Accelerating Business Growth with “Soft Power”
The flexibility, adaptability, and harmony in the leadership style of female management teams become increasingly prominent. This soft power contributes to enabling businesses to seize even the smallest market opportunities, maximizing products, customers, and markets, and confidently overcoming challenges.
Ms. Pham Thi Phuong Hoa – CEO of Hung Yen Garment Corporation – Joint Stock Company (Hugaco): A leader must inspire and encourage employees
As the top executive at Hugaco, Ms. Hoa fondly recalls her 40-year journey with the company. Starting from a production worker and progressing through various roles, she was appointed CEO 10 years ago, becoming one of the most prominent female leaders in Vinatex and the Vietnamese textile and garment industry.
Mr. Nguyen Xuan Duong, Chairman of Hugaco’s Board, shared that in the early 2000s, Hugaco faced immense difficulties, at times struggling to make ends meet. Thanks to the dedication of golden generations of leaders like Ms. Luong Thi Huu and Ms. Pham Thi Phuong Hoa, Hugaco has risen to be among the top-performing units in terms of productivity and revenue within the group, with an average worker income exceeding VND 11 million per month.
Ms. Hoa shares that, as a leader who rose from a worker, she deeply understands their desires and strives to provide timely solutions to meet their needs, turning Hugaco into a second home for everyone. She believes that understanding workers doesn’t mean just “cheering” or making empty promises; actions to care for employees must be real and effective. Leaders must inspire and encourage employees at all times. Thanks to this shared understanding, Hugaco has consistently led in worker care and has been annually awarded the national commendation for “Enterprises for Workers.”
Like many other businesses, Hugaco has faced declining revenue and profits in recent years, but CEO Pham Thi Phuong Hoa and her leadership team have prioritized retaining employees at all costs, even sacrificing part of their profits to ensure workers’ livelihoods and stability. Hugaco has also been flexible in transitioning to high-tech, small-batch products with higher added value and shifting between woven and knitwear items to secure orders and maintain stable employment for its workers.
Ms. Hoa revealed that for women in leadership, the key to success is constant self-improvement and professional development to make clear and effective management decisions. Additionally, it’s crucial to balance relationships between the business, the government, and employees, while fulfilling corporate social responsibility. Hugaco has a tradition of leading Hưng Yên province in social work, supporting homeless children, and contributing to social welfare organizations and local political entities. Particularly, the strength of teamwork, a core internal resource, helps the company weather market challenges. Hugaco’s management always maintains harmony with employees, ensuring mutual understanding of the company’s challenges and shared commitment to its development.
Ms. Tran Thi Hoa Chau – Deputy CEO of Hoa Tho Textile and Garment Corporation: Proud to have a team committed to working towards common goals
Having worked with Hoa Tho Textile for 22 years, with 11 years in leadership, Ms. Hòa Châu recalls taking on the role of Sales Manager at a time when the company was rapidly expanding its scale and capacity. The high demands of the job, along with complex business situations, required her full concentration and effort, while also balancing her role as a mother and caretaker at home. The limited time and heavy workload were a challenge.
Fortunately, in her new role, she received support and guidance from previous generations of leaders and cooperation from her colleagues. Her family also supported her, allowing her to focus on her new responsibilities.
The pressure of leadership is constant, especially when the textile market has faced difficulties in recent years due to the prolonged effects of COVID-19. Ms. Châu’s biggest challenge was working with the sales team to secure not just enough orders but specialized ones that would allow for productivity improvements and better business results. However, these challenges strengthened her “fighting spirit,” driving her to learn new skills to improve her leadership.
With factories spread across multiple provinces in Central Vietnam, Ms. Châu has gained valuable experience in leadership. Her key lessons are: (1) Always prioritize human resources, (2) Treat customers as long-term partners to build sustainable relationships, (3) Develop long-term and short-term plans with specific actions, (4) Prepare risk management scenarios, and (5) Foster a united and responsible working environment across departments.
Ms. Châu believes that as a leader, it’s important to mentor, inspire, and guide employees, especially women. The sensitivity and empathy of a female leader help her connect with female employees in both work and life. Women, being emotional and easily stressed, must always evaluate issues from different perspectives to avoid impulsive decisions. While gentle and understanding, leaders must also be decisive when needed to maintain discipline.
Ms. Le Thi Que Huong – Deputy CEO of Phu Bai Yarn Corporation: A market leader must understand the production
Ms.Que Huong has been with Phu Bai Yarn since its inception. Starting as a market employee, then Head of Planning, Sales, and Import-Export, she was appointed Deputy CEO in 2018. She emphasizes that leadership responsibilities are always heavier than departmental roles.
After a booming market in 2021, the spinning industry faced a downturn in the second half of 2022, which has continued into 2024. Despite these challenges, Ms. Hương found a new direction for Phú Bài by shifting from 100% cotton products to CVC and recycled yarn. Thanks to this shift, the company’s factories have maintained full production. The key, she says, is retaining customers and being adaptable in the market. In 2018, she took the bold step of running recycled yarn when no other factory in Vietnam was doing so. This decision paved the way for Phú Bài’s later success.
In addition to flexibility in production, Ms. Huong stresses that understanding both the market and production processes is critical for textile companies to overcome market slumps. Constantly researching and producing new products, understanding market demands, and focusing on the marketing team are essential. “Market personnel must understand production,” Ms. Huong frequently emphasized in business meetings. She believes that if market professionals understand production, they can grasp market needs, recognize the strengths of the factory, and secure orders. This knowledge allows for greater success when producing new products. “You need to be knowledgeable about both market operations and production processes. These two aspects intertwine and complement each other, acting as a key to unlock new opportunities for the business. When you understand production, market personnel can immediately assess what additional equipment the factory needs, how it can meet order requirements, and how to adapt when new market demands arise,” the Deputy General Director of Phú Bài Yarn emphasized.
Ms. Hương shared that she is fortunate to have strong support from her family and loved ones, allowing her to fully dedicate herself to her work. In leadership roles, beyond the standard 8-hour workday, there are inevitably additional hours needed to handle tasks after hours. The support from her family provides extra motivation for women who take on management positions.
Ms. Nguyen Hong Lien – Deputy General Director of Hue Textile and Garment Joint Stock Company: Female leaders have greater empathy with female workers.
Having been with Hue Textile and Garment for over 26 years and experienced various positions, Ms. Liên, now in her role as Deputy General Director, shared that leadership comes not only with responsibility but also with a commitment to grow revenue, improve workers’ income, and balance the interests of the company and shareholders. Always careful in her work, she sets goals and action plans, avoiding emotional decision-making. Ms. Liên feels that as a female leader, she has an advantage over her male counterparts in empathizing with female workers, who make up over 70% of the garment workforce she manages. In addition to professional tasks, she prioritizes giving female workers time to care for their families by limiting overtime and Sunday work while maintaining their income.
Even during difficult times with low processing costs, she still advises the General Director to ensure full wages and benefits for workers. For instance, when market conditions dropped labor prices from 1VND to 0.8VND per product, she suggested paying the full VND1 and finding other profitable orders or improving productivity to offset costs. During the brief shutdown due to COVID-19, key managers voluntarily took a 20-25% salary cut, while workers’ pay was reduced by 5-10% to share the burden with the company. Despite challenges, worker income remained stable and grew annually, even in the last two difficult years.
However, her primary concern remains how to retain workers as they shift to other industries. She believes that beyond meeting workers’ needs, companies must offer attractive policies to retain employees. Additionally, companies must research and understand the psychology of younger generations, particularly Gen Z, to engage with this growing workforce appropriately.
“Labor migration is not unique to Vietnam. During a business trip to Cambodia in early October 2024, I learned that Cambodian companies also face over 10% worker loss. However, companies with attractive policies still retain workers. I believe having a stable workforce allows for smoother production planning and better opportunities to secure quality orders. This will be a key focus in our 2025 business and production plans,” emphasized the Deputy General Director of Huegatex.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao – COO of Garco 10 Corporation – Joint Stock Company: The culture of Garco 10 is unity and sharing
Having worked in various positions, from market department staff, team leader, then Deputy and Head of the Market Department, to now being the Chief Operating Officer, Ms. Thao—the youngest female leader at Garco 10—cannot hide her pride in her 17-year journey with the company. She said that the leadership generations at Garco 10 have all created a fair working environment with equal advancement opportunities for everyone. Therefore, attaining higher positions is the result of each individual’s effort.
Ms. Thao shared that at Garco 10, the executive team holds meetings to agree on objectives and strategies, after which responsibilities are delegated to leaders in charge of specific areas to continue implementing solutions across the relevant departments. With such close supervision and clear delegation, each leader has the opportunity to fully utilize their abilities. Furthermore, beyond the pre-established plans, whenever there is a new order or customer, she will meet with the market departments to create plans, analyze them, and quickly devise production solutions. However, working in the market sector also comes with pressure, as 90% of Garco 10’s revenue and profits come from exports, making sales targets an unavoidable challenge. She revealed that the General Director of Garco 10 also has a background in and experience with market operations, so there is close supervision in this field, which has helped young leaders like her to develop the market acumen and resilience needed.
Identifying the strengths and skills of its workforce, Garco 10 does not aim to produce large-volume, low-cost products. Ms. Thao said that Garco 10 does not “race” to take on large, cheap orders. Instead, the executive team and the General Director have decided that Garco 10 will only choose to produce difficult, high-value-added items. With this overarching strategy, all relevant departments are well-prepared, and workers are trained to skillfully switch between different small-volume orders. As for the market department, Ms. Thao directed them to work with clients who manufacture high-end products in small quantities (high brands). Although this may pose challenges for workers due to the continuous switching of orders and production arrangements, with a consistent strategy, everyone is united and works with high agreement.
For Ms. Thao, a modern woman knows how to dedicate time to herself and balance between work and family. In addition to being committed to her business, she always ensures to balance time for caring for her family, raising her children, and striving toward a happy and fulfilling life.