SEARCH ASIA PACIFIC

Expatrlatesying Breed

bilingual, educated, home-glown talentpool has entered the market, Does lhisspell lhe end for expatrates?

Of cou$e one cannot view .AsiaPacific as a monolitluc unit and lump aIlhe countxes logether Ja!'an tLas beenan advanced economy lor much longerthan most of its AsIa Pacific counterparts,providing a hir share of expatriales as itscompanies are expanding intemationally.Howel€! there are conunon tsends tosuggest thal the expaElate co[ununity inAsia Pacific is changinq.

Mat is an expatiate anl'\,!€f Bydefinition in ]^?i&ipedia aJl ei.palriale is a"person residing in a couIltsy and cultueother than lhat ol the percon's upbringingor leqal residence", An expatiatehas lraditionally referred to the skilledprcfessional lhat is highly educated,has a high income and receives specialpelks. An expat was usually secondedftom the headqualre$ oI a multinational,oflen tom the sa.rne couJrtry as themultinational. O!€r time, the forces ofglobalisation have made this etlnocentdc

management approach redrmdant.Today, we still see headquarters sendingout their lusied ard most capeblesoldieE, but not necessaily ftom itshome country In fact, the expahatetearn now comes ftom multiple countxesand di1€rce backgrounds,

Cultural sensiovity is now an integEa.lpart oI marurgement decisions, Forev€mple, il an orgardsation needs toselecl an expatriate lor lhe China rnarkel,it makes sense to consider an individualwho already has some lolm of cultural,linquisiic and emotional cormection,In the past, lhere wes a high degreeol expatriate failwe late because ofculture shock, bul this can be minimisedby bringing in more culturdlly attunedprofessionEls and locusjnq on the cdturaliil beforc the executive has been shoft-listed-

At Glastord Intemadonal, our neworkhas seen sgong growlh in closs-border assignments in lhis region, Ourclients are not just seelong a suilablepeFon lor the job, but the best rnatch.Thus, for cross border searches,requirements for bilingRral capa.bilitycultural undeFtanding ard sensibvity

Co-authored by Brian Sun & Peter Lisneyare b€coming the norm in our client

WHEN HIRING AN EXPATEIATE..,Men hiring an expaliate, it is not

oily about leadership and teclnicalcapabililies, it also a.bout lrust. Being atlhe top of the pyramid is no easy taskand pedonninqr in a foreign counfyadds to this challenge since the localnranaqement and worKorce need to beable to Eust and cornrnunicate effechrclywith this expatriate leader Thus, given achoice, the majority would prefer a leaderwho mutually under$ards and respectsthe local business cultuJe ard customs.

However, localising leaders based onnalionality or cdlnLr€] background aloneis not sufiicient, The corponte agenda isequally imporlant ald following the waveofmeryeF and acquisitions inAsia, thereis now a large segment of jout-venture

corporations bet\,leen local and foreignshkeholder, Representation becomespolitically dJiven as well as conunercial,In technical domains, ranging t'omsemiconductors to online ga,ning,cerlain ol€rseas nrarkels are sevenlyears alead, makinq the jusufication lor

,:i"'"'.,,.i,i.l::.:,'' . :: I'.:a:..!:t,.:.

s an outcome of -Asia Pacfic'sphenomenal indusEial grol,!,lhover the past 20 yea$ a yorurg,

18 search-consult ISSLE Je 2a11

SEARCH ASIA PACIFIC

an expaEiate much more appealing.

HOW IS THE DEMAND CH.ANGING?In fie past, North ,American and

European multinationals were prominentIeaders, but in today's global rnarkel,

the playing field is leveling with theemergence of home-grownmultinationalsftom ,Asia Pacific. This is also reflected inlhe su.rge of Asiancorpolations requestingto be publicly listed. Ironica.lly, as theseAsian'based mdtinationels erpand, they

are developing a taste for the expatrialetalent who can trulsfer lhei! industrylclowledge and intemational mindset tohelp them expand globatly. Thus, whilegaditional multinationals are continuinga top down localisalion scheme oftheir Asiar subsidiaries, emeryingmu.Itinationals are at the same timepicking up sawy expats to help themexpand into virqin territory or to provideexpertise in niche dornains. In essence,ex?a1s today have to be more flexiblelhen belorc and move in enttely diferentcolporate clIcles,

Glasford Intemational Asia Pacifichas observed how difierent rnarkets yielddiff erent conditions fot ex?aEiales:

t Brian Sun of Orion Chinal5las[ordInlemational C,' na repods thatthe whole of China is estimared tohave 400,000 registered foreiqmemployees. Although the percenlageof expats is relatively small, the

Brian Sun Peter Lisney

The workshops are delivered by Francesca Lahiguera, a search professional with more than12 years' experience of retained executive search research and execution. Frahce5cd was aPrincipal at Heidrick & Struggles in Paris and went on to work with boutique firms in parisand London. She now provides research and search consultancy to London-based firmsspecialising in technology and not-for-profit. Originally from the USA, Francesca lives inLondon and speaks fluent French.

Research .rnd {.r**idats J}lvo'op!.!.}e!.:t WnrkshopEii London, UK - May | 0, 201 1Research and candidate Development workshop - this one-day workshop is {or researchers and {or searchconsultants who are new to search. The three themes covered during the day are research ski l ls, telephonetechniques and administration and project management.

Seat(h-fxer ti l}n and {lient Managsrnent WnrkslrapBi€ London, UK - May 1 1, 201 1search Exe(ution and cl ient Management workshop - this one-day workshop is for search consultantsand researchers involved in the search execution process. The course foiuses on eifective and successful clientmanagement and l iaison, progress report ing, candidate screening and appraisals, referencing and salaryneqoTralron,

6 Maximum 16 attendees per workshop. For more information and to book, please visit i* A working lunch and refreshments are included. : www.gearch-consult.ronvworkshops i' Training marerial wil l be provided. or send an email to events@search-consuit.com

SEARCH ASIA PACIFIC

pesence oI fie "halj-pat, lo-pat orlocal plus" is increasing. These areexpats who accept China-basedjobs without the perks. l,ltdte theetpatriate stereotype still exisls, it isnot exclusive to the native Europeanor American, bul cascades lo includemanagers tom Singaporc, Malay€ia,lbi\ran ard Hong Kong - wherecultwes tend to be bilingnral andclosely associated wirh the Chineseculture, Likewise, competingagainstthis new breed of expaEiate tatentis the overseas Chinese tehrmee,afably lglown as ihe "Hai cui" (sea-tu.-t]e), relerring to Chinese whohave acquired an I\y l,eague MBAwith multinational experience atheadquarters and subsequently areplaming a rctr]m home.

Tom Nevins al TMT I ctasfordlnfernattbl?allapan explains thal lhecommunity of expatriates or gaijins(foreignets) is expanding. Allhoughthere is still a dernand for expars, anew breed is emerging, where lheskilled pofessional is a foreigmer butis prepared lo work at more localisedsince article is in Bdtish Enqlishpackages, At lhe sane time, thereis enother breed as corporations arebeginning to recnril intemationa.lly-odented Japanese executives.None oI tiese breeds deserve toclie, as intenra.rriage is becoming acommon occurence.

Eva Son al Nterway I Glaslordlntenalional South Korca s\ggesBthat it used to be djfficult lor ex?alsto join Korean enterpdses becauseof managemenl's resewations andconservafve views. A number offoreign MNCS harc estabtishedoffices in Korea and a numberof expats are now worldng forthem. Recmiting expats iorlocal corporations, howeve! is anew trend. In fact, tq/o lhirds ofClevel employees at LC Electronicsare now expats, and samsung

also has an increasing number ofexpats, Net€rtheless, most loca]corporations are still sceptical aboullhe expats being a good fil. l\lhat isceltain is expau,iates are not a dyingbreed in Koreai in fact, they llave onlyDegnrn to emerge.

Quan Huynh olwPsearch ) Gtastordhtemational ttetr?am indicatestiat ]ajge domestic corporationsstill favou expals. Although thecompeffation is sigmificandy higherthan ior local ta.lent, the retum oninvestnent in terms of pedormanceand results is stil justifiable.MNCS, nevenheless, are beqinningto loca.lise thejr leadelshipappoutmenrs, reporting thal localexecutives deal betterrrith req ularoryissues as well as issues related loloca.l culture and m;rket loowledge.

Peter Lisney of MaJaysia LisneySearch Gksford IntemationatMa]atlsr'a has seen mullinationalslocalising fieir senior level positions.l,isney also sees many industries- such es Telecoms and some morespecialised areas of FinancialServices (including back ofice hrbsof securities senrices), where expatsare in qreal dernandbecause the locallalent pool doesn't co1,€r lhe denrend.Then there are local companiesboosting lheir management teamswilh expenise from abroad. There isalso a strong dernand lor Malaysiantalenl throughout South Easl .Asia,China and the Middle Easr. Asa result, MalalEia has become aprovider of expatriales - rather thanjusl a receiver

KapiJ Gupta ol Shella Consultants IG h s Io r d I n te matio na I I nd ia exptdmslhat lhe Indian job market is full oIanracti€ opportunities for expatscoming to India as well as ]oca.] talentgojng ahoad. fuound 30,000 to40,000 expats are oirrendy workingin India, and the nurriber continues

to grow Expals a.re coming to Indiafor the fo]lowing reasons: growthopporhrnities in one of the fasteslgrowing economies in the world,expats with specialised skills a.rewell compensated and a srint jn Irdiaadds rdue to resumes. Al the sametime, there is a gnowing demandIor Indian executives abroad, As aresu.lt, India is becoming loown iorclemanding and supplying expats.

IN CONCLUSIONWhile diferent condirions lor

expatriates exist, depending on thecountry of interest, it can be observed tiatthe expatnate conrmuniiy in .Asia Pacificis still qrowing, but in difrerenl diections.The selection of expatriates has shittedlrom ar ethno-centric to a talent-centricapproach, looking al hiring rhe besrmatch wherever he/she is ]ocated. Thesuccessful organisations will be thosetlLat explore all their rcsources. beingcreati€ jn leleGging and retaining theirhuman capital.

'Contribulors to this Nqcte include:Tom Netins, CEolfounder. TW InclGl:,s Iord h L? maionat I a p atEva Son, htenatioral Plahbinq &Milketilts, Nteruar I GlaslaA lttematiotal

Quan Hunn, Geiela! Dilectot, WP*sch IGlastord Intemauonal VEt MKapil Gupt4 CEO Shella ConsuJtats )Glastord lnletha4anel Ldia

Perer ,isre, Js ,4rglo Sqedrs, resdrner -Makysia sjnce 1991 He ts the Measns parker

at Lisney Sea.ch I Glasib.d lttetnauanat Malavshad specidj@s in Fitacidl Selvices ahd CXxreler sed.cles. lle cr, be cortacted al plisney@I I s ney s e at c h, @n | @, iiil ey # a r..\, c M

ar;n S,n is a Strsapore, reetddo 4Shanghat stnce nAl. HeE tle Manases pdbelat Otian China t Glash'd tntenalo'a1 Chnatuha has bee. p.aviding executiv. sesch &HR adviso.y semices ta nuldnstionak entetjnothe China fruket a 6s ker indusrres, ,Ye abe contacted at b.ian.slh@otianchitd.hetcn I

GlasLtd lnlematjatal is a leadins ud kslgrowrng etecuttve seuch netwatk. I cukentllhas nehbe$ in 35 countries atuund the wtld ltsslabal rcdch, conbined wjn\ shued ptutte.valuesahd stang locai expetuse j. evety na&et, nakesGlasla,.t an dcellent pubet tor ay orgd'sdLanseekDg Jdsrug so/urors lo derrrajenl@esl

For nrore lnfofmat ion v is i l

Web: www-glasford.com

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