A small cross-cultural story

I had a chat last week with a senior regional executive, talking about talent management. She has been with her current company over 10 years, in Asia 3. She mentioned how irritated she was with her senior staff in China for not advising her one their key people had just quit.

As she was not told immediately, her boss in the US sent her a note, asking why XX had quit. She shot back a note that said surely you must be wrong, I just saw her the other day. He sent her a reply, stating he had heard otherwise. She called her staff, and the answer was, ‘Yes, she had quit. We had not told you yet, but were going to in a day or two, but first we wanted to see if we could fix it ourselves and get her to stay.’

She looked at me and said, ‘Do you believe it?’

Sure, I do. To lose face by having a key person quit on your watch is tough in China, and they would do everything possible to get that person to stay rather than have to explain why he or she has left. So, yes, I understand their rationale.

She listened, nodded her head, and said nothing.

Small example, and only 5 minutes of an hour’s conversation, but a good cross cultural MNC story..