Strategic HR development – key to business success Without a long-term human resource (HR) development strategy, businesses are unable to stand firm and operate efficiently in a highly competitive environment, experts warned at a workshop in HCM City on September 29. Business representatives admitted that HR, especially quality HR, is the decisive factor behind their companies’ success in international integration. The matter is more urgent when Vietnam is joining a large number of free trade agreements, including the Vietnam-EU and Trans-pacific Partnership agreements. Taking advantage of these FTAs requires businesses to attract and develop qualified human resources capable of raising the company’s competitiveness. The fact is that Vietnam has yet to draw up a comprehensive HR development strategy to meet the requirement of global integration. It was reported at the workshop that on average, 300,000 students graduate from secondary schools each year and over 70% of them are unable to find suitable full-time employment between 12 to 24 months. Today’s multinational employers are looking for job applicants with core business competencies and exceptional interpersonal skills but unfortunately too many secondary students are not bothering to accrue such skills. In addition, many graduates lack adequate training in soft skills such as critical thinking and are not sufficiently inquisitive, which are vitally important in the era of regional and international integration, speakers said. The employment situation is certain to tighten up and become more exacerbated with the realization of the ASEAN Economic Community (ASEAN) by 2015 and other key FTAs most likely to come into effect next year. Employers today can choose from candidates from all over the globe and landing a good paying job is highly dependent on possession of these core competency skills.  Representatives of large multinational companies shared the view that global competitiveness starts with human resource advantages. Finding a job at graduation has always been challenging, but in today’s competitive environment, entrepreneurial drive among even entry level job applicants is the order of the day, they said. It is incumbent upon secondary schools and the business community to work collectively to approach and deal with the HR dilemma in a comprehensive and long-term manner, said Pham Phu Ngoc Trai, President of the HCM City Business Club. VOV