The Chapman Consulting Group's APAC HR Leader Series Moves to Shanghai

​The Chapman Consulting Group’s (ChapmanCG) second quarter APAC HR series reached China last week and held four sessions at the corporate offices of Dow, GE, Starbucks and CP Lotus in Shanghai. These gatherings were chaired by Ben Davies, a Managing Director with ChapmanCG and Paul Ferrari, a Director with ChapmanCG (focused on Greater China) was also present. There were over 200 attendees across the four sessions in China and representatives from a broad range of industries were present.

The discussions were both inspiring and thought-provoking with guest speakers sharing topical perspectives on:

• Creating an ‘Asia Forum’ to Improve Cross-Geographical Communication and Speed Up Decision Making (International Flavors & Fragrances)

• Returning Asia-Born People, who had previously been Working or Studying Abroad, Back to Asia (UCB)

• Making Leaders Accountable for Organisation / People Results through HR Business Partnership (Voith Paper)

• Creating an “Asia Learning Week” to Enhance Cross-Geographic Interaction and Drive Sustainable Culture (GE)

• A Recent Example of Creative HR Best Practices (Volvo Construction Equipment)

• Using ‘Storytelling’ Skills to Nurture Company Culture (Starbucks)

• HSBC Exchange – a New Channel of Employee Communication (HSBC)

• Creative HR Best Practices (CP Lotus)

• Focusing on Employee Engagement Activities that Appeal to Generation Y (CIGNA)

• Keeping Staff Energy Levels High (Lloyd’s Register)

• Becoming more Chinese in China (Nestle)

• Using Online Social Media for Recruitment (Nielsen)

The topics triggered plenty of discussion and some key high-level takeaways included:

• The simplification of processes and structures drive better conversations between HR and business.

• Shared outcomes for HR and business help foster better partnerships.

• Female representation seems less of a challenge in China today with MNCs innovating to increase diversity.

• Creating a story around your EVP can help engage and retain employees.

• Regular face to face interaction and communication with employees inevitably builds greater engagement and helps retain key talent.

• MNCs have to become more Chinese to operate successfully in China.

Similar ChapmanCG APAC HR leader gatherings have taken place over the last three weeks in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia and Thailand.