From an HR Executive at a US MNC: I am writing
for an opinion about titles in China. We
want to standardize job titles across the corporation. For example, the majority of roles will be
changed from “General Manager” of a Sales Function to “Director” and from “President”
to “Vice President, Region” (China, Japan, etc…). My
question is will it be ok to proceed this way in Asia or will it create such a
negative perception that it may not be
worth proceeding?
I asked a few experienced China managers
your question. Everyone agrees that in
China, titles and job scope (size of P & L, number of reports, title of the
boss, titles of the peers) are very important.
The two title changes you describe: “General Manager” to “Director” and
“President” to “Vice President” will create uproar!
The biggest
issue is that customers may not understand the change. They will not understand
why someone’s title would be downgraded and, since they like to deal with
senior people, they might even be offended. Titles are also very important for
Chinese Government officials who, at certain levels, may be pleased to deal
with a “President” but not with a re-titled “Vice-President.”
Another
issue is that your employees’ families may perceive they are being demoted and
will want to know why they screwed up in their jobs. Employees may start
looking for new jobs with more senior titles.
Is there a
possibility your company can “grandfather” the executives who currently hold
these titles? Then you could give the new titles to the employees who succeed
them in the roles.
No comments:
Post a Comment