In this issue:

The 39th Dutch Vietnam

Management Supporter

This magazine was first

published in March 2007. It is

digitally distributed among

my Vietnamese & Dutch

business & private associates.

Purpose: to keep you

informed about my activities

in Vietnam and overseas

This amazingly attractive and

energetic country has rapidly

conquered my soul. It is my

home away from home.

Loek Hopstaken

Pr o f . L oe k H o ps t ak en

Em a i l :

l o ek . h o ps t ak en @ gm a i l .

c om

C e l l : 0 9 0 8 8 8 9 4 5 0

September 2015

9th year, no. 5

Presentation skills

HRM in Vietnam

1

2

Localized training

Coaching or

Mentoring?

3

4

Control Union 12½

Breaking a leg at the

Opera

Invest in Paradise!

5

6

7

Clients, services &

contact information

8

Presentation Skills:

The Number One skill? Do you (dis)agree? Fact is that most successful people are

expert in selling ideas. To investors, to staff, and last-but-

not-least, to clients. I have been delivering Presentation

Skills courses for 20+ years. In Vietnam, at RMIT, Royal

Business School, and in-company. It’s always fun seeing

participants developing new skills within hours. They

learn to share their personal stories & have an emotional

impact on their audience. Recently my long-term associate

Mr Dung (ISM) invited me to train a group of VietJet Air

managers.

Q. What makes it

the no. 1 skill?

A. Imagine being

unable to inspire &

persuade. You’ll fail to contribute in

meetings. You

cannot convince the

CEO. You have

trouble getting staff

to perform.

Management skill no. 1: you can’t perform without it. It takes practice. My participants deliver 3 presentations.

They learn from others’ presentations, and their & my feedback. At the end they can confidently deliver a decent

presentation. They now have the no. 1 management skill.

quality:

fit for use

Joseph Juran

Educating the mind

without educating the heart

is no education at all.

Aristotle

The 39th Dutch Vietnam

Management Supporter

9th year, no. 5 2

After working for 7+ years with many Vietnamese & multinational companies, I have met &

workd with many HRM departments, their managers & staff. A few observations.

Most HRM departments are still purely operational: tasks are limited to admin & legal,

recruitment, salaries and organizing incentive events called “team building”. Some HRM departments have rudimentary tasks relating to HR policy (staff handbook), performance

appraisal & staff development (training)

Many structural tasks that are part of a

full HRM package are missing.

Meanwhile, top management takes care

of organizational development & related

issues, usually ad hoc. Most top

managers—including expats—lack the

necessary HRM & organizational know-

how.

Recruiting HR pros in Vietnam is like

looking for a needle in a haystack: in

Vietnam there is no formal HRM

education. Titles are deceptive: “HR Executive”, “HR Strategic Partner”: not quite.

Above: an overview of most HRM fields. Green = personnel-related, blue = organization-

related. Below right: reality. In 7 years I have observed little improvement.

Solutions

The best solution—idea no. 1—is of

course to have a quality vocational HRM

college. Unfortunately, there isn’t any in Vietnam.

So we need to cope.

Idea no. 2: organize a class with HR staff

from several companies.

Idea no. 3: invite a professional to train,

coach & mentor your HR talents.

In case you wonder who should conduct

the training, coach & mentor your staff:

let’s meet. I’ll explain how we can make this work & create your pro HRM unit.

Human Resource Management in Vietnam

People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who

are doing it.

George Bernhard Shaw

3 9th year, no. 5

The 39th Dutch Vietnam

Management Supporter

Designed to deliver results: your localized

corporate training program

Clients do not come first. Your employees come first. If you take care of

your employees, they will take care of the clients. Richard Branson

When a multinational company (MNC) establishes itself in Vietnam, it often ignores local

culture. Instead of trying to assimilate, it tries to replicate its home-grown business methods

& values. These work in the MNC’s home country, so why not in Vietnam? Behind it lies the belief that home-grown business methods & values are superior. During their formative

years abroad MNC’s send trainers unfamiliar with Vietnamese culture to deliver training programs. Where instruction & hard (job) skills are involved, this inhibits the learning pro-

cess. Yet, it may work when the instructor knows his cross-cultural basics. With soft skills

the cultural differences may run deep. The application of foreign training methods simply

doesn’t produce satisfactory results. To successfully design & deliver soft skills training pro-grams a trainer needs to be thoroughly familiar with what works with Vietnamese of differ-

ent backgrounds & generations. All Vietnamese are products of an educational system

which deeply affects their learning skill. (See: Bloom’s Taxonomy, DVMS no. 35). This

means you cannot just transplant foreign training methodology and expect it to work. Im-

portant: hire a proficient interpreter. Always. The following 12 steps offer a guideline to

make corporate training programs for MNC’s and Vietnamese organizations more effective.

The 12 steps to design & deliver a localized training program for high potentials

1. Assess levels of know-how, skills & talents of your staff (show them on your organiza-

tional chart). Include top managers.

2. Conduct a Training Need Assessment (TNA) to determine the future need of know-how,

skills & talents of your organization; formulate the intended training program results.

3. Consider what will happen if you don’t train your staff & managers (competitiveness; cost; staff turnover; qualified staff joins a competitor).

4. Finalize the TNA. Set aside enough budget to finance & complete the program.

5. Select high potentials who wish to grow & have more responsibilities.

6. Interview the (future) participants to define their individual development programs.

7. Based on analysis of 1, 2 & 6, blend corporate + individual needs to design the overall

training program. Localize: do not enforce headquarters-specific but locally less effective

training methods. Allow room for personal coaching & mentoring.

8. Select a trainer or trainers with a proven record of excellence. A good interpreter is a

sound investment. Don’t go for cheap: minimum investment minimum or no results.

9. Plan the program delivery & arrange the logistics (training facilities).

10. Inform the organization that a group of high potential staff will participate in the

training program. The participation level will be part of staff’s performance appraisal. 11. Do the corporate training program. Regularly evaluate progress, adjust when needed.

12. Evaluate after completion. Check intended results; changed behaviors.

4 9th year, no. 5

The 39th Dutch Vietnam

Management Supporter

Global players consider it to be vital to keep talents. Coaching & mentoring have been

around for ages, in all kinds of organizations around the world. Their purpose: to develop an

individual’s talents (coaching) and personality (mentoring). Only the past 30, 40 years coaching & mentoring have been codified and brought to a higher

level of workability. Today you’ll find coaching & mentoring institutes who provide the latest methods & tools. While basic coaching & mentoring are being practiced in Vietnam, both are

still limited to coaching top talents and mentoring successors—mostly in non-asian multina-

tionals. For some reason coaching & mentoring doesn’t get off the ground in Vietnam. Why?

Problem solving in Vietnam

A skill often addressed in coach-

ing is problem solving. Coach asks

coachee to name a problem. Coach

doesn’t solve the problem, but in-stead asks specific questions to

stimulate coachee to analyse &

solve the problem.

However, most older Vietnamese

managers firmly believe they are

their staff’s problem solvers. Most older Vietnamese staff strongly

feel their manager should solve

their problems. An unwritten con-

tract: part of traditional Vietnam-

ese business culture. So why

change? Interesting concept, they think, but Business Culture says no. Yet, in a non-asian

multinational environment staff is expected to solve their own problems, while the manager

takes care of problems that exceed a staff’s authority. Interestingly, once Vietnamese man-agers & staff grab the concept of skill development, they don’t want to go back to their tradi-tional ways. In that sense coaching & mentoring are causing a shift in business culture.

Right or wrong? Effectiveness matters, right?

Vietnam’s new generations: a future for coaches & mentors

The past few years many young Vietnamese managers have become aware of the benefits of

coaching & mentoring. An increasing number of them have less difficulty facing their inner

cultural barrier. “It takes time.” Yes, it does. Just don’t allow the reasons not to train your

coaches & mentors to negatively affect your decision. They are key to business success.

Coaching or Mentoring?

People are generally better persuaded by the reasons

which they have themselves discovered than by those

which have come into the mind of others. Blaise Pascal

The 39th Dutch Vietnam

Management Supporter

9th year, no. 5 5

Quality Management has

been a long-time passion.

I explored the ISO & TQM

worlds. Learned about the

many ways to continuously

improve processes &

products, but first of all,

people.

As a Senior Quality

Consultant at ING Bank, I

trained, worked with &

translated for the Juran

Institute. Completed the

BVQI Lead Assessor Course.

Since then I closely follow

the developments in quality

management.

I see Ron Kaufman’s endeavor to improve customer service for companies around the world as a major, highly successful

& lasting quality improvement effort. Like the impessive work he did for Singapore Airlines and

Changi Airport). Yes, once you get infected with the QM virus, it remains in your system forever.

So I was more than delighted when Control Union Vietnam invited me last year to train its

managers on the tailor-made “Allround Manager” program. This November we will finalize it & the participants will receive their Allround Manager certificate.

September 10 Control Union Vietnam celebrated its 12½ year anniversary. Leaders from its mother

company in the Netherlands had come to Saigon. Ms. Nga & Ms. Tam have been with CU from its

start. Mr. Richard de Boer, Control Union’s GD, made sure their contributions & loyalty were publicly appreciated. Many clients & relations joined the party at Ly Club Saigon—a fine place.

Control Union Vietnam: 12½ years of Quality

3 recently developed training courses

The art of course development is 1) translating a specified need into course content that ad-

dresses this need, 2) making it fit for use by the learners and 3) choosing training methods to

maximize achievement of the course objectives. Three recent examples. Curious? Let’s talk!

The 39th Dutch Vietnam

Management Supporter

9th year, no. 5 6

What a week it was, when the Ho Chi Minh City Ballet Symphony Orchestra & Opera

(HBSO) rehearsed for their concert. Dutch Conductor Jan Stulen did what he could to uplift

the orchestra’s competence. Jan told me this week in Saigon will be a chapter in his next book, covering memories of his impressive 50+ years musical career. But it’s not easy when the sheet music—in this case, from the movie department of Disney—arrives late. Or not at

all, like the score for

Frozen. Little time for

rehearsals. But: in the

theatre you have to

deliver what is promised.

The performance date is

set, tickets have been

sold. The concert starts

on time; it better be good.

On top of this, a Disney

concert attracts families.

Disappoint adults is bad

nough. Disappointing

kids is worse. They are

tomorrow’s audience.

Amongst each other, artists use a weird expression for these occasions: “Break a leg.” At first

hearing it confused me. Breaking a leg? Are you serious? Now I have witnessed its meaning.

Artists are not known as easy or flexible characters. But when they have to deliver quality,

their artistic pride takes charge. They work so hard they out-perform themselves. They don’t care if they “break a leg”.

That’s what they did on July 19 at the Saigon Opera. Jan

& his musicians pulled it off

in grand style, to a cheering

audience & standing

ovations. Encore: the Pirates

of the Caribbean Suite.

Afterwards Mr. Tran Vuong

Thach, HBSO’s founder, director, conductor and

Jan’s former student, treats Jan, his wife Aimee & us to

a cold, tasty German beer.

Promise only what you can deliver.

Then deliver more than you have promised.

Breaking a leg at Ho Chi Minh City’s Opera

The 39th Dutch Vietnam

Management Supporter

9th year, no. 5 7

When first visiting Dalat in 2007 my first

thought was: this is the place to establish a

top class resort. Also, a retreat to deliver my

services to CEO’s & managers of top-class

organizations.

There are a few good resorts in & around

Dalat. But I haven’t seen paradise. So when a friend told me about Hoa Son (Mountain

Flower) eco-resort, I was all ears. Hoa Son is

a 37,8 ha area of tropical forest, 10 km from

Dalat. Accessible by road. The owner has all

the necessary licenses. But due to retire-

ment she has decided to sell the property

instead of developing it herself. This offers

an opportunity for an investor or entrepreneur whose aim is to establish a resort & spa in

one of the most beautiful areas of Vietnam. A place for holidays, but also a wonderful envi-

ronment for a wedding, a conference, a staff retreat and of course, a corporate training.

If you are interested, or know anyone who thinks of owning

and developing a 5-star eco-resort in Vietnam’s tropical highlands, let me know. I will then introduce you to my

friend. She is authorized to negotiate the terms on behalf of

the owner. So, why not invest in Paradise?

As an eco-resort needs an architect, I would recommend the

new owner to engage David Lee Andersen. He is an inter-

national architect, specialized in what he calls “sculpting eco-resorts amid the spectacular wonders of nature.” His eco-resorts “promise to provide guests with the feeling of paradise here on earth.” Two of his designs are in Costa Ri-ca: Tabacon (www.tabacon.com) and Lapa Rios

(www.laparios.com). Just take a look & you will get an idea

of why Hoa Son might become a paradise. David is no

stranger to Vietnam. Check his LinkedIn profile.

Why not invest in Paradise?

Mountain Flower (Hoa Son) Eco-resort

All things created have an order in themselves, and this begets

the form that lets the universe resemble God.

Dante Alighieri, Paradiso

Who is David Lee Andersen?

8 9th year, no. 5

In Vietnam: a.o. business field

Tan Thuan IPC Industrial development

HCMC University of Technology intern. MBA program

RMIT (HCMC campus) Pro Comm faculty

Royal Business School Courses & seminars

Int. Business & Law Academy (IBLA) Training & consultancy

Vietnam Airlines (RBS; ISM) International airline

Vietnam Singapore I.P. (SPECTRA) Industrial park

Petronas (SPECTRA) Chemical factory

Petronas Carigali (PACE) Oil & gas

Nike (Tae Kwang Vina) (SPECTRA) Shoe factory

Le & Associates Training & consultancy

Sacombank (Training House) Training & consultancy

Ministry of L.I.S.A. (RBS) Civil Servants

SONY Vietnam (RBS) Consumer electronics

CapitaLand Vietnam (SPECTRA) Real estate

Institute for Potential Leaders / PACE Courses & seminars

Dalat Hasfarm (Agrivina) Pot plants, cut flowers

Hoanggia Media Group Key to Success TV Show

Fresh Green Earth Hi-tech agriculture

Unique Design Interior Design/archit.

ERC Institute Vietnam Business school

Schoeller Bleckmann Vietnam Oilfield Equipment

Robert Bosch Vietnam (PACE) Electronics

De Heus Vietnam Animal food

Control Union Vietnam (SPECTRA) Quality inspections

Centre for Tropical Med.—Oxford Uni. Clinical research

Khue Van Academy Courses & seminars

CARE Vietnam (AIT) NGO

Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) Training & consultancy

HCMC Fin. & Invest. Company (AIT) Investments

Academy of Finance MBA (Un. of Gloucester)

ITEQ Vietnam Mono-parts/assemblies

Vietnam Breweries Ltd (Heineken) Brewery

VietJet Air (ISM) Airline

In The Netherlands, a.o.

ING Bank Financial services

Philips Electronics

Heineken Brewery

Yamaha Musical instruments

The 39th Dutch Vietnam Management Supporter

Loek Hopstaken’s Clients

The play was a

great success,

but the

audience was a

disaster.

Oscar Wilde

There is no

business like

show business.

Irving Berlin

The DVM Supporter is published by

Prof. Loek Hopstaken

Email: loek.hopstaken@gmail.com

Cell Vietnam: (84) 090 888 9450

Cell The Netherlands: 06 510 97328 Assistant: Ms. Vo Ngoc Lien Huong

Email: jane.hopstaken@gmail.com

Cell: (84) 090 888 9451

Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/loekhopstaken

Oneliners

No matter what

people tell you,

words and ideas

can change the

world.

Robin Williams