campers join a sing-along during bluestar's annual international summer camp. provided to china daily
beijing - employees are the most important asset a company can have for its sustainable development, according to one of china's leading chemical products manufacturers.
after all, "everything is good for something", the china national chemical corp (chemchina), has said.
this appeared in the state-owned company's 2010 sustainability report, where they said their concept is to "safeguard the rights and interests of employees and pay much attention to their (the employees') growth and career development".
by the end of last year, chemchina had 140,692 employees, about 1,000 of them last year's campus hires.
one important part of the company's sustainable development initiative is introducing the best global practices and hiring talented, innovative professional people on a global scale .
the company reported that it has been doing this since 2008. those people become top executives and senior managers in its various branches. they also work as tutors to help develop people who succeed them.
it had 21 overseas managers by the end of last year, seven of whom were part of the "1,000-elite scheme". this nationwide plan was started in 2008 to provide higher salaries and funding to attract personnel overseas to come or return to china to work.
the company has its own occupational training system with a series of programs for the new hires, as well as for grassroots workshop leaders and senior executives.
"training a large number of talented employees, who can face the international competition, helps guarantee that we reach our goal of developing a century-old chemical enterprise," explained ren jianxin, general manager of chemchina.
the company is also attentive to the quality of life of employees, so it provides libraries and cultural and sports activities for recreation and to enrich their lives.
at its overseas branches, the company uses local people to help local social conditions and economic development, the report said. it arranges exchanges for overseas staff, and invites them to china.
int'l summer camp
one example of these activities is the bluestar summer camp, organized by one of chemchina's subsidiaries, the china national bluestar (group) co ltd.
this is the only summer camp in china arranged by an enterprise for the children of its employees.
because so many of bluestar's employees live away from their homes or go on business trips all year round, the company provides some relief by giving their children something to do during summer vacation. the first summer camp was held in 1990.
as bluestar's business spreads to other parts of the world, the annual camping event is "a helpful way to explore educational and growth issues for employees' children".
moreover, it is now "a point of exchange between chinese and different foreign cultures", after welcoming its first group of children of overseas employees in 2009.
by zhang zhao (china daily 08/16/2011 page15)