Following an extended period of stagnation, 2017 was a year of resurgence for Hong Kong’s retail sales industry thanks in part to an increase in tourism from mainland China. This, combined with Chinese companies looking to expand into a global market, is seeing a pronounced need for candidates fluent in Mandarin in Hong Kong’s sales sector.
“In the past, many of the Chinese big tech brands have been mainland-centric in their focus,” explains Dean Stallard, Managing Director at Hays Hong Kong & South China. “But they are now looking to branch out globally and are using Hong Kong as a launching pad. Companies are setting up aggressive sales offices in the region, pushing the need for Mandarin speaking staff.”
A further factor exacerbating this requirement is that companies based in the area, both domestic and MNCs, are looking to capitalise on the bountiful prospects of the expansive Chinese market.
“It is the greatest area for opportunity out there right now, and being able to sell products to the target market based on the language is extremely important,” says Dean. “So, we are seeing a lot of talent coming from Mainland China, but as the language ability is the primary concern and nationality no hindrance to recruitment, we are also seeing talent coming from other countries such as Singapore.”
Looking ahead to the coming 24 months, companies require not only Mandarin speakers, but there is an increased necessity for candidates to be more technologically literate, especially as the Hong Kong Smart City project begins to take shape.
“The whole dynamic of Hong Kong is moving towards digitalisation and cloud based technology. On the back of this, clients are looking for proactive business development staff who are experienced in market and product development, strategising, and are able to open new channels of sales,” Dean continues.
“At the same time, the consumer side of Hong Kong is reinventing itself, with traditional roles being irrevocably altered as the possibility of one hundred per cent application and e-commerce based sales becomes more of a reality. As a result, directly selling into corporate and B2B is becoming a lot more prominent.”
Technology-based skills increasing in importance include the ability to drive sales and providing e-commerce solutions, with big data and consumer analysis high on the agenda. However, due to the nascent quality of the skills required, and the speed at which they need to be implemented, the candidate market is particularly short.
“The technology is moving faster than the pipeline of adequately-educated talent can enter the market,” Dean notes. “We heard Alistair Cox, Hays plc CEO talk about this last year, that students are still set on careers in law or medicine. People choosing this technology as a longer-term career path has only just begun, and those with the right amount of experience has not reached a balance with the demand of the market.”
Thanks to this shortage, companies are being more aggressive in how they approach candidates. While branding has long been associated with sales in relation to consumers, the last 12 months has seen it increasingly used to entice talent.
“Today, salaries are more weighted towards result-based incentivisation; the days of candidates being offered huge base salaries no longer exist. Instead companies are using branding to illustrate career progression opportunities and work/life balance.”
Fortunately, the younger generation of candidates are amenable to these approaches, particularly those for whom prestige can be found in brand and innovation.
“Companies are targeting graduate level individuals with a modern mind set. These candidates tend to appreciate being linked with a brand known for its technological innovation that has wide marketplace appeal, rather than financial incentives.”
For candidates looking to progress, it is imperative that they develop their networks and industry contacts, leveraging their own network to land more senior roles. For those who demonstrate ambition to match their superlative technological skills with aggressive selling qualities, progression can be quick.
“We are seeing more and more companies with sales directors and CEOs in their late twenties and early thirties: those with a commercial mind set, well connected to the technology, and still with a long shelf life.
“Those candidates achieve success by getting results, implementing aggressive sales techniques and showing a willingness to prove themselves by working from the bottom up,” Dean concludes. “But most of all they have to be very vocal in their eagerness to be fast-tracked. If they have these qualities, and have the results to back it up, then they will find that companies are very accommodating and progression is all but assured.”
An overview of what other trends have been observed in Hong Kong’s sales sector can be viewed below.
- Due to the shallowness of the talent pool, candidates are proving difficult to pin down, feeling that a better offer is just around the corner. Companies and recruiters are tasked with getting candidates over this emotional speed bump to take a role.
- In the junior end of the market, where much of the focus is, candidates are showing a great enthusiasm to invest in their own upskilling.
- The last 12 months has seen an increase in junior-level individuals not only attending, but also participating in, panel discussions at networking events, letting this ripple through social media to improve their own personal brand.
- Companies are showing a reluctance to technologically upskill talent due to the drive towards immediate revenue, encouraging the shortage of candidates.
- Due to this shortage companies must speed up recruitment processes with aggressive closing techniques in order to tie down talent as quickly as possible.
To view the full Inside Story of Sales report, please click here.
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About Hays
Hays plc (the "Group") is a leading global professional recruiting group and is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The Group is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in the UK and Asia Pacific and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe and Latin America. The Group operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. As at 30 June 2017 the Group employed 10,000 staff operating from 250 offices in 33 markets across 20 specialisms. For the year ended 30 June 2017:
– the Group reported net fees of £954.6 million and operating profit (pre-exceptional items) of £211.5 million;
– the Group placed around 70,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 240,000 people into temporary assignments;
– 24% of Group net fees were generated in Asia Pacific, 49% in Continental Europe & RoW (CERoW) and 27% in the United Kingdom & Ireland;
– the temporary placement business represented 59% of net fees and the permanent placement business represented 41% of net fees;
– Hays operates in the following markets: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Mainland China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the USA