ONE-VALUE Strengthens Organizational and HR Consulting Services in Vietnam — Solving the Challenge of 'Hiring Talent That Fails to Deliver Results'

ONE-VALUE Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Koto City, Tokyo; Representative Director: Fihua; hereinafter “ONE-VALUE”) is strengthening its consulting services in organizational design, HR system development, and talent development for Japanese companies with local subsidiaries or operational bases in Vietnam.

As part of this initiative, on June 4, 2026, ONE-VALUE hosted a seminar titled “Japanese Language Skills Are Not Enough: How to Assess and Develop Vietnamese Global Talent.”

The seminar focused on the common challenge faced by Japanese companies operating in Vietnam—hiring talent who fail to deliver results—and addressed solutions such as designing hiring criteria beyond Japanese language proficiency, clarifying job descriptions, mindset training, interview and evaluation methods, and post-hiring development and retention strategies.

In recent years, Vietnam has become not only a manufacturing hub but also a key operational base for Japanese companies, encompassing sales, administration, IT, development, marketing, and management. However, local operations often face the following challenges:

- Hiring Vietnamese staff with Japanese language skills, but they fail to perform effectively in their roles - Poor adherence to reporting, communication, and consultation (Horenso), lack of deadline awareness, and weak quality consciousness - High early turnover among newly hired staff - Difficulty in developing local managers, leading to continued reliance on Japanese expatriates - Vague performance evaluation and salary increase criteria, resulting in low employee satisfaction - Misalignment between the roles expected by headquarters and those understood by local employees

ONE-VALUE believes these issues are not simply due to “talent shortages” or “hiring failures,” but often stem from insufficient design in job structuring, evaluation systems, development frameworks, management structures, career paths, and organizational culture.

Hiring Talent Who Deliver Results, Not Just Those Who Speak Japanese

While Japanese language proficiency is an important factor in hiring Vietnamese talent, relying solely on language ability often leads to a mismatch between expected roles and actual capabilities after onboarding.

Therefore, the starting point for hiring should not be “Can they speak Japanese?” but rather “What role do we need them to perform, and what results do we expect?” To support Japanese companies with local subsidiaries or offices in Vietnam, ONE-VALUE offers the following services:

- Designing organizational charts and role allocation for local subsidiaries - Creating detailed job descriptions - Establishing job-specific hiring requirements and evaluation criteria - Defining role divisions between Japanese expatriates and Vietnamese management - Developing hiring and development strategies for local management candidates - Designing interview evaluation sheets and case-based interview questions - Designing onboarding programs post-hiring

These services support the creation of systems to hire and develop talent who can deliver results—not just those who speak Japanese—but those who can excel as sales staff, be developed as management candidates, or operate local operations in coordination with Japanese headquarters.

The Root Cause of Poor Post-Hiring Performance Is Not Lack of Ability, But “Undesigned Work Ethos”

The seminar emphasized that even high-potential Vietnamese talent may not inherently understand the work practices expected by Japanese companies. Japanese firms place strong emphasis on Horenso (reporting, communication, consultation), proactive communication before deadlines, meeting facilitation, minutes preparation, progress sharing, quality control, and team-based performance. However, these work ethics and behavioral standards do not naturally develop upon hiring.

Many situations where Japanese managers question, “Why don’t they report?” “Why don’t they consult before delays?” or “Why do they wait for instructions?” stem not only from individual employee capability but from a lack of organizational systems that clearly define expected behaviors, provide training, and link these to performance evaluations.

To address this, ONE-VALUE supports Vietnamese local subsidiaries with the following mindset training and behavioral standard designs:

- Establishing Horenso rules and protocols - Standardizing meeting operations and minutes preparation - Institutionalizing deadline management and progress reporting - Setting up escalation procedures for issue resolution - Designing communication protocols with Japanese headquarters - Conducting mindset training for local employees - Providing management training for local supervisors

These initiatives go beyond one-off training sessions by integrating with actual workflows, evaluation systems, and managerial practices to ensure hired talent can consistently deliver results within the organization.

To Retain Top Vietnamese Talent, Companies Must Design for Growth and Employee Satisfaction, Not Just Salary

In Vietnam, work values are shifting significantly, especially among young professionals and Gen Z. While compensation remains important, there is growing emphasis on career advancement, skill development, work-life balance, and alignment with company culture.

Therefore, simply increasing salary levels is insufficient for retaining top talent. Companies must comprehensively design systems for salary increases, promotions, career paths, training and certification support, opportunities for business trips to Japan or headquarters training, flexible work arrangements, and organizational culture that employees can认同.

To support post-hiring retention of Vietnamese talent, ONE-VALUE offers the following HR and organizational consulting services:

- Designing HR systems tailored for Vietnamese local subsidiaries - Establishing salary ranges, promotion criteria, and performance evaluation systems - Visualizing career paths and promotion requirements - Designing leadership development programs for Vietnamese management candidates - Analyzing turnover causes and developing retention strategies - Conducting employee listening surveys - Analyzing management gaps between Japanese headquarters and local subsidiaries - Supporting the establishment of HR and general affairs systems in local subsidiaries

Consultation on Organizational and HR System Design for Vietnamese Subsidiaries

If your Vietnamese subsidiary faces challenges such as “hired talent not delivering results,” “low employee retention,” “ineffective performance evaluation systems,” or “difficulty developing local managers,” please contact ONE-VALUE.

As a business support company specialized in Vietnam, ONE-VALUE is committed to helping Japanese companies solve human resource and organizational challenges in their Vietnamese operations and contribute to building high-performing local organizations.

Contact

Customer Service, ONE-VALUE Co., Ltd.

contact@onevalue.jp

About ONE-VALUE

Since its founding, ONE-VALUE has operated as a specialist in management consulting focused exclusively on Vietnam. Leveraging deep expertise and extensive practical experience in Japan-Vietnam business expansion, we provide tailored services to clients across various industries. We remain committed to continuously delivering the most effective solutions for our clients. Our greatest strength lies in our exclusive focus on Vietnam, backed by a broad network and deep industry insights.

[Management Consulting Services]

ONE-VALUE provides management consulting services for Japanese companies entering the Vietnamese market, including market research, company research, consumer research, strategic planning for market entry, investment advisory (joint venture establishment, business setup), and M&A advisory for Vietnamese companies—offered in a fully customized manner based on client needs.

[Media Business]

We operate media platforms targeting business professionals involved in Vietnam-related business, covering Vietnamese business and economic topics. Additionally, we manage media for Vietnamese communities in Japan.