26/06/2024
Developing Textile Garment Workforce: Correct Understanding, Right Action
According to President Ho Chi Minh, people are the most precious resource and the key factor in the success of the revolution. Throughout his revolutionary career, President Ho Chi Minh always considered human issues, human work, and human training as his primary concern and noble responsibility. Following his ideology, the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group has been striving to promote the role of people, especially in training and healthcare.
Dr. Hoang Xuan Hiep – Member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of Vinatex, Rector of Hanoi Industrial Textile Garment University
Lecturers must have both solid knowledge and the ability to apply it in textile-garment production and business practices.
President Ho Chi Minh asserted that “Higher education should combine scientific theory with practice, learning from advanced countries while integrating with Vietnam’s reality to effectively contribute to national development, etc”. This principle guides all universities, especially universities of applied sciences. From the design phase of training programs for the textile garment industry, universities must balance theoretical and practical content, ensuring enough practical skill training to equip students to solve real-world problems. Training programs should reference those from developed countries to incorporate modern knowledge and advanced skills of Industrial Revolution 4.0, such as smart textile factories, digital economy in textiles, sustainable textile garment supply chains, and circular economy practices.
In terms of educational methodology, President Ho Chi Minh emphasized that “learning must go hand in hand with practice”. To realize this in textile garment training universities, teaching staff must possess both solid theoretical knowledge and practical application skills. During their studies, lecturers guide students in scientific research to solve complex problems in textile garment enterprises, improve productivity, quality, and efficiency, and develop skills for ensuring product quality meeting major textile garment markets such as the EU and the US, managing green textile garment factories, and participating in sustainable supply chains, etc.
Besides professional education, Ho Chi Minh’s ideology also highlights the importance of ethical education. He believed that “teaching and learning must focus on both talent and virtue, with revolutionary ethics being fundamental”. Universities training textile garment workforce, where 90% of production capacity is for export, must train students with professional ethics, responsibility, creativity, and readiness to integrate into the global textile garment market with many fluctuations.
The best way to learn and follow Ho Chi Minh’s ideology in textile garment workforce training and development today is education transformation from merely imparting knowledge to comprehensively developing learners’ capabilities and qualities. This aligns with his teaching’s mindset that “Teaching and learning must meet the needs of the people and the Government. Good teachers and good students will provide enough personnel for agriculture, industry, and all economic and cultural sectors.”
Mr. Nguyen Van Phong – General Director of Hue Textile Joint Stock Company
Caring for the workforce and enhancing competitiveness in the global trend
“Responsibility of the leader” is one of the nine core cultural values of the Hue Textile and Garment Joint Stock Company. This cultural value is communicated and understood by each manager and party member, effectively applied in company activities, especially in training, developing, and caring for the workforce, and boosting business performances to enhance global competitiveness.
In terms of training and developing human resources, the Board of Directors and the General Director have planned and trained over 100 managers and young staff for positions of General Director, Deputy General Director, Operations Director, heads and deputy head of member units. All planned personnel are sent to training programs such as Leader Mindset, Business Leadership, Young Talent, and Member Textile Garment Mill Director. Besides formal training, the company assigns executive members to mentor and guide individuals to improve their professional and management skills. Not only focusing on training the next generation of management staff, at HUGATEX, all employees receive training and mentoring to improve their skills. Regular training is conducted with the motto “excel in one task, know many tasks,” to enhance productivity, quality, and adaptability to market changes. Additionally, the company has also developed a competency framework and conducted competency assessments to identify gaps and create appropriate training programs.
To boost the business and production activity and improve competitiveness globally, the company aims to become a strategic partner of major fashion brands by 2035, meeting the highest customer requirements, maintaining modern management systems, achieving sustainable growth, and deeply participating in the supply chain of the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group and the global textile supply chain. To realize this vision, the Board of Directors and the General Director of the company have implemented a development strategy encompassing four main pillars: Financial Strategy, Market Strategy, Human Resource Strategy, and Investment Strategy. These strategies have been widely popularized to all employees to ensure understanding and collective effort in achieving the company’s strategic goals.
Despite market difficulties from 2021-2023 due to Covid-19, geopolitical conflicts, and economic recession, HUGATEX has seen relatively good results: capital increased from VND100 billion to VND200 billion, annual revenue nearly VND2,000 billion, annual profit from VND120-170 billion, providing jobs for nearly 5,000 workers with an average monthly income of over VND10 million, and contributing about VND50 billion to the state budget annually.
The collective efforts of the Board of Directors, executives, and all employees have built internal strength, guiding the company through challenges and enhancing its competitiveness in both the Vietnamese and global textiles markets.
Mr. Pham Tuan Anh – Secretary of the Communist Party, General Director of Tien Hung Joint Stock Company
People are the center of all activities
With the motto “people at the center,” Tien Hung strives to create a worth living and working environment for all employees. Ensuring rising income and a green, friendly, and modern working environment is a top priority. The company has greened the entire factory with flowers and trees and installed a central air conditioning system for the entire workshop, covering over 8,000 square meters.
Tien Hung cares for their employees by providing imported milk weekly, establishing a modern medical room with on-call staff, investing in breast pumps and milk storage for female employees, organizing weekly cultural exchanges, celebrating birthdays, and installing a modern sound system for employee relaxation. Regular meetings are held to listen to employees’ needs and address them promptly.
This year, the company focuses on technology investment and optimizing the factory system to create the best working conditions. Digitalization has been applied in raw material warehouses and product quality management, with plans to extend digital transformation across other fields.
Initiatives like “Love the Industry, Love the Job”, “Clean Workplace,” and innovation campaigns are encouraged among employees. Recognizing and rewarding individuals spreads these movements throughout the workforce. Focusing on employees and optimizing production models has increased labor productivity by about 8%. The company has enough orders for the year, with projected revenue growth of 5-7%, and increases in employee income of 5-7% compared to 2023.
Tien Hung believes that the workforce must constantly strive to develop. Therefore, every Tien Hung person needs to unite and promote the message of “taking people as the focus”. Tien Hung keeps sending workers to more specialized training, gradually building a work environment worth living in, as well as changing employees’ perceptions towards labor-intensive enterprises such as garment enterprises.
Mr. Duong Trinh Xuyen – Cell’s Secretary of the Communist Party, Director of Textile Garment Hospital
Improving medical ethics, researching and adopting advanced techniques for high-quality healthcare
President Ho Chi Minh’s ideology on building Vietnamese culture and people emphasizes combining “virtue” and “talent,” balancing individual and societal interests. “Loyalty to the country, devotion to the people” is the guiding principle for cadres and party members, highly relevant to the healthcare sector. This motto is also shown in the spirit of overcoming difficulty, contributing to the nation’s development, and being suitable for Vietnam’s medical sector.
Cadres and Party members of the Textile Garment Hospital always attach their responsibility to the care and protection of people’s health, constantly improve medical ethics, strive to study, train and learn, and seek new modern techniques so that people can enjoy high-quality medical services.
Each medical staff also needs to be aware of preserving national solidarity, solidarity within the Party, within the hospital and unit; resolutely fighting against national division, division of the great national solidarity bloc, and division of the Party with the people.
Learning and following the ideology, morality, and style of President Ho Chi Minh, more than 100 cadres, Party members, and employees of the Hospital always uphold their ideals and morality, take the lead in receiving and implementing high-tech techniques, inter-provincial techniques, and pioneering digital transformation to contribute to people’s healthcare. Each Party member and medical worker should uphold a high sense of responsibility, have a clear professional conscience; have a spirit of eagerness to learn, and promote the tradition of respecting learning and valuing the country’s talents. Scientific knowledge of medicine and modern technology is applied creatively. Every year, the Hospital sends a number of doctors and medical staff to study and improve their skills as well as organize scientific seminars to update the latest knowledge and modern technologies. As a result, the ability to diagnose and treat patients has been improved, especially for severe patients who can be treated directly at the Hospital.
The Textile Garment Hospital also dedicates a lot of effort, expenses, and resources to scientific research and proposes healthcare measures for workers in enterprises both inside and outside the textile garment industry.
Mr. Vien Minh Dao – Cell’s Secretary of the Communist Party, Director of Vinatex Nam Dinh Yarn Branch
Appreciating the culture of setting example, listening, and direct communication
In accordance with Plan No. 1577-KH/DUTD on March 29, 2024, on “Studying and Following the Ideology, Morality, and Style of Ho Chi Minh” in 2024 of the Party Committee of the Vietnam National Textile and Garment Group, the Cell’s Executive Committee of the Communist Party of the Vinatex Nam Dinh Yarn Factory always affirms that: “Studying and following the ideology, morality, and style of Ho Chi Minh on building Vietnamese culture and people and corporate culture is a content that every cadre and party member must imbue and constantly learn and follow.”
The factory’s Party Committee and leaders have integrated the implementation and dissemination of the core content of the theme into handover meetings and shift meetings, while also linking it with the patriotic emulation movement and the unit’s business tasks.
Firstly, the factory’s leadership attaches importance to the culture of setting an example, being a role model, listening to and directly dialoguing to handle the suggestions of cadres, party members, and workers on time; resolutely fighting against manifestations of indifference, apathy, bureaucracy, orders, and arrogance. Strictly implement the inspection and supervision of the cultivation and training of morality and lifestyle of leaders, key cadres, and party members. Researching and supplementing business strategies and working regulations, in accordance with the vision, mission, and core values of corporate culture creates a basis for organizing and implementing corporate culture and democratic regulations.
With this approach, the Factory always ensures stable jobs and income for 210 workers. In the context of difficulties in business, the Factory is determined to maintain production to ensure stable labor. The more difficult it is, the more the Factory realizes the importance of building and developing human resources, so it has created all conditions for workers to participate in party sentiment training programs, improve their political theory knowledge, participate in Vinatex’s young talent training courses, etc.
The Trade Union and the Youth Union have built a work program in line with the Factory’s political tasks; responding to the implementation of movements and emulation campaigns, striving to excellently complete tasks, ensuring the quality and efficiency of work and absolute safety. Outstanding activities include: “Application of information technology to improve the quality and efficiency of work, towards digital transformation”; “5S movement”; “Practice of saving, anti-waste, electricity and water saving”… In particular, the Factory has completed the solar power system, aiming at sustainable development. The Factory has also achieved the global GRS recycling standard, ensuring the ready conditions for the business plan of recycled polyester yarn products to flexibly adapt to the global trend.
Reporters
Translated from the article published in the June 2024 issue of Textile-Garment and Fashion Vietnam Magazine.
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