Digital marketing, business intelligence, e-commerce and big data are top key aspects that Vietnamese companies plan to invest in in the process of digital transformation in the next three years, according to the latest report by Adecco Vietnam.

Source: Adecco Vietnam. Screenshot: NM

The report found the reasons why the surveyed companies facilitate these digital transformations are to meet customer needs and expectations, reduce costs in the long term, and remain competitive in the market. 

The study assessed the responses from 300 employers (hiring decision-makers - managerial levels and above) and 300 employees across many industries.  

A gap between large and SMEs

In terms of business readiness, 31% of small and 29% of medium enterprises have a clear view of their employees’ digital capabilities compared to 22% of large enterprises. Leaders in small-medium enterprises (SMEs) (31% and 40%, respectively) are also more committed to driving digital skills compared to 24% from large companies. 

Especially, a third of medium-size companies periodically evaluate key digital skills, while a relatively lower number of large counterparts (24%) participate in these assessments. 

However, digital infrastructure is leaping ahead in some large enterprises and lagging in the smaller ones. About 30% of large-size companies (30%) is partnering with top digital technology firms, followed by 35% who are recently improving employees’ performance by new digital technologies. These numbers in small enterprises, accordingly, are 22% and 27%. 

Source: Adecco Vietnam. Screenshot: NM

Regarding the implementation of the digital transformation process, 29% of employees agreed that large companies have better-defined metrics to measure the impact of digital applications than smaller ones. Manager level in large enterprises also tend to be more excellent at being role models in facilitating the digital transformation (38%).

In contrast, small companies have a clearer roadmap to invest and apply new digital technologies (25%) and more successfully in initiating new technology to improve business (41%). They also provide more training to help employees enhance digital skills (43%).

“SMEs in Vietnam need to take a leap in digital transformation to stay competitive, and this initiative requires proactive participation throughout the company,” Mr. Andree Mangels, general director of Adecco Vietnam and Malaysia, said. “Leadership development, coaching and up-skilling is one way to address this challenge. Another is to encourage people to become more future-ready through lifelong learning.”

Future of digital transformation in Vietnam 

Source: Adecco Vietnam. Screenshot: NM

To drive the process of digital transformation successfully, a third of businesses (29%) think the most effective tactic will be educating and training their employees. Other tactics are defining digital strategy/roadmap with well-defined priorities (27%) and culture change led from the top (22%). 

The remained challenges in business digital transformation underscored how they can keep up with the pace of transition. The biggest barriers from the large enterprises are insufficient company budget (56%) and IT security and data protection (47%). Meanwhile, more than half of medium enterprises (54%) struggle in upskilling and reskilling their employees.