The following was put together after 20 years working in HR / OD in Vietnam, i.e. this article is “Vietnam-centric”. Where to begin is always the key question; the recruiter was the answer.

There are some excellent company recruiters out there, a famous European FMCG comes to mind, however they are in the minority. The core difference between a world class interviewer and the rest is quite easy to pin point.

The difference, a world class interviewer knows that there are 2 key competency sets to successful interviewing. Firstly, by using professional skills they need to identify and select the best candidate available in the market, (yes we all know that). This over the years has become quite common in Vietnam. The second competency set is where the problem lays.

In addition to finding the best, the more important thing is convincing the best to join you. A testing question for you, many interviewers ask the question “why do you want to work for us?” how many interviews are skilled in answering the question “why do you want me to work for you?”

We are operating in a tough labor market, top notch recruiters need to be proficient in sincerely convincing candidates that they are offering the best employment option, most are not competent in this area.

Out of date recruitment KPIs, such as the ratios of people interviewed to people hired, further hinder best practice.

As we all know, once you have selected the best, the next trick is to keep them. Many organizations in Vietnam spend large amounts of money on “retention initiatives”. In simple terms, people who feel at home, stay. Quality on-boarding practices, followed by a buddy system, mentoring or coaching system are the essentials for retention.

Implementing the above, is not expensive, not doing so is very expensive.

Garry Howell
August 30, 2016