Human resources experts and business leaders take part in a virtual event co-organised by ManpowerGroup Vietnam and American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) on Wednesday. Photo courtesy of ManpowerGroup Vietnam

HCM CITY — Amid the COVID-19 crisis, employers want to keep their staff safe while coping with challenges to maintain normal and effective operations, said human resources experts and business leaders at a recent meeting.

To meet both business and individual concerns, most businesses and organisations have gradually shifted towards agile working environments, experts said at a recent virtual event co-organised by the global workforce solutions company ManpowerGroup and the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham).

"Agile working refers to individual and organisational practices that leverage technology and flexibility to enable employees and their organisations to better collaborate across departments, locations and working environments," said Nguyễn Thanh Hương, country HR manager at ManpowerGroup Vietnam.

"This model should become a part of our everyday work culture with the goal of achieving an optimal balance between agility, productivity, performance, information security, compliance, client satisfaction, well-being, and much more."

According to the Skills Revolution Reboot survey of 26,130 employers in 43 countries by the ManpowerGroup, three out of four employers require at least 50 per cent of their staff to work in the workplace all or most of the time, based on their individual roles. Yet most are also working to build new kinds of flexibility into roles traditionally seen as inflexible.

Trần Thị Thu Thắm, head of Human Resources at Bosch Vietnam, said: “Agile working requires managers and employees alike to develop an even stronger culture of mutual trust and responsibility.”

To keep their jobs, local workers need to know how to adapt to their working model to remain an integral and valuable part of their organisation.

Thái Vân Linh, CEO & Founder of TVL Group, cited her practical experience in applying this model. "Agile working means how to work efficiently, to balance tight deadlines, give attention to detail, achieve target results, and balance work and personal life."

The "What Vietnamese Workers Want in the New Normal” survey conducted by ManpowerGroup Vietnam in November and December 2020 surveyed 463 participants who said that COVID-19 should be a catalyst for a new future of work, which is flexible, diverse and oriented toward wellbeing.

Vietnamese workers are united in what they want to prioritise for the future, including staying healthy, learning and developing new skill sets, keeping their job, and bringing more balance between work and life.

As for the benefits of being in the official workplace, the respondents said they highly valued opportunities for collaboration, productivity and efficiency improvement, and appreciated the office as a way of separating work from home.

However, a proportion of respondents preferred flexibility in terms of location and schedule, or working remotely full-time.

Nearly 78 per cent of respondents placed significance on learning and career coaching.

Amid current uncertainties, employability matters to workers and 72 per cent said that simply keeping their job was the most important priority. 

Work security and well-being have been identified as the most crucial factors that both Vietnamese workers in general and working parents in particular would like to focus in the "new normal". — VNS