"The Great Resignation," and in China, "Lying Flat" both of which entered the business literature with the coronavirus epidemic, have been used to describe the wave of people who questioned life, seeking answers to the question of "why am I working" and quitting their jobs. 

Post-COVID, companies are seeking to develop strategies to retain talented employees and attract new talent to their companies. Statistics show that employment participation rates still have not returned to pre-pandemic conditions. The resignation rate among mid-career employees is at levels that have not been met in the last two decades. 

As a new approach, flexible hiring policies have become widespread, and companies are now focusing on composite talents. All these events force companies to offer more attractive employment opportunities and to popularize alternative working methods to gain recruiting the most talented candidates 

Flexible Working Practices

People do not want to work in the office all the time unless there is a compelling element due to the nature of the work done. Fully remote and hybrid companies are among the priorities of the employees. 

The freedom to work from anywhere has become the most sought-after and demanded form of work by employees during the coronavirus outbreak. In China, as in the rest of the world, we are seeing more and more companies switch to remote and hybrid operations to attract new talent or retain existing talent. Flexible working culture means better work-life balance, especially for the new generation. Companies that ignore this trend will be the "losers of the Great Wave of Resignation." 

Talent and Skills Management

Employees should add new competencies to the competencies they have today, following the needs of the job in the coming years. Companies that develop strategies accordingly prioritize versatile candidates with solid learning and analytical skills by selecting personnel and training existing employees. 

Oxford Economics has published research that reveals that replacing a talented and versatile existing employee with a new employee requires a high cost for companies, especially in professions such as law, doctor, and engineering, where education and experience must be of high quality. According to calculations, finding and training a new employee brings an additional cost of 122 percent of the annual salary of the employee who leaves the job. 

Brand Your Company in the Eyes of Employees

What is meant is not brands in a sense known to consumers. Employees want to work in companies with a reputation for wages, working conditions, career opportunities, the value given to employees, etc. 

Companies should create an employer brand strategy by taking this fact into account. An employer brand strategy sends positive messages to new candidates and existing employees about why that company is the preferred business to work for. Candidates outside the company desire to work for that company, and company employees see themselves as a valuable part of a company that everyone aspires to work for. 

Factors that make companies preferable in the eyes of talented employees:

· Flexible working hours, full remote or hybrid alternatives.

· Competitive wage policy

· Promotion and career opportunities

· Training and developing opportunities

· A good reference in their CV for the next step 

Ability to Manage a Multi-Generational Workforce

With the addition of the Z generation to the workforce, companies are now creating strategies on how to make the X, Y, and Z generations work most efficiently and harmoniously. The HR departments of companies operating in China face to a difficult process. To identify talents with different habits, expectations, experiences, and different age ranges and to develop a business strategy in which they can work in harmony. 

Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion

Companies with full-remote, hybrid, and office working arrangements find the opportunity to add new talents residing in different cities and countries to their staff daily. On the other hand, China is a country where talented job candidates from different countries are already living or looking for work, with its enormous economy and attraction that attracts jobs from hundreds of different countries.  

All this diversity requires establishing a balanced, inclusive and egalitarian work environment among employees with very different ethnic, cultural, and work habits. Chinese companies that achieve this will gain the advantage of recruiting the most talented candidates from all over the world. 

Expand into China without setting up a company, by employing or relocating key staff to take a first step in exploring the market. A professional employer organization (PEO) service can act as the official employer of record (EOR) for your staff in China while you expand your business. With the support of our trusted partner network, we can facilitate local hiring and employment without the time and cost of setting up a legal entity in country.

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