OLYMPUS VIETNAM CO., LTD. has always been very enthusiastic in HR development and is having a well-developed internal training system, conducting various training each year for each position level. Aimnext has opportunity in cooperating with Olympus Vietnam through training programs since 2013. We learn a lot every time when we can meet and have conversation with Mr. Takeda, who was building the training system from zero for Olympus Vietnam, and always enthusiastically shared with us about importance of training and related issues.
This is our talk with Mr. Takeda – Senior Manager at Olympus Vietnam.
■ Why do you want to hold training courses for your staffs?
Ask an external training institution for providing general courses and carrying out a planned training program.
At our company, there is a training system chart based on "hierarchical training" and "function-specific training". We also have training program for staffs which starts when they join the company, and training program for workers which is mostly for line leaders. We use the same training system with our headquarter in Japan, which is classified by function, position, and specialty. In 2013, 5 years after our establishment in Vietnam, there was need to set up the framework of training to raise up potentiality of the organization for Vietnam factory. We have three main types of training:
1. Training conducted by trainers from Japan headquarter.
2. Training conducted by internal trainer who has been trained by trainer from Japan headquarter.
3. Training conducted by external training institution
What we are requesting service from Aimnext is the third type of training.
As we can't train our staffs all the skills by ourselves, so we decided to use external training institution for common general subjects. For manufacturing skills, we use internal trainer with the support from Japan headquarter. I think having a training system and implementation plan can reduce a lot of waste, such as the training is not conducted just because the planner is busy. Be sure to set up the training plan before the end of previous fiscal year and implementing the plan under the supervision of personal-in-charge is important for continuous effort.
If you use a high-quality external training institution, there can be a great merit as the training program can be automatically run forward without much of your follow. Besides, it can eliminate the common risk in Vietnam that the planned training course is cancelled because of internal trainer's busy schedule.
In addition of the original purpose, in Vietnam, training may also be an essential factor to become an attractive company improving staff retention as training is considered as employees’ benefits.
■ What do you think of the training result comparing to your expectation?
Achievement can't be attained in a short time.
Although we have applied the training program continuously for 5 years, there is no clear result such as the training of this course has lead to this specific result.
For example: A staff isn't good at logical thinking. He attends a Logical Thinking course of an excellent training institution. Can you see the result right after the course? It's impossible. The course supports him to perform a little bit better. But, his supervisor's repeated instruction throughout his daily work is what helps him gradually improve logical thinking skills.
The most important thing of In-house training is that employees understand that what his supervisor taught him is not his supervisor’s idea only, but it is basic common awareness and necessary skills to work in a company and behave in society. When employees recognized that the knowledge is generally correct, it is easier for them to listen to and accept their supervisor’s instruction. The supervisor can get benefit from the training as he can save time by not having to explain the matter again and again.
Training as a "common language"
It is such a trouble if there is the difference in thinking among Department heads (mainly Japanese), Section managers (Vietnamese), Team leaders (Vietnamese) and general staffs. Miscommunication occurs not only between Japanese and Vietnamese, but also among Vietnamese too. Only when the Team leaders and the staffs work on the same protocol, such misunderstanding could be reduced and job was speed up . I have a strong feeling that there is a gap in basic knowledge among Vietnamese generations (The risk is that 40 – 30 – 20 years old think totally differently, therefore, I believe that it’s very important to set the “common language” for company by conducting the same training. Especially in Vietnam, not only does internal training bring up the individual growth, but also training is essential to help avoiding risks arising from communication, increasing company’s productivity and decision making.
Continuous training will create company culture.
I can see the importance of implementing a continuous and systematic training. I have no doubt that continued training will make up a major part of corporate culture. It might be due to the difference in basic education of the two countries, but comparing to Japanese young employees, Vietnamese staffs don't have necessary business skills to do their work and they try hard to attain these skills once joining company. In that sense, by taking the balance of internal training and external training and implementing systematic and continuous training, I feel that the effectiveness of the training program is high for non-experience new-entry staff.
However, to be honest, as young staffs have high tendency to change job once until the age of 26, in reality, the investment to train young staff is not very good.
Measuring the effectiveness and periodic review of training
If we cannot visualize the training effect by some kind of indicator, we can't review and improve the training program. As we can't see the training's result right away, we have no choice but continuing the training program. Our company's training program has been carried out for 5 years, but I still could not explain the clear causal relationship to the president of Olympus Vietnam and our Japan headquarter. This point is a major challenge to consider in the future.
■ What aspects in Aimnext's training programs are you satisfied with?
I think Aimnext's service has 3 strengths:
- Evaluation on trainers is good, and the quality of trainers is high.
- It is not only Japanese-style training, but is adjusted to local.
- Aimnext is strong in manufacturing industry.
■ What do you expect from our courses in future?
I have 4 expectations:
- It is not only a "fun" training, but also a tough training for participants.
- Propose methods for the company to evaluate training's result.
- Share the details of lecture content as much as possible.
- Speed up the process of new training development
Thank you very much!
As Mr.Takeda mentioned, we understand the importance of helping Japanese supervisors understand what participants have been trained. To do that we have sent the sample of the training material clients until now. We are trying to find more effective and flexible ways to help clients understand the details of our courses.