In this tough economic situation, most companies have to cut down many expenses and especially this year, many companies may not have Tet bonus (year-end bonus). It affects pretty much the working spirit of the staff and workers.

BizLIVE’s reporter had a conversation with Mr. Le Ba Thong - General Director of TTT Corporation, who is the pioneer in building "happy company model" and who has many experiences in organizing external events for employers and employees to discuss about this issue.

Many experts believe that in 2013, the world economy in general and Vietnam economy in particular is getting slowly out of the recession and will gradually recover in 2014. What do you think about this issue, sir?

In my opinion, it is only 50% true. The world economy is recovering and will partially affect Vietnam, especially when Vietnam joins the international organizations and treaties.

However, whether Vietnam will overcome the crisis and seize the opportunities or not depends very much on Vietnam itself. If we are lucky, Vietnam will get over the biggest internal crisis when the world overcomes its current crisis. The internal crisis depends greatly on the “health" of each country to decide whether or not it can be overcome.

In 2013, although the economy has faced many difficulties, TTT Corporation is still doing quite effectively. Could you share a few secrets to better capture the opportunities in crisis?

I think that whether in crisis or not, the enterprises still need to appreciate every opportunity. Last year, TTT Corporation still had to look for even the smallest chance, so our business performance cannot be considered good but we still had some achievements to celebrate.

In crisis, what do you think are most important factors to help the companies survive?

There are two important factors but the more important factor is the internal resources that are accumulated after a long period.  The internal resources here include human resources. In crisis, the human factor is very important.

Many companies today are struggling because the human element does not meet the requirements of the current situation. A good leader is the one who can build a solid team to be a foundation for their long-term business development even in difficult period.

As a pioneer in building "happy company model" and has been very successful with this model, how do you assess the role of corporate culture in Vietnam nowadays?

I am very happy because many presses have recently mentioned a lot about corporate culture therefore many companies are now very interested in this issue. However, each company follows different path so the way they build their corporate culture will be different. Whether they commit to implement good corporate culture or not depends on many factors, including the leaders.

To you, what is the role of the leaders in shaping their corporate culture?

The leaders have a very important role because corporate culture is 90% dependent on the leaders. They must be aware of the importance of corporate culture to build a good corporate culture for themselves and vice versa.

Not only in business but also in the reforms, the leaders’ role is very important as well. The responsibility of a leader is also clearly defined in ISO 9001:2008 standard.

Tet bonus is also an issue of corporate culture. In this difficult economic period and when the Lunar New Year is coming, what do you think the business leaders  should do to solve the Tet bonus problems for the employees to sympathize with companies’ difficulties?

Some companies will not have Tet bonus this year, this is a matter of how to encourage staff by giving away the incentives. There will be some companies which don’t have anything to give but the staff may understand through the way the bosses express and share their problems.

A boss in crisis times should consider the staff as his own family, if he is ready to talk straightly to employees about the company’s difficulties and fulfil their commitment, he will easily be sympathized and supported by the staff to try together for the next year.

In contrast, in times of crisis, if the boss says there is no bonus but he still buy a new house, a luxury car, it will be hard for him to receive employees’ consensus.

How TTT Corporation solve this Tet bonus problem?

Our company still has Tet bonus like the previous years because this is TTT’s tradition.

Thank you!

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