United States-based Agilent Technologies prides itself as a pioneer of such a forward-looking strategy, with ongoing plans to establish a fully fledged network of product development, research and development (R&D), sales and marketing and support servicing operations around the country.

Formerly a part of Hewlett-Packard, Agilent went independent in 1999, specialising in test and measurement technologies. It is the world's leading maker of cutting-edge test and measurement equipment for the electronics, life sciences, chemical analysis and communications industries.

The company has 19,000 employees in more than 110 countries, and registered a net revenue of US$5billion last financial year.

It has been operating in China since the late 1970s, and employs 1,400 mainland staff under six subsidiaries which supply both the local and global markets.

Agilent plans to double its workforce over the next five years. The increase will include adding 600 members to its R&D talent pool of 400.

Franklin So Sin-man, Agilent general manager and Hong Kong and Asia marketing director for Agilent's Electronic Products and Solutions Group, said another 200 staff would be recruited for its different facilities in China this year, focusing mainly on engineering positions in R&D and other professional functions in sales and marketing and application support.

Recruits would include some 100 mainland university graduates, in line with Agilent's corporate commitment to meeting more than 40 per cent of its recruitment needs with campus hires.

'Agilent positively supports the development of local talent where we have operations,' he said.

'We aim to be an employer of choice in China, and work with the leading universities to conduct research and recruit their top-notch graduates to grow with our expanding operations on the mainland.'

China is Agilent's main manufacturing base and now its second-largest market after the US.

The company has eight sales offices and three service centres in China, and operates one of its five global R&D laboratories there.

'We are one of the first multinationals to do both manufacturing and fully fledged R&D in China,' said Mr So.

'China is only a burgeoning market just now but, with its GDP growing over 10 per cent every year, its potential is tremendous. We will be putting more resources to capture this huge market.'

In keeping with its global manpower strategy, Agilent had been employing mainly locals in China, he said. It put a strong emphasis on staff training and development to groom local talent with the required knowledge, skills and corporate culture.

The company offers competitive compensation packages, but Mr So said it was more important to have a 'total reward' environment for employees based on staff engagement.

To this end, the company organises quarterly leadership audits where staff get to appraise their superiors' performance. It also provides staff with opportunities for international exposure and networking through overseas training and regular regional conferences.

'It is one of our core values to be a people's company,' Mr So said. 'We practise localisation across all levels of our operations to show our strong commitment to the local community.

'We respect the views of our staff and try to add value to their career through training and development programmes. We also have a robust corporate culture anchored on four emphases: speed, focus and accountability; innovation and contribution; trust, respect and teamwork; and uncompromising integrity.

'We use these to keep our staff engaged, which is important because they are our partners to long-term success.'

Keys to success

Technological leadership, with 15 per cent of revenue devoted to R&D and dedicated laboratories around the world

Employee engagement based on respect of their views

Local presence, which is essential for understanding the specific needs of markets

Global strength provided by a worldwide network of operations and prominent international clientele