The Chinese has one phase - 求才若渴, meaning thirsting for talent. Until one experiences it, it is diffcult to grasp the intricacies of seeking, hiring and retaining talents.
Seeking talents for a small company had always been a great challenge, if not the greatest. For a entrepreneur without financial support, it is as difficult as reaching for the sky (难如登天). Often this requires the entrepreneur to use personal skills to seek and attract talents.
There are 2 broad alternatives I am taking.
- Think creatively
Let’s face it, for a small business, the biggest obstacle to hiring and retaing is money. Without money, the only way is to retort to non-monetary, often intangible and creative, methods.Not so long ago, we came out with the idea to seek people who want to come to China to work and with the incentive of cultural exchange. We know many people do not work for money alone and see the world has always been an attraction.It started off with excitement but fizzled out. Much of the problem lies with the constant changes we experienced. We cannot get someone to come and wonder most of the time what to do with changing plans. Still I think it is brilliant and will try it again as we are more stable.Recently we had another idea.
As the housing cost in Shanghai is relatively high, many out-of-province(外省) workers spend a large portion of their income on housing. Out intention is to provide lodging for people as an attraction which at the same time is a incentive for staying. However this means we will be moving, again. - Stop thinking of hiring
With even big corporations cutting head-counts, the mantra of this era is to lower fixed-cost. People is one of the biggest fixed cost.Outsource. That’s the buzzword. But it turns out that finding a talented outsource partner is as difficult as finding people.Horror stories and bad experiences abound. Bad quality is a constant complaint. We use a few outsource partners, so far they are less than ideal.
So the search continues. With the year ending and new year looming, I looked back and saw plenty of experiences but little result to testify.
Talents it seems, remains the biggest tripping stone (绊脚石).
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