GENERAL DIRECTOR NGUYEN QUOC VIET: TRY OUR BEST TO BREAK THROUGH

Since his appointment as the "General Director" of SG3 Garment Company, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Viet…has grown older than usual. The happy, easy-going young man has become a serious, dedicated and diligent manager who is willing to sacrifice for the greater good and for the better life of thousands of people in the Company.

Previously, General Director Nguyen Quoc Viet was admired by many girls as an attractive man who has a very charming style of speaking. They often called him "Viet hot boy" in his younger years. Now, all those fancy nicknames have become… memories.

NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, I JUST NEED MY COMPANY TO DEVELOP MORE AND MY WORKERS HAVE A BETTER LIFE

Mr.Nguyen Quoc Viet is the younger brother of Vice-Chairman Nguyen Khanh Linh. However, this is not the main reason for him to become the CEO. Before he joined SG3, he had worked in the same position in a real estate company, an investment company and a securities – banking company, some of which were foreign enterprises. Talking about the decision to assign the most important position to his brother, Mr. Nguyen Khanh Linh said: "Managing three thousand people and paying attention to every detail in their working life is not easy. Viet is young and bold, but he is not aggressive. He has a good temper and a sociable character; he can work things out clearly. Viet has my trust. "

Before joining SG3, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Viet had been immersed in the international environment, as he worked in the luxurious and modern buildings and participated in major transactions worth of hundreds of billion Vietnamese dong. Every time he was with a customer, the cost of one single meeting might be half a month’s salary of the workers in SG3, and he could spend such large amounts without a second thought.

When he worked for SG3, his professional life was a total opposite. There are much more workers here, and in order to pay them properly, every penny in business operation counts. As such, he suddenly became so busy and even got sick in the first few days working in the new environment. He got allergic to fabric dust and buried in the avalanche of work, including both named and unnamed tasks.

Working in manufacturing, there are so many tasks to do in preparation, from material supply to quoting orders. Even a small label or a strand on an item must be properly done, otherwise it will affect later stages in the production process. As he was without experience in this field, he had to learn more than anybody else and started to take up the saving habit. In his position, he also saw the struggles many workers had to go through. He could sympathize with them, but sometimes he couldn’t put it into words. "Once I was visiting a workshop, a worker asked me: Boss, if we do this, can we get an extra VND 50,000? It really hurt me at that time, because to me, VND 50,000 is almost nothing but to them, it is such a significant amount. That person has at least his wife and his child to support, so every penny counts. I realized that I need to work more on my sense of responsibility and cost-effectiveness ", he said.

He and the Board of Directors also take charge of renovating the workshops, rearranging the work processes for better efficiency, using the right people for the right job, recruiting talented people, setting long-term strategies and goals for the Company, rebuilding the roads leading to the Company to prevent flooding and improving workers’ life. He always wants to make sure everything is fair and good. He also wishes that the working space of SG3 would be an open, modern space for bringing people together instead of pulling them apart.

Worrying about all the tasks, in just a year and a half working at SG3, he has grown old so fast. Last month, his hair was still black; over the next month, there were some white strands, and the next month, the hair around his two ears was almost snow-white. Not only his hair, his skin is also aging, getting tanned and wrinkled. The youthful appearance has changed completely. He just laughed and said: No matter what happens, I just need my company to develop more and my workers have a better life.

THE ART OF COMMUNICATION TO DEVELOP HUMAN RESOURCES

From July 2016 to now, the Company has undergone a stressful "restructuring" process, which is not necessarily because of the heavy workload or the complications in production, but because of the human factor. The Company has changed, there have been conflicts of interest, and the employees have been worried and watchful towards each other.

The first thing that struck him about SG3 was lowering the salary of "senior officers," including him, by using a uniform salary model between "officers" and workers. However, he would not hesitate to offer competitive pay to attract high-quality human resources to work in SG3, especially those who can manage production, share experiences and inspire workers.

He also "shocked" the entire Company when he publicly apologized to all workers on the first day of the week for pay delay, as the accountants couldn’t finish the payroll in the previous week. When he received a "complaining" message from the workers, he immediately checked the case, resolved the problem and gave his apologies, as well as promising not to repeat the mistake. "If you are wrong, you have to admit your mistake in a sincere manner. Then, the workers know they can trust you,  they are happy to work for you, and then the Company can develop," he confided.

He advocated strongly the culture of honesty and transparency in the Company. Transparency of promotion, transparency in workers’ rights and benefits, transparency in budget planning and spending, and honesty in work reports, including admitting problems to find solutions.

When the problems are resolved, the workers will be relieved. They become eager to accept changes and try their best at work. They are happy that from now, every day they know how much money they have made through oral reports on the speakers. They themselves will feel the change and know what is better through their first-hand experience and not the cold numbers. "Workers in SG3 are kind and gentle by nature, but when applying new changes they may not fully understand the process, and then they are triggered by evil people," the General Director said. As the manager of the middle-level administration, he re-interviewed the entire staff, although this was an extremely sensitive task. Those who did not have favorable conditions to unleash their potentials, he gave them opportunities. Those who worked in the wrong place due to formerly inappropriate decision-making, he let them choose their own place. He also decentralized the managerial system so that managers of each level could actively act out their responsibility and ability.

Saying no to reprimand and distance management, Mr.Nguyen Quoc Viet advocates direct dialogue. According to him, if you want to have people’s trust to develop the Company, first of all, you must be sincere from your heart out rather than trying to impress by fake appearances.

BREAK THROUGH TO INTERNATIONAL MARKET

The immediate objective of the Board of Directors and Board of Managers is that SG3 must be in the top 3 companies of the garment industry. Being “top” means highest productivity, product quality and workers’ income. 2018 will be the critical preparatory year for long-term strategic development in 2019. About personnel, SG3 will take in about 2,000 more employees to meet the production needs. The Company is going to open a new business development office, administered by foreign businessmen, to develop a new customer base. The Company also aspires to be a global buyer in Vietnam, receiving orders around the world and cooperating with other companies to increase production capacity and further develop the production system. In addition, SG3 will create its own brand with a wide-ranging network of unique outlets. These goals are for the sustainable development and the long-term benefits of the Company, but more importantly, it is to change the lives of thousands of people. This represents a great sense of social responsibility by SG3 Company.

“The leaders consider humans as power, not the properties. That power has its own soul, thoughts and determination. We need to gather collective strength to break through to the international market. To do so, we have to understand the workers, sympathize with them and breathe new life into them. We can only become stronger when everyone is taking action together. Restructuring is necessary, but we should be patient with the old members. It is not that we will get rid of the old values immediately in the wake of a new structure, ​​so we will promote internal training, especially professional and skill-based training for senior staffs. We believe that Investment for individual development is also investment for the Company’s development. If we help them, they will soon return the favor by trying their best to bring positive results to the Company. We also consider workers as the basic foundation of the Company. The worker is the person who makes profits for the Company instead of the person who brings in the production order. If there are good orders but no skilled workers to make the right products in the orders, we are sure to fail. The success of the workers is the success of the sales department and of the whole SG3 family.”