Crack* the human code of global expansion

“Although we already have a branch in the United States and a factory in Thailand, our globalization strategy has just started. The operation of the Thai factory has had a bad start, especially in terms of cultural integration. If I were to do it all over again, I would send more than ten Chinese employees to Thailand to work for a year, and then recruit 20 people from a technical school in Thailand to work here for a year, and then turn these two groups of people into a team to manage the Thai factory On the surface, it will take an extra year and a lot of money, but this is the most valuable investment." At the "2016 China Top Ten Management Practice Forum and Awards Ceremony" by CEConlines, the award-winning companies, Cai Changle, chairman of Dongguan Huimei Mould Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Huimei Mould), made his heartfelt remarks, which made everyone feel that the process of internationalization of private enterprises was not as smooth as expected.

On the road of globalization, Huimei Mould has gone through a process of first decline and then improvement, which revealed four key experiences. As Gong Ruiping, global human resources director of British Petroleum's Fuels and Lubricants Technology Division, points out, "Whether it is expansion or acquisition, people are one of the most important factors in determining the success or failure of a company's globalization strategy."

Building an international management team

Today, when manufacturing companies face the challenges of global competition and corporate strategies are adjusted to global strategies, the company's talent structure, salary system, recruitment method , The training needs have also changed accordingly. What should be the first step?

"I used to drink tea, but now I drink coffee." Cai Changle took a sip of the coffee in his hand, and then told reporters that because there are returnees and foreigners in the company's executive team, so Freshly ground coffee machines have been installed in the company's pantry, and customer representatives from all over the world can also drink a cup of hot coffee at any time.

In 2003, when the domestic mold industry was still booming, Cai Changle felt the crisis in the future of the industry. Taking advantage of the opportunity to participate in industry exhibitions in the United States, he deeply understands the local manufacturing industry and deeply realizes that the labor cost of the mold industry is very high. Whether it is technology or talent, the gap between the high-end mold industry in Europe and the United States can no longer be bridged. Because the professional and technical personnel in the mold industry need a long training process, whether they are mold design engineers, senior mold masters or senior technicians in various positions, or even every skilled worker, they need at least 3 years of on-the-job training to make high-quality products. 's mold. "So I'm sure that as long as the mid-to-high-end molds are done well, our business will be able to travel around the world."

After the business goes global, the internationalization of business talents and management talents within the enterprise has become a shortcoming. Cai Changle found that what Huimei Mould lacks the most is the compound talents who understand technology, language and management. It is difficult to find in the domestic mould industry. Even if there are a few, the asking price is very high. Looking around the world, such talents abound.

In 2005, Liu Biao, who studied and worked in Singapore for a few years, returned to China to look for development opportunities. He applied for the project manager of Huimei. It was his arrival that brought global talents and talents to Huimei Mould. The transformation of doing business globally. Now the company has middle and senior managers and senior technicians from Switzerland, Germany, Japan and Singapore.

Because of the transfer of industries, they are useless in their own countries, and it is an option to come to China for development. As long as appropriate remuneration and respect are given, their professional ability and professionalism often play an exemplary role.

Looking back on the development of these years, Cai Changle said with emotion: "The internationalization of the management team is the first step for Huimei Mould's success. Because of the diversified management, we can better deploy globally. In the past ten years, I have been the top person in charge of human resources of the company, so I must spare no effort to make talents global."

In this regard, Gong Ruiping commented that the diversity of the team includes the management team. Diversification is the premise for enterprises to do well in globalization. Diversified teams are inclusive. People with different cultural backgrounds and ways of thinking are together. Although there will be some conflicts, the truth will become clearer and the complementarity of team members can help companies capture business opportunities and prevent risks.

Improve employees' cross-cultural communication skills

Today, 80% of Huimei Mould's business comes from overseas. When serving customers such as BMW, mold engineers and structural engineers are required to participate in the customer's In the process of product development, it is necessary to communicate directly in English. How does Huimei Mould attract and train these moulders and engineers with international vision, R&D ability and knowledge of English?

Cai Changle pointed out that at the beginning of the globalization of enterprises, the language barrier of employees became the biggest challenge. Ten years ago, there were not many employees in the company who could read and understand English materials, and even fewer could speak and write. Although translators were sometimes available, business communication was no problem, but many technical vocabulary was difficult to express accurately. .

Huimei Mould once invited English teachers to give training courses to improve the English level of employees, but with little success. In order to motivate employees to learn English well, the company has introduced a policy: employees who can understand English materials will receive a monthly subsidy of 300 yuan; employees who can write emails in English will receive a subsidy of 500 yuan; employees who can communicate with foreign customers in English Add 800 yuan subsidy. After the implementation of the policy, the enthusiasm of the employees to learn English has been mobilized, and the technicians have gradually dared to speak English to foreign customers. Foreign customers are also very happy, because there are no communication barriers in the work, and the efficiency is also improved. After two to three years, the company's internal English level has risen, the company has received more and more overseas orders, and the unit price has also become higher and higher.

Now, Huimei Mould will raise the language threshold when recruiting, select employees who understand technology and English well, and give them the opportunity to fly overseas alone and complete projects independently. After the salary has kept up, there are also regular learning opportunities such as exhibitions, and these employees are also willing to stay and continue to develop.

Gong Ruiping believes that there are many challenges to face in the globalization of enterprises. From the perspective of human resources, the biggest problem is the lack of international talents who can carry out cross-cultural management. It is very important to the company whether it can attract such people, and whether there is a mechanism to retain and continuously cultivate such talents, including mechanisms for compensation, training and career development. In addition, it is necessary to have a deep understanding of the local policies, regulations and social customs of the country or region to be visited to minimize subsequent cultural conflicts. In the process of formulating the strategy, the human resources department should be involved in advance and make special preparations for this.

The Spring Bamboo Project: Jointly Train Talents

Cai Changle joined the industry at the age of 13. He cherished various learning opportunities very much when he was young and dropped out of school. In addition to reading a lot of management books. Now he not only has an MBA degree from the University of Northern Virginia, but also insists on taking the course of the President's Class of China Europe International Business School. After the class, he will share the newly learned management knowledge with the employees and combine it with the actual situation of the company. be applied.

"The Gene of Change", "Project Management", "Craftsman Spirit"... Cai Changle flipped through the management books he had just read on the bookshelf and said: "After reading a good book, I will I recommend other executives and employees to read it. For example, this book "Human Resource Management Practice" has been purchased and sent to them to read." Under his influence, the entire executive team has become a learning organization. They also invite customers and partners to train employees, talk about industry technical standards, talk about product requirements, and provide feedback on products. The company also spends more than two million yuan every year to send technical R&D personnel and engineers abroad to participate in exhibitions, participate in engineering conferences, and participate in customer R&D. The company is permeated with a corporate culture of endless learning and continuous innovation.

Liu Biao, the general manager of Huimei Mould, said that in order to support the company's global development strategy, the company has implemented a three-year "bamboo shoots plan". The company selects some mold graduates with good oral English and listening skills from the cooperative colleges and universities, signs a three-year rotation training plan, and puts them into different technical positions such as fitters and milling machines in the company's front-line. Really grow into a qualified mold engineer. Three years later, two-way selection was made to determine their positions, and 9 of the first 10 people were left, and the success rate was quite high.

The success of the Spring Bamboo Project shows that as long as companies and employees are down-to-earth, they can achieve mutual success. To cultivate talents, enterprises need to pay more in the initial stage. Judging from the results, it is all worthwhile. Cai Changle pointed out that the English proficiency of the mold graduates from colleges and universities is generally much stronger than before, but there is still a certain gap between the professional and technical level and the needs of enterprises. In the future, he plans to cooperate with more mold-related colleges and universities to intervene in the course stage. , combining theory with practice to complete customized courses, and even provide students with opportunities for overseas internships.

Gong Ruiping suggested that if you want to take the road of globalization for a long time, you should not regard yourself as a Chinese enterprise, but a global enterprise, and systematically attract and cultivate cross-cultural management talents to support subsequent development.

Using the "External Brain" to improve the management system

It is not difficult to make a strategy, but it is difficult to execute it. In order to implement the strategy well, Huimei Mould first hired a lean management consulting agency in Hong Kong to help improve the production management level, and then invited a professional strategic consulting company to assist, decompose the strategy into specific action plans for each department, and supervise the implementation process. . After the annual strategy summary and the formulation of the new year plan, a strategy meeting is held every quarter to review the work progress in the past three months, and arrange the work for the next quarter on the basis of making necessary adjustments. During the meeting, each high-level executive can only talk about himself, not others. The work of commenting is undertaken by the consulting coach. Through strategic meetings, company executives have also enhanced mutual understanding and trust, making work communication between departments smoother.

Cai Changle pointed to a group photo of the executive team with everyone in the air and said: "For the past 8 years, our strategy meetings have never been interrupted, and every time a strategy coach leads the executive team. Let’s do it together. At this meeting, as the chairman of the board, I can only listen with my ears and cannot express any opinions.” Such a communication mechanism and communication atmosphere have solved the long-standing problem of private enterprise bosses “speaking alone”. After a period of "practice", the executives are very clear about their action plan, and it is easier to assess. Cai Changle went on to say: "It is not a one-time thing for enterprises to improve their management. I think professional people should do professional things and introduce external brains, which is also a common practice for large international companies. For ten years, we have paid consulting companies. The cost of the company is more than 10 million, and the improvement effect on our corporate management is also obvious. Now I don’t care about the specific business of the company at all, I only care about group strategy, HR and lean improvement.”

The senior officials took off. The photos were spray-painted into huge posters and displayed in the corridors of the office building. Every employee who passed by would be deeply infected when they saw the image of the smiling and energetic executive team. Huimei Mould, a young enterprise about to turn 30, is taking steady steps towards globalization.

For the case of Huimei Mould, Gong Ruiping pointed out that before the globalization of enterprises, great efforts should be made to continuously improve their own management system. In fact, only by laying a good foundation for enterprise management can the road of globalization go more smoothly.

Figure/CEC