中國本土企業吸引國外漂泊的"海龜"回巢
After 20 years at Western multinationals such as Coca-Cola Co. and Nike Inc., Wayne Chen was offered a senior management role at China Vanke Co., a Shenzhen-based residential-property developer that is the world's largest by revenue.
在可口可樂(Coca-Cola Co.)、耐克(Nike Inc.)等西方跨國公司任職20年後，陳瑋(Wayne Chen)接到了萬科企業股份有限公司(China Vanke Co., 簡稱：萬科)伸過來的橄欖枝，招他擔任萬科的一個高管職位。以收入計，總部位於深圳的萬科是全球最大的住宅類房地產開發商。
Mr. Chen, a Shanghai native who had moved to the U.S. about 15 years ago, said he didn't plan to leave Hay Group, a U.S. management-consulting firm where he was a Shanghai-based managing director.
陳瑋表示，自己當時沒打算離開美國管理諮詢公司合益集團(Hay Group)，他在該公司擔任駐上海的董事總經理。陳瑋是上海人，約在15年前去了美國。But Vanke persisted, winning him over with talk of providing housing for China's aging population and establishing a global footprint in cities such as San Francisco, Singapore and New York. He started working for Vanke in February as chief human resources officer, one of about a dozen China-born, Western-educated executives to join the company during the past five years.
但萬科執意邀請，並向陳瑋描繪了爲中國老齡化人口提供住房以及在舊金山、新加坡和紐約等城市擴張業務的願景，他最終被說動。陳瑋今年2月份加入萬科，擔任首席人力資源官。在過去五年中，有十幾名出生在中國、受過西方教育的高管加入萬科。
Mr. Chen is an example of what is called a 'sea turtle' or 'haigui' in Mandarin: a Chinese native who has returned home after stints in the West. Sea turtles, also a homophone for students returning from overseas studies, are highly prized by Chinese companies because they understand the nuances of Chinese culture and can draw upon Western practices to help their new bosses expand, especially overseas.
陳瑋是典型的“海龜”（海歸），也就是在西方供職多年後回到國內的中國人。“海龜”也常指海外留學回國尋找工作機會的中國畢業生。由於他們深諳中國文化的微妙之處，同時還可以借鑑西方的做法來幫助新僱主擴張業務，特別是海外擴張，這類人才很受中國企業賞識。'Chinese companies are looking to skill up so they can go international in the next 10 years, and want to get these executives into their business,' said Max Price, a Beijing-based partner at recruiters Antal International.
獵頭公司安拓國際(Antal International)駐北京合夥人普賴斯(Max Price)稱，中國企業正在努力提升技能，以便在未來10年能夠走向世界，他們希望把這些高管招進自己的公司。The number of sea turtles has been increasing over the past several years, though that growth has slowed recently. Last year, 350,000 sea turtles returned to China, a 30% rise over the prior year, compared with a 56% rise in 2009, according to China's Ministry of Education, which tracks the phenomenon.
過去幾年，海歸人數一直在增加，不過增速最近有所放緩。據追蹤海歸現象的中國教育部稱，去年有35萬海歸回國，較上年增加了30%，而2009年海歸人數較上年增加了56%。The number of Chinese 'sea gulls' -- who fly back and forth between China and the West -- is also growing, according to Wang Huiyao, president of the Center for China & Globalization, who has studied the overseas Chinese population as well as the returnees.
據中國與全球化智庫(Center for China & Globalization)主任王輝耀稱，中國“海鷗”人數也在增加。王輝耀一直致力於海外華人羣體及海歸羣體的研究。“海鷗”指的是在中國出生、在西方受教育並在中國和西方之間飛來飛去的人。Some executive returnees are attracted by salaries and benefits that can be as much as 50% higher than those offered at Western multinationals, compensation experts say. They are also finding an increasing number of Chinese companies have global ambitions and sophistication on par with Western peers, and often offer Chinese natives better positions with greater scope for decision-making.
薪酬專家稱，一些海歸高管是被薪水和福利吸引回國的，他們的薪酬可比在西方跨國公司高出50%。海歸高管還發現越來越多的中國企業擁有可與西方企業比肩的全球抱負和頭腦，常常給中國人提供決策權限範圍更大的更好職位。Generally, sea turtles 'are leaving for power'' after they have reached career ceilings at Western multinationals, said Benjamin Zhai, a managing director at Russell Reynolds Associates Inc., a big U.S. search firm. One Chinese state-owned enterprise recruits sea turtles by saying, 'Come join us because we don't have a glass ceiling,' according to Alan Pang, head of talent in greater China for consulting firm Aon Hewitt.
大型美國研究公司羅盛諮詢(Russell Reynolds Associates Inc.)總經理翟斌(Benjamin Zhai)說，總的來說，海歸在西方跨國企業碰到職業天花板後會離職以尋求擁有更大權力的工作。諮詢公司怡安翰威特(Aon Hewitt)大中華區人才主管Alan Pang說，一家中國國有企業招募海歸的口號是：加入我們吧，因爲我們沒有玻璃天花板。Working for a Chinese company in China means that 'you're making global decisions rather than having these decisions made for you' by Western headquarters, said Guo Xin, a sea turtle who joined Beijing-based recruiting firm Career International as chief executive in July 2011 after leaving U.S. consulting firm Mercer. 'I don't prize a bigger title or more money, but job satisfaction.'
科銳國際(Career International)首席執行長郭鑫在離開美國諮詢公司美世(Mercer)後於2011年7月份加入這家總部位於北京的獵頭公司。他說，在中國爲一家中國企業工作，意味着你能夠進行全球性的決策，而不是讓別人替你做決策。郭鑫說，他看重的不是更大的頭銜或更高的薪資，而是職業滿足感。Chinese companies are also gaining an edge as foreign multinationals such as technology power Microsoft Corp. and car maker Audi AG face investigations in China over their business practices, recruiters say.
當前，科技巨頭微軟(Microsoft Corp.)、汽車製造商奧迪(Audi AG)等外資跨國企業的業務正在受到中國監管部門的調查，這也給中國企業帶來了優勢。To be sure, many sea turtles who have worked at Western companies for years experience culture shock when they join a Chinese company. 'The success rate is less than 50%,' said Kitty Zheng, a Beijing-based recruiter for Spencer Stuart, another major U.S. search firm.
誠然，許多多年來供職於西方企業的海歸在加入中國公司時會感受到企業文化上的巨大差異。美國研究公司史賓沙(Spencer Stuart)駐北京的獵頭Kitty Zheng說，能夠成功適應這一變化的比例不到50%。These days, China's increasing problems with pollution are also a deterrent.
目前，中國越來越嚴重的污染問題也是一個阻礙。Freeman H. Shen, a Shanghai-based sea turtle who is a top executive at Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., a Chinese car maker, said some of his friends have good careers in China but 'want to move out of China because of the air-quality thing.'
中國汽車廠商浙江吉利控股集團(Zhejiang Geely Holding Group)高管、駐上海的“海歸”沈暉(Freeman H. Shen)說，他的一些朋友在中國有着不錯的職業發展，但因爲空氣質量的原因而希望離開中國。These executives are moving to the U.S. with a Chinese company because they believe their children will have a better chance of getting into a good U.S. college if they complete high school there, said Mr. Shen, Geely Holding's group vice president for corporate development and mergers and acquisitions. In his own case, Mr. Shen's two children are ages 5 and 11 years old; they attend an international school in Shanghai with many American children.
沈暉說，這些高管隨一家中國公司轉戰美國，原因是他們認爲自己的孩子如果在美國上完高中，就會有更好的機會進入不錯的美國大學。沈暉是吉利負責企業發展及併購的集團副總裁。就他自己而言，沈暉的兩個孩子年齡分別爲5歲和11歲，在上海的一所國際學校與許多美國孩子一同上學。After 16 years at Western multinationals, he intends to stick with Geely, which became his first Chinese employer in 2009, because 'Geely has opportunities for me,'' said Mr. Shen, who has brought 10 high-level sea turtles to the company or its units during the past four years.
沈暉說，在西方跨國公司工作了16年後，他有意留在吉利，因爲“吉利對我來說有很多機會”。他於2009年加入吉利，這是他工作的第一家中國企業。過去四年，沈暉爲吉利及其子公司招募了10名海歸高管。Those who stick it out often cite powerful personal motivations.
那些堅持下來的人通常給出的理由是強大的個人激勵。Joan Ren, a partner at Shanghai private-equity firm Ample Harvest Finance, said a chance to make a bigger impact at a local company influenced her 2012 decision to leave General Motors Co. in Shanghai, where she was a top manager of its Chevrolet division.
上海私募股權投資公司Ample Harvest Finance的合夥人Joan Ren說，促使她2012年離開通用汽車(General Motors Co.)的一個影響因素就是可以在一家國內公司中發揮更大的影響力。Joan Ren此前是上海通用雪佛蘭(Chevrolet)業務的一位高級經理。Li Sanqi, 60, was part of the first wave of Chinese to study in the West. Mr. Li said when he came back to China in 1985, he couldn't find many jobs that adequately used his engineering background.
60歲的李三奇是首批到西方留學的中國人之一。他表示，1985年回國時他找不到多少可以充分發揮他工程背景的工作。He left again and launched a number of technology startups in the U.S. over the next two decades, returning in 2009 with telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co.
李三奇又離開了中國，並在隨後的二十年中在美國創辦了許多科技初創公司，之後於2009年加入了電信設備巨頭華爲(Huawei Technologies Co.)。'I was impressed,' said Mr. Li, who is now chief technology officer in Huawei's products and solutions division. 'I know it would have been hard in the 1980s and 1990s for a Chinese company to become this big.'
李三奇目前擔任華爲產品和解決方案部門首席技術長。他說他當時被打動了，因爲他知道一個起步於上世紀八九十年代的中國公司要發展成如此大的規模非常不容易。Mr. Chen, of Vanke, said the Chinese property developer is giving him many opportunities to make use of his Western job experience. He is revamping Vanke's executive hiring and promotion system to put less weight on certain aspects of the interview and more on past performance and online assessment tools. Such criteria were used successfully at his Western employers, according to Mr. Chen.
萬科的陳瑋稱，這家中國房地產開發商給了他很多機會應用他在西方公司的工作經驗。他正在改革萬科的高管聘任和提拔系統，減少面試中一些環節的比重，增加對以往工作表現的考察及在線評估工具的使用。據陳瑋說，這些標準在他所工作過的西方公司中得到了成功的應用。
