economies in the world, China needs much more talent than is available within the country to fill in its vacancies, for this reason it looks to attract an increasing amount of international talent. This talent shortage can be felt across all sectors with “China now moving up the value chain in the manufacturing industry, while also becoming more prominent in sectors such as healthcare, IT, leisure and professional services”(). These developments have therefore created many career openings for highly qualified oversee graduates, both Chinese and international, who struggle to find jobs in the western world.

One of the main issues with the existing talent gap in China is the education which “relies too heavily on memorization” (reliableplant.com). This produces graduates that are highly efficient but dependent on leadership, with difficulty thinking creatively or taking initiative independently (reliableplant.com). A study conducted by Mckinsey on the topic had revealed that “there is an ongoing mismatch between the sort of graduates most Chinese universities turn out and the type of candidate who would interest local and regional companies”(). For this reason, the appeal of locals having received a western education and international elements is at an all time high for companies based China.

Moreover, most of the jobs that employers throughout China are having the most difficulty filling are ones that require individuals from specialised fields of expertise such as engineers, technicians, accountant and Finance staff (manpower, 2013). Experts are partly blaming China’s outdated education system for not equipping graduates with the necessary practical skills to be able to function in the real world. A recent article on the talent gap in the Chinese Hospitality sector argued that “educational institutions in China should take specific steps to update course curricula and materials to develop students’ functional, social and business skills” (chinabusinessreview, 2012).