TMG – Thien Minh Group (TMG) is a prominent name in Vietnam’s tourism-hospitality industry. The group was 1 of the top 20 fastest growing companies in East Asia 2014 (selected by WEF).
The CEO of TMG, Mr. Tran Trong Kien, graduated from Hanoi Medical University but pursued his career in the tourism industry. Mr. Kien has also been involved in the banking sector; he was a board member of VP Bank (2010-2012) and is currently a board member of ACB.
Recently, at an HR seminar, Mr. Kien shared that the annual turnover rate of TMG is only around 4-5%, which is very impressive compared to the average market turnover rate of 15-20%.
According to Mr. Kien, “Human resources is the most important element in the development strategy of the country, as well as the business. When you have good human resources, enterprises can overcome difficulties in the competitive business environment that is constantly changing “.
Mr. Kien said, “20 years ago, Thien Minh had only 3 staff. 4 years ago, in 2010, the figure was 600, and now the group has about 2,500 staff from more than 14 countries in Asia, Europe and the Americas, including more than 800 foreigners “.
Mr. Kien pointed out 3 HR management strategies that have brought success to TMG:
- HR strategy in line with business strategy
Even during its inception in 1994, the founders of TMG had decided that the company’s strategic direction was international outreach. Therefore, the business environment needs to be appropriate for both local and international employees. This means that Vietnamese and foreigners, from Laos, Thailand, Britain, America, etc., can easily join the company. This strategy has proved its efficiency in the field of tourism. Until now, TMG has over 800 overseas employees out of 2,500 total employees.
- “Equality” as an enterprise’s culture
Because of the strategic direction of international outreach, the traditional working environment must be changed. Accordingly, “Equality” has always been promoted within the group as business culture.
“Everyone in the group, from the security guards, drivers, tour guides, and receptionists, has chances to work and talk to the CEO. That’s how we unify people from different cultures around the world”, said Kien.
- CEO is not the best person, but the one who gathers better people to work with.
This is a personal opinion of Mr. Kien about the CEO role. Kien confided that he himself “does not consider the position of CEO’s privileged, but an honour and great responsibility for the business”.
Mr. Kien also identified that training and HR development are key factors in HR strategy: “TMG investment in human resources training is 24-32 hours/year, while the current average is around 6-8 hours/year.”
Finally, Mr. Kien said: “Businesses should develop HR strategy ahead and in parallel with business strategy (as opposed to the usual formulation, business strategies first then HR strategy later). Those who build HR strategy should also understand the overall vision and goals of the business. HR strategy should be developed to suit each type of business and different business models, as well as syncing it with business strategies in the different phases.
Source: CafeBiz
