AmCham Vietnam and Respect Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City held the roundtable "Made in Vietnam: new workplace initiatives for improved labour productivity and enhanced business efficiency post-COVID" on December 15.

Businesses and employees in Vietnam have been facing increasingly unpredictable changes in both social and economic terms, especially in the aftermath of the pandemic. While both have been making all efforts possible to operate normally, new ways of working and operating are needed that are leaner and more effective to create more resilient organisations, ready for any new challenges, including the economic downturn.

Truc Huynh, human resources director of Coca-Cola Beverages, said, "The large majority of our employees are millennials, and Generation Z. One of our top concerns is adjusting the workplace to attract and retain this group of employees. This is particularly vital for businesses amidst the trend of job-quitting post-pandemic. However, many businesses have yet to take concrete action and change their mindset.”

"We need to build the agility and resilience necessary to prepare for and react to future disruptions. It is important to undertake changes by introducing new workplace initiatives to facilitate this. We anticipate that by investing in people and ensuring their happiness, employees will provide consumers with greater service and help their business grow."

The research and consulting organisation Respect Vietnam, in collaboration with its strategic partners, has been studying, pilot-testing, and delivering a number of new workplace initiatives in many crisis-prone industries, including labour-intensive manufacturers, hotels, hospitals, and service providers.

The initiatives include digitalised handbooks for the New Labour Code 2019 Regulation, Working Rules & Standards, and Sustainable Development in Free Trade Agreements. Another is the Lean Communication on New Workplace Policy on One Page for Change. The foundation of these initiatives is lean thinking in the workplace.

Mai Duc Thien, deputy director of the Department of Legal Affairs under the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA), said, "From the perspective of state management, these initiatives should be replicated among businesses to improve business efficiency post-pandemic. The internal working regulations are constantly updated, so the digital handbook will help employees keep up with the changes. The feedback of employees will help drive constant improvement for businesses."

He also encouraged businesses to adopt the initiatives with support from their business associations and foreign suppliers. The state management agency will closely observe the best practices. If businesses achieve good results, the agency will make proposals to the MoLISA to promote the initiatives.

Tran Thi Thanh Ha, head of the Labor Relations Department of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour, said that new workplace initiatives would help save business resources and expenses while improving the relationship between employers and employees. Digitalised handbooks will replace the burdensome inefficiency of paper-driven processes. This will promote transparency when employers collect feedback from their employees.

"Indeed, some initiatives have already been adopted by businesses. However, it is crucial to prove the effectiveness of the new workplace initiatives to the business community, such as their potential to improve productivity and reduce expenses. Thus, employers will feel more confident about adopting these new solutions. On top of that, we also need the collaboration of relevant stakeholders, including employers, business associations, and state agencies, to spread the initiatives,” Ha added.