Different Country - Same Problems
“This is the toughest week of the year. Many employees are upset that they did not get raises they think they deserved. Many are demanding meetings with me to review why they didn’t get as much as others.”Not exactly the conversation I expected to hear when I arrived in China. I thought the employees were quiet, respectful, and just thankful to have a job. But here I was with a manager having a conversation not unlike many I have had in the US. Many of the same personnel relations issues exist here, in this new developing industrial power.
One employee was almost in a shouting match with a plant manager and human resources manager as he left a meeting outside my office the other day. It was later explained to me that he was offended at not getting an increase, even though he refused to do much of the work required at the next pay level he was expected to perform. He decided to quit, to everyone’s satisfaction, and was ushered from the premises.
The world gets smaller everyday. And China is no exception to the increasing expectation of employees for higher wages. It’s just a difference in the base. Here they start much lower, of course. But it is a fair wage for the area, and a major increase over most anything else they’ve ever done.
To most it is a wonderful place to work. Three meals a day. Good pay. It must be good. There is a line of applicants at least 30 long every day at the front gate, just begging to get a job here.
posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 10:40 AM
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