EDS' Davidson: Good people are always at a premium.

Such was the case last week when Microsoft Hong Kong General Manager Graham Brant resigned abruptly, with no designated successor announced at press time.

“Finding good people is always difficult and it is no easier given the current climate,” said Peter Udall, director of IT recruitment at RDL Hong Kong, a search firm focused on executive management. “It’s consistently difficult to find top quality people in this market, that’s precisely why headhunters are being engaged by clients,” Udall noted.

“A company needs strong senior management when times are hard even more than in situations of growth,” said Dan Chavasse, director at Michael Page International in Hong Kong. He added that despite being an employer’s market, “there is less speculative interest in those types of jobs and people are less inclined to move.”

At the senior level, recruitment is bucking the trend, said Udall. “The general trend in Hong Kong is that headcount is frozen, but senior people with niche skills and quantifiable, proven records of achievement are still in demand despite the economic climate,” Udall noted.

Internal vs. external

“Good people are always at a premium,” said Phil Davidson, director of human resources at Electronic Data Systems (EDS), the IT outsourcing company that recently appointed Stephen Lau as president of its Information Solutions division in Asia-Pacific North. Davidson noted that EDS initially looked for candidates internally “to see what talent we have coming up through the organization.”

“We would always advise a client to look internally first, it’s a sound practice, better for company morale and sends the right message,” said Edith Soares, managing director for advanced technology practice at Korn Ferry International in Hong Kong.

In EDS’ case, it found that it needed to go outside the company to fill the role. Davidson noted that it was relatively easy to put together a strong short list for the position because candidates are convinced by EDS’ business prospects.

“In general candidates look at the underlying health of the company - the advantage that EDS has is that the services industry is counter-cyclical,” Davidson said. He added that “robustness in our business model would have been a factor for people considering EDS and the same would apply to other companies.”

The general consensus among recruiters is that incentives such as stock options and signing bonuses are less of a consideration when evaluating senior management roles. “In terms of incentives to attract talent - it used to be stock options and bonuses - everyone was offering stocks before, it’s not as much of an issue these days,” Davidson said.

Soares agreed that other factors are influencing candidates’ decision making. “It’s important to stress a solid business model and the profile of the people above and under the senior management,” she said.

She stressed that although economic sentiment plays a part in people’s decisions, senior level candidates will be more seasoned and less disturbed by cyclical trends in the business. Soares added that candidates would also have to be wary of corporate culture and political situations and tensions within the organization.

Microsoft murmurs

Former Microsoft Hong Kong head Graham Brant’s sudden exit from company has led many industry observers to believe that his decision must have been based on fundamental disagreements with management. “Anybody at that level should have fairly set ideas about where that organization should be, we’re talking about a leadership role,” said Udall. “That person was obviously out of step with global management.”

Brant told the South China Morning Post that part of his motivation for resigning stemmed from what he saw as a retreat from Microsoft’s earlier “pioneering” role in the industry.

However most agreed that whatever the circumstances were regarding Brant’s departure, Microsoft would have no trouble attracting strong candidates for the general manager role. “People of that seniority normally understand the dynamics of large companies,” Davidson said.