ABSTRACT

For many years, the food and beverage industry has been one of the most
important economic sectors with significant development and rapid growth
potential. However, in the past 3 years, the outbreak of the Covid-19
pandemic has seriously affected all countries in the world. The world
economy, in general, and Vietnam's economy, in particular, have both had
severe downturns, but the food and catering services business has steadily
"recovered" and developed at a quick pace. To overcome the pandemic's
consequences, Viet Thai International Joint Stock Company is not afraid to
spend in brands, goods, service quality, and the human aspect in particular.
We created this research based on a perfect combination of strategic human
resource management theory and information provided by insiders to
determine the characteristics that lead to success in the Highlands' HR
strategy.
In this research, we assume that Highlands' HR system follows a human
resource management strategy that is in line with the company's overall
goals for innovation, product quality, and service. We collect general
information about the company through articles and information posted on
the internet. For inside information, we had the precious opportunity to
interview Mr. Minh Quan - human resources manager and Ms. Ha Linh -
store manager of Higlands store in Thanh Xuan. After gathering enough
information, we have selected and applied the theories of Human Resource
Systems to analyze their approach. The results show that building an
effective HR system plays an important role in the company's success. It is
considered the central position in the construction and development of the
organization.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 4
1.1. COMPANY GENERAL INFORMATION ......................................................................... 4
1.2. BUSINESS LEVELSTRATEGY ........................................................................................ 5
1.3. THE TARGETED JOB CLASS: FRONTLINE SERVER ................................................. 6
1.4. CRITICAL EMPLOYEES’BEHAVIORS .......................................................................... 6
1.5. THE LABOR MARKET AND LEGAL ENVIRONMENT ............................................... 7
5.1 The labor market ............................................................................................................... 7
5.2 Legal Environment ............................................................................................................ 8
2. THE PRESCRIBED HR SYSTEM ........................................................................................... 8
2.1. COMPENSATIONS AND REWARDS .............................................................................. 9
2.1.1 Pay level ......................................................................................................................... 9
2.1.2 Pay at risk .................................................................................................................... 10
2.1.4 Internal versus External job pricing ............................................................................ 10
2.1.5 Skill-based pay ............................................................................................................. 11
2.1.6 Seniority-based pay...................................................................................................... 11
2.1.7 Benefit flexibility and Benefit level .............................................................................. 11
2.2. STAFFING SYSTEM........................................................................................................ 12
2.2.1 Career System .............................................................................................................. 12
2.2.2 Candidate Preference and organization fit ................................................................. 13
2.2.3 Exit Orientation ........................................................................................................... 14
2.3. TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................ 14
2.3.1: Skill Orientation ......................................................................................................... 14
2.3.2: Training Method Orientation ..................................................................................... 15
2.3.3. Career Path................................................................................................................. 16
2.3.4. Succession Planning ................................................................................................... 17
2.3.5. Skill Inventories .......................................................................................................... 18
2.4. PERFORMANCE AND APPRAISAL.............................................................................. 18
2.4.1. Measurement Type ...................................................................................................... 18
2.4.2. Measurement Scope .................................................................................................... 19
3. THE CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION .................................................................. 19
3.1. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 19
3.2. RECOMMENDATION ..................................................................................................... 23
4. APPENDIX ............................................................................................................................... 24

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1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. COMPANY GENERAL INFORMATION

Viet Thai International Joint Stock Company owns the trademark Highlands Coffee (VTI). Viet
Thai International is a wholly owned Vietnamese corporation. The transaction office is in Ho Chi
Minh City, while the main office is in Hanoi. The first Highlands Coffee was formally launched
in 2002, after being established in 1998 and focusing solely on bagged coffee. There are currently
around 40 shops functioning throughout Vietnam. With the country's continued ascent and
progress, Highlands Coffee is optimistic about a future of sustainable development.

Highlands Coffee always wants to bring customers the feeling of a traditional and immortal value.
Highlands Coffee constantly strives to give customers a feeling of being a part of modern dynamic
life along with unique and long-standing cultural traditions of Vietnam.
The first impression when coming to Highlands Coffee is another open, half closed space. This is
in line with their business philosophy: Combining modernity with traditional Vietnamese charm
and values. Highlands Coffee has cleverly arranged the store in a combination of the noise and
bustle of the streets in the big city center with the modern, dynamic but equally romantic and
lyrical features of the shop.
With such resounding achievements as on Highland Coffee has become one of the brands with a
foothold in the market. That's why Highland coffee has received over 2000 offers for franchising.

Highland Coffee's revenue continuously increased sharply for 3 consecutive years from 2015 to
2017. Specifically, the revenue for each year and the growth rate of revenue are:
 In 2015 reached over 400 billion
 In 2016 revenue reached over 800 billion
 In 2017, Highland Coffee's revenue reached VND 1237 billion, much higher than other
brands Starbuck Coffee, The Coffee House or Phuc Long.

4
Profit before tax in the 3 years from 2015 to 2017 also achieved remarkable achievements,
specifically as follows:
 In 2015, pre-tax profit was over 10 billion VND
 In 2016 profit before tax was over 60 billion
 In 2017, pre-tax profit skyrocketed to VND 132 billion - double that of 2016.

Highland Coffee has always been at the top of the table when compared to other coffee brands
such as Starbucks Coffee, Phuc Long, and The Coffee House in terms of pre-tax profit. In this
study, we will examine the company's human resources strategy using certain methods and
measurements in order to uncover the factors that contribute to the company's performance. In
addition, policy harmonization throughout the HR system must be taken into account.
https://timviec365.vn/company-vip/cong-ty-highlands-coffee.html

1.2. BUSINESS LEVELSTRATEGY

Highlands Coffee's promotion approach is a silent promotion plan, which the Viet Thai company
picked at the start of its formation and business. Because Highlands Coffee caters to middle-class
target audiences, the majority of whom are office workers and young people, the company's
primary business strategy is to open shops in office buildings (grade A is preferred). However,
because these buildings already have a large number of potential customers, Highlands Coffee
would have been overburdened at the time. As a result, using promotional marketing to promote
sales isn't actually necessary. On the other hand, Highlands Coffee's silent promotion strategy,
which avoided catching the attention of competitors, has allowed the company grow and establish
a strong position in the market, allowing it to become Vietnam's second largest coffee shop chain.
Highlands Coffee has expanded significantly throughout the country after being in business for a
while and steadily, so to reinforce its brand, enhance its marketing operations using PR tool.
Highlands Coffee is proud to be a Vietnamese brand, and its idea is to mix the best of the modern
world with the charms and traditions of Vietnam. Highlands Coffee is particularly interested in
and sponsors a variety of charity, cultural, and sports programs as an active member in social
events.

5
https://marketingai.vn/chien-luoc-marketing-cua-highlands-coffee-an-nen-lam-ra-nho-kieng-ba-
chan/#ftoc-heading-3

1.3. THE TARGETED JOB CLASS: FRONTLINE SERVER

With the rapid development of coffee shop chains, Highlands Coffee always puts the human factor
on top, especially the frontline staff. Because only when taking good care of the interests of
employees can businesses aim to serve customers better, build a brand that is trusted by customers,
then businesses need to understand customers better. people and always put consumer satisfaction
at the center of all activities. In the same direction, The development and longevity of Highlands
Coffee company will have to rely a lot on the people who built it. That is why, Highlands Coffee
constantly invests in training good staff to help the brand develop sustainably. The workforce at
Highlands Coffee system mostly has college and intermediate degrees, accounting for over 60%
of the labor structure at the shops. Employees are trained in many forms, but the form of direct
training is usually on-the-job training, especially restaurant system managers and assistants will
be trained in practice, putting them on the job. Highlands Coffee's staff development investment
strategy is an extremely right strategy, the company's employees are paid very competitively, the
salary regime, and the strict and strict welfare policy are reviewed every year.
Highlands Coffee's staff is recognized as always friendly to buyers and ships in the best condition.
Along with that, junior staff are also selected and trained and trained through a rigorous process.

1.4. CRITICAL EMPLOYEES’BEHAVIORS

The cultural environment of each enterprise is unique to each enterprise. It is an atmosphere of

relationships, a sense of responsibility and a work ethic. The cultural environment has a decisive
influence on the use of the enterprise workforce. In modern business, especially joint venture
enterprises, the culture of enterprises is very important, because there are different ethnicities and
countries. Enterprises are often businesses that focus on a distinct culture that is different from
those of businesses. Corporate culture creates a competitive advantage, it has a great direct
influence on business strategies and policies while facilitating the successful implementation of
enterprise's choice. Therefore, the business performance of the enterprise depends very much on
the business

6
Highlands Coffee builds an outstanding culture based on the following values:
 Trust and respect: Highlands trusts itself as well as its colleagues, showing respect
 Be respectful to others, to all customers.
 People-oriented: At Highlands, everyone together shows a positive spirit and does not stop
supporting develop a career together.
 Customer is the center: wholeheartedly serve to bring about the results that exceed
customer's expectations, Highlands considers it a responsibility and always expects
feedback to improve itself.
 Commitment: Highlands is committed to building values to contribute to the common
development
 Pioneering, dynamic, creative: The members are constantly making efforts, being creative
and not afraid to challenge to learn and improve yourself.
https://haymora.com/thuc-pham-do-uong/highlands-coffee#info
https://www.academia.edu/15294388/130661597_Bai_Word_Hoan_Chinh_Highlands_Coffee
https://wikifin.net/chien-luoc-marketing-cua-highlands-coffee-1643198103/

1.5. THE LABOR MARKET AND LEGAL ENVIRONMENT

5.1 The labor market

Viet Thai International Joint Stock Company is one of the leading companies in the coffee, retail
and high-class service industries; With nearly 60 Highlands Coffee shops and Nike sportswear
stores, it currently has more than 1,200 employees nationwide. Highlands coffee's staff is selected
and trained through a rigorous process and managed by a professional and creative management
team. Like David France, previously worked as general manager of Coca Cola bottled water in
Vietnam. Highlands Coffee selects the best staff for each stage. To become an employee of
Highlands Coffee no matter what position, part time or full time, you must meet high requirements
on working style and service style to be able to bring the best quality to customers. Besides,
Highlands Coffee also regularly recruits new employees to always create a new vitality for each

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coffee shop. Therefore, every time customers enter Highlands Coffee, they always feel the
dynamic, new and fresh. young from the staff. Before starting work, each employee will learn for
3 days about the basics of coffee, learn about the service style of Highlands Coffee, and then start
working under the guidance of the management team.

5.2 Legal Environment

Highlands Coffee, like any other company, must follow labor laws governing equal employment
opportunity, wage, hour, and safety regulations, as well as labor relations:
 Labor contract: Conclusions and obligations to engage into labor contracts under Article
18 of the Labor Code and Clause 1 of Decree No. 148 / 2018.N-CP Clause 1 of Article 3
of Decree No. 05/2015 / ND-CP is being amended. Clause 1, Article 1 of Decree 148 /
2018N-CP states that the person concludes and authorizes the transaction. In addition,
Articles 19, 20, 21, 22 of the 2019 Labor Code contain provisions relating to employer
behavior, forms of labor contracts, and labor contract content.
 Salary and Benefit : According to Chapter VI - Salary and Chapter VII - Working Hours
of the Labor Code 2019, Article 12, No. 45/2019/QH14 is represented. An employer's
responsibility for staff management
 Insurance : Article 2 of Law No. 58/2014/QH13: relevant entities: employees who are
Vietnamese citizens must be covered by mandatory social insurance. Social Insurance
Regimes (Article 4) (Labor Code 2019).

2.THE PRESCRIBED HR SYSTEM

In this part, we will talk about the basic theories learned in Strategic Human Resource
Management, and use information gathered from primary research and secondary research. For
primary research, we get information from interviews with Highlands' front line staff, the rest of
information will be taken mainly from websites, newspapers, internet... from which we will draw
approaches of company personnel.
In order for the HR system to work really effectively, the reward and salary regime needs to be
carefully considered and resolved first. Accompanying it is the dedication and contributions of
employees who are capable, potential and suitable for the company's path.

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2.1. COMPENSATIONS AND REWARDS

Following Human Resource Management practice framework in chapter 3 of the textbook "Human
Resource Strategy - A Behavioral Perspective for the General Manager ", we analyze and evaluate
the problems of Highlands' human resources system based on the following factors: pay level, pay
at risk, performance contingent pay, job pricing (internal versus external equity), seniority-based
pay, skill-based pay, benefit flexibility, and benefit level.

2.1.1 Pay level

Theoretically, pay level is related to a unit in systems of monetary compensation for employment.
It is commonly used in public service, both civil and military, but also for companies of the private
sector. Pay grades facilitate the employment process by providing a fixed framework of salary
ranges, as opposed to a free negotiation
The basic policy that has long been applied by many businesses is based on the common level of
the market, that is, the average pay level offered by companies competing for employees with
similar skill profiles. The company will make a decision whether to pay wages at (meet), below
(lag), or above (lead) the market. There is also a combination of all three policies above.
Lead market salary means that the company offers compensation that is higher than the pay rates
in the prevailing marketplace. Meanwhile, paying salary lags the market to help the company
control labor costs well. It seems that these two policies are not suitable for Highlands, but it set
pay levels relative to those in the existing market place.
First, the job of frontline staff is not too difficult to do, with short training, almost anyone can do
it. According to the interview information, For candidates who have received their resume and
depending on the position, they will be trained by the company within 3 days before starting work.
So human resources are very easy to find. In fact, most of the staff are students who work part-
time.
Moreover, in the F&B industry segment, specifically the coffee sector, Highlands has a high
reputation and a large position in the market. This helps the company to attract more candidates.

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When the salary matches the competition, the organization can ensure that the salary structure
remains competitive in the labor market. At the same time, it improves the ability to attract and
retain top talent.

2.1.2 Pay at risk

Pay at risk is the portion of an employee's compensation that is variable, or “at risk” of not being
paid out. This “at-risk pay” is typically performance-based and is in contrast to the fixed pay
(salary) that the employee receives as a condition of employment.
As for the bonus policy, evaluated by each store in the chain and region, the staff will be monitored
by the manager for performance, attitude, along with store revenue, the bonus will be based on 2
those factors, but usually not by much.
This policy helps store employees create unity, achieve the highest performance together. This can
also be a motivation to help employees have a better service attitude and care about customers
more.

The performance-contingent pay policy is based on meeting or exceeding performance in the

employee's role. Using performance-based pay allows them to focus entirely on the results of their
work in relation to pay.
However, up to now, Highlands does not apply this policy to frontline employees. It can be said
that the nature of frontline service work is difficult to assess by exact measurements on an
individual basis because it is based on many factors.
On the other hand, Highlands is based on the performance of the whole team, that is, the revenue
of the whole store, considering each certain period. Employees have the opportunity to receive a
higher salary if the turnover is often high, standing at the top of the Highlands stores.

2.1.4 Internal versus External job pricing

Highlands has also implemented external job pricing, which focuses on what other companies pay
employees in similar job classifications. It is competition in terms of relative pay rates between
organizations rather than within the organization, and is done by surveying or simply purchasing
those surveys. The reason is that at present, the F&B industry is sprouting more and more

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businesses, so there are many options for choosing a workforce. Therefore, businesses have to
compete with each other on salary policy. In contrast, Highlands does not apply internal job
pricing, because frontline service work is basically the same between individuals, so internal
fairness is not really an issue to consider.

2.1.5 Skill-based pay

At Highlands, the frontline service job does not require many sophisticated skills, because it is not
based on the criteria of difference in service, but only to bring satisfaction to customers. So the
training time is very short, only a few days. However, for the position of store manager and
assistant, more skills are required, such as a bachelor's degree, a college degree, or a rather high
requirement for foreign language skills, specifically English, due to the high job demand of
contacting with foreigners, so they often have a competitive salary and are negotiated when signing
a labor contract.

2.1.6 Seniority-based pay

Seniority-based pay systems are those where the main basis for salary increase is the tenure of the
employee. Seniority-based pay systems may take performance into account, but the key factor is
tenure. Some main advantages of seniority-based pay consist of loyalty, retention, and stability of
all staff members, regardless of performance levels. Highlands also applies this policy. The
average salary is respectively: 4-hour shift: 3,100,000 VND/month, 8-hour shift: 6,200,000
VND/month, full-day shift: 8,500,000 VND/month. This salary will increase by about 100,000-
300,000 VND after 3 months if the employee can perform well at work.

2.1.7 Benefit flexibility and Benefit level

As a member of one of the largest retail chain business groups in Vietnam, Highlands has built the
best remuneration for its employees, including frontline staff. The Board of Directors always
understands and respects each individual, as a valuable asset that needs to be preserved and
developed. First, Highlands creates a meaningful, creative and dynamic working environment,

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where every member has the opportunity to express themselves. The company always pays special
attention to the regimes for employees on holidays, birthdays, filial piety, and always has monthly
welfare activities programs. In February 2017, CareerBuilder had officially released the results of
“Top 100 Best Employers of Choice 2016”. Highlands Coffee is proud to be recognized at 33rd
nationwide and at 30th in South out of the listed employers.
After that, there is a competitive salary and bonus system, each individual's contribution will be
recognized and compensated appropriately. In addition to the monthly salary, employees are also
based on business performance, rewarding individuals and groups with excellent achievements as
well as monthly revenue. There is also a health care regime, including 24/24 accident insurance,
comprehensive health insurance.
Moreover, in order to help all members improve their values and have a clear career development
orientation, the company regularly offers training programs. New employees are trained to
integrate, learn about the environment - organization - regime, company culture. Official
employees can participate in short / long training programs to improve their qualifications.
Finally, at Highlands, the succession training program is held monthly to develop qualified
personnel for important leadership positions in the company, through which employees have the
opportunity to challenge themselves.

2.2. STAFFING SYSTEM

Still based on the knowledge of Chapter 3, we will in turn analyze the human resources systems
including 4 attributes: career system, candidate preference, organization fit, and exit orientation.

2.2.1 Career System

This attribute of HRM system will refer to the company's typical talent pool and is "measured by
openness of career system to external market at other than entry level (D. & D., 1998)
We want to mention 2 types of labor market. One of them is the internal market which means
attracting labor from the external market for entry level tasks, and higher levels are filled from
within the organization. Meanwhile, the external labor market implies that workers move
somewhat flexibly between companies and wages are determined by some aggregation process in
which firms do not have significant discretion in setting salary settings.

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For Highlands, when there is a shortage of personnel. For each store, the management board will
make a list of vacancies, and then send it to the company's human resources department for
planning and recruitment.
It can be said that Highlands has applied the external method, because it is suitable for the frontline
serve position. It is in itself the lowest and most basic rank of the store, so it is not possible to hire
staff within the organization. The internal method will be suitable for positions of management
level and above for Highlands. Therefore, usually the recruitment notice will be posted on the job
search website or through the employees who have been working at Highlands.

2.2.2 Candidate Preference and organization fit

The framework originally proposed by Turner and subsequently refined by Rosenbaum, and
staffing, career, and succession systems are considered in terms of what he called sponsored versus
contest mobility norms. In particular, the sponsored mobility method emphasizes the early
identification of talent. The focus is on identifying job candidates with the potential to learn and
grow, not candidates who necessarily have current levels of knowledge or skills.
On the other hand, companies follow a form of identifying individuals with a proven track record.
This emphasizes identifying individuals who currently have the necessary knowledge, skills, and
abilities to perform the required tasks.
Besides, some companies tend to seek out and select candidates who will "fit in" with the
company's culture and who are similar to current incumbents, especially in management or
leadership positions. However, some companies are clearly looking for “types of mismatch” in an
effort to create organizational change and capitalize on workforce diversity. It is this difference
between organizational cultures.
Highlands tends to hire qualified candidates for high positions: selecting the right employees for
the job will help the company avoid spending a lot of time on retraining, especially for
management positions. The requirements are quite high in foreign languages, especially English
due to the job demands of frequent contact with foreigners. As for the service staff, only basic
English communication can meet the job. The job at the cafe is also quite simple, so the recruitment
process is not complicated. Most of the staff here are students who are looking for part-time jobs
to earn extra income.

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After being recruited, employees will participate in the company's training courses on necessary
skills... to ensure the best service quality for customers. For candidates who have received their
application and depending on the position, they will be trained by the company within 3 days
before starting work. For positions such as chain store manager, assistant manager, the company
still trains within 2-7 days. The benefit of all employees in the Highlands Coffee system is to
participate in the company's training courses.

2.2.3 Exit Orientation

The level of job security the company strives to provide to employees is considered in this section.
Some companies try to promote stability and loyalty by creating a high level of job security. On
the contrary, Other companies systematically improve the rotation process by continuously
downsizing and restructuring. They only retain those employees who are top performers or possess
a critical set of skills and abilities.
For the frontline position, Highlands does not have a high security job, the company is ready to
fire if the employee has an inappropriate working attitude. This is for the purpose of ensuring the
effective operation of the human resource system, avoiding the occurrence of bad cases affecting
the company's reputation and revenue. However, for a management position, there may be
considerations because the position's requirements are quite large, so finding a replacement will
not be easy.

2.3. TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

2.3.1 Skill Orientation

Skills orientation discusses the question: "Do firms' training orientations tend to focus on
functional and technical skills or do orientations emphasize the development of generalizable skills
for many kinds of situations?" (D.&D. 1998). To answer this question, we need to base on the
business environment in which the company is operating and the employee training needs of
companies in this job class. Regarding the frontline server job type about Highlands coffee’s scope
of work and their training needs, the most appropriate approach would be a combination of both
functional, technical and general skills. One of the most significant stages in enhancing service

14
quality in restaurants, hotels, cafeterias, and other establishments is service personnel
training...Service staff is people who are always in direct contact with customers. customers, so
their every attitude, gesture, and working style best reflects the image of the business. People who
work in the service industry are in constant contact with customers, so their every action, gesture,
and working style best match the company's image. Employee training is the most important factor
in helping businesses create a positive image in the eyes of their clients. As a result, organizations
must have a precise and accurate training procedure in order for training to be effective. Training
is required for all new service personnel, whether experienced or novice... For those of you who
already have a bit of experience, as well as industry knowledge, the initial training will be simpler.
As for those who are completely new, they need a more detailed and methodical training program.
In fact, work and circumstances are always changed by external factors. Customers' preferences
and needs evolve throughout time. To always satisfy the needs of customers in the best possible
way, the training program's material must be updated on a regular basis to fit the needs of
customers and the business environment. Furthermore, depending on the level of each employee,
it is necessary to have separate training programs to serve the capacity improvement and
appointment of talented people.

2.3.2: Training Method Orientation

Orientation is the process of introducing new employees to their responsibilities, co-workers, and
workplace bằng: on-site, informal, on-the-job or off-site, formal classroom training method. Based
on the nature of the service industry, Highlands combines both training methods. After being
recruited, managers will organize classes to provide theoretical training, provide background
theories, and basic skills about service work. Otherwise, skill-based training sections would better
be conducted in the form of an informal, on-the-job illustration. In industries related to F&B,
restaurants and hotels, it is necessary to pay special attention to working styles and operations:
walking, talking, body gestures, facial expressions, voice, etc. In addition to providing technical
training lists, functional work needs to create a practice space for employees with simulated
situations or practice in a real environment to help employees develop skills behavior ability to
draw on a wealth of experience in order to develop their knowledge and skills.

15
 Example a practice session at Highlands Coffee

2.3.3. Career Path

Career Path refers to the extent to which the company “offer clearly defined career paths and
formal advice on career planning and development or is the career management process very
informal and dependent on self-initiated mentoring relationships” (D. & D., 1998).

16
Customer service is an excellent field to enter, especially now that it is more important than ever
for businesses to have a customer-centric approach. Above is a step-by-step diagram of a service
employee's career path, specifically one starting as a representative or associate and ending as a
director. Employees are continuously attempting to develop their knowledge and professional
abilities in order to pass the relevant competency tests at all levels in order to proceed to the next
level in their career path. Employees are given in-depth and methodical training programs to assist
them in grasping the necessary criteria in their current job and in the future. such as assisting them
in reaching higher levels in the future.

2.3.4. Succession Planning

Succession planning is the process of identifying the critical positions within your organization
and developing action plans for individuals to assume those positions. Since highlands define a
clear career path, there is no doubt that the brand of building a formal succession plan has a lot to
do with career path. Brands can benefit from principles that identify key job skills, knowledge,
social relationships, and organizational practices and pass them on to prepare the next generation
of workers thus ensuring the continuous rotation of talent within the organization. A succession

17
plan is a backup plan. It is not a one-time event. Instead, it should be reevaluated and changed once
a year or whenever the company changes.As a result, it evaluates each leader's abilities, identifies
potential replacements both inside and outside the company, and, in the case of an internal
replacement, prepares those employees to take control.

2.3.5. Skill Inventories

HR professionals use a variety of tools to develop strategies for recruiting, training, or retaining
employees. One of these tools is the skills inventory, which contains data about a company's
workforce experience. In the system the human resource management system is run by the human
resources department. Typically, human resources departments use a comprehensive and flexible
list of skills, education, experience, and competencies. Based on industry, a brand's workforce
skills can include a combination of technical and soft skills. While all of these abilities are
advantageous to the workforce, a skills inventory can assist human resource professionals in
identifying skills that are lacking in their organizations. This provides a foundation for designing
training or deciding what types of individuals to hire in the next round of hiring.

2.4. PERFORMANCE AND APPRAISAL

2.4.1. Measurement Type

With the mission of becoming the leading Vietnamese coffee brand, Highlands Coffee is always
looking for potential candidates who share the same passion and efforts with us to achieve success.
Highlands staff are well-trained and professional to provide the best service to customers.
Therefore, the most appropriate type of performance evaluation would be the process-oriented
type. In addition to the common standard evaluation measures for the entire employee system,
each employee is assigned different jobs during the shift to improve daily work performance. Each
employee is monitored and evaluated daily, and then managers summarize their performance by
day, week, and month. For employees who achieve high performance at work as well as they
perform well in their working process, they will be commended and rewarded. This creates a team-
oriented competition among the staff and maintains the enthusiasm and competitiveness of the
servers.

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2.4.2. Measurement Scope

Employee performance appraisals are carried out by management, and the most appropriate
method used for performance coverage is the traditional top-down performance appraisal.
Management level will observe employees during working time, for example, working attitude,
service attitude, customer care... to give the most objective assessment to each employee.

3. THE CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

3.1. CONCLUSION

Strategy Summay Fit Recommen Fit with Recomm

with dation busines endation
other s
policies strateg
y

Pay Meet At the Yes Should Yes

level existing increase
market salary/bon
us

Pay at None Not

risk applied to
Compens frontline
ations & staffs
rewards
Perfor Only for Depend
mance team on team
- performa
Conting nce, along
ent with
Pay revenue

Job External Based on

Pricing level of
competito
rs in the

19
 same
industry

Skill- Only for Not much

Based managem requireme
Pay ent level nts for
frontline
staffs

Seniorit Yes Aim to

y- loyalty,
Based retention,
Pay stability
of all
staffs

Benefit Yes Variety of

Flexibili benefits
ty offered

Benefit Meet Meet the

Level current
market

Staffing Career External Hire from Yes Yes

system System outside
for basic
position

Candid Potential Fit with

ate organizati
Prefere onal
nce culture

Organiz Right Hire those

ation people who have
al Fit skills/expe
riences

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 Exit Not high Only try
Orienta job to retain
tion security top
performer
s

Skill Hybrid Balanced

Orienta between
tion technical
Technic and
al general
Training General skills
& Hybrid
Develop Combinat
ment Trainin ion of
g theory
Method and
Inform practical
al; on classes
the job
Formal;
classroo
m

Career Yes Have a Yes:

Pathing clear there's
Yes career room
No path for Yes
improv
ement

Formal Yes Has

Successi developda
on succession
Plannin plan
g based
Yes on the
No career
path plan

Skill Yes Accessible

Invento for the
ries leaders of
Yes the team
No to

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 train
subordina
tes
with a
synchroni
zed
content

Performa Measur Results The Yes Yes

nce emet performa
Appraisal Type nce
Results appraisal
Process system is
designed
Fully
process-
oriented

Measur
emet Tradition The
Scope al Top manager
Traditi Down will
onal evaluate
360 their sub-
degree ordinates

Highlands Coffee has built itself a quite complete and suitable human resource system. However,
we think that Highlands still have some problems in the strategy of the HR system, respectively as
below.
First of all, employees are not really satisfied with the proportion of work and salary. Due to the
large amount of work per capita. According to some employees, they have to go half an hour early
in the morning to set up clothes, stay for half an hour at the end of the shift to do bookkeeping and
report, and come to a meeting once a week to finish at the hotel. 2 hours left to go home to give
birth, finished my shift but had to stand at the counter for another 2 hours to wait for everyone to
finish the meeting along with a lot of other work. For such workloads, current levels for frontline
staff are low.

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Second, the training has not really been noticed, the training time seems to be quite short to achieve
the highest work efficiency.
Finally, we found that performance appraisals of individuals working in the store were not taken
into account, so this could also be a source of employee dissatisfaction. In the team, there can also
be conflicts if the division of work is unequal but the salary and bonus regime is the same.

3.2. RECOMMENDATION

With nearly 20 years of establishment and expansion, the Highlands coffee store chain has
successfully built its effective personnel system and framework. After interviewing the human
resource manager at the chain stores, we learned many lessons from their construction and
management, such as compensation and bonus regimes, employee training programs… However,
we believe that Highlands' human resources system is far from flawless and that some aspects of
the system should be improved. We try to understand and analyze as thoroughly as possible about
the Highlands' human resources system to come to the most accurate conclusions. In light of the
information we have gathered, we realize that certain points can be changed to give customers the
best experience when using their products. Firstly, we cover rewards and compensation. With the
coffee chain's continued growth, which means that employees will have to work more to deliver
the greatest service, Highlands should establish a higher compensation and offer employee
incentives for good performance. Furthermore, leaders should pay more attention to employees in
order to understand what they want and need so that management strategies can be adjusted
properly.
Secondly, regarding the personnel system, the selection process should be conducted carefully and
methodically. Most of the wait staff at the chain stores are students working in shifts, so they have
little work experience, employers need to carefully select candidates to see if they really fit the
requirements demand that the company is looking for does not. Furthermore, Highlands should
have attractive recruitment policies for candidates to stick with the company for a long time.
Another idea for Highlands is to change the way they evaluate employee performance. Highlands
may collect a variety of reviews from a range of sources, such as sending reviews to consumers
after they make a direct purchase at one of our locations around the country, or having customers
leave evaluations on our website Highlands and get feedback on food ordering apps like Shopee

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Food, Grab Food, and Now Food... These are the most intuitive customer reviews from customers
who have used the company's products as a basis for making human resource system
improvements.

4. APPENDIX
Appendix 1: To evaluate how employees feel overall

Câu trả lời

1.Bạn thích điều gì nhất khi làm việc ở đây?

2. Bạn có cảm thấy có sự kết nối với đồng nghiệp?

3.Trong thang điểm từ 1 đến 10, bạn cảm thấy hài lòng tới mức nào về công
việc của mình?

4.Bạn muốn đạt được thành tựu gì trong tương lai?

5.Bạn thích điều gì nhất ở người sếp trước đây? Nếu có phương pháp thực
hiện hiệu quả tại một công ty khác, ai bảo là sẽ không hiệu quả ở công ty bạn?

6.Bạn có cảm thấy vai trò của mình có một sứ mệnh?

7.Trong 6 tháng vừa qua, bạn đạt được những thành tựu gì?

8. Bạn muốn được đào tạo theo hình thức nào để đạt được mục tiêu nghề
nghiệp?

24
9. Bạn có cảm thấy nhân viên trong công ty tôn trọng lẫn nhau?

10. Trong thang điểm từ 1 đến 10, bạn đánh giá mức độ thử thách trong công
việc hàng ngày của bạn?

11. Thành tích gần đây nhất trong công việc của bạn là gì?

12. Trong thang điểm từ 1 đến 10, bạn đánh giá mức độ cân bằng giữa cuộc
sống và công việc của bạn.

13. Điều gì tạo động lực cho bạn để cống hiến cho công việc?

14. Bạn cảm thấy những chương trình thưởng, ghi nhận ở công ty phản ánh
chính xác hay chỉ là giả tạo, ép buộc?

15. Bạn có cảm thấy bản thân mình đang phát triển một cách chuyên nghiệp
tại công ty này?

16. Nhân viên cảm thấy như thế nào về công ty?

Appendix 2: Feel the company culture

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 Câu trả lời

1. Bạn có cảm thấy vui khi làm việc tại đây? Một môi trường làm việc buồn tẻ
có thể khiến thời gian dài lê thê, nhưng một môi trường vui vẻ (tức là có
những đồng nghiệp tuyệt vời và hỗ trợ) thực sự có thể thúc đẩy mọi người đi
xa hơn.

2. Theo bạn, điểm mạnh lớn nhất mà công ty nên tập trung phát triển là gì?
Công ty của bạn có đang làm tốt điều gì không? Hãy tìm hiểu xem điểm mạnh
đó là gì và tập trung hơn vào điều đó.

3. Bạn có nghĩ rằng công ty của bạn có mục tiêu lớn hơn tiền bạc? Mọi người,
đặc biệt là thế hệ Y, muốn làm việc cho một công ty tạo ra tác động tích cực
đến thế giới

4. Nếu cần cải thiện một điều thì đó là gì? Tiếp nhận nhân viên mới, đánh giá
hiệu quả công việc, quản lý – thăm dò những điểm cần cải thiện ở công ty.

5. Bạn có cảm thấy công ty hỗ trợ bạn trong sự phát triển nghề nghiệp? Cơ hội
phát triển có thể quyết định việc ở lại hay ra đi của nhân viên.

6. Nếu dùng một từ để diễn tả văn hóa của Công ty thì đó là gì? Bạn sẽ ngạc
nhiên về những gì nhân viên của bạn nói về văn hóa.

7. Một số đề xuất của bạn để cải thiện giao tiếp ở công ty. Hãy tìm hiểu cách
bạn có thể giúp cải thiện và hợp lý hóa quy trình.

8. Điều gì ở công ty khiến bạn chưa hài lòng? Là một nhà lãnh đạo, bạn không
thể không nhận thức những trở ngại (lớn hoặc nhỏ) đang cản trở năng suất của
nhân viên.

9. Hãy nhắm mắt lại và nêu các giá trị cốt lõi của công ty. Giá trị tổ chức là
bản đồ lộ trình của công ty và nhân viên cần phải hướng về đó để giữ cho văn
hóa được liên kết.

26
10. Nếu có một điều bạn muốn công ty tiếp tục thực hiện, thi đó là gì? Có điều
gì được thực hiện tốt ở công ty? Tìm hiểu làm thế nào để nhân rộng điều đó.

11. Hãy đánh giá mức độ hiệu quả của hoạt động xây dựng đội nhóm ở công
ty. Hãy tìm hiểu xem hoạt động xây dựng đội nhóm có thực sự hiệu quả với
nhân viên của bạn không.

12. Bạn có sẵn sàng giới thiệu cho ai đó vào công ty làm việc không? Nếu
nhân viên của bạn hài lòng với công việc và văn hóa công ty, họ sẽ nói có.

13. Trải nghiệm những ngày đầu tiên làm việc của bạn có hiệu quả không? Để
thiết lập thành công, bạn cần đặt nền tảng phù hợp trong những ngày đầu tiên.

Appendix 3: How employees feel about the leadership team

Câu trả lời

1. Trong thang điểm từ 1 đến 10, đánh giá khả năng của quản lý trực tiếp trong
việc ghi nhận đóng góp của bạn trong công việc.

2. Đội ngũ quản lý có đưa ra mục tiêu rõ ràng?

3. Hãy đánh giá khả năng của quản lý trực tiếp trong việc hỗ trợ mục tiêu phát
triển của bạn. Tăng trưởng chuyên nghiệp là một chiến lược duy trì.

4. Bạn có cảm thấy thoải mái trong việc phản hồi lại cho quản lý trực tiếp?

5. Bạn có cảm thấy được quản lý trực tiếp tôn trọng?

6. Bạn có cảm thấy có sự thay đổi tích cực ở công ty kể từ khi công ty bắt đầu
thu thập thông tin khảo sát ý kiến của nhân viên?

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 7. Đội ngủ quản lý có truyền đạt tốt các thông tin về tình hình của công ty cho
nhân viên?

5. REFERENCES
365timviec website, ‘’ Công ty Highlands Coffee’’, retrieved from:
https://timviec365.vn/company-vip/cong-ty-highlands-coffee.html

Haymora website, “ Highlands Coffee’’, retrieved from:

https://haymora.com/thuc-pham-do-uong/highlands-
coffee#:~:text=Ngo%C3%A0i%20m%E1%BB%A9c%20l%C6%B0%C6%A1ng%20h%C3%A0n
g%20th%C3%A1ng,theo%20doanh%20thu%20h%C3%A0ng%20th%C3%A1ng

November 20, 2019, Thu vien phap luat, “Bộ luật lao động 2019”, retrieved from:
https://thuvienphapluat.vn/van-ban/lao-dong-tien-luong/Bo-Luat-lao-dong-2019-333670.aspx

October 16, 2019, Amber eductaion, ‘’Highlands đã triển khai chương trình đào tạo nhân viên
mới như thế nào?” , retrieved from :
https://amber.edu.vn/en/dao-tao-nhan-vien-highlands/

Quang Anh, January 24, Marketing AI ,’’ Chiến lược marketing của Highlands Coffee: Ăn nên
làm ra nhờ “Kiềng Ba Chân” , retrieved from:
https://marketingai.vn/chien-luoc-marketing-cua-highlands-coffee-an-nen-lam-ra-nho-kieng-ba-
chan/#ftoc-heading-3

Wiki Fin blog, ‘’Phân tích chiến lược Marketing của Highlands Coffee chi tiết’’, retrieved from:
https://wikifin.net/chien-luoc-marketing-cua-highlands-coffee-1643198103/

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