Vietnam

9 Chapter International Human Resources Management

    • Introduction to International Human Resource Management

       Hiring is an external procurement of personnel, wages, evaluation and education that are related to internal personnel training methods.

       

      The point of personnel management is to build wage design and assessment system design for education, as a personnel management function.

       

      【International Human Resources Management】

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       First of all, it is indispensable to have a unified policy as a company and to have a criterion of whether or not it is appropriate to act accordingly. Failure to unified company-wide HR management policy may make it difficult to solve labor problems and proceed favorably negotiations with the Vietnamese people necessary for it.

       

      Evaluating the records after establishing a unified policy of the company is important also with the feedback of the evaluation results that will give to the employees.

       

       "Our company is a company that evaluates ○ ○ but it are not enough for × × so itr evaluation is △ △" feedback on the evaluation result such as company direction and excellent talent It means to show the definition of the company as a company.

       

      For the feedback, it is necessary to digitize it so that it can be specified explicitly. It can be said that it is desirable to be able to clearly indicate to the employees "what is missing and how much missing" as a company.

       

      If this feedback function is not sufficient, it cannot respond to the demand for wage increase from Vietnamese.

       

      The establishment of the evaluation system starts with clarifying the definition of talented people who are "what kind of human resources will be evaluated as a company?" To decide "what kind of personnel is ideal" decides all directions to evaluation, recruitment and education in the organization and by reflecting this direction in the actual personnel affairs, the employees are able to penetrate.

       

      In addition, the introduction of consistency and transparency evaluation system increases the degree of satisfaction of employees, and also improves the retention rate of employees who consider the company to be excellent. By establishing an evaluation system for employees, it is possible to raise the retention rate of employees, but not necessarily the establishment of employees that the company wants. The high retention rate of employees who companies do not regard as excellent can also impede the adoption of outstanding employees.

       

      ■ Guidelines for personnel management in Vietnam

      In Vietnam, there is the idea that the mastery of knowledge and skills are necessary for duties is personal responsibility. Employees are required to fulfill their duties, and if they recognize that their knowledge and skills that are concerned with their own growth and evaluation, they will work with willingness.

       

      In case where the duties and role of self are classified, the employees will not take action towards the direction of what especially when it seek activities that are hard to see the outcome like teamwork and loyalty of the employees to the company.

       

      The team play is the hardest work for Japanese people to move to Vietnamese. When it comes to team play, it is required to clarify the profit that was obtaining by contributing the role of the employee.

      But in Vietnam however is cheap when it comes to personnel expenses compared with other countries and this type of status attracts the Japanese companies especially the export – type processing enterprises and has great potential in the future as the market.

       

      The significance of making it in Vietnam affects the Japanese strongly and it is

      and the significance of making it in Vietnam is extremely significant I can feel it strongly. It is necessary not only to make their own entries and to generate profits but also to communicate the social significance such as what kind of things they want to bring to Vietnam by Japanese companies entering, to the local staff.

       

      If the company is acting only for the benefit of the home country, the working purpose for local employees is to earn money, only for the family especially to the Vietnamese people, they treasure their family, depending on the circumstances greatly different from the Japanese who give priority to work from family.

       

      It is a good thing to take care of itr family, but due to itr family becoming sick, it may happen that it leave important work and take a break easily.

       

      Understanding the Vietnamese idea correctly is a point of smooth management.

      To spread the social significance and management philosophy of a company in Vietnam is more serious than it is done in Japan, but it is indispensable to make a better company.

    • Hiring practice

       In addition to Vietnam, establishing offices abroad and make overseas businesses successful, it must be necessary to effectively implement the personnel management. It may be impossible to manage overseas bases without recognizing the importance of personnel management.

       

      Depending on the differences in cultural and business environments for each country, personnel management is considered to have no significant difference from Japan in essential parts, although there are differences in approaches.

       

      In this chapter it will examine various elements of international human resources management.

       

      ■ Four themes of personnel management

      P. F. Drucker also known as the Management father once said that, "Management is a dynamic existence that gives life to the business, without production leadership, production resources remain in resources, production is not done" in the book (P · F · Drucker, written by Yoshio Ueda "Condition of Change Leader" Daiichimondo, 2000).

       

      One of the success factors of international human resource management is how to build the management that adapts to the environment such as the climate and infrastructure situation, national character, culture and etc in the field.

       

      However, when it comes to carrying out the personnel management, there is essence that cannot be changed. That is "to nurture talented people who are in line with the organization".

       

      If it deviate from this essence, it cannot manage unified human resources as a company, and international management will also fail.

       

      Therefore, in considering essential personnel management, it is necessary to think personnel division into four themes (recruitment, wage, evaluation, education). It is effective to look at personnel management in Vietnam from these four themes. It is no exaggeration to say that corporate growth is decided by talent as if the word "company is a person" exists.

       

      To secure talented people, there are ways to bring out excellent talent from the outside and educate talent inside the company.

       

      Recruitment flow in Vietnam

       

      After the Japanese companies establish a company in Vietnam, it becomes necessary to hire local workers according to the scale of activity.

       

      In that case, the application guidelines are posted in the same way as in Japan, and after recruiting documents and interviewing, it will recruit. Vietnam also has several recruitment in sites, and many Vietnamese people use this to apply, and there are cases in which they make connections with people they know. In addition, the number of cases of applying to companies through recruitment companies is gradually increasing. Recruitment activities in newspapers are also thriving.

       

      [Points to note when adopting]

       

      In the case of recruiting workers of industrial parks, it is common to use bulletin boards for recruitment of workers installed at the entrance of industrial estates. Depending on the company, it also encourage local governments in Vietnam to work directly and introduce excellent workers.

       

      The most troublesome when recruiting via media such as newspapers or bulletin boards in Vietnam is that there are many applications by job seekers who do not satisfy essential job abilities and job experience presented as application conditions. Essentially, job seekers understand that they do not satisfy the requirements, but apply if they should accept it if they should accept it. Therefore, scrutiny at the stage of document selection is necessary, and it have to spend a great deal of labor.

       

      In the case of using a recruitment company, it is not necessary to conduct complicated document screening in order to be able to introduce the personnel to be pinpointed, and in addition, it is not necessary to conduct executive class talent which is hard to find on  and other media. There is also the merit that it can collect it because it is necessary to successfully select the recruitment media according to the situation of the company and the personnel sought.

       

      When it comes to recruiting, it represent the contents of the job, but unlike Japan, it needs to clearly define the job description.

       

      In the case of instructing work contents that is different from the contents of the job presented first, there is a possibility that the additionally presented work may be refused for reasons such as not receiving explanation before starting work.

       

      Nonetheless, by strictly regulating the content of the duties, the harmful effect of being unable to respond to operations outside regulations also arises. As a countermeasure, it set incentives for flexibly dealing with work by setting items such as actively engaging in non-regulated work in the evaluation system, helping other staff, and etc. It is useful to go.

       

      It is also important to check the language skills when it comes to screening the documents and interviewing the applicants. For local workers who want to recruit, if it need to acquire certain languages ​​such as English, it is necessary to conduct interviews and written exams and verify their abilities.

       

      [Labor Condition Specification Form]

       

      When it comes to making a job offer make a job offer to applicants after screening documents and interviewing, I will present a letter of informal decision. When presenting an announcement letter of notice, it is important not to just convey labor conditions and the like, but to explain the reasons for informal judgment, the reasons why it want to work, the purpose and social significance of our company in Vietnam, motivation for personal motivation It is important to raise the rate of entering the employee by doing so.

       

      In the event that a prospective employee indicates on his or her willingness to join, he or she will conclude an employment contract and confirm employment rules. Although there are cases when it do not issue a letter of informal announcement only by oral confirmation, it is prudent to document it in order to avoid troubles afterwards. Also, because Vietnam has a strong tendency to protect workers, it is strictly stipulated by the Labor Law (Law No.10 / 2012 / QH 13) regarding dismissal. Therefore, when hiring workers, it is important to make full use of the trial period to prevent employment mismatch.

       

      [Trial period]

       

      The trial period is stipulated by the same law as follows. A one-time trial period can be established for the same employee for one task.

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       In addition under the Act, if the work during the trial period cannot satisfy the agreed requirements of both parties, each party may terminate the trial period without obligation to prior notice and compensation to the other party It can do it.

       

      Although legitimate dismissal during trial period is possible, it is necessary to pay attention such as thorough documentation as mentioned above.

       

      Attention is also required about adoption timing. Vietnam has a large consecutive holidays in the New Year (Teto) of the lunar calendar. During this period, urban areas, especially Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh, are deserted, as many of the Vietnamese who work in urban areas go home, which makes the atmosphere quiet unexpected from the usual bustle.

       

      Bonuses are usually paid before New Year’s Day in the lunar calendar, so even if it recruit at this time job candidates are not only difficult to gather, the turnover rate is high. Especially in factory workers, there are cases where it leave the New Year and retire without any contact. Therefore, it is a good idea to avoid jobs at this time.

       

    • Wage system and evaluation system

       In Vietnam, there is a strong tendency to emphasize academic qualifications and seniority in human resource evaluation, and many Japanese companies also evaluate in the same way. The educational background and age are also a major factor in deciding personnel evaluation even at hiring time and assignment.

       

      On the other hand, when it comes to appointing and utilizing the human resources, there is a problem that it cannot be properly evaluated by seniority system alone. Therefore, from the viewpoint of the introduction of the evaluation system and etc. by the function, from the viewpoint of objectivity, for example, it is necessary to tackle the problem by making a system that employees are easy to convince.

       

      In introducing the evaluation system based on the function, first of all not being able to gain understanding of employees is not to proceed with the education of evaluators, but there is a risk that they will not penetrate (eventually become a seniority evaluation).

       

      In addition to strong trends in seniority, it is not uncommon to leave more than one job to one employee, and it is said that there is a strong tendency to cover by covering more people. For that reason, there are not many cases where employment contracts describe their job details in detail.

       

      In the department, the roles of each department, the factory shows the roles at the team level collectively unless it clearly state the job description in the employment contract, the location of responsibility for the work is vague and problems can arise such that nobody will work on its own work except for the assigned work.

       

      When Japanese companies conduct business management in the local area, Japanese people often manage the operations of the local staff, but there is a reality that it is difficult to manage operations flexibly due to language problems and the like. In order to avoid such problems in advance, it is effective to describe clear job functions in employment contracts and to manage them based on employment contracts. It can clarify the role in employment contracts and keep objectivity by measuring with personnel evaluation system whether they are fulfilling their roles.

      One point to be aware of in the wage system in Vietnam is that it is difficult to conduct the salary it have decided once. Whether the trend of seniority is strong or the tendency of performance-based is strong depends on the company, but even companies that give priority to performance-based principles generally add some characteristics of seniority system.

       

      Especially when a small-scale company that evaluates and raises based on a seniority system introduces performance-based principles, consideration must be given so that the system design combines both features.

       

      In case of deciding salary by seniority system, annual salary increase rate is presented every year and it raise based on current salary of each employee. On the other hand, when introducing performance - based principles, it prepare a wage table and decide the salary increase rate and salary increase based on the evaluation result.

       

    • Points of the Evaluation System

      ■ Summary of points of the evaluation system

      In building the evaluation system, how to decide three items of evaluation object, measurement method, and distribution is a key point.

       

      Determination of evaluation object

       

      The decision to evaluate is to determine the target of evaluation. The definition of what to evaluate is to indicate the direction the employee should grow and to clarify the character image the company is seeking to achieve the goal.

       

      In addition, since objectivity is required for evaluation, it is often the case that objects that can be easily measured objectively, that is, quantifiable objects are selected as evaluation targets, and qualitative targets are missed. It is important to evaluate from both viewpoints of quantitative indicators and qualitative indicators.

       

      Determination of measurement method

       

      Deciding the measurement method is to decide who should evaluate the evaluation object. Usually, it is the boss to make the evaluation. Because evaluation tends to be subjectively made based on the evaluation from the boss, there are an increasing number of companies that adopt a viewpoint other than the manager, such as a 360-degree evaluation. It is also effective to introduce self-assessment to clarify the difference between its own recognition and boss recognition and to encourage growth. In particular, when utilizing the evaluation system for human resource development, there are many cases where self-evaluation is introduced.

       

      Determination of distribution

       

      The decision to distribute on what to extent the evaluation results that will distributed to employees. Specifically, at the company level, it is to decide the target value of labor share as overall wage management, and at the individual level it is deciding how much to reflect the assessment to salary and etc.

       

      In addition, it is also important to give meaning to distributions such as salaries and bonuses for salary as mentioned above.

       

      Determining the above three points will be the basis for building the evaluation system. Among them, the evaluation object is particularly important because it also tells employees the image of the persons wanted.

       

      ■ Purpose of the Evaluation System

      The evaluation system mainly has two objectives.

       

      The primary objective is to decide distribution, which is the wage. Due to determining salary based on the results of evaluation will distribute profits from the perspective of the organization as a whole. This is an indispensable purpose in the short term as it will be clear as an employee's annual treatment.

       

      The second objective is to define excellent talent as a company and make it known to employees. Although this tends to overlook as a purpose of evaluation, it is very important from a long-term point of view, and it is a concept that becomes the basis for deciding promotion. Promoting and promoting positions for personnel necessary for the company will result in employees knowing the image of the persons wanted by the company.

       

      Vietnamese people stick to their posts more than Japanese. If it comes to a high position, it will be advantageous for the next job change. It is important to give a managerial position to reduce employee turnover rates, but an easy promotion decision can lead to organization confusion.

       

      By giving feedback to employees as a result of evaluating the differences between excellent employees defined by the company and their employees, it will also encourage the employees to improve and at the same time foster employees, so from a long-term perspective this second  objective which is more important and it should be considered linked with the education system.

       

      It is considered that the decision of distribution is the first object that can be done fairly only after the definition of excellent talent which is the second objective. In other words, the essence of the evaluation system construction is to reflect and realize the ideals of the organization as institutions.

       

      If the definition of the evaluation can be done correctly, it will overseas the corporation to recruit the people. In addition to this, it is possible to construct a highly transparent organization by reflecting the personnel image of excellent talent defined by the company in the personnel evaluation system and education.

       

      By doing this, it can prevent troubles due to raise in local staff and decrease in retention rate of employees.

       

      In order to make logical thinking, Vietnamese people should explain logically and convince them when introducing the evaluation system.

       

      ■ Performance-based evaluation

      As stated above, the personnel evaluation in Vietnam has superiority in seniority, but in recent years there are also companies that introduce performance-based evaluation criteria.

       

      When introducing performance-based evaluation, it is necessary to clarify the process and evidence leading to the evaluation. Especially evaluating personal achievements and actions based on short-term and clear goals is effective. It is important to evaluate at this time with indicators that can be quantified.

       

      For example, at our company, "Speed ​​& Quality" is stated in service in international business. Based on this, it aim to submit monthly settlement data on 5th in the accounting service provided by our company.

       

      Whether this could be achieved is one of the evaluation targets, the Vietnamese people tend to think that time feeling is slow, and promises cannot be kept if they do not have an excuse. Therefore, if quantitative evaluation is not done, it tends to be conscious that "It will not be a problem if it is completed even if it is not in time for the delivery date."

       

      As a precautionary point of evaluation based on a clear goal, by always evaluating based on the result, it should never reflect the expected value in the evaluation. As a mistake often made by Japanese managers, it often raise salary by adding expectation to evaluation. From Vietnamese people, raising a salary is no better than being able to recognize his achievement. In other words, once a Vietnamese person feels that their performance has been acknowledged, they will not attempt to revise their subsequent actions. If there is a bad part, it need to provide clear feedback. My conscience cannot pass.

       

      In addition to evaluating the outcome items based on the results, at the same time, if the employee’s request is higher than the company’s assessment, it is effective to set a clear target on the next evaluation.

       

      For example, while the company is considering a raise of up to US $ 550 to Vietnamese staff whose current monthly salary is US $ 500, if the staff himself requested US $ 600 per month, , please ○ ○ Please make concrete goal and present conclusion to concrete goal, and convince about evaluation by linking with achievement and action required by company side I can. It can be said that it is more preferable to pay for such short-term outcomes, such as bonuses and performance allowances.

       

      If it evaluate based on performance-only principles, there is a tendency to invite job hopping, or just money. In order to differentiate it from other foreign companies or local companies as a Japanese company, pursue a management philosophy as a Japanese company is necessary. To that end, it is necessary to create a system to promote the management philosophy.

       

      A Japanese company is characterized by its ambiguous range of duties. When it comes to the team building in Japan, the character of ambiguity is an important factor. People who are able to broaden their range of responsibilities and responsibilities tend to be evaluated and become managers.

       

      People who are promoted to a manager are those who can act as an administrator before promotion. If it are promoted to a manager, obviously it are required to act as an administrator, so it need to plant administrator awareness before becoming an administrator.

       

      In order to have Vietnamese people work in a wide range of duties, it is important to fully explain why such ambiguity and broad range of duties are important.

       

      Japanese are not good at pointing out wrong parts of opponents. There are cases in which Vietnamese people are dissatisfied because Japanese managers did not clearly tell the shortage of Vietnamese at the time of evaluation because there was a discrepancy. Since objective indicators are important for evaluation feedback, it is also necessary to introduce a 360-degree evaluation system and obtain invisible information from managers.

       

      In the 360 ​​degree evaluation system, in addition to the boss who is the usual evaluator for the evaluation, it add evaluation from the colleague and self-evaluation. Unlike Japanese people, Vietnamese people evaluate themselves very strictly and have strict eyes for others.

       

      The 360 ​​degree evaluation system can be said to be an excellent way to know the points the Japanese do not notice. By clearly showing the differences between self-evaluation and the evaluation from its boss and colleagues and evaluating with objective indicators, it can maintain transparency and satisfaction of the evaluation.

       

    • National nature of Vietnamese

       Characteristics of Vietnamese staff are diligence, hand dexterity, similarity between the Japanese and national character. However, there is a big difference between the values ​​of the Japanese and the Vietnamese people, and it is necessary to tackle with a cautious attitude in management judgment.

      Cultural differences greatly influence the difference in values ​​between Japanese and Vietnamese people. The way of thinking for Japanese and Vietnamese families is very different, and the strength of the ties between Vietnamese families far exceeds the Japanese imagination. Families in Vietnam have united themselves around the head of the household as Confucian culture is deeply rooted. On the other hand, it can be said that the relationship between things that are not families or relatives is sparse.

       

      Importance of family relationship

       

      It is difficult to manage Vietnamese staff without understanding Vietnamese people's way of thinking about their families. In other words, it is necessary for the Vietnamese staff to be concerned about the family members of the staff on the premise that they are considering the family very much. If Japanese managers do not recognize such a situation, Vietnamese staff members' sense of belonging to the company will also be at stake.

       

      For example, it can be said that it is desirable for the main staff themselves and the Japanese managers to attend relatives' idling ceremonies. Regarding the staff's involvement in the company's career as it will, it is common to provide provisions in the company's internal regulations and provide allowance. Also, the dinner party with the family members of the staff is effective.

       

      Establishing opportunities for communication with family members staff is valuing better relationship of trust with staff. If it are acquainted with the family members of the staff, it is also important to show attitudes that it always care, such as asking about the situation from a day to day. By accumulating such considerations, the staff will recognize the company as a second family, not just a workplace. As a result, the staff will come into contact with Japanese managers and representatives as it will as the president as president, and the sense of belonging to workers and companies will be greatly improved.

       

      ■ Consideration for national character

       

      The Innovation is also necessary for management in daily work aside from whether or not it can actually work, Vietnamese people are generally very prideful people. Even if it make a serious mistake in business, it should avoid reprimanding in public. It need to transfer the place to the meeting room and etc and individually give guidance so that other Vietnamese staff will not be asked. As to how to teach, it is necessary to explain in a logical way why it is made a mistake and how to improve it. Emotional rebuke brings the risk of deterioration of subsequent work attitudes, motivation, and even retirement.

       

      When it comes to Japanese, there will be no problem even if it put it in words and do not complain, but in the case of Vietnamese people, I have a feeling that I have not been evaluated.

      In management for Vietnamese people, guidance for improvement is done individually, and in case of praise, it is important to make it as big as possible in public.

    • Requests for overseas assignees

       Evaluation methods and educational methods of Vietnamese people have been explained so far, but education for overseas assignees is also important for Japanese companies entering the field. Whether it can succeed in Vietnam depends on the way Japanese people reside in Vietnam. Therefore, the suitability of the Japanese assignee is important.

       

      As a premise, in appointing person, have experience of overseas living, and it seems to be suitable for people with high stress tolerance this is because the Vietnamese is gradually improving its living environment and it is becoming easier for Japanese to live even though it is hard to compare with Japan's living environment because it is a tough environment. Minimizing daily stress also leads to better results on work.

       

      Leadership is one of the important elements required of the assignee. In particular, the managing director must be an entrepreneur and leader.

      There are three conditions for leadership.

       

      First is the ability to set value. This is the ability to determine what the purpose of the job is. If an assignee works only for themselves and their families, their subordinates will also be affected. If the leader wants to return to Japan as soon as possible, that feeling will be transmitted to his subordinates and will not follow boss who will change in the near future. In all, the values ​​of overseas assignees influence.

       

      Second, it is the ability to share value. In order to share value, it is important to continue to speak hotly. Humans are animals with emotions, and not by theory alone. I cannot become a leader without passion. However, the value appears in the ordinary words of the leader. The men will focus on what to do rather than what the leader speaks. Because values ​​are reflected in action rather than words.

       

      Third, it is the ability to realize value. This can be replaced by the term management. It is important to know what management is and its essence. A person who is assigned to overseas must be a person who can continue to question what management is, what leaders are.

       

      Whether it is possible to train a leader or no depends on the education system of the Japanese headquarters as a domestic markets are shrinking due to the declining of the birthrate. That is why the Japanese companies will have to increase their overseas sales ratio more and more. For that purpose, it is urgent to educate systematically overseas employees.

       

    • Babiliography

      [1] Takahiko Sasaki, Megumi Fujii "Q & A Points of recruitment, establishment and establishment of local staff for overseas enterprises" Kiyosunha (Publication date: 2009/7)

      [2] Takeuchi Norihi "Theory of Human Resource Management under International Management" Taxation Accounting Association (Issued on: October 2002)

      [3] Yasunari Kuno "Itng people can quit in 3 years! - Companies that grow can nurture next leaders from people they can do" Publishing Culture Company

      [4] Yasunari Kuno, Yukari Inoue "If Kaedation Counselor Becomes Management Consultant - Motherhood Management" Publishing Culture Company

      [5] Fuyuki Shiro Fujitsu as seen from the inside - The collapse of performance-basedism Kobunsha (Publication date: 2004/7)