Nguyen Tam Trang from Unilever Vietnam (middle) receives an award in HCM City on March 5. — VNS Photo Quynh Hoa

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — Vietnamese companies need to increase improving the quality of their human resources to compete with their rivals in an increasingly globalised world, vice president of Human Resources Department of Unilever Vietnam Nguyen Tam Trang said on March 5 at an awards ceremony to honour the100 Vietnam Best Places To Work 2014.

"Companies need to train staff thoroughly in both skills and career ethics so we can have more results in future," Trang said, adding that the Vietnamese workforce was second to none but younger compared to many other countries.

The survey of the best places to work was conducted online by Nielsen, a global market research firm, from October 2014 – January 2015 with 15,578 respondents working in 24 industries nationwide.

The ceremony was organised by Nielsen and Anphabe, the biggest career network of management professionals in Vietnam.

Unilever was voted as best place to work across industries for two consecutive years (2013 and 2014). It was also considered the most attractive employer brand in terms of growth opportunity and company reputation.

Trang said Unilever's training programmes include Leaders Grow Leaders, which focuses on staff helping other staff.

"Key to success is to always consider human resources as most valuable asset of a company and the commitment to grow and retain them", she said.

Vu Minh Tri, general director of Microsoft Vietnam, said that attracting top talent was a key to success since people would grow with business success.

Tri said salary was not the only factor that attracted top talent. Companies should target a specific talent pool, he said, and offer a healthy competitive environment and support employees' career paths.

Best places to work

The ceremony honored the top companies in their respective fields, which were Nike in apparel/footwear, HSBC in banking/finance, Prudential in insurance, Holcim in manufacturing and Cargill in agriculture/food/forestry.

Vinamilk was voted as the best employer in the categories of rewards and work/ life quality. Intel received the award for best performance in the culture and values category, and Microsoft in the leadership category.

Compared to 2013, more Vietnamese enterprises were listed in the top 100 (20 companies compared to 14 last year).

VinGroup ranked at the top in real estate and VietJetAir in hospitality/tourism.

Some Vietnamese companies jumped to higher spots, including Viettel (from 25 to 14), Techcombank (from 74 to 24) and ICP (from 93 to 75).

Other brands had high rankings despite being included for the first time, Mobifone (12), PNJ (41) and The gioi di dong (57).

Employers in healthcare and dairy manufacturing companies became more attractive, such as Vinamilk (from 3 to 2), Abbott (from 6 to 4), Nutifood (32, first time in the top 100), Sanofi (from 73 to 59), and Mead Johnson Nutrition (from 92 to 73).

Working professionals have also become more demanding when choosing a workplace that aligns with their career objectives.

In six career drivers, the Total Rewards category was the most important. Compared to last year, employees were less demanding in base salary or bonuses, and instead focused on benefits.

Leadership and company reputation were considered as top career drivers since they can lead a company through hardship and guarantee employees' job security.

When applying for jobs, employees said they were concerned about leadership, attractive benefits, inspiring vision and clear strategy.

If employers do not satisfy their employees in competitive base salary as well as fairness and respect, they will leave.

In order to attract and retain talent, companies should offer remuneration to meet talents' diverse needs. — VNS