Business

Using “velvet gloves” or “steel fists”?

Building a culture of employee engagement is always an eternal issue of organizations, from startups, social organizations to large corporations. The success and victory of an enterprise is not only due to the efforts of an individual but also to the smooth coordination between members and departments.

In order to exchange and listen to opinions from experts related to the issue, on March 15, AlphaBooks, Mekong Capital, Vietsuccess and Business Forum Magazine co-organized an online talkshow with the theme “Teamwork – Strength” strength of the team” with the participation of big names such as Mr. Chris Freund, founder of Mekong Capital; Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Giang, General Director of Talent and Culture Mekong Capital and Mr. Nguyen Canh Binh, director, founder of AlphaBooks, founder of ABG Young Leader Program.

Through a two-hour discussion that attracted more than 200 attendees to the last minute, each leader came up with his or her own solution to the team problem: those who prioritize soft dialogue, those who demand discipline. tough law.

“I am the source of all problems”

  CEO Mekong Capital revealed how to solve the situation of office fighting: Use

With more than 10 years of experience in building corporate culture at Mekong Capital and more than 20 years of working with Vietnamese businesses, Mr. Chris Freund believes that the journey of business success begins with the transformation of each individual. , especially from the leadership class. Sharing about his first steps, he recalled Mekong Capital in 2006: “At that time, our team was extremely unstable. The atmosphere of “political battle” was overwhelming and the members were all on their own, only worried about fighting, not cooperating with each other.” In the position of CEO, Chris Freund could not help but be confused. I think I’m a bad CEO who doesn’t know how to lead. Even I feel it’s unfair to be in this situation.”

Not willing to let themselves and the business slide, leaders seek help from life coaches. Through discussion and reflection, Freund realized the source of office politics within the company: People spend too much time “fixing” each other and walling in past mistakes instead of figuring out how to steer them. to the “shared vision” of the future. Using metaphors in his newly published book “Crab Hot Pot Story”, Freund likens each member of Mekong Capital to crabs in a hot pot about to boil. “Their job is to escape together before the water boils, not to sit around and blame it.”

To carry out this reform, the CEO of Mekong Capital started with a view of the problem. “I started to see a lot of the inefficiencies at the company as coming from me and see myself as a change agent.”

Since then, he has made small changes to himself, first of all, from the way he communicates. “In the past, my communication tool with my subordinates was just lifeless emails telling them to do what I wanted.” With the coach’s help, Freund experimented with meeting face-to-face and asking staff questions regularly. Initial results are not satisfactory; The conversations take place awkwardly and sometimes the boss even offends the employees because of unintentional words in the awkward moment. However, after a period of training, he gradually got used to it and motivated employees to be proactive in their work. Next, the spirit of “seeing yourself as the source of change” was spread to all employees of Mekong Capital through training courses. As a result, by 2010, the enterprise has gradually developed a stable culture, towards the “common vision”.

Commenting further on this aspect, Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Giang also said: “At Mekong Capital, we don’t have to ‘convince’ employees about our vision. Instead, we “co-create” that vision through dialogue and negotiation.” The same reason, she said, has helped each individual, from employees to leaders, to proactively look for solutions, instead of looking for someone to blame.

Dialogue is not an almighty solution, a “technocratic” solution is needed.

  CEO Mekong Capital revealed how to solve the situation of office fighting: Use

Expressing support for the approach of the Mekong Capital team, however, Mr. Nguyen Canh Binh, the leader dubbed the “storm” of AlphaBooks, has a different direction with a “gentle, persuasive” approach. ” by Chris Freund. According to him, dialogue is necessary but has only a relative role in building an effective business, partly because it is too time consuming. “By the time the crabs finished talking, the water would have boiled, and the whole group would have died.” – he commented.

Instead, sometimes tougher and more administrative-technical solutions are required to resolve corporate conflicts.

First, businesses need to choose the right person with the company’s values ​​and style right from the start. A serious mistake that startups make, according to him, is focusing too much on selecting good candidates, instead of being suitable. Especially for small businesses, choosing people with the same cultural background and working style will ensure the stability and long-term development of the company. Next, Mr. Binh shared that at AlphaBook, leaders are placed higher than members to set standards for short-term decisions.

“Of course, in the ideal of every organization or even country, the ‘vision’ must always reflect the common wishes of all members. However, that is only a theory. In fact, co-construction can only take place within the leadership class.”

Mr. Binh agrees with Freund that the role of the individual is extremely important. However, instead of “adjusting yourself”, Nguyen Canh Binh emphasized the importance of “work process”. “Adjusting myself is very difficult, for me, I choose to change the way I work to be more effective.”

For example, to “cool down” conflicts or disputes that may arise between levels, Mr. Binh chooses to work through management teams, acting as a “buffer” with subordinates. “The leader himself will work with senior leaders or partners, and with subordinates will need separate management office groups.”

Asked about how to solve the situation of partying in the company, “technocrat” Nguyen Canh Binh shared his experience at his business:

“In Alpha there is a lunch kitchen where departments often come to eat and gather in groups. However, to prevent clique consolidation. 2 4 6 eat in groups, 3 5 draw lots. He also learned the lesson that the state must rotate cadres. 3 – 6 months will rotate seats. Those who sit in the corner, entrenched in extroversion will be moved to a more open area to connect with people.”

He also emphasized the importance of “classic” methods such as staff rotation after a period of 3 – 6 months. This, according to him, not only eliminates factions, but also allows employees to have a more comprehensive view of the difficulties and opportunities that other departments face, avoiding the situation of “Business people think everything is solved.” can be solved by business, technical people think that engineering is the answer to all.”

Steel hands covered with velvet gloves

After two hours of lively debate, the discussion ended with many common points from both sides. As for Mekong Capital, Ms. Giang agrees with Mr. Binh on the importance of the working process. According to her share, as an investment fund operating for a long time, Mekong Capital has also worked with partners to draft extremely strict staff selection processes. “Like a crew, company employees must have the same destination, reflected in their behavior. There have been many people who failed to do that, and their wise decision was to get off the train.”

For his part, Mr. Nguyen Canh Binh acknowledged the strength in the approach of Mekong Capital and its partners. “Mekong Capital’s shared vision solution is extremely suitable for ‘standard’ businesses. Once you have good resources, personnel and apparatus, dialogue will be an effective solution.” However, from his observations, AlphaBook CEO believes that for most “non-standard” small businesses, successful leadership still requires a tough approach.

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According to Yen Khe

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