Finding Top Talent in China, India, Brazil

U.S. and European multinational corporations are raising their bets on booming emerging markets. The trick is finding the right executives to play their hands.

In rapidly growing countries such as Brazil, China and India, tapping expatriates is becoming obsolete. Instead, global businesses are looking for leaders who have the ability to move easily between different cultures and have deep local roots as well as international operational experience.

Finding such executives 'is very challenging,' said Peter Felix, president of the Association of Executive Search Consultants. 'The talent pool is very small.'

China, India and Latin America will see the greatest shortage of executive talent this year, according to a December poll of 210 AESC members. It marked the third straight year that China and India landed on top of that list, though the first time that Latin America has ranked No. 3.

New hires with coveted backgrounds can command rich pay deals in hot emerging markets, recruiters say. For instance, a Brazilian executive joining a multinational there earns at least 15% more than his or her counterpart managing greater revenue in a developed market, according to recruiters.

Competition for talent can be fierce, which promotes a lot of poaching. Earlier this year, social-networking giant Facebook Inc. hired Alexandre Hohagen as vice president of sales for Latin America, based in São Paolo. He created Google Inc.'s operations in the region and managed them for almost six years, Facebook said in a Feb. 14 announcement. Facebook and Google declined to comment.

In this tough environment, recruiters Fatima Zorzato in Brazil, Steve Mullinjer in China and Anjali Bansal in India often succeed in snaring star executives for global companies. Each works for a major U.S. search firm and won votes from at least three rival firms for being one of the top recruiters in their country.

Here's a look at some of their recent big executive catches in China:

China represents 'the single most strategic investment market in the world for multinationals,' said Mr. Mullinjer, managing partner of China and North Asia for Heidrick & Struggles International Inc. in Shanghai.

The veteran Australian recruiter, who speaks fluent Mandarin, has worked in China for 20 years. He said prospects tapped for key China posts need to know how to work with a company's highest executives as well as people across the across the region.

Daniel Zhang typifies this shift. Assisted by Mr. Mullinjer, Owens Corning in 2009 named Mr. Zhang managing director of its Asia-Pacific building materials group, a huge portion of its business. Mr. Zhang had held management posts inside and outside of China for other global manufacturers like Leggett & Platt Inc. and Lear Corp.

A company spokesman said Owens Corning preferred a mainland Chinese executive for the role, previously occupied by American expatriates, because it wanted greater continuity of leadership.

Mr. Zhang 'has had a very positive influence on the organization,' partly by restructuring his management team, Mr. Mullinjer said. The spokesman declined further comment.

Last year, Mr. Mullinjer recruited 17 executives to work in China for multinational businesses, some of which operate with a Chinese partner or through a joint venture.

The ideal China pick can prove elusive. H-P has looked for a marketing chief for its $4 billion consumer-electronics operation there since last summer, said Train Luo, a former Korn/Ferry International recruiter. He handled the assignment until the Shanghai recruiter switched to CTPartners, a Korn/Ferry rival, in late February.

H-P declined to comment.

The competition has pushed up compensation. High-tech multinationals today pay midlevel China executives at least $300,000 a year, twice what they paid six years ago, Mr. Luo said.