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By Alicia Clegg 2008-09-02
Every week, Claire Sandford does battle with elementary Mandarin in between managing a bulging portfolio of clients in PwC's Beijing office.
Her juggling act is skilfully choreographed. By the time she and her husband return to London from her two-year secondment, the 34-year-old executive expects to have mastered the basics of the language and, through her expanded personal circle, be firmly plugged into the fabric of the world's next economic superpower.
“Any knowledge about China is useful,” she says. “But the best thing about being here is the international network I am building.”
Ms Sandford, who is tall and fair-haired, is enough of a rarity in China to draw curious stares when she steps outside her office. Beyond the streets of Beijing, she is just one member of a vast army of career-minded professionals criss-crossing the world in a two-way exchange between developed and emerging markets.
The push for culturally diverse management teams began in sectors such as oil and fast-moving consumer goods. Now professional services firms are entering the fray, lured by opportunities in emerging markets and the need to mould themselves to the requirements of their clients. “If a client has an audit need that crosses borders, we have to be able to adapt to that,” says Richard Gartside, director of human resources at Ernst & Young, the accountancy firm.
In previous downturns, businesses have cut back on overseas assignments to reduce costs. This time round, employers such as the big four accountancy groups say they are encouraging people from their European and US offices to use the current lull to gain experience of emerging markets.
Charles Macleod, director of resourcing at PwC – which has 1,200 employees from its global workforce posted outside their home countries – explains why, in current conditions, it pays to speed up the flow of skills from mature to developing economies. “If you have someone in Europe who could produce twice as much return in Asia, it makes sense to move them. What the downturn does is reduce the opportunity cost of moving people from transaction markets [based on, say, mergers and acquisitions activity] in the northern hemisphere to parts of the world where activity is continuing to build.”
Exposing promising employees to emerging markets has become a strategic necessity. Many graduates begin their careers knowing they will have opportunities to travel. But few expect that in order to climb to the top of the corporate tree they may one day be required to work on another continent.
That has to change, says Mr Macleod, who points out that tomorrow's multinationals will come from today's emerging markets. “Wherever you trade, it is going to be really important to have people who understand how business is done in Asia and the Middle East.”
Persuading people to uproot themselves can be a battle. The biggest hurdle is what Mr Gartside terms “the mismatch” between the time when professionals are happiest to travel – when they are young and single – and the time when they have most to contribute as mobile workers: after they have acquired skills, but also domestic responsibilities. So what happens when personal and professional considerations come into conflict?
As one of the most geographically diversified banks, HSBC has a longstanding policy of sending its rising stars on international assignments. Sometimes a high-flyer may not want to make an move abroad. In such situations, says Paul Ryder, HSBC's head of resourcing, the bank's policy is to respect the person's wishes. But the practical effect of missing out on international experience is nonetheless to slow and ultimately to cap an executive's progress through the business. “As individuals we all make choices and know that there are consequences from those choices.”
Two years ago, Chris Poole chose to abandon a flourishing career at Procter & Gamble. As director of physical distribution for western Europe, he knew his next promotion would require him to move to Asia or the Americas. With children at critical points in their education, a new family home and retired parents, he decided the price for “gaining extra pips” was more than he was prepared to pay. |
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