Starting next week, many China based managers are entering a very unsettling period. Christmas and New Years holidays are on the minds of westerners and home offices, but Chinese New Year and the big spring festival are still almost 2 months off. It doesn’t make for a very productive time – but you can’t just go into hibernation for half the winter.

Ex-pat managers in China are going to have to figure out ways to make these coming months valuable and to minimize downtime due to holidays, travel and vacations. Most companies will lose people right after the Chinese New Year holiday at the end of February, and you should use this time to deal with any outstanding HR issues.

1) Make a policy about holidays, and publicize it to staff, home-office and clients.
2) Year end reviews and plans for the 2007.
3) Projects, client databases and mailing lists.

1) Make a policy about holidays. Are you shutting down for Christmas? New Year’s Day? When will your CNY (Chinese New Year) holiday start and end? Don’t bother looking for official government guidance – there is none. If you are keeping your doors open for the Chinese holidays, make sure your suppliers and customers are doing the same. Confusion over holiday vacation schedules has lost its amusing charm. If you run a multi-million dollar company, you should know basic facts such as when you are open and when you are closed. By the end of November I was hearing about some local businesses delaying decisions or plans until after Chinese New Year. That’s almost 4 months.

2) China managers know that they will lose people after Chinese New Year, but you don’t know who. You still have time to secure your top people and repair any frayed relationships. It’s also a good time to start suggesting some the grass may be greener somewhere else for those not making the grade. Don’t assume anything. Your best people are getting the best offers from competitors, while your weakest staffers may feel they can’t do much better than your shop.

3) As some of your team gets ready to pack up and leave after CNY holiday, you may be better off coming up with some productive year-end projects that will be completed within the next two months. It’s also a great time to review your mailing list and make sure your client info is up to date. Be careful about who you let start a big sales & marketing effort as the year winds down – when your salesmen leave your company they take their client relationships with them.