In 2023, TCL, which has been conducting large-scale campus recruitment for 27 consecutive years, defied the trend and recruited more than 2,800 “student soldiers,” about two-thirds of whom were allocated to its semiconductor business, advancing full speed towards the goal of becoming a “global leader.”
Before 2009, TCL was a traditional consumer electronics manufacturing brand; today, TCL has become an intelligent technology industry group with three core industries: smart terminals, semiconductor displays, and new energy photovoltaics, occupying a high-value-added segment of the industry chain.
The transformation and upgrade of TCL over the past decade or so have been highly effective, and they have accumulated a wealth of experience, which can serve as a reference for more “Made in China” enterprises. TCL’s human organization system has consolidated six insights in terms of talent introduction, cultivation, motivation, and mergers and acquisitions integration.
Emphasizing both talent recruitment and cultivation
The 2008 financial crisis led to a slump in the global consumer electronics market, with a significant decline in demand for LCDs, and some technical management talents also entered the job market. At this time, TCL was looking for a breakthrough and opportunity to overtake others on the curve in the “chip and screen shortage” situation. Therefore, despite lacking funds, technology, and talents, TCL invested all its resources at that time to enter the field of semiconductor display.
In TCL’s view, the issue of technology and talent is essentially one and the same; with the right talent, technological issues will be readily solved. Thus, TCL spared no expense to bring in more than 200 talents from Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese enterprises to form the “Dream Team.” Kim Wonsik, who later became CEO of TCL CSOT, was brought in from LG Display in South Korea.
“These external talents have played a very important role in the development of TCL’s semiconductor display industry,” said Wu Lan, deputy secretary of TCL’s Party Committee, vice president, and head of the organization department, who was deeply involved in this new project. “Companies want to develop in a long-term, healthy, and sustainable manner, and they must cultivate their talent and have their own ‘offspring’.” She found that without their talent team, enterprises would lack core competitiveness and the sustaining power for continuous development. Moreover, it takes external talents a considerable amount of time to understand and integrate into TCL’s corporate culture.
Therefore, TCL CSOT began building an internal talent development and training system in 2012: a dual-channel talent development, a professional curriculum system (including courses on cultivating international capabilities), an E-learning platform, a professional team of instructors, a talent assessment and development center (Star Workshop), and talent scouts (Star Explorers) among others. The construction of this system has laid a solid foundation for the endogenous development and growth of talent within TCL CSOT.
Another challenge was that some foreign talents felt insecure, worried that “teaching apprentices might starve the master.” Wu Lan led the team to think of many solutions, encouraging and empowering external talent to settle down, share their expertise and experiences through incentive and assessment methods. The TCL CSOT Academy responsible for training not only provided translators and assistants for them but also helped to organize and develop courses; in terms of assessment, there were tasks like potential talent evaluation, high-potential selection, reserve talent training, and training in current positions at various levels.
After more than ten years of cultivation, TCL Huaxing has built a relatively complete indigenous talent supply chain. The development of business and commercial success provide a solid talent guarantee. Currently, in the global market share, TCL Huaxing’s TV panels rank second in the world, and its gaming panels are proudly first in the world, occupying a leading position in the industry chain.
The capable as the foundation, distribution leans towards the contributors
High-tech talents, with high cultural quality and strong willingness and autonomy for innovation, have an incentive mechanism that is different from traditional industry workers. TCL’s philosophy is to be capability-based, making “opportunity distribution and incentive distribution lean towards those talents who contribute.”
First of all, adhere to “position determines rank, rank determines salary, performance determines pay”. With a fair and just system, talents with contributions can receive reasonable rewards. Employees will focus on their work itself and creating value, striving to become “TCL’s business partners”, sharing responsibilities, benefits, and growth with the company, achieving a win-win situation—”The company strives to be a global leader, employees have good income, healthy bodies, and happy lives, this is our pursuit.”
Secondly, salary is determined by talent. Unlike traditional industry workers who focus on basic wages and stability, high-tech talents are more suited for a performance-oriented salary system. TCL incentives and retains talent with performance bonuses, stock options, etc. For exceptionally outstanding and key talents, in addition to fixed salaries, there are also variable salaries, bonuses or even excessive performance incentives, along with long-term incentives.
Next, ensure that the salary level is market-oriented and dynamically ahead. Every year TCL cooperates with salary research institutes, conducting salary surveys in industries such as semiconductors, new energy photovoltaics, and household appliances, continuously optimizing value creation, evaluation, and sharing mechanisms, and dynamically updating salary levels. “We hope that the overall salary level of highly performant, key core talents is market-leading, at the 75th percentile, or even higher to the 90th.”
Finally, the “three highs” positive cycle. Strengthen the correlation between team incentives and performance—teams with good performance, strong capabilities, and high efficiency receive higher bonuses; in individual distribution, break the balance and widen the gap, achieving a “three highs” positive cycle of high performance, high efficiency, and high pay. By improving the salary competitiveness of outstanding employees, the overall competitiveness of the enterprise is enhanced, “because when the income of outstanding and core talents increases, it will drive young people, others, to make greater and more contributions, thereby stimulating the vitality of the entire organization.”
Eagle-style training system practices long-termism
TCL’s founder and Chairman Li Dongsheng often says within TCL, “Dare to take calculated risks to do difficult but right things, challenging one impossibility after another.” It is precisely because of this daring spirit that TCL has repeatedly been “the first to eat the crab.” The two major cross-border acquisitions in 2004 are clear evidence. Due to lack of experience and talent, these two acquisitions once bogged down TCL. However, with resilience, not giving in, or being complacent, TCL successfully realized “the rebirth of the eagle” through transformation.
In 2006, during this period, the “Eagle Talent Development System” officially set sail and has since undergone 17 years of iterations. It has systematically cultivated and developed talent, from university students newly entering the job market to experienced professionals. The system categorizes talents into high-potential reserve levels (Eaglet, Flying Eagle, Elite Eagle, Soaring Eagle) and new management levels (Manager, Director, General Manager/Senior Manager, Executive Team/Vice President), with the growth paths illustrated as shown in the diagram.
The Eaglet level is aimed at new graduates entering the workforce, with the goal of transitioning from students to professionals, enhancing professional qualities, and has already cultivated over 15,000 individuals; “Flying Eagle” provides training in role recognition, business management, team building, and interpersonal cooperation to prepare reserves for the director level; “Elite Eagle” candidates are expected to have a global perspective, emphasizing self-motivation, applying what they learn, and learning through teaching; “Soaring Eagle” aims to develop “generals capable of winning battles,” and since 2014, 125 persons have been selected for this program.
This training system has provided significant support to TCL’s high-tech strategy. For example, when TCL CSOT built its first production line (t1), it had just over 3,000 employees, but today, as the production lines have expanded to t10, the total number of employees has increased to 40,000. Over the past ten years, TCL’s Eagle system has quickly provided comprehensive training in professional skills, management abilities, leadership, and professional qualifications for all recruited talents each year. Furthermore, TCL continues to provide learning and development opportunities to previously introduced external talents, constantly creating new opportunities to help them expand their capacities, thus allowing them to make greater contributions and reap more rewards.
Humanized integration to maximize M&A effectiveness
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are not uncommon in various industries, but post-M&A integration is where true corporate capability is revealed. Since 2004, TCL has cultivated strong M&A integration skills from the rebirth of the Eagle. The amalgamation of talent and teams is undoubtedly one of the keys to successful integration.
The t10 production line of TCL CSOT was the acquisition of the Suzhou Samsung factory. Samsung and TCL CSOT differed greatly in their management systems and corporate cultures. Following the acquisition, TCL learned and inherited the best aspects of Samsung, while conducting numerous reforms and integrations to address the inadequacies of it being merely a production base.
The integration followed a humanized principle, involving extensive network-style research, communication, and planning, and implemented a three-step strategy of “first alliance, then integration, and finally fusion,” with detailed execution. First, it efficiently linked TCL CSOT’s functional and professional departments, then merged redundant functions, shared resources, and reduced levels, enhancing intensity and professionalism. Gradually, original Suzhou Samsung personnel were integrated into the TCL system through mutual rotation, exchange, and learning across technical, managerial, cultural, and emotional dimensions. Key personnel also transferred to locations such as Shenzhen, Guizhou, Guangzhou, and Wuhan to attain larger stages for growth and more opportunities. The integration, which lasted nearly a year, not only ensured the stability of the organization and core teams, achieving “zero” group labor disputes but also exceeded business targets without impacting business operations.
Similarly, after TCL acquired Tianjin Zhonghuan Group in 2020, it has achieved continuous rapid growth since 2021 through strategic traction, organizational integration, and the enhancement of smart manufacturing and Industrial 4.0 applications. In 2022, its operating revenue reached 67 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 63%; net profit surged by 69.2% year-on-year to 6.82 billion yuan.
Cross-cultural Integration Carries Industrial Capability Output
Although there are practices against globalization today, TCL firmly believes that “globalization is still the major trend, and of course, there will be new patterns,” upgrading from the original product export and brand export to industrial capability export.
This pattern, unlike the simple and individual function outsourcing, necessitates the export of an efficiently operating management system. Originally, everything from the supply chain, product research and development, production, manufacturing, to logistics was domestic, only exporting the products for sale overseas; today, it is required to build high-tech factories and overseas supply chain systems, requiring comprehensive management talent.
“How to communicate sincerely and candidly, understanding not only the literal meaning of language but also grasping the underlying implications, taking the initiative to understand local culture and cooperate effectively, is key to success. Furthermore, with increasingly larger teams, how to integrate talents of different races, religions, and political backgrounds into one team is a significant challenge. This requires an open and inclusive mindset.” TCL has established a global talent supply system, recruiting excellent talents among international students and personnel with overseas experience from multinational and Chinese companies (including TCL itself).
At the same time, TCL formulated the “Sea Eagle Plan” to train global talents, connecting and rotating the global talent pool so that talents from different regions can cross regions, move between the regions and headquarters, and rotate positions, achieving rapid growth through global workshops and combined training and combat approaches, encouraging personnel in different businesses and value chain segments to learn from each other locally and fight together. To date, TCL has initially formed a global talent pool of over 10,000 people, covering more than 50 countries and regions.
Embracing the New Generation and Strengthening Empowerment and Inclusion
In fields such as semiconductor displays and smart manufacturing, it takes about a decade to go from a newcomer to an industry expert. Therefore, reserving high-potential talents in advance and carefully nurturing them is the living source of sustainable development. Moreover, only by continuously absorbing new forces can there be vitality and endless life.
Since 1997, TCL has conducted large-scale campus recruitment for 27 consecutive years, with the scale of recruitment exceeding 2,000 each year in recent years. For example, in 2023, there were more than 2,800 recruits, over 90% of the employers; among them, 64% entered the pan-semiconductor industries such as TCL Huaxing and TCL Zhonghuan, with specializations covering high-tech and bottleneck fields such as material science, industrial engineering, smart manufacturing, electronics and microelectronics, electronic information, artificial intelligence, and software.
Embracing the new generation first requires understanding, respect, and acceptance. The so-called “workplace rectification” reflects that the post-2000 generation is energetic, independent-minded, and highly motivated to achieve, according to TCL. It’s the old management thinking and practices that need to change. In 2023, more than 600 post-2000s joined TCL. Practice has shown that as long as they recognize the company’s development direction and share its values, with work content lying in their abilities and interests, within the inclusive empowerment management culture, the post-2000s work hard and are far from lying down on the job.
What is more important is to make good use of young people. TCL strongly encourages and supports the new generation to create products that are favored by “Generation Z”. Another important institutional arrangement is that there is an annual elimination rate for management executives, with clear requirements for the reduction of the average age of team managers. This not only prevents the cadre team from becoming rigid and aging, but also provides opportunities for young people.
In 2020, TCL established the strategic goal of being “globally leading”. In September 2023, TCL was first selected for the “2023 World’s Best Companies” list (TIME World’s Best Companies 2023) jointly released by TIME magazine and the world’s top business data platform Statista. At the same time, TCL was named by Forbes as one of the “Top 50 Chinese Companies for Multinational Operations.” Marching towards new goals, TCL moves steadily forward.
The “aged” organizational system has once again been upgraded. In 2023, TCL’s employer branding proposition evolved from “Beyond Myself” to “Born Extraordinary, Dare to Aspire,” showcasing a younger, more international, and more technologically advanced TCL. With strategic core industry layouts and broad application scenarios, TCL has built a globally leading career platform for top talent; the fruitful results of technological and global strategies stand as giants’ shoulders for later comers to stand on and see further. In management, emphasis is placed on authorized autonomy, competence-based principles, persisting in driving business development through technological innovation, tolerance for trial and error, creating numerous chances for rule-breakers and resilient innovators to achieve self-realization.
Global leadership is still on the way for TCL, but it is already within reach.
