Fishing for reliable staff in Gen Y waters

Whether the Gen Y use social media to communicate with friends or access the latest news and crazes, daily social media use permeates the Gen Y's life, with the workplace being no exception.

"They in turn will judge companies on the social media practices and policies, which includes how companies utilize social media in their operations, their digital awareness, and any restrictions imposed on employees' access and usage of social media during work time," said Thomas.

"Whether or not the somewhat contradictory attitude of the Chinese Gen Y is right or wrong can continue to be debated in offices across the globe.

"However one thing is evident - they are the future of the Chinese workforce and necessary to the success of the global economy.

"People are our most vital resource. If companies treat their machinery like they treat their people the company would not keep going. These are exciting times. We are employing people from a whole different generation. The challenge is, how to manage these people? I am a great believer in what managers do is manage people. How to do it in the right way. How to get the best out of them.

"Our ambition is to be here for the long term and to be a partner of the Chinese government and bring health benefits to the Chinese people. And also to be a company people are proud to work for. We want to be successful as well."

Thomas, a married father of three grown-up children aged 30, 25 and 22, says working in China is not without its challenges.

Licenses for products have to be renewed every three years, unlike elsewhere. There are also cultural issues to recognize.

However, Chinese public holidays are entrenched and people want to return home for them. This produced a problem at its Shanghai warehouse. Thomas said he explained this to his staff and they came up with a roster to maintain cover that worked effectively.

Another challenge was the legal obligation for staff to account for every work expenditure with receipts that took up a huge amount of the accountants' time, even though they were often for insignificant amounts.

His solution was to simply pay an extra $100 a month to staff and do away with the accounting nightmare.

Thomas regards his company as very much a relationship-based business. When doing business with the Chinese one has to recognize their appreciation of family values, he said.

"They still like a handshake. They like you to look them in the eyes. Act with respect and honor."