The Human Resource Management Performance of Chinese SMEs in the Current Economic Environment: Case Study of the Textile Industry, Zhejiang Province

摘要

This research aims to identify the human resource management (HRM) performance of Chinese small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in 2014. The study is based on four aspects: employee recruitment, employee training, employee evaluation and employee payment. The methodology includes a mix of structured questionnaires and face-to-face semi-structured interviews, which are adapted for this research. Specifically, the research data was collected through structured-questionnaires from 98 SME textile industries in Hangzhou City, Wenzhou City and Ningbo City of Zhejiang Province. In addition, a further semi-structured interview with 13 firms was carried out. The research results show that economizing is the most common practice implemented by over 60% of Chinese SMEs in the current economic environment of low economic growth. Economizing is necessary for Chinese SMEs to cut their expenditures during times of economic depression. However, this may also damage their sustainable development. Therefore, in this study, several suggestions are made, such as acquiring high-qualified employees, providing off-the-job training programs and expanding recruitment channel, for Chinese SMEs to enhance and improve their future HRM performances.