Releasing employees' potential
By Yayu Wu & Enid Chen
Photos by Yao Fan


Herman Zhu
Age: 36
Position: Branch Manager of EGL Global Logistics China Ltd, Xiamen and Fuzhou Office
Education: Master's degree, Dalian Maritime University

A local manager in a global company

Q: The 3 'L's are often important in a multinational corporation's globalization process: Local employees, Local economies, Local citizenship. As a perfect example of localization yourself, what do you think about this?

A: Most importantly, localization helps to reduce costs by replacing foreign managers with local managers. At the same time, this helps to eliminate any conflict arising from different levels of pay between foreign and local employees. Secondly, local people generally know the local market and conditions better. This means that it is easier for a company with local talent to tap into the local market and become fully involved. Last but not least, localization can motivate the Chinese employees to ensure stability and growth for the company.

However, outstanding foreign managers can also play a significant role in the development of a company. They have rich experience and are familiar with advanced management techniques. It can be of great benefit to the Chinese staff to learn from them.

Q: To be a manager of a foreign enterprise, you need a complete set of managerial skills. In your view, what are the qualifications a manager needs?

A: In my view, a professional manager must be first and foremost an excellent decision-maker. Secondly, you need the ability to discover talent, recruit these talented people, and know how to evaluate their performances and motivate them. Thirdly, the ability to perceive and understand the needs of the market is a must. You should be able to work out strategic plans for the company and carry those plans out as well.

Q: In a large multinational enterprise, you work closely together with foreign managers. Are there any conflicts in cultural values?

A: Conflicts are inevitable due to cultural differences. However, what really counts is how you deal with them. The corporate culture in a foreign company is different to that in a local enterprise. Corporate culture is closely bound up with and reflects national culture. In a global economy, the establishment of foreign enterprises brings not only new capital and new technology, but also new cultures. They are incorporated into the local culture to create a multi-cultural corporate environment. As far as I'm concerned, wherever we come from and whatever culture we have, we can overcome any difficulties we meet to arrive at an agreement, just as long as we work towards the same goals.

Realizing employees' potential

Q: What is the company's philosophy regarding the development of personnel?

A: In the final analysis, an enterprise is made up of people, who are the keys to the company's development. There are people coming and going for various reasons. How to minimize the turnover rate of staff is the core of the issue. Each of us is motivated by different levels of need. When their basic needs are satisfied, people will seek to meet their higher level needs: feelings of belonging, esteem and realizing their own potential. Consideration of these principles implies that merely raising the staff's salary is far from being enough. A company should create opportunities for the entrepreneurial staff to realize their personal potential, fulfill their promise and continue their personal growth.

Teamwork has always been a crucial factor for EGL in meeting the challenges and opportunities of the marketplace. Customer satisfaction and continual development are the responsibility of every EGL employee, who must always work together as a team. So long as the company enjoys sound growth, the personal growth of each employee can be guaranteed.

Good systematic training of the staff will strengthen their sense of belonging to the company. EGL University was founded to provide training in corporate culture, working skills and expertise, and integration of global sources.

Q: What is your advice for those who don't see potential for growth in their career?

A: In today's competitive world, no one can achieve success without pain or hard work. In my opinion, the following factors are vital for personal career development.

Learning is a life-long process. It's important for every one of us to keep learning and improving ourselves.
Make an honest appraisal of yourself.
Enlarging your social circle will help you to understand more about the marketplace.
Look at things from a positive perspective rather than looking at the negative side.
Have faith in yourself and persevere in pursuing the goals you set for yourself.

A balance of work and leisure

Q: Could you give us a brief introduction to your work experience and how it began?

A: After graduation from Dalian Maritime University, I got my first job with COSCO Guangzhou. I worked on board a ship for about three years. During that period I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to travel to Europe, Africa, South America and the Middle East. Those three years greatly enriched my experiences and broadened my horizons. What's more, I got a real taste of sailors' solidarity. Afterwards, I joined a famous American freight forwarding company. In that job, I witnessed the company's gradual development, and at the same time, I myself gained more experience and skills. In 1998 when EGL established their first representative office in Fujian, I was ready to choose EGL mainly because EGL is one of the most dynamic, aggressive and fast-growing logistics companies, with a strongly optimistic outlook.

Q: How do you tend to relax after work?

A: I like almost all kinds of sports: table tennis, badminton, boxing, tennis, etc. I believe that doing exercise is the best way to relax oneself. All the pressure is swept away when you swing your racket in the air. I enjoy sweating all over after exercise. Doing exercise has become an inseparable part of my life.



朱海文
美商恒运国际货运(中国)有限公司厦门代表处经理, 一个注定与海有缘的人, 在厦门这座海滨城市生活了三十余年. 他曾任职远洋运输公司, 有三年的航海经历, 期间的风浪让他体会了同舟共济的真正涵义. 1998年选择了美商恒运, 因为这是一家充满活力, 冲劲十足的物流公司.

About EGL
Founded in 1984 in the US, EGL Eagle Global Logistics has grown from a leading domestic freight forwarder to one of the leading providers of end-to-end supply chain solutions, demonstrating core competencies in domestic and international freight transportation, integrated logistics management and information technology. The company's strong financial position, a global network of company-owned offices and partnerships and a solid operational infrastructure have allowed the company to rise to the top of the list of single-source providers.

Vocabulary
eliminate 消除
motivate 激励
perceive 理解
inevitable 不可避免的
sophisticated 先进的
entrepreneurial 有上进心的