Now is the best time to strategically hire talent away from your competition in China (and probably everywhere else.) 

The economic downtun we experienced in Asia has left a lot of top talent flat and looking for their next position.

While many companies were able to retain their top people most did little with them and, rather, scrambled to make adjustments to compensation, performance management systems, and variable rewards and bonuses. No one I know was adjusting these up.

Many business leaders saw their bonuses slashed as their BUs grew year on year (this is China and it is only going in one direction, even now.)  While most of these decisions were global and times are tough in the US and Europe it was still a bitter pill to swallow and has left many leaders with less loyalty to their companies and restless to move on.

No good deed goes unpunished.

Hunting for the top talent in your  sector should not be limited to those companies who are losing people or are sure to lose them.  While some, fe, companies have made all the right moves and are in a a good position they will be the hunting grounds for the companies who are beginning to lose their people.  Further, as the economy quickens it does so at varying rates by sector and industry.  This means that companies selling to Asia may be in a position to make some great strategic hires out of companies that are still lagging as they wait for the US to start shopping again.

Act now and save!

The smart move in the short term is to get aggressive early and go after the best people that your Talent Acquisition staff has identified.  While most other sections were busy cutting costs and budgets your recruiting function was busy mapping the market and making sire they were in touch with the players that they identified as future strategic hires, right?  If not, get busy now, it is never too late to get strategic with your recruiting function and you will benefit from the exercise. Talent recruited now while things are still slow may be available at salaries lower than they would have a year ago but they will be very careful about variable benefits.

Happy hunting my corporate friends, it is time to get back to the phones!