On April 25, China General Chamber of Commerce-USA (CGCC) hosted the 2018 Lunch & Learn Series No.2 “China and U.S. Business Etiquette in the #MeToo Era” at Bank of China Building.
Speakers from CGCC member companies, Philip Berkowitz, Co-chair and Shareholder of Littler Mendelson, Alan Wong, Senior Vice President and Human Resources Director of Bank of China New York Branch, and Elaine La Roche, Chief Executive Officer of China International Capital Corporation US, shared about the cultural differences in China and U.S. business environment, especially about how to handle sexual harassments in the workplace. More than 50 CGCC members attended the event.
Philip Berkowitz briefed workplace harassment and related cases by explaining concepts such as “Power Harassment” and “Quid pro quo”. He urged employees who were treated unequally in the workplace to speak up and encouraged victims to protect their legal rights. At the same time, he emphasized that the human resources department of the company needs to establish an effective anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policy, which can ensure a safe and fair working environment for employees.
Ms. Elaine La Roche elaborated on the cultural differences between China and US business environment in terms of recruitment, human resources management, etc. Elaine said, “the development of human resources management in Chinese corporations is still in an early phase, which need to be improved for building a better corporate culture.
Alan Wong provided recommendations on how to further improve the human resources management of Chinese companies in the U.S.; companies should emphasize on the implementation of the training programs and evaluations of employees. From a bottom-up perspective, employees should be able to participate in a more comprehensive training program when first onboard. Also, senior management should pay more attention to enforcement of business etiquette along with achieving better business performance.