High-quality workforce vital for business
Demand for high-quality human resources is rapidly increasing throughout Vietnam and is expected to continue in the coming decade, say experts.
The forecast was made by the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Forecasting Manpower Needs and Labor Market Information and local job recruitment agencies.
Le Thi Kim Anh, Vice President of the Viet Nam Human Resource Club (VNHR) and Managing Director of Dynamic Consulting, said that most enterprises, especially domestic firms, faced many challenges in attracting employees that they actually need.
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One major obstacle she cited was that the country's education system does not teach certain skills that are required in the context of global economic integration.
High-quality human resources are vital for any enterprise, particularly those who were expanding their operations, she noted.
To deal with this problem, a number of enterprises have invested their own capital in re-training newly graduated students or developing various strategies to attract skilled employees from different sectors.
This in fact requires significant investment of both time and money. Compared with local companies, foreign-invested companies are more proactive in this domain as they are stronger in both capital and strategy.
A local HR director who declined to give his name emphasised the importance of devising a transparent policy on salaries and bonuses to attract the best talent.
In his view, improving the working environment not only includes hiring competent managers and offering competitive and fair remuneration but also means empowering employees to take initiative and be creative.
Each enterprise should clearly define its development strategy and then recruit a competent and committed workforce, Kim Anh suggested.
One strategy that helps organisations manage the workforce effectively is IT solutions.
IBM, one of the leading IT solution providers, has recently launched Smarter Workforce solutions in the Vietnamese market, which aims to help businesses attract talent, understand employees and empower teams across departments.
Smarter Workforce solutions will help executives to easily identify, attract and retain the best people, develop their skills, cultivate new leaders and capitalise on collective intelligence by applying good behavioral practices, social and analytic tools to transform the way they work, said Luu Quoc Bao, Collaboration Solutions leader, IBM Vietnam.
Global companies are also facing the problems of recruiting employees with the skills they need, said IBM ASEAN's HR Director Tho Lye Sam, adding that for many companies, retention is a major challenge.
"The new ways that people interact and today's workforce challenges make it critical for companies to rethink how they leverage and manage talent," she said.
By creating a smarter workforce, employers can resolve problems before they arise. According to a McKinsey Global Institute 2012 report, smart workforce tools can lead to a 25 percent increase in the productivity of knowledge workers.
Today, IBM Smarter Workforce supports almost 9,000 organisations worldwide across a variety of industries, including financial services, pharmaceuticals, retail and consumer.