I understand that you recently travelled to China. What inspired you to make the trip this last December?               

I first travelled to Asia over 40 years ago. My family’s first ex-pat assignment was in the Philippines. It was common for people living in Manila to spend long weekends in Hong Kong and my family travelled there 6-8 different times. We even celebrated Christmas in Hong Kong one year!                

Since I was exposed to Asia at such a young age, I developed a real affinity for the culture, the art and the people. Most of my career has been in Human Resources, working in companies ranging in size from 750 employees to 18,000. I have such a passion about the field that I went back to school and earned my 2^nd masters’ degree in HR. I studied for and earned 2 professional certifications in HR as well. So when I was invited to participate in an Executive Human Resources Delegation visiting Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai, it was a “no brainer”! I had to make the trip!  

Tell us about the delegation that you travelled with.                

SHRM (Society for Human Resources Management) is the premier association of Human Resources professionals in the world. I have belonged to SHRM since 1995 and earned my SPHR (Senior Professional in Human Resources) certification through SHRM’s HRCI (Human Resources Certification Institute) in 1997.  For this delegation, SHRM partnered with the People-to-People Citizen Ambassadors Program to sponsor a trip for senior HR professionals to China. When I reviewed the agenda and saw the rich variety of educational and cultural opportunities, I jumped at the chance to be part of it!  

What was the purpose for the delegation?               

There were several objectives which included being exposed and gaining understanding of the -

·         government role in the HR profession,

·         challenges of HR in Chinese companies and foreign multinational companies,

·         infrastructure and system for HR education,

·         status, trend and development of HR as a profession,

·         perception and practice of HR certification in China and the needs,

·         requirements and common practice of HR for newly established multinational presence in China.  

Do you feel that your trip met the objectives?

Each and every formal objective was absolutely fulfilled, due to great planning, skillful facilitation and dedicated and attentive tour guides.But my personal and professional objectives were also met! I am an Owner and Principal of a Human Resources consulting firm and I was looking forward to making some valuable connections. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have direct dialogue with Chinese business leaders, HR professionals and government agency officials about the challenges facing Chinese businesses and facing HR professionals working in those businesses.   

Where did you travel and what did you see and do?               

Meetings were scheduled with the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, two universities offering degrees in Human Resources, the HR departments of two multi-national companies, plus 2 roundtables with scores of HR professionals. But of course, several cultural trips were incorporated in to the agenda as well. In Hong Kong, we visited several sites on Kowloon Island, Hong Kong Island and Lamma Island. In mainland China, we visited Olympic Village, Tian’amen Square, the Forbidden City and the Great Wall in Beijing. We also saw a Chinese acrobatic show, the Shanghai Museum, the Yuyuan Garden and the Bund in Shanghai. We also were invited in to local Chinese families’ homes for a meal, which was positively extraordinary!               

The COO and the VP of International Programs were the co-leaders of the delegation and the Chief Representative of SHRM in China provided invaluable insight. We also had the most delightful and knowledgable tour guides from the People-to-People organization! It was an intense and extensive immersion that was frankly life-changing for many of the delegates!   

You mentioned that you own your own business. Can you tell us about the events that led to your starting your own firm and a little bit about your firm?               

Like hundreds of thousands of others in the US, my business partner and I were caught in the financial crisis that is sweeping not just the United States, but countries around the world. We had our positions eliminated from a US multi-national company in the educational services industry. But when one door closed, another opened and we decided to start our outsourced HR services firm. We are a strengths-based practice, focusing on employee relations, investigations of employee complaints, union avoidance and HR due diligence and acquisition integration. Our clients are typically small to mid-sized employers.  

What was the best part of the trip?               

Every detail was so carefully planned out and every accommodation and amenity was so comfortable. We delegates didn’t have to worry a moment about any logistical details, so we could focus 100% of our attention on learning and absorbing the total experience.                

None of the delegates themselves could have come close to putting together such a complete and productive agenda. The educational sessions provided valuable, first-person insight to individuals, universities and companies that are at the forefront of Chinese business and education. And the cultural sessions were just outstanding!   

Did you have any disappointments on this trip?               

There were no disappointments at all! Rather I am in absolute awe of what China has done in such a short period of time! The progress has been staggering, given where the country started from just 30 years ago, when the cultural reform movement began. Change is difficult when you attempt to mobilize and orient even a small number of people to new ways of thinking and of doing business. But evolving from a centrally planned economy to a market-driven economy involved mobilizing 20% of the world’s population, or 1.34 billion people, most of whom lived an agrarian life. That required tremendous commitment and dedication!                                

China has had to adapt its entire society and culture to Western ways, in its quest to become a global economy and to stand prominently on the world stage. This evolution has created an intricate interdependency with the West. That interdependency has fueled China’s double digit growth and the doubling of its GDP (gross domestic product) every 7 ½ years, but is now causing the country to reel from the effects of the global recession just as its Western business partners has.                

The effects are that its people, its businesses and its society has been whip-sawed from a time of exponential growth and unprecedented prosperity to now a swift and deeping recession which has had drastic effects on everyone. Despite all that, every Chinese person that I met was open to learn and thirsty for knowledge with a hunger to understand. We were welcomed warmly and greeted enthusiastically! Absolutely remarkable! 

What is your greatest “take-away” from this trip? What did you find the most rewarding?               

One sometimes receives great gifts when you least expect it! Clearly one of my objectives was to understand the Chinese culture and society and how Chinese HR professionals balance the “old” ways of collectivism, Confuciansim, harmony and the saving of face with the “new” ways of individual contribution, personal accountability and assertive team dynamics. I was prepared to see huge differences between the Chinese HR professionals we were meeting and the members of the delegation from the US.Certainly there were differences, but I was amazed to see how much we all had in common! The #1 priority for US HR professionals is talent management, which is also the # 1 priority in China! Younger generations in both the US and China value work-life balance. Both the US delegation members and those Chinese HR professionals we were privileged to meet are very open and wanting to learn and to help each other. I expected to have to deal with sharp contrasts. I was pleasantly surprised to see how we may be a world apart, but have so very much in common!  

Anything else you would like our readers to know?               

I would never pretend to know everything about any country in only one trip. But what I learned in just 2 ½ short weeks during this delegation visit is of far more value what I have read and studied about China within the last 20 years.                

If I was to offer any advice, it would be to suggest that if you really want to know and understand a country and its people, you need to go straight to the source. Make no assumptions about someone until you have actually met with them, shaken their hand, talked with them and shared a meal perhaps. People meeting one-to-one is the only true way to know and understand. I’m delighted that I had that opportunity in China!

Last update: 18-05-2009 11:03