Is China going to suffer a Recession, Slow-down or normal Business Cycle?
Not your problem. What we do know is that money is much tighter than it was a year ago — and that means your company will have less to spend on salary, bonus, training and perks.
Recessions test owners and HR managers with both their severity and their length. Unfortunately, dealing with a sharp economic shock (45% fewer sales compared to last year) takes a completely different management approach than dealing with a prolonged economic slowdown (18 months of global GDP growth of 0%). And you may be dealing with both - so don’t add to your problems by killing morale in your own shop.
How to you keep you Chinese team motivated when you are no longer expanding rapidly? How to you keep your Chinese staff fired up with no money? Economic slowdowns aren’t the end of the world, but they require special management approaches in China
3 low-cost or no-cost methods for building stronger teams and maintaining morale in China:
Recognition. This is true anywhere, but in China it carries more weight. Ok, your Sr. VP of Sales wants to see the money — not a plaque. But your rank & file Chinese manager or staffer still likes to be noticed. Make it natural, make it real, and make it personal. If you are not a great communicator and don’t have strong connections with your team, then this is the time to step up. Awards and gifts to individuals and departments go far in a slowing economy. Do this one yourself — don’t delegate it to their direct report.
Training. In the US, training is considered a chore or worse, a criticism. In China its considered a major benefit. If possible make the training formal, outside (ie: at a workshop in a hotel or a professional training facility) and include several members of the team. If you want to do it in-house (which is far less effective), then make it a high priority. 2 things that absolutely kill in-house training: 1) The senior manager taking calls or popping out of the room to take care of other business when they are supposed to be participating or leading the workshop, and 2) Frequent rescheduling or discontinuing a long-running program. Chinese tend to take training a lot more seriously than their US counterparts, and its a very effective method for building positive teams.
Job Expansion / Career Development. Consider cross-training or using training to expand the job responsibilities of your key staffers. We could be looking at a fairly long period of slow-growth, and lots of your workers will be locked in the same position for while. Boredom is the mind-killer, and if you’re not careful your best people may look elsewhere for new challenges.
