Economic turbulence, supply-chain shifts, digital transformation, and changing generations in the workforce are making the human resources challenge more complex than ever. Traditional HR management approaches—focused heavily on recruitment, benefits, and seniority—are no longer sufficient to create a sustainable competitive advantage. Talent management in an era of volatility requires leaders to change not only how they identify talent, but also how they deploy, develop, and retain it.
In that context, inspired by suggestions from Vinatex Chairman Lê Tiến Trường, the 3C and 6B models of talent management are regarded as a modern conceptual framework, helping managers tackle people-related issues in a systematic, practical, and volatility-ready way.
THE 3C MODEL
The 3C model defines talent as the convergence of three core factors:
Competence – Capability
This includes an employee’s knowledge, skills, experience, and ability to adapt to change. Companies need to translate capability into clear criteria for each role and each stage of development, rather than making vague assessments or relying on subjective judgment.
Commitment – Commitment
This reflects an employee’s level of engagement, sense of responsibility, and willingness to stay aligned with and accompany the organization. It is a consistent mindset, shown not only in words but also through actions, attitudes, and choices—especially during difficult times.
Contribution – Contribution
This is the tangible value an individual creates for the organization through work results, initiatives, positive influence on teams/departments, and the ability to generate added value. Contribution should be measured through concrete outputs, timelines, efficiency, and real-world impact, rather than purely qualitative evaluations.
THE 6B MODEL
If the 3C model helps leaders answer the question “Who is talent?”, the 6B model addresses an even more important one: “How do we manage talent in volatile conditions?”
Buying – Recruitment
Proactively attract and hire high-quality talent from the market to meet the company’s strategic needs at each stage of development.
Building – Training and coaching
Invest in training, coaching, and experiential opportunities so employees can develop their capabilities. This is the foundation for building a sustainable, self-driven talent pipeline, rather than relying entirely on external hiring.
Borrowing – Bringing in experts for coaching and mentoring
Leverage experts and advisors to add knowledge and experience the organization has not yet accumulated. This is especially effective in new or highly specialized areas that require both speed and high standards.
Bounding – Appointing and placing people in better-fitting roles
Put the right people in the right roles, linking authority with responsibility, goals, and a clear development pathway—creating motivation and stronger organizational commitment.
Bouncing – Screening, streamlining, and removing those who no longer fit
Renew, adjust, and eliminate individuals or roles that are no longer suitable. This is a difficult—and sometimes sensitive—decision, but it is essential when businesses must continuously adapt to change.
Binding – Engaging and retaining: crystallizing the best people
After streamlining, the organization should “crystallize” its core team for the next growth cycle through development opportunities, meaningful roles, strengthened trust, and corporate culture—rather than relying on compensation alone.
The biggest common thread between the two models is that they both place leadership at the center of talent management. Talent cannot fully thrive without the right environment—and that environment depends directly on a leader’s mindset, decisions, and actions. The 3C model helps leaders assess people accurately, while the 6B model helps leaders deploy people effectively; combining the two creates a talent-management mindset that is both deep and highly action-oriented.
In an era of volatility, talent management is no longer a function reserved for the HR department—it is a core capability of leadership and managers at all levels. When leaders understand talent correctly through the 3C lens and apply the 6B model flexibly in practice, an organization will not only weather disruption, but also build a sustainable competitive advantage from the very workforce it already has.
