Sue Campbell worked in China for eight years as a managing director. She shared how she navigated cultural differences between China and the West.
Nikada/Getty Images, Sue Campbell
This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Sue Campbell, 58, about relocating to China for work. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
When I started working in Hong Kong and China in 2010, Asia felt like the center of the universe — there was so much growth, opportunity, and technology.
Shanghai is such a bustling, vibrant city. There was a mix of things happening on every corner. You'd see people hawking things on the street across the road from these incredible 3D billboards and a giant Louis Vuitton store.
I'm originally from Australia, but in 2000, I moved to the UK. In 2010, I relocated to Hong Kong for eight years to become the managing director of a global talent management consultancy's Asia division. I was also the MD of the China division for two years. I would spend a week out of every month in China, usually at our Shanghai office.
The company I worked for handled large-scale professional hiring. We helped other companies set up or expand their operations in China.
Navigating cultural differences was a huge part of my job. I was often the liaison between international clients and the team in China, helping everyone understand each other better.
I'd create project teams with a local project leader to get their input on workflow and communication changes, and I made sure my colleagues had ownership over the new systems.
Having moved from Australia to the UK, I'd already experienced cultural differences in the workplace. I learned to be sensitive to people's different perspectives and that differences aren't always obvious.
It took time to build trust with colleagues in China. Generally, the Australian style of work communication is very direct, so I had to adapt my style to slow down, listen, and spend more time building relationships.
I respected that people would approach things differently and ensured they felt I was standing up for their perspective.
Hierarchies were very apparent in Chinese work culture. In meetings, people deferred to their managers. It was unusual for a more junior employee to contribute. I had to really encourage them to speak up.
Job titles mattered a lot, and people expected career progression. At the time, our global company was trying to flatten its organizational structure and we had to explain this would not work in China. Instead, we created a different structure with three sub-levels so people could feel they were progressing.
People also placed a lot of importance on things like office size, what the view from their office was like, and having a corner office.
It took time to overcome this deep desire to respect hierarchy. To promote change, I spoke to people one-on-one as much as possible. I'd find any opportunity to ask colleagues questions directly and try to build a rapport. I'd often sit in the open-plan area, which most people in my position wouldn't have done. I think it made me more approachable.
Another difference I noticed was that no one raised issues in meetings if a project wasn't going well. You might eventually find out about a problem behind closed doors, but getting the issue out in the open was challenging.
For example, a client once wanted to hire scientists with a very specific background in a remote location. From the start, our team knew it would be virtually impossible, but they didn't share this concern until the delivery dates started to slip and the client got worried.
In some Western cultures, it's more likely — although not a given — that the concerns or issues would be flagged earlier. In China, people seemed to take pride in their work and I think they didn't want to make themselves look bad.
I found that nobody would tell me about the problem until it got to the point where I had to have awkward conversations with clients because we were behind. As a Westerner, I quickly needed to learn that what was not being said was also important. I had to be more receptive to subtle cues and never make assumptions without clarifying with a colleague first.
Delegating tasks often took more time and explanation, from my experience. If you asked somebody in a Western country to take on a project, you might say: "I need 100 people by the end of the month in these jobs, off you go." In China, I would sit down with people and work out a detailed plan.
With my colleagues, I had to spell out exactly what I wanted in a way I'd never experienced. One of my more experienced Chinese colleagues, who'd done a lot of work with global companies, mentioned that it could be because of the education system in China. They said schools didn't give students as much latitude to do things in their own way as they did in the West.
However, it could also just have been that the team I was working with in China lacked experience in doing larger-scale recruitment, so they didn't have the confidence to make detailed plans. Once the plan was there, the team was incredibly committed to delivering the results. My peers were really diligent and had an incredible work ethic.
I came back to the UK in 2018, and having seen the terrible impact of plastic rubbish in Asia, I started my own business, KIND2 – we make solid shampoo bars.
My time in Asia was a really interesting chapter in my life. It gave me more confidence.
If anybody has the chance to work in Asia, I'd recommend it. There were many moments when things were more difficult than if I'd been doing it in a familiar culture, but I wouldn't trade it for a second.
