Ramping Up: Preparing for the China Boom
Optimising the “human dimension” the key to long-term economic development
29 July 2010 – With analysts such as Deutsche Bank predicting that the PRC will overtake the U.S. in terms of economic output within a decade, the future looks bright for the world’s most populous country.
Rosaleen Blair, CEO and founder of Alexander Mann Solutions recently visited China’s financial centre, Shanghai, and commented “One of the biggest challenges that businesses in China face is how to optimise the human dimension.”
“However, China’s timing is excellent,” says Ms Blair. “Businesses in Europe and the US have spent decades attempting to address the challenges involved in managing human resources – starting with identifying, attracting and retaining talented people. In the last 5-10 years dramatic progress has been made in the field, with new solutions and techniques such as RPO – recruitment process outsourcing – being developed – all of which are becoming both increasingly accessible and sophisticated just at the right time to help China embark on the next leg of its economic journey.”
AMS is rapidly ramping up its presence in China, and plans to double PRC headcount by the end of the year (2010) and is steadily adding internationally recognised brand-names to its client portfolio. Recent business wins include Microsoft, as well as other MNCs and high-profile local Chinese companies.
China’s economic power certainly helped the more developed nations weather the recent global financial crisis and rebound more quickly than many experts predicted. Ms Blair believes that China also has the potential to avoid the HR pitfalls and talent management blind-alleys that have plagued Western firms for years.
“Alexander Mann Solutions is already an acknowledged global leader, helping organisations of every shape and size manage the human capital potential of their business and gain a competitive edge. Now, I am pleased to say our expanding presence in China puts us in a position to offer a range of bespoke professional services and outsourcing options that can make the difference between a business simply surviving and becoming an industry powerhouse. As China continues to develop and transform its economy from a production-led model into a sophisticated, knowledge-based, service-rich paradigm, its businesses will be able to leapfrog older ideas and implement most successful and proven solutions right off the block. That’s where we aim to make a difference in this exciting and fast-geography with its apparently limitless potential,” she said.
