If an enterprise wants to develop, it must learn to train and retain talent by providing benefits to them.
The outbreak of the pandemic has changed the living conditions of countless people. According to statistics, 460,000 enterprises in China went bankrupt and 3.1 million individual businesses had their business licenses canceled. Under such tremendous pressure, in late September 2022, top Christian executives of leading domestic companies shared their experience in hopes of aiding those small business owners and young entrepreneurs who intend to survive the crisis.
Working in a company with a history of 150 years, Mr. L believed that in order to let an enterprise develop healthily and last long, managers needed to focus on three core points.
First of all, the company should choose projects that suited their team and abandon bad businesses, as not all new products and projects could develop continually.
Secondly, the value of the products should be conveyed to customers. Mr. L believed that for a company to gain a foothold, it must appreciate the value of its own products and know how to communicate that to customers. He said: "Our products are not high-tech and many people can imitate them, so how do we compete? The price war is not a good option, but we must convey the value of our products to customers and maintain long-term cooperation with them."
Thirdly, the company should train and retain people. In his view, it was not enough to have good products and good technology. Nurturing and retaining talents was critical for enterprises.
Mr. C, a Malaysian Chinese who has been doing business in China for nearly 20 years, also shared his successful experience. Mr. C said that during COVID-19, they discussed how to better serve customers to overcome the crisis and manage other external factors.
Of the same opinion as Mr. L, he emphasized that in addition to serving customers, enterprises should offer benefits to their employees. He believed that people were the most important and paid great attention to corporate culture and humane management. He suggested that managers should care about what employees cared about.
Mr. C insisted on a balance between work and life. As the work took up one-third of an employee's time, he said the company should create a family atmosphere that gave employees a sense of belonging.
In addition, he also reminded businessmen to refuse the temptation and adhere to their own business philosophy, as they might forget the original intention of the enterprise when confronted with the challenges of development.
Mr. A, another corporate executive who was engaged in international business, also said that people with talent should be valued. His company required executives to sell their shares after the age of 65 to absorb new young leaders, though these aged managers could continue working there.
He also mentioned specific issues: under tremendous pressure in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, many young people planned to return to their hometowns after having worked for several years there because of marriage and housing issues. Facing a brain drain, companies should help solve these young people’s problems in order to retain them for the enterprise.
All three executives mentioned the importance of talent.
An entrepreneur born in the 1980s, who built a small team with his friends, experienced a similar situation. Hit hard by the pandemic, they couldn't pay employees wages for a period of time, but no one left the small company because of mutual trust and harmonious relationships.
The successful experience of enterprises can also be applied in church. Churches face the loss of believers as well as pastors. Under pressure, church leaders should think about how to provide good pastoral care for believers, and guarantee the lives of pastors and staff workers while inspiring them to serve well and resist temptation.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
