[MEET THE MEMBER] Coco Wang - Randstad Greater China
Photo: Tjan visiting the aesthetic Randstad office and interviewing Coco Wang
Coco Wang
“Be resilient. Look long-term and beyond. When there is difficulty, most people tend to run away and throw in the towel. Don’t give up, endure and persist. You will get what you want and deserve.” spoke Coco Wang, Director of Sales & Marketing, HR, Accounting & Finance, Legal, Financial Services at Randstad.
Coco Wang started her professional career after studying in France and Luxembourg as sales consultant at Michael Page, then Associate Director at Hudson for Sales & Marketing for Professional Services, Education, IT, Real-Estate, afterwards her current position at Randstad in Greater China. An interesting fact is that Coco Wang has an entrepreneurial spirit - Coco was the co-founder with two partners and director of operations for a subscription-based pre-made meals service for mothers during their postnatal period for two years. Her expertise lies in headhunting talents, identifying new opportunities for potential growth markets, e.g. gaming industry, and deep integral understanding of the labor markets. Hence, Coco Wang is capable, strategic and forward thinking.
In the second edition of Meet the Member, the Benelux Chamber visits the office of Randstad located next to Shanghai Railway Station and interviews Coco Wang.
Randstad
Randstad is one of the global Fortune 500 companies focused on the HR service industry founded in Amsterdam (1960). It has a presence with 180 HQ around the world, 9 offices in Asia-Pacific Region (APAC) and has established 8 offices in China since 2006. Through an initiative of the Shanghai government, a state-owned enterprise inquired to set up an HR & payroll for the staffing business. Initially, Randstad was focused on key brands - big names - and was actively merging and acquiring (M&A) HR related companies to increase market share, for example Monster, Tempo Team and Spherion. In 2023, the financial numbers were €25.4 billion in revenue, 4,692 outlets in 39 markets and 50% women in leadership positions. Therefore, Randstad can rightfully claim that it is one of the world’s most equitable and specialized talent companies.
Provided services
Randstad offers four lines of services: search & selection (HR); staffing & outsourcing (payroll, employee relations and risk management); recruitment process outsourcing (RPO - internal HR department, external staff) and RiseSmart (end-to-end talent mobility). In fact, RiseSmart is a unique out-of-placement service that provides psychological support and career coaches to continue the journey after being fired, i.e. after outplacement follows career development and redeployment. The benefits of employing services of Randstad are higher quality talent and productivity, lower turnover rate and no employment risks. In other words, better talent pooling; enhance workforce agility; targeted career planning and lower risks of labor disputes. Thus, Randstad is thoughtful, resourceful and impactful for employers and employees as a recruitment agency.
Unique Selling Point
Randstad differentiates itself from other recruitment agencies in the market in three categories: HR full cycle service, specialization and digitalization & PIPL.
Firstly, Randstad provides full HR services including permanent, temporary hiring, staffing HR process, outsourcing, HR & payroll services, outplacement service.
Secondly, the recruitment consultants are specialized in their area of expertise and have comprehensive market insights and effective consulting to the client.
Thirdly, Randstad is in compliance with all regulations according to the China Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL - 2022). The state-of-the-art database of Randstad is guarded with secure technology and protects all the personal data and cross-border data flows, e.g. the usage of data will only be valid with the consent of an electronic signature.
Furthermore, job candidates periodically receive updates and market insights from specialized recruitment consultants, who conduct research based on industry, sector and company. As a result, employers and employees are efficiently matched in this competitive cutthroat market - imagine 500 applications for 1 position.
Trends in head-hunting market
The past decade, Randstad was focused on acquiring large enterprises in their portfolio, however, five years ago a shift in market strategy took place into small to medium sized enterprises to find new future leaders and recruitment consultants. Nowadays, large Chinese enterprises are laying off substantial amounts of employees, take a look at Alibaba and Tencent slashing their workforce by 30% in 2022. As a result, Randstad has expanded its business in Greater China to 5000+ talents matched to their ideal jobs per year and 80,000+ external workforces that are annually assisted through its services.
Moreover, Randstad has transformed its business development into focusing on segmentation of the market - it amplified its customer base with large enterprises and small-to-medium enterprises, but also new types of consultants. The old model, let’s call this consultant A, was to include consultants which linked to one company and all the departments; this still exists, for example in the automotive industry. The new model, consultant B, is expected to be knowledgeable of industry specific companies, for example FMCG, IT and consumer. Ergo, the recruitment opportunity surface is broadened and can convert more successful placements.
Advice for first-time job hunters
“Change your mind. Switch your mindset. Do not be distracted by the big, fancy names. Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC, McKinsey & Co, BCG, Bain & Company, J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs etc. Pick an industry that you would like to invest long-term in, think 5-10 years ahead. Start with potential jobs - interesting start-ups and medium-sized firms. Gradually build a name and reputation for yourself. It is a dynamic, fast-paced world these days; the multinationals are slowly adapting, but are not agile enough and still resisting change.”
Message to the Community
If you are looking for a recruitment agency or a job, please visit the Randstad office!
Contact Coco Wang: coco.wang@cn.randstad.com
22/F, 77 Meiyuan Road, Shanghai, 200070 Shanghai, China
Call +86-21-6086 8686
info@cn.randstad.com