Ngành nhân sự đã thay đổi như thế nào sau 25 năm? | Mindful Leadership SS3 #8

Key Concepts

• Human Capital Prioritization: The shift in business focus from traditional areas (sales, marketing, finance) to prioritizing human resources as a primary driver of success.
• Talent Acquisition Difficulty: The increasing challenge businesses face in attracting and retaining skilled employees at all levels, from management to production line workers.
• Human Implementation of Vision: The crucial role of skilled personnel in translating strategic vision, ideas, and technological advancements into tangible results.
• Competitive Advantage through People: The move from capital and equipment being the primary differentiator to human creativity and execution being the key to competitive advantage.

The Evolving Importance of Human Resources in Vietnamese Businesses

The discussion centers on the dramatic shift in how Vietnamese businesses perceive and prioritize human resources over the past 25 years. Initially, around five years ago, a survey conducted with Thời báo Kinh tế Sài Gòn (Saigon Economic Times) during a business forum in Australia revealed that human resource management typically ranked fifth or sixth in importance for businesses. The primary concerns were sales, branding/marketing, financial and accounting management. Human resource considerations were often an afterthought.

From Afterthought to Primary Concern: A Paradigm Shift

However, the speaker emphasizes a significant change. Today, when engaging with business owners, the overwhelming consensus is that human resources represent their biggest challenge. The competition for talent is fiercer than ever before. This isn’t limited to managerial positions; even finding qualified specialists for production roles (“ở trong xưởng sản xuất”) requires considerable effort – described as needing to “thắp đuốc đi tìm” (literally, “light a torch to find”), signifying extreme difficulty.

The New Source of Competitive Advantage

This shift reflects a fundamental change in the sources of competitive advantage. Previously, possessing capital and equipment provided a significant advantage. While these remain important, they now offer only a marginal edge (“lời thể hơn một tí xíu”). The real differentiator lies in creativity (“sáng tạo”) and effective implementation (“triển khai”). The speaker highlights that ideas are readily available through resources like Google and AI; the critical factor is who can actually bring those ideas to fruition. The answer, repeatedly emphasized, is “Con người” – people.

The Challenge of Finding the Right People

The core problem isn’t simply finding any people, but finding individuals who align with the company’s strategy (“chiến lược”), culture (“văn hóa”), and demonstrate a high level of commitment (“cam kết cao độ”) to achieving long-term goals (“đi tới đích cùng”). Numerous factors influence this alignment, making talent acquisition a complex process.

Illustrative Statement

A key statement made is: “Con người mới hiện thực họa được cái tầm nhìn của họ, cái chiến lược của họ, cái giấc mơ của họ.” (It is people who can truly realize their vision, their strategy, their dream.) This underscores the belief that human capital is the essential ingredient for translating ambition into reality.

Logical Flow & Synthesis

The conversation logically progresses from describing the historical low prioritization of HR, to detailing the current crisis in talent acquisition, and finally, to explaining why human capital is now the primary driver of competitive advantage. The speaker effectively illustrates this evolution with the example of the Thời báo Kinh tế Sài Gòn survey and the contrasting perspectives of business owners then and now. The central takeaway is that Vietnamese businesses have recognized that investing in and attracting the right people is no longer a secondary concern, but the most critical factor for success in today’s competitive landscape.