Talent: Half empty or half full

Over the Christmas holiday, I read, “The Elephant and The Dragon”*. Meredith compiled a fascinating comparative study of the present and contemporary history of the world’s two most populous nations while connecting their economic, political, and socio-cultural realities to the West.

While not much credit has been given to any educational system (China, India, and USA), China’s priority for rote learning was described as a primary reason for the low proportion (10 percent) of Chinese graduates suitable to work at MNCs. More specifically, the Chinese educational system yields mediocre English-language skills and performs meagerly in terms of creativity, problem solving, and teamwork skills (p. 73, p. 93). These recurring issues have been mentioned in other blogs and articles as well (here, here, here, and here)

On an upbeat note though, Meredith recognizes that Chinese students are upgrading their skills fast.

Indeed, one cannot oversee the fact that many Chinese graduates are more hardworking, ambitious, and determined than their counterparts in developed countries. Importantly, some of their disadvantages can be turned around to advantages by companies that offer a compelling working environment, coherent value set, and an engaging culture. After all, since new graduates have not worked before in local companies, they have not internalized work habits typical of a state run economy. Thus, the fact that these graduates do not know “how things are supposed to be done” either is also beneficial. “Tabula rasa” graduates can be trained to demonstrate strategically relevant behaviors from day one. Fortunately, learning new behavior from scratch is easier to do as opposed to changing habits.

For companies that know how to onboard and socialize new hires, “the talent pool is pretty impressive”**.

* Meredith, Robyn (2007). The Elephant and The Dragon: The Rise of India and China and What It Means for All of Us. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
** Dennis Lam, Director of Microsoft’s Global Technical Engineering Centre in Shanghai. – In Meredith, 2007, p. 73.