I’m not a doomsday sayer by nature.  In fact, those who know me will say that I’m very optimistic person.  However, in talking about the global financial crisis and its affect on China, you just can’t ignore the realities that have begun to hit many companies and industries here.  As a result, you can’t help but to sound the warning bell if you’re leading a team or company operation. 

That’s why in my recent CEO address to employees, I was very direct in telling them that tougher times from the global recession have also arrived to China and are quickly affecting multinationals here as their business suffers in other major markets like the U.S. and Europe.  In addition, I’ve told them that we are only in the beginning stages of this much more difficult market and economic period.  As a result, in the upcoming year or so, everyone is going to have to get sharper and better, whether you’re competing as a business or individual.

Putting the impact of the global financial crisis on our business here in China in any lesser terms would bring great risk to our business and people.  For instance, in the past month, our recruitment case volume has dropped by a good 50% as our clients have been told by their home offices to freeze hiring and headcount, reassess budgets and business priorities, and review operations.  In the coming months, we expect even more delays and cancellations from clients to happen as many companies take a “do more with less” approach to their business growth in this market.  Even this is likely to be more of a postponement of hiring decisions rather than an elimination of positions, it still presents a big challenge to face.

As with so many other companies in China, although the market conditions will make it very difficult to grow our business at the same rate that we might during a stronger market situation, this upcoming period presents a great opportunity to build and solidify our business for the long-term by significantly raising our branding and position in the market, and by being one of the stronger, healthier companies to manage through this tough economic situation. 

Like many companies operating in China, there are many areas where both our company and people need to develop and mature.  As such, I tell our management team that this is a great chance for our company to raise expectations and performance standards to match those of a world-class company.  It is an opportunity to accelerate the maturation of our resources, operations, and approach delivering results and demonstrating performance among our employees in China. 

I tell them that this is the direction that we have always been heading anyway, and that, in fact, these things that we’ll be doing with greater intent now is what we have always planned to do to become a more mature, highly professional and disciplined, world-class company.  The more difficult market conditions from the global downturn are just driving all of this to happen with greater urgency and in a more focused manner than before.

Achieving our success during this downturn will require our people to deliver to show their maturity, commitment, and value.  It’s also a chance for us to deliver a clear message to everyone in our company that they should appreciate where they are and be prepared to protect what we have.  They should be glad to be busy, working to capacity, and sought out for additional projects.  This will better ensure their productive, value, and results to our company. 

This is not the time for people to be saying what they can’t do.  Rather, people need to be thinking about the things they can do and about the value they can add to their position and to our company.  This is also a time when people need to have a mindset of doing anything and everything that is asked and needed of them to ensure their performance and results, and to support our business success.

I tell our employees that the global financial crisis is what it is.  It’s not our fault or their fault.  Regardless, however, we have to face the realities that it brings.  In the long run, it’s a good thing for many businesses and individuals in China as they continue on their way to becoming “world-class” in their capabilities.