Hire for Skill and Kindness in China
Be kind. This gets that person to be kind. The ripple effects are super valuable. Once you master that then hire for skill and kindness in China.
A study shows that being kind to someone leads them to be kind though often not to the same person. Kindness given has a ripple effect
In my many years work here, I do find that some people just take advantage of kindness and sneer at the naive person being kind. These people need to be rooted out.
For the rest, kindness breeds kindness which breeds more kindness. It takes some process to get that to finally be more self-sustaining in a company culture, but companies become happier places if we invest in them with our heart and effort at the right points.
Money is one way, but noticing and caring are more powerful. Note this quote from an excellent article on this from HBR.
A commitment to be kind can bring many important benefits. First, and perhaps most obviously, practicing kindness will be immensely helpful to our colleagues. Being recognized at work helps reduce employee burnout and absenteeism, and improves employee well-being, Gallup finds year after year in its surveys of U.S. workers. Receiving a compliment, words of recognition, and praise can help individuals feel more fulfilled, boost their self-esteem, improve their self-evaluations, and trigger positive emotions, decades of research have shown.
The article goes on to say it also gives the giver many positive emotions. It is a double win. Good to Find a Higher Level of Talent in China.
To Hire For Skill and Kindness in China Not Easy
You can be kind which is great, but you hire managers here in China is too often another story. These hires apparently have the right qualifications, but they stand high above workers and kindness is far from them. These kinds of choices lead to good people leaving and marginal people staying. It gives your company a bad name and leads to you thinking China has bad leaders. That is far from the truth. The best are out there, but your thinking and recruiting lead to not having them consistently enough. See also Leadership -Small Cracks at Top Lead to Massive Fissures at Bottom.
It is understandable. China and hiring both are not the easiest issues to manage. We have mastered both and are glad to be have over 25% of our placements be rockstars for the companies that we serve. So, we do not have consistent good hires because so many great hires disturb the scheme. Welcome to come and experience for yourself. We love to find leaders of fabulous skill and leadership that can apply kindness at the right time. Let’s kick out those Kiss Up Kick Down Leaders.