J.M.Gemini Recruitment Solutions

Not surprisingly, with the recent devaluation in the US Currency, and the rapid growth in global oil prices, it is hitting the Asia Pacific region with inflation becoming the major factor driving salary increases so far this year. Yet, despite these uncertainties across the global economy, Asia is still expected to see a moderate to relatively strong growth in most markets.

Among those regions leading salary increases is China, India, and the United Arab Emirates. The current talent shortage across Asia means that attraction and retention of our people remains the prime challenge for employers. Talent Management strategies of businesses are required to be more innovative due to increasing cost pressures, including more frequent reviews of pay and higher salary increases beyond rewards to attract and retain. But hand-in-hand with this comes higher expectations on performance results in productivity and effectiveness to justify the pressures in managing the rising costs.

China’s economy still remains strong. Expansion and rapid growth remain as the main themes for companies in China. As time marches on talent competition is becoming fiercer because of the gap in supply and demand of talent, and increasing expectation in the workforce. For China, there is a significant percentage increase expected in salary rates for 2008 in contrast to 2007, which is predicted to be around 9.5% -10.5%.

If you would like to more, please contact us at enquiries@jmgemini.com

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July 2008 Newsletter (excerpt)

J.M. GEMINI INTRODUCES RECRUITMENT PROCESS OUTSOURCING

For the first time, J.M. Gemini is introducing Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) to it's clients. RPO refers to when a business outsources some or all of its recruitment works to professional recruitment companies. Currently many businesses use an RPO service to accomplish their recruitment work, and there are good reasons for this. The RPO service brings high recruitment quality, a shortened position opening period, improvement in administration processes and reduction in operational cost. During this period, the professional recruitment company works as the internal recruiting department and is responsible for providing the required tools and methods for recruitment.

J.M. Gemini provides this custom-tailored RPO service according to the internal recruitment requirement from clients, including but not limited to, the following contents:

• Recruitment process design and management.
• Resume Database Searching (famous recruiting service providers' database).
• Job Advertisements (famous recruiting websites).
• Resume screening and candidate contacting.
• Weekly update/report of recruiting status to the client.

How it works:

J.M. Gemini assigns a Consultant to the required client business and the consultant works towards fulfilling the following key roles:
a) Adjust and fulfill the recruitment plan.
b) Manage the recruitment process while communicating with the client, post the recruitment advertisement and search external Databases and Screen resumes.The consultant can also use the clients' resources to accomplish the recruitment plan.

This is all conducted by the consultant as a dedicated resource to the business.

If you would like to more, please contact us at enquiries@jmgemini.com

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June 2008 Newsletter (excerpt)

DO YOUR OWN RECRUITING?

Many companies choose to recruit staff without engaging professional recruiters like those at J.M. Gemini. We know this because when they fail and cannot find the right canddites, they give us a call. Here are some of the reasons why your HR Department may find it difficult to hire staff:

They rely too much on ads. The best candidates are already lost to headhunters and to recruiters who leverage professional connections to attract them.

They know too much about HR and too little about their industry. Do they spend more time reading HR journals than professional publications that are read by the people you want to recruit?

They collect and spend too much time sorting resumes. Do they identify and pursue the people they want? Or do they limit their hires to those people who "come to them".

They try to do the managers job. Managers hate to recruit. But a manager's first job is to find and hire good people.

They waste candidates' time. Good candidates don't have time for endless tests and interviews before they meet the hiring manager. The job description needs to be clear. Candidates need to be informed promptly on the progress of their application.

They let the Internet waste their time. Every day, thousands of people submit resumes in response to job postings on the the Net -- for jobs they know nothing about. Its junk mail, and you're forced to sort through the garbage.

Let J.M. Gemini do your recruiting!

You can do it yourself, but why not simply let a professional recruiter at J.M. Gemini identify qualified staff for you. J.M. Gemini has experienced trained consultants who are recruiting all day long. They know where to find candidates. They know how to sift through the talent pool and identify qualified candidates who meet the job description.

J.M. Gemini has access to a large pool of talent across China, dedicated consultants who understand the requirements of your industry and the contacts and connections to complete a successful hire promptly and efficiently.

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May 2008 Newsletter (excerpt)

WHICH IS THE BEST DAY...

To ask for a pay rise, or design a new project? Research reveals hidden patterns at work...

The Constant Demands of Office life can make one day seem much like the next. In fact, there is a rhythm to the working week, one that savvy employees can use to their advantage. In a study, psychology professor Debbie Moskowitz of McGill Univertisty in Montreal found that “People begin the week all fired up, but as Friday draws nearer they realize they will have to compromise.”

MONDAY finds office workers more demanding and aggressive, so this is the best day for delegating, organizing, and setting goals, following your boss's direction and avoiding conflict.

TUESDAY can be the peak day for output and efficiency, although a study by fish4jobs suggests that Tuesday afternoon is the top time for online job-hunting. We see a spike in traffic just after 3pm,”says chief executive Joe Slavin.

WEDNESDAY Workers are relaxing into the week, but are not yet exhausted. According to business coach Gladeana McMahon, it's the best day for creative thinking. Hold brainstorming meetings and think about the future.

THURSDAY Professor Moskowitz thinks “it's the best day to ask people to do things” because workers are relatively more submissive and open to negotiation. So it might be the best day to ask for a pay rise!

FRIDAY Go carefully – workers take more risks and more accidents today. It's a good day to confront colleagues with a grievance, suggests business psychologist Alastair Hamill: “They can come to terms with what you've said before seeing you on Monday".

THE WEEKEND Are you one of those people who manage high stress all week and succumb to illness at weekends? Try exercising on a Friday night to help the transition from work to leisure.

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April 2008 Newsletter (excerpt)

CHINA RECRUITMENT UPDATE

The war for talent is not a new concept. Finding the right talent and retaining it, is an issue for companies across the world. But it is becoming more apparent across China that there is a need for better talent management systems. The main driver here is the rapid change in the local business environment. The bad news? The talent shortage on our doorsteps is predicted to worsen.

Reliance on importing expatriate talent for senior and executive level employees has been a trend for many years. The number of expatriates in China saw a significant increase of 16% in Shanghai alone during 2007. Yet we are now also seeing more and more Returnees coming to the fore. Although there is an extremely large population, it could be argued that there is a very limited talent pool here. Returnees have different and more extensive experience and thus will naturally get paid more than those of the local staff with only local experience. In turn this has produced an increased emergence of an expensive workforce that was previously notoriously 'low cost'.

Businesses are also being forced to reconsider how quickly they will be able to grow because they cannot find enough people with the skills they need. A study conducted by the McKinsey Global Institute predicts another 75,000 business leaders will be needed in China over the next 10 years, while current estimates put the available stock at around 3000-5000 (China Staff, February 2008, page 28). This shortage will push up wage costs and turnover rates.

Further, salary increases for Hong Kong and Singapore employees in China are now less than those of China returnees. Of course, the percentage increase in those packages is based on Chinese pay structures. However, a comparison of salaries in 1st tier China cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, showed that directors and top executive salaries were increasingly exceeding Taiwan and Macau.

There will be many issues to face besides this shortage of talent, and rising incomes of returnees. There will be other concerns involving consistency and internal equity among expatriates and other staff with a lot of companies considering plans for localization for 2008 and beyond. For the future it will mean that companies will have to offer more to local executives for compensation and invest more in the local employees at senior levels.

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March 2008 Newsletter (excerpt)

RECRUITMENT IS A MATCHING JOB...

Both clients and candidates want their needs met.

As a recruiter, we are always interviewing potential candidates for our clients. That is our job. Give the candidate your time and ask lots of questions about them. Aim to derive as much information about them as you can and then tell the candidate the aspects of the job that will meet their needs.

From a candidate's perspective, they want the recruiter to be open and honest about the job opportunity. Communicating the role and its benefits, in a sincere manner, and aiming to understand the candidate’s ideals to be able to establish a good fit from that perspective is the key to matching jobs with people.

So the key messages when recruiting:

- Know your priorities: Do your homework on your candidates, don’t be unprepared. Know how their background relates to an opportunity.

- Make the candidate feel valued. Do not treat them like they are an interruption of your busy day.

- Meet their needs, by matching your client's requirements with theirs.

- Making the candidate feel important by matching their needs with the clients will speak for itself when you place them - fulfilling the clients needs, the candidates, and your own.

That is the type of service J.M. Gemini aim to provide. Candidates are an important touchpoint in the recruiting process and an important branding opportunity for us to ensure we are providing professional and successful placements for our clients.

Source: Finders, Keepers & Trainers, page 44, January – February 2008

NEW CHINA INCOME LAWS FOR 2008

China introduces a new individual income tax threshold.

China has raised the individual monthly income tax threshold from 1600RMB (US$224) to RMB2000 (US$279), effective as of March 1st, 2008. People who derive income from contractual operations and contract to lease business are also entitled to the amended tax threshold. Back in 1980, China passed Individual Income Tax Law of People's Republic of China, which embodies the establishment of individual income tax system in China. Back then the tax cutoff point was 800RMB (US$119) and remained so until 2006, when based on basic cost of living, the threshold was raised from RMB 800 to RMB 1600.

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