A couple of General Manager friends on separate occasions have told me one of the greatest human resource concerns they have is what to do with bored Chinese staff. In both instances, the staff they hired came from much larger organizations, spoke English, and had varying degrees of management experience. Both staff are particularly bright, inquisitive. In one instance, one of the GMs was able to engage the Chinese employee by sending him on an MBA program. Now that the program is finished, the GM is casting about for the next challenge to pass the employee. Problem is, in both cases, the companies are stable, though revenues for each in China are steadily growing. Of course, staff boredom will become a growing problem for Western companies as the heady days of business start-up wind down.

I’ve learned that as my waistline grows I trade up to new trousers, something a bit more comfortable. Of course, exercise works, but entropy seems to trump all slimming efforts. Perhaps it’s time for the staff to either slim their expectations, or try out a new outfit.