The Dutch Vietnamese Management Supporter No. 7

The Dutch Vietnam Management Supporter Teaming up in HCMC Happy New Year!

This year’s Tet has been my first: an exhilarating experience, and an embrace by a major asset of Vietnamese culture. To Vietnamese, Tet is the cornerstone of the year. Not only to celebrate a new lunar year, but also to celebrate family life. To me, it is a discovery that all Vietnamese life—private and business— circles around Tet. So let this newsletter mark the beginning of a good year for our families, and our business. Since settling in Vietnam in November last year, my network has been expanding rapidly. Plans are becoming reality. Despite the economic crisis—which appears to be a ‘man-made’ event—most of us know only one thing: there is one future, and we are the ones who make it happen. Announcing three more lectures After delivering 3 lectures in July 2008, I will soon deliver a second series. The topics:  How to Build a Network—Personal PR  How to Face The Crisis—Fear as a source of inspiration  How to Control Time—Elementary Time Management Watch your mailbox for further announcements, and a digital flyer containing the exact dates, location and times. Note: if you missed one or more lectures I delivered last July, you will have another opportunity to attend them. Topics: How to persuade people; How to effectively speak in public; How to select the right person. LH

And we name it … LH Resources Sofar, I have been operating on my own. I used Hopstaken Services and Hopstaken International to identify my activities. The time has come to get registered as a company. Since early 2007 my professional assistant is mrs. Lien Huong. Our initials are identical, hence: ‘LH’. Teaming up means, we now have a team of professionals we can rely on for support and creativity, hence: ‘LH Resources’. As many of you know by experience, the registration process is a thorough one. And as a relative newcomer to Vietnam, I am learning how to deal with its regulations and procedures. Learning never ends.

“Living a life of integrity is one of the greatest missions we can undertake.” Greg Anderson

LH Resources Office: @ 62/44 Duong So6, P5, Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City 3rd year, no. 1 February 4, 2009 This magazine was born in March 2007. In its first year, three editions were published and distributed among my Vietnamese and Dutch business and private associates. Purpose: to keep them informed about my activities in Vietnam. This amazingly attractive and energetic country has rapidly conquered my soul, and become my home away from home. Loek Hopstaken

In this issue: Teaming up in HCMC Pricing 2009

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The Soft Skills Program 3 Teaming up

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Teaching & Training: what is the difference?

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Standing offer

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Contact information; cv Loek Hopstaken

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Next issue May 2009

3rd year, no. 1

LH Resources

The Dutch Vietnam Management Supporter

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Updated: the Catalogue The new edition of The Catalogue contains a section on The Soft Skills Program, and updates & upgrades of several workshops. There are 3 ways to use this catalogue: Are you managing employees? You know you need to 1. have a maximum number of employees with welldeveloped soft skills. Yes, they must still have their vocational & technical training. However, the difference between long term success and failure is the development level of a person’s soft skills. Send the promising young to “the tailor made Soft Skills Program”.See p. 13. 2. Are you a manager, and feel you are lacking certain soft skills? Let’s have a talk, to determine which soft skills need some work. You can learn these in a 1:1 setting, or in a small group of colleague-entrepreneurs. 3. Are you a student, college graduate or employee, and do you feel the need to enhance your employability? Then sign up for a personalized soft skills training program, tailor made to fit your personal needs. Write an email to [email protected] for a pdf-copy.

Important: Pricing of Services per 1.2.2009 All of our services can be delivered in two ways: in-company, or in an open training environment. In-company services: the service is tailor made to fit the need of a board of directors, a management team, company department or section. Participants are colleagues, but can be employed in different departments. What binds them is the department and company goals and policies. A project team also falls in this category. Maximum number of participants: 16. In-company prices are all excluding 10% VAT. Workshop: US$ 1,200 per day, per company team Consultancy: US$ 90,- per hour (minimum 3 hours) Seminar: US$ 500,- per 3,5-4 hour seminar Lecture: US$ 250,- per 1,5 hour lecture An ‘All Round Program’ for company teams costs between US$ 1,250 and US$ 1,400,-, depending on the type of program. As a rule, these programs are tailor made, and include off or online coaching. Public workshops and seminars: Individual participants come from different companies and organizations, but registered for the same service. Maximum number of participants: 20 (workshops), 40 (seminars; lectures). Public workshops and seminars are all excluding 10% VAT. Workshop: US$ 150 per day Seminars: US$ 50; lectures US$ 15. In 2009 LH Resources plans to deliver parts of the All Round Programs as public seminars.

“The important thing is to not stop questioning.” Albert Einstein (German-born American physicist)

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The Dutch Vietnam Management Supporter

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The tailor made Soft Skills Program Have you ever hired a person whose CV showed lots of diploma’s and certificates, and an impressive list of job titles and projects—but whose contributions were disappointing, and who failed completely as a team member? Sadly, this personnel selection mistake is being made daily. When faced with such a situation, it’s often hard to understand why academic brilliance and years of on-the-job experience apparently is no guarantee for a sound performance, for a solid production record. Still, there is a real reason: lack of soft skills. What are soft skills? Soft skills are personal attributes that enhance an individual’s interactions, job performance and career prospects. Unlike hard skills, which tend to be specific to a certain type of task or activity, soft skills are broadly applicable. Soft skills are sometimes broken down into a. personal attributes, such as: optimism, responsibility, sense of humor, integrity, timemanagement, self esteem and control, motivation. They also include artistic and ceremonial qualities, including knowing how to dress to the occasion, and to combine colors; taste. b. interpersonal abilities, such as: empathy, leadership, communication, good manners and etiquette, sociability, working as a team member, use of proper language, the ability to interact with colleagues, intercultural skills, ethics, hostmanship/hospitality, persuasion skills, customer friendliness and service, utilizing tact, courtesy and civility, and the ability to teach. (sources: Whatis.com; Yahoo! answers) When we are young, our parents and school teachers take care of our basic soft skills education. Yet, many people grow up just copying lack of soft skills from their environment—often, un-civilized company. Some simply seem to lack the talent. Others simply forget their basic education. Tailor made or done with a team To enhance a person’s soft skills, one first needs to find out her / his strengths and weaknesses. When this is done, a tailor made program can be designed to add missing and improve weakly developed soft skills. The Soft Skills Program can be done individually, but also in a group or with a team. LH Resources will assist you in finding out which solution best suits your employee, your team, or … you.

Situation:

Solution:

A person / team’s lack of soft skills leads to tensions in the work place, or loss of clientele. Again and again, managers needs to repair the damage.

Convince the person / team that a tailor made, practical program to add missing and improve underdeveloped soft skills. This may take 1—8 program steps, depending on the results of a soft skills scan.

How much does a Soft Skills Program cost? In-company team: US$ 1,200 per day (excl. tax); public seminar: US$ 35 (incl. tax) “Hard skills will get an applicant an interview, but soft skills will get that person a job.” Ian Morrison

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The Dutch Vietnam Management Supporter

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Teaming up with my associates Living in Ho Chi Minh City is no less than a life-changing event for a person who until April 2007 was a stranger on Vietnamese shores. Like what is happening to many, Vietnam offers a true challenge—one that makes you determined to make the very best of it. As a professional the fun part of it is teaming up with several new professionals. People like Raymond Wiranatakusuma, Director of Spectra (right, at Highland Coffee, near Park Hyatt Hotel). Raymond is from Singapore. By delivering what he promises to his clients he succeeds in putting his training & consultancy company firmly on the map. People like Dr. Patrick Doan (below; 3rd from right) and Dr. Clement (centre, far end of the table). They cooperate to establish a new school, while running a business school (IHTC) and a university (NCU). Their entrepreneurship is both inspirational to me, and a fine example. “You need a mass of help to stand alone”: entrepreneurs know they cannot realize their dreams all by themselves. I see this happening all over the world: the successful ones inspire others to help, and make sure there is a good reward for them. They understand the function and value of ‘give & take’ in long term business relationships. Those who fail also get help, but they don’t reward their helpers: they take, but don’t give. They waste their associates. This eventually ruins their reputation. Who would want to help, or work for an opportunist? The business world is tough. For talented entrepreneurs the risks it offers can prove to be ‘too much’. Soft skills provide an answer. 2009 is the year of the truth. Many face an economic depression. No one will survive these tough times all by themselves. Now is the time to find true associates, to join forces with kindred spirits, to create a viable activity. Successful entrepreneurs seem to have another characteristic in common: they don’t focus on money, they focus on meeting a demand, on delivering a fine product in the hands of their customers. The unsuccessful ones stare themselves blind on money. Associate yourself with those who may be your assistants to make good business happen—against all odds. Making it happen, day by day.

“Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew. They make the instrument stretch; what makes you go beyond the norm.” Cicely Tyson

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The Dutch Vietnam Management Supporter

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Teaching & Training??? Teaching and training: what is the difference? Usually, training is associated with improving someone’s abilities, both hard and soft skills. Companies send their staff for training: to refresh their professional qualities, or to enhance their competencies. Nowadays, many business oriented training centers cater to this need with courses and workshops. These are often short: as the training takes place during working hours, the average employer doesn’t like staff to spend too much paid time away from the workplace. However, in recent times versities, especially those that grams that are closely linked to that often take much more time ons. A university pretends to go flavors of science and academic Many universities hire acadepeople who have extensive exSurveys have shown that most training over a lengthy teaching

companies also send staff to unioffer MBA and vocational prothe world of business. Programs than the corporate training sessideeper into the subject, adds both status. This then is called teaching. mics, not business professionals— perience in the business world. employees prefer a short, practical program.

“Being rich isn’t about money. Being rich is a state of mind. Some of us, no matter how much money we have, will never be free enough to stop and take the time to eat the heart of the watermelon. And some of us will be rich without ever bring more than a paycheck ahead of the game.” Harvey Mackay (American businessman, speaker, author) More and more employees discover the benefits of a university education—and enjoy the status of being a university student. MBA programs have been on offer since in the mid 80ies major American universities (Harvard, Yale, Rochester) discovered that there is an ever growing market for this service. Mind you: a fulltime employee needs to study hard for 12-16 hours a week, for two years. The reward is an MBA certificate, which will boost the person’s career: a sound investment. To make the MBA programs attractive, universities and business schools have learned that these programs should contain lots of action. Teaching becomes training. So the old difference is fading. As a trainer / teacher I enjoy working both for corporations and universities. This has been my ‘double career’ these past 6 years: Trainer, Professor. The programs I deliver are quite similar: focused at practical use of the models and theories, after filtering out the ones that have proven their workability. How to ‘filter’? By putting them to the ultimate test: trying them out in the real world. The classic ‘Halls of Learning’ become places where Trainers rub elbows with Professors. A lively exchange between science and real life. In this way the academic and business worlds feed each other, to pick the fruits of synergy. Teaching at 2 renowned HCMC universities and training Vietnamese managers made me realize its value.

“In the arena of human life the honors and rewards fall to those who show their good qualities in action.” Aristotle (Greek philosopher)

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STANDING OFFER:

EXPERIENCE HOW HOPSTAKEN MAKES A DIFFERENCE A theory serves its purpose when it increases someone’s practical skills. The English say: ‘The proof of the pudding is in the eating’. There is only one way to get to know my way of training: by experiencing it. One way of getting this experience is to invite me to deliver a lecture (1-2 hours) or a full seminar (3-4 hours) in your company. You choose the topic. For ideas, see the ‘mini-catalogue’ (right). Two conditions: 1. the participants should be able to understand English, and 2. the maximum number is 40.

If this seminar or lecture leads to delivery of a next service to your company, the cost of this seminar or lecture will be deducted from your first bill. If you are interested, please let me know. Please name the topic AND name the period in which it will be feasible for your team to attend the seminar. All the best, Loek Hopstaken For contact information, see page 7. My best friend and colleague from The Netherlands, Peter van Oosten, visited Ho Chi Minh City in November 2008. He met several alumni. Peter takes a picture of Dien Bien Phu Street from the Hud Building, where we had a meeting with Ms. Kim Ngoc, of Saigon Van. This relocation company is a member of UTS. One of my Dutch clients is Voerman International, also a member of UTS.

Dutch Connections

MINI-CATALOGUE An overview of Hopstaken services

Workshops A workshop is a 2-4 day group activity with a defined purpose, where theory, practical exercise and exchange of experiences are the main ingredients. Areas: HRM, PR, Communication, and Management.  Team Engineering  Communication  Commercial Communication  Public Relations  Effective Meetings  Organizational Design  Intercultural Communication  Time Management/Efficiency  Personnel Selection

Consulting Consulting is any specified expert activity to help solve a defined problem. This can take the form of coaching, but also, conducting a research. By definition, it is tailor made. Areas: HRM, Strategy, PR.  Management Coach  Corporate Strategy  Personal Coach  Mediation  Executive Selection  In- & External Surveys

Seminars A seminar is a 3-4 hour interactive transference of core know-how, combined with practical assignments.  People Management  Emotions in the workplace  Conflict Handling  Business Ethics  The All Round Manager™  The All Round Communicator™  The Soft Skills Program™

Investments Workshops: US $ 1,200 per team/day. Consulting / Coaching: US $ 90 p/h. Seminars: US $ 500 per seminar; (except the ‘All Round’ seminar programs). US$ 250 per lecture . Train-the-Trainer: US 1,200 per day. See page 2 for more about pricing.

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The Dutch Vietnam Management Supporter

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This newsletter is written & published by Loek Hopstaken. LH Resources Office: 62/44 Duong So 6, P. 5, Go Vap District, HCMC Email: [email protected] or [email protected] Mobile Vietnam: 09 0888 9450 Assistant: Ms. Vo Ngoc Lien Huong Email: [email protected] Mobile VN: 090 888 9451 Website: www.lh-resources.com (under construction) In The Netherlands Loek Hopstaken’s company is: Hopstaken Bedrijfsadvies. Address: Gouden Leeuw 628, 1103 KN Amsterdamn ZO After working as HRM specialist, Department Head (Job Evaluation Dept.) and Project Manager (HRM, PR, TQM) for 30 years, including 5 years as a teacher of business administration at an international management school, I was appointed Professor. It’s the title I’m most proud of. Teaching is the true crown on any career.

Who is Loek Hopstaken? 1951: born in Haarlem, Netherlands 1971: Near & Middle East travels 1972-1975: Amsterdam University 1976-1977: North & South America 1977-1993: career in banking: NCB, Postgiro, Postbank, NMB Postbank Group, ING Bank 1979-1982: BA studies 1983-1988: project manager privatization process Postgiro to Postbank (field: HRM) 1989-1993: project manager formation NMB Postbank Group; ING Group (fields: PR and TQM) 1991: founding own company: Hopstaken Bedrijfsadvies 1993: left ING Bank; started career in training and consultancy 1996-2000: business club MC 2001: started mediation career 2003-2008: combining training & consultancy for companies with teaching at an international management school (BA—MBA) 2005: appointed Professor 2006: start of exploring the Vietnamese market 2007: first 3 visits to Vietnam 2008: 4th & 5th extended stays in Vietnam: lecturing, consulting, surveying, delivering workshops at 2 universities; establishing in HCMC 2009: founding of LH Resources Full cv available.