Huawei surveyed 82 leaving doctors and finally understood the root cause of brain drain

Huawei conducted one-on-one in-depth interviews and data analysis of 82 former Ph.D. employees and 115 in-service Ph.D. employees. The voices of ex-Ph.D. employees and their discussions on the competence of mediocre middle-level managers were presented in large numbers, and a large number of Ph.D. groups were lost. The four major reasons are very meaningful for enterprises.

Below is the full text of the email.

To build a “Huawei Corps” that leads the strategic leadership, how can we avoid “Ye Gong Hao Long”?

——Why the Ph.D. staff of the 2012 laboratory and R&D system, which is the main body of the company’s innovation, is lost

Recently, the company president’s office forwarded the article “Google’s Secret Army”, which caused heated discussions on the Internet. In the early stage of development, in order to achieve the premium advantage of being the first, innovation-driven, and strategically leading, Google implemented the “killing chicken with a bull’s knife” in talent management. ” strategy, to acquire a large number of outstanding doctors who can both research and do hands-on, creative and active, and quickly transform talent advantages into technological advantages, competitive advantages and business advantages through the process of integration of research and development. In a way, this is an example of the “strengthening strategy” the company has been talking about for five years.

What needs to be clarified is that this article does not intend to underestimate the positive contributions of the current masters, undergraduates and all employees who create value for the company when talking about the elite strategy. Focusing on the doctoral groups engaged in research work in our company, and knowing the small things, will help us to analyze more directly and in-depth how to adjust the talent strategy and management, so that each outstanding person can give full play to his talent and creativity. Subjectivity, and promote us Improvement of daily business and human resource management of relevant departments.

A reply on the Xinsheng community provided us with the initial clues of our research: ” Is Huawei’s soil suitable for the survival of highly sophisticated doctors?

In fact, every year the company invests a large number of full-time personnel in full-time doctoral recruitment, but very few high-level doctors are recruited (salary, word of mouth, position, etc.), and few doctors who come in stay, and those who stay Are there real spaces, positions and opportunities for them to play? Judging from my personal experience, of the three Ph.Ds I recruited, two left after one year in, and one was doing ordinary development and testing work in R&D, so it was difficult to form a unique advantage. “

To this end, the Company’s Advisory Committee, the Human Resources Secretariat and the Talent Management Department of the Human Resources Department conducted a joint independent investigation from different perspectives, and selected 82 doctoral employees who left the 2012 laboratory in 2018, and those who were engaged in research in the 2012 laboratory and R&D system. 104 on-the-job doctoral employees and 11 on-the-job doctoral employees in the manufacturing department conducted one-on-one in-depth interview research and data analysis, and formed the following three comparative research reports. This report focuses on why the doctoral staff engaged in research work in 2012 and the R&D system left.

1. How can the continuous loss of talent soil “fertility” precipitate the foundation of strategic leadership

Data analysis shows that the cumulative average turnover rate of the company’s doctoral employees in the past 5 years is 21.8%. The longer the entry time, the higher the cumulative turnover rate. After 4 years, only 57% of the doctors who joined the company in 2014 stayed in the company (as shown in the chart below).

What is more worrying is the resignation of specially recruited doctors. Specially recruited doctors are mainly from national key laboratories, outstanding doctors with practical experience in successful project research and development, or outstanding doctors in key majors in key universities. But judging from the data in the table below, it is difficult to say that the turnover rate of 33%-42% is in a good state for our management of such outstanding talent.

2. “Heroes are useless” is the main factor for the loss of “fertility” of talent soil

Among the 82 resigned doctoral employees who were willing to be interviewed, 56 reported that the main reasons for their resignation were the mismatch between the position and their personal skills, the limited technical ability of supervisors, and the inability to exert their own unique advantages . Especially the doctoral employees who have been employed for 2 years come full of passion, but leave in frustration after learning useless again and again (see the figure below).

3. Huawei is so big, why is there no place for heroes?

• Arbitrary work arrangements, “use what is not learned”, waste not only an employee for a period of time, but also a value-creating resource that has been accumulated for a long time

Let’s hear what the departing Ph.D. employees have to say:

“It was originally said to be a hardware position, but when I came, I arranged to do the algorithm”;

“The professional direction of my research is image and deep learning, and I will be engaged in hardware and landing positions after joining the company”;

“Doctors who study images turn to knowledge maps, and they have to start all over again”;

“The research direction is system architecture/hardware/embedded, and engaged in memory test algorithm after entry”;

“My direction is partial to algorithm and basic research, and the work I do after entering is partial to maintenance and operation and maintenance”;

“Research direction of signal processing, come in to do innovation and research in network transmission direction”;

“Lidar is my core major. Coming to Huawei is too focused on digital integration. The current position only uses what I learned in my master’s degree. If I continue to do my current position, it is equivalent to my doctoral study for a few years in vain”;

“I am in the security direction, and the new department has nothing to do with security”;

“I used to do chip design, and after I went in, I was arranged to do post-imitation, media simulation, and I started to do it completely as a white Ding”;

“I wanted to be assigned to a structure group similar to the school’s research to continue to do it, but I was assigned to another structure. I was not familiar with it and lost my competitive advantage”;

“The doctor’s direction is to do laser communication. After joining the job, he has been doing channel estimation. It is too narrow to learn anything. After resigning, he is now working on system architecture. Now he is doing a wider range of things and growing faster”;

“The position is biased towards testing and verification, reliability verification, and there are few things to study, which is not suitable for those who are too highly educated or who are more specialized in research”;

“I’m doing machine learning, and I came to Huawei to do the database, but I didn’t use my professional skills”;

“I studied IC design, and I was asked to do the test after joining the job, and it was an operation test”;

“Huawei is divided too finely, the department wall, the department field is this business, and those who are not in their own department cannot dabble in it. The doctor wants to play in his own field, but he is quite constrained in Huawei. He has been looking for it for 2 years. find”;

“There are few things and many people. When several groups of people are doing one thing, there will be internal friction (there are currently 5 groups of people doing the same thing), and the current internal friction is very serious. You can’t recruit a doctor just to recruit a doctor, and you can’t recruit a doctor because it’s not bad money Just trying to expand.”

• It’s hard to change jobs, it’s hard to change jobs, it’s just a story in the legend

In the interview, the resigned doctoral employees also frankly said that in fact, they still very much hope to find a position in the company where they can learn and use their skills and develop their skills. “Private management…” made them more than enough, and it became a helpless move to walk away.

They reflect:

“In 2012, it is not possible to transfer, and it is said that there are policy restrictions. However, during the resignation communication, HR said that there is no such policy.” “The department head clearly told me that either resign or stay here”;

“In Huawei, applying for a transfer to a department is not an easy task. Just mentioning it will leave a bad impression on the leadership, which will affect performance later”;

“Transferring a department is very difficult. If the transfer fails and the new department fails, the original department will enter the resource pool. The risk is too great, so it is better to leave the company”;

“I have been employed for less than 1 year, and I do not meet the conditions of the internal talent market.” “I mentioned it to the leader, and the leader did not want to solve this problem. He said that he was the technical director and did not want to let me go.”

• The temple of “Wu Dalang” cannot provide space for “Wu Erlang” to play

Many resigned doctors talked about the fact that with the increase of technology types and the acceleration of technological changes, some Nan Guohua, who are in charge of their own technical capabilities, cannot well understand and indicate the direction of technological development, which seriously hampers the development of the team and their own technical capabilities.

for example:

“The project team parachuted a supervisor who worked on software and didn’t understand algorithms. He just pushed the progress, found bugs in horse racing, and tracked whether it complied with the specifications. He couldn’t grasp the key points. ;

“The ability of grassroots LM/PM is uneven, and it is impossible to make an objective evaluation of the doctor’s ability, including the judgment of technical direction, but the level of senior leadership is still quite high”;

“I don’t like the internal-oriented atmosphere. Basically, the leader said a word, and everyone said it right. If it is user-oriented or technology-oriented, it is fine, but if it is done according to someone’s will, I don’t think it is suitable. I When I left, I communicated privately, and everyone agreed that the minister’s idea, the grassroots PL, PM will only push and we will implement it regardless of the cost, which is basically the same from the bottom to the top”;

“The entire company is not very advanced in terms of software model, software talent training or future methods, including the level of leadership, which is relatively backward. Regardless of technical level or management level, it is usually good to be friends with leaders, but in business The technical level is average, and there are also PLs, including the head of the 4th-level department. Currently in company A, I feel that company A is a lot higher than Huawei in terms of software”;

“The leader doesn’t understand the technical direction either, and he feels like a blind commander. He used to do a lot of complicated things. He came from the fixed network. We are opening up some new directions and new fields. He may still pursue the old concept, and he is not too technical To understand, and to command”;

“Because of job rotation, some middle-level leaders are not very professional in judging the technical direction, which leads to their different policy policies. In terms of project continuity and new project demonstration, the judgment is unprofessional, and the content of lay leaders appears. It is impossible to achieve the basic one-shot of the project. To put forward an unrealistic requirement for the so-called progress requirement will increase the difficulty of the project and make the lower part exhausted.”;

“The red and blue army has become a rainbow army. Many teams are doing the same thing. Most people are doing ineffective things, wasting resources, and laypeople lead the content. The leader’s judgment is not based on technology or customer value judgment, but depends on the superior. The expression on my face, at least half of the doctors in my department are in a state of spiritual resignation, and they will definitely leave when they have the opportunity.”

• Challenging opportunities, a result-oriented simple atmosphere, a relatively broad space for development, an active learning environment, and the ability to turn technical ideas into practical contributions are the organizational soil where doctoral staff can really make a difference

The resigned Ph.D. employees invariably compared the current work environment with that of when they were at Huawei, and mentioned many organizational climate requirements that they believed to be able to truly exert their talents.

for example:

“Now in company A, each department has a strong atmosphere for entrepreneurship and development. There are challenges and space, and you can do your best. Huawei is similar to a huge and precise machine. It relies on a lot of manpower and material resources. Make things out. Although the current company is very large, it advocates fighting with small corps. In a small team, it is believed that a single soldier with strong ability may top 3-4 individuals with weak ability. Maybe every organization Each has its own advantages!”;

“Working on software in company B is more challenging and cutting-edge. The software is much higher than Huawei’s, including expected revenue and future growth, which are better than Huawei’s”;

“I am in Company C, which is almost the same as now. I used to work as a platform in Huawei, and now I am in the delivery line. Unlike Huawei, I do less vain things, and all decisions of leadership are based on the technical judgment of experts. There is no way in Huawei. Contact with level 3 leaders, but here, the project you delivered is very valuable. You can report to the VP, or even the president of the first-level department. Huawei is a level-3 department to see the face of the leader of the level-2 department, not based on Value judgment is not about whether there is demand in the market”;

“Currently in D company, it is more inclined to landing, not like Huawei, many teams are competing for a project, this project is handed over to you, I think you can do it well, support it well, and let all relevant people do this direction”;

“In Company E, the current job is the same as Huawei, and the core is to be more free. If you think there is a problem, you can change it after discussion and inform the relevant people. After the change is completed, it will be tested online, and the overall operational efficiency will be very high. You’ll feel like you’re always pushing forward, not wasting time on useless processes, documents, a bunch of questions, a bunch of alignment meetings, and once things are efficient your whole work situation will be different”;

“Huawei’s system is relatively complete, and everything is done according to the process. One month of research, three months of project approval, three months of technical path selection, and three months of development; there is not much room for individuals to play, and everyone is under the system. The system is very good, and everything has been reviewed, but it limits the scope of individuals. Company B is more free and gives you more room to play, just two extremes”;

“In company F, it is obviously different, and the learning atmosphere is different. Huawei Research Institute is a relatively free place, there is no business pressure, and there is no deadline, but in company F, my classmates are also doing engineering-oriented things, and they are very motivated to study. The atmosphere of learning new knowledge is very strong. I think now the company has its own character and persistence, and it is more active in technical discussions. It is not only about the work at hand, but the work is temporary. They will make time to learn, For example, partial engineering, because of the lack of academic professional knowledge, such as research done decades ago, they will go to study, because I am a Ph.D., they will come to me, and after they read it, they will organize discussions to share Yes, look at the feelings of this paper and make some improvements, but it is all spontaneous, and you will have a sense of urgency, you will be spontaneous, you will see what others are doing, and what related research is doing, even if this research is not their KPI, in The atmosphere of Huawei Research Institute is not strong, it may be too busy, and it may not have time. When the investment in a project is 9 to 9, you will not have the intention to invest in other things at all”;

“Huawei’s doctoral recruitment is a bit blind, and company G told me very clearly, what to do and what the treatment is? Including what can be reimbursed, you are here for the money, including what you do, it is very clear. I have worked in Huawei for several years. I feel that Huawei is really rich, and it is wasted. The people who are recruited can’t work. Why are these people recruited? I recruited them without thinking clearly. I came to G company to do more work than Huawei. I have done a lot in 2 years, but I don’t feel tired either”;

“In company H, my technical ideas can be quickly implemented into products. But in Huawei, for example, Chinasoft is pre-research, and I can’t see how long it will take for the things I do to make it into products.”

Source: Huawei President Office