Encourage employees to work wholeheartedly.

"Businesses must create the necessary and sufficient conditions, strengthen recruitment and talent development, and create systems, processes, and solutions to optimize that talent development. In particular, they should focus on building a close-knit and committed work environment. A distinct culture helps connect employees and encourages them to work wholeheartedly. Let's turn each employee into an ambassador for our brand."

Speakers participating in the panel discussion "Vietnam's Economy Grows, Vietnamese People Accelerate".

This was shared by Mr. Do Tuan Anh, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Techcombank, at the seminar "Vietnam's Economy Grows, Vietnamese People Accelerate," an activity within the framework of the Vietnam HR Awards 2016.

Labor productivity is only maximized when supported by the entire system.

Human resources in Vietnam during the integration period have always been a hot topic for all businesses. The challenges and opportunities in this era are completely different from before. Mr. Do Tuan Anh observed: “As a developing business, we are also very excited about the opportunities the market is offering. The human resource challenge six years ago was different from now. Back then, the challenge was finding talented people; now, with the development of domestic human resources and global connectivity, the challenge is finding people who are suitable for our business strategy.”

According to Mr. Tuan Anh, if talented people are not a good fit, they cannot last long. Every time we interview for senior positions, in addition to identifying suitable employees, salary and benefits policies, and development policies, we always clearly reflect Techcombank's culture so that they can understand whether they are a good fit. This is truly a challenge that we must strive to overcome in the future.

Regarding labor productivity, Mr. Tuan Anh stated: “Techcombank has recruited many foreign employees, and the productivity of foreigners is often higher than that of Vietnamese employees, thanks to their own abilities and the support of the entire system. Therefore, the biggest challenge for businesses is creating conditions for employees to develop their full potential. As a strategic partner of HSBC, since HSBC brought in senior personnel from abroad and established a professional working system, the situation has changed. The productivity of domestic personnel is not significantly different from that of foreign personnel. To date, two-thirds of Techcombank's senior staff meet international working standards. Labor productivity can only be maximized with the support of the entire system.”

(Illustrative image, source: Internet)

Peter Henriques, Regional General Manager of British American Tobacco (BAT), also stated that his biggest challenge is recruiting and retaining staff, not labor productivity: “I am very surprised when someone says that Vietnamese people have low productivity. We work extensively with farmers and workers in many different regions of Vietnam. Our success in Vietnam is not due to foreigners coming here, but to our domestic workforce. We always create opportunities for development and attract talented people. We have heard that economic tigers like Singapore and Taiwan will be the next tiger in Southeast Asia,” Peter Henriques affirmed.

Lennard Boogaard, President of Human Resources for Southeast Asia and Australia at Unilever, also expressed optimism: “From a macro perspective, trade agreements will certainly create increasing changes, and the way products are distributed to consumers will also change. Vietnam has the opportunity to open its market, and the movement of capital and people.”

Unilever used to compete with domestic companies for human resources, but now it has to compete with multinational corporations in banking, food, and other sectors to attract the best talent. Vietnam's workforce is very young, which is a huge advantage in terms of productivity; people are working harder, and productivity will increase. How does quality compare? The quality of Unilever Vietnam's products is equal to or better than that of other countries in the region, a result of the quality of its people.

"We firmly believe in building human capacity from within, not from the outside. Unilever's people are also part of Vietnamese society. To utilize people long-term, we must train them. We are not overly concerned about the level of competition in the Vietnamese market," said Lennard Boogaard.

How can we accelerate Vietnam's human resource development?

Ms. Cao Thi Ngoc Dung, Chairwoman and CEO of PNJ, analyzed: "The people working for Unilever and those working for domestic businesses are both Vietnamese, but their productivity is vastly different. Never blame the workers; blame yourselves. Business owners must change their mindset about human resources and create management systems and work procedures for employees. Building programs to motivate employees is not only the responsibility of the HR department but of the entire company, to create a learning environment, a continuous learning environment, because no one can be good from the start."

Human resources determine success. (Illustrative image)

Peter Henriques emphasized: “We listen more than we speak, we listen to our employees, and we create opportunities for them to express their opinions – that is the value of foreign experts. We don't work for the Vietnamese people; instead, we share our experience and wisdom with them, helping them utilize their intellect. Some Vietnamese employees studied in Vietnam, others abroad; they have very high energy, and we must help that energy shine through to steer the company to new heights. We learn from each other and listen to each other a great deal. For small and medium-sized enterprises, we must ask ourselves how the leaders have motivated their employees? We ourselves must be role models who inspire our employees.”

Lennard Boogaard added: “I strongly believe that time is necessary. Our company is over 100 years old, and when traveling around, I feel that simply looking at the surface will lead to cultural conflicts. To develop a local area, we must understand the culture to help the leaders; that is the essence of success. We need experienced people, we need to train them, we need to work alongside them, helping them to anticipate any challenges. 50% of our managers are Vietnamese, and that percentage will increase in the future. More than 30 senior Vietnamese managers from Unilever have been sent to other markets, which is a source of pride for us.”

Emphasizing the role of human resources in organizational development, Mr. Tuan Anh stated: The future of integration demands a clear strategy, a change in mindset, thorough preparation for a strong acceleration strategy, and finding a unique path. The role of human resources is not limited to the HR department, but extends to all departments and positions. At Techcombank, each employee is encouraged to develop a self-improvement plan; learning and teaching are the responsibilities of each individual. No organization can help employees develop if those individuals do not understand their responsibility in contributing to the development of the bank's human resources. The HR department's task is to motivate each employee to develop themselves.

"Businesses must build the necessary and sufficient conditions, strengthen recruitment and talent development, and create systems, processes, and solutions to optimize that talent development. In particular, we aim to build a close-knit and committed work environment. A distinct culture helps connect employees and encourages them to work wholeheartedly. Let's turn each employee into an ambassador for our brand," Mr. Tuan Anh affirmed.

Kim Yen/bezlive