HR Forum Meeting Go back »
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Time2009-02-12 | 09:00
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Venue:European Chamber Shanghai Office
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Address:Unit 2204, Shui On Plaza, No.333 Huai Hai Middle Road, Shanghai.
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Fee:Members: FREE
Human Resources Forum
Meeting Minutes
Time: Thursday, 12th Feb, 2009
Venue: European Chamber Office, Unit 2204, Shui On Plaza, No. 333 Huai Hai Middle Road, Shanghai
Company | Name | EUCCC Member |
Neumann International | Hans W. Stremme | |
SRC, Shanghai Rainbow Consulting | Dan Zhu | |
Hill Associates | Jay Josef Hoenig | |
Hill Associates | Danny Lawley | |
Hill Associates | Jim Yuan | |
JLJ Group | Timothy Lamb | |
Bekaert Management | Paul Choo | |
Bondo & Schultz | Monica Lau | |
Carrefour | Joanna Meng | |
MPS China Management | Tero Kosonen | |
Campanile Business Consulting | Gabor Holch | |
Caliper | Lisa Shi | |
Randstad | Annemarieke Beekman | |
Beiten Burkhardt | Iris Duchetsmann | |
DI-Asia Base Business Service | Anders Kjøller | |
Active Selection PTE | Velma Cerejo | |
Gallup Consulting | Lisa Bao | |
Umicore Marketing Services | Claire Chen | |
DLA Piper | Carol Zhu | |
Bayer | Cathy Gui | |
Santa Fe Relocation Services | Paul Franco | |
Bayer Integrated Site | Lia Zuo | |
EUCCC | Tony Brooks |
Agenda
1. Presentation on “HR Strategies and Risk Management Planning for Corporate Downsizing, Plant Closures and Staff Layoffs” by Danny Lawley and Jay Hoenig from Hill & Associates. For more information on the presentation, please see the attachment.
2. Discussion of possible dates for election of Chair and Vice Chairs of HR Forum for 2009-2010. Rules for standing for election.
3. Discussion of recent legislation and HR related calls for comments (e.g. the Social Insurance Law).
4. National HR Survey of European Chamber members.
5. Events for the Spring - ideas for breakfast seminars and HR Forum meetings.
6. Feedback from the January 2009 presentation to HR Forum members on Compulsory Unionisation by Shanghai ACFTU Chairman Liu Weixin.
7. AOB and dates for next meetings.
1. Presentation on “HR Strategies and Risk Management Planning for Corporate Downsizing, Plant Closures and Staff Layoffs” by Danny Lawley and Jay Hoenig from Hill & Associates.
Today's economic crisis has deeply impacted upon companies all around the world. Present economic conditions and future uncertainty, coupled with the intricate business environment in China, put added risk on foreign multinationals operating in China. Numerous foreign companies have recently initiated downsizing programs, such as employee layoffs, facility closures, business process outsourcing and contract terminations that have resulted in various labour issues.
In recent weeks, Hill & Associates have seen a significant spike in employee layoff and factory closure exercises turning hostile. H&A has handled and consulted on numerous cases of this nature, including physical threats against the senior expatriate management team by hundreds of workers in a Shanghai factory.
“Typically 95% of the workforce will accept the severance terms offered if treated fairly. It is the 5% that do cause trouble who often quickly incite others and garner their support.”
Jay Hoenig and Danny Lawley from Hill & Associates, China, shared their experiences and the key lessons learned in assisting companies with these difficult operations. They highlighted areas of concern regarding facility closures and workforce reductions, discuss best practices for the safety of staff and security of company assets, cover recent case studies as well as go through the questions that the HR department should ask themselves prior to downsizing. In addition, they briefly touched on how severance packages, employee demographics, government and labour relations, communication, logistics, intellectual property and company assets and guard force teams play into a corporate downsizing implementation plan.
The presentation is not attached to these minutes. For any member of the HR forum that would like more information on the presentation, please contact Hill & Associates through the HR Forum Business Manager Tony Brooks at tbrooks@euccc.com.cn
2. Discussion of possible dates for election of Chair and Vice Chairs of HR Forum for 2009-2010. Rules for standing for election.
The elections for HR Forum Chair and Vice Chair will be held on Thursday 12th March, at the EUCCC Shanghai office. The Chair and Vice Chair have graciously agreed to stand for re-election, but they and the Chamber Secretariat encourage other potential candidates to stand. In particular, the Chair and Vice Chairs wish to emphasise they would strongly encourage HR Directors and HR Managers to stand for election, as an HR Forum composed of service providers and HR directors/managers would more accurately reflect the cross-section of members at the European Chamber.
3. Discussion of recent legislation and HR related calls for comments (e.g. the Social Insurance Law).
Members were thanked for their comments on the Social Insurance Law (Draft), which ran to seven pages of detailed comments. The European Chamber is widely respected for the quality of its input on draft legislation. Thus, members are always strongly encouraged to submit comments – as they will almost certainly be carefully studied. In this case, comments on the Social insurance Law were gratefully received from law firms, service providers and industrial companies, and the collated comments were forwarded to the National People’s Congress (NPC) on Friday 13th February.
4. National HR Survey of European Chamber members.
Five companies have expressed an interest in conducting a national HR Survey of European Chamber members, in a similar style to the annual “Business Confidence Survey” conducted by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. At the moment, the detailed proposals received are being considered by the Working Group chair and vice chairs. These cover all aspects of the survey, from who owns the data, the timeline for conducting and publishing the survey, the survey content, right through to what format to publish the survey in. In particular, the proposals are being scrutinised for details of costings and who pays for the significant costs incurred in carrying-out, launching and publishing the survey.
The proposals for the national HR survey will be considered by the EUCCC governing body, EXCO, when it next meets in March. Members will be informed of the winning bid as soon as possible after it is announced.
5. Events for the Spring - ideas for breakfast seminars and HR Forum meetings.
HR Forum members with ideas for presenting to the HR Forum, either at meetings, or at Breakfast Seminars, or even both, are requested to contact Tony Brooks at tbrooks@euccc.com.cn
HR Directors from several member companies have offered to discuss their operations, either at the EUCCC offices, in the form of a presentation to HR Forum members, or at factory production sites. One member company has offered for HR Forum members to visit their regional HQ in Pudong, to see on how they manage HR operations for 15,000 people. More details on these and other presentations will follow in due course.
6. Feedback from the January 2009 presentation to HR Forum members on Compulsory Unionisation by Shanghai ACFTU Chairman Liu Weixin.
Members have already been forwarded the minutes from the presentation compulsory unionisation by Shanghai ACFTU Chairman Liu Weixin and his senior legal advisor Huang Qi. It is anticipated that the HR Forum Chair, Vice Chair and the Business Manager will pay a return visit to the Shanghai Municipal Trade Union Council, probably following the HR Forum elections next month. If any members need another PDF copy of the 8th January 2009 presentation, then please contact Tony Brooks.
7. AOB and dates for next meetings.
The next HR Forum meeting (to include elections for Chair and Vice Chair) will take place on Thursday 12th March, at the EUCCC Shanghai office.
For the meeting minutes download, please press here.
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