As China continues to prosper in business at the beginning of the 21st century, the rest of the world is trying to understand the reasons why. A major reason clearly is that companies and firms in China focus energy on managing their valuable human resources by focusing on training and education. Still, the praise is not limited only to the organizations and their corporate cultures. The praise must equally be shared with the Chinese government and the traditional values of the Confucian tradition that continue to thrive at all levels of Chinese society.
Human Resources Excellence In China
In China, it would be impossible to find a consistent trained workforce for a firm if the overall society and government did not consider human resources as an important asset. Would corporations in China find good labor to make high-tech products that are being exported all over the world if the government did not invest in education and training? Once they embraced the new business model, the Chinese government emphasized the essential role of fostering best practices in human resources management. They understood that training and education are a necessity in fostering an effective workforce.
Based in traditional Confucian philosophy, this ideal of order and responsibility filters down throughout the economy from the government at the very top, the corporations and firms in the middle, and the families and workers at the bottom. The Confucian values of attention and precision help workers to focus on the details of their work. Since showing up consistently for any given task is a key value, this allows a business to thrive when applied by a workforce. By having the values of human resources excellence infused at all levels of Chinese society, the result has been productivity and profitability.
The Key Lessons of Chinese HR
This is the key lesson for American companies on two levels. The first is how important it is to invest in ongoing training and education for your workforce. By avoiding complacency, you can stay ahead of the curve. The second lesson is convincing local government to invest in education and training institutions. On one hand, a company might feel this has absolutely no relation to actual business goals. However, by having access to inexpensive but skilled labor for a long time to come, companies will ensure the future of both their own business models and the American economy as a whole.
Human resource management in China is not treated as an empty concept where big words are spoken but no hard action is taken. Had this not been the case, the world would have looked at China with dismay because its huge population would have become an impossible burden to manage. Rather than taking advantage of the available workforce, the country would have been overwhelmed by the many mouths to feed. In contrast, the learned skills of the Chinese laborers thanks to education, training and Confucian values have ensured that China is a world economic power today. Total HR Management identifies with such values as we try to help our clients do more with less in a challenging economy. If America wants to return to the economic forefront again, the same emphasis that China places on human resources excellence must be a priority.
