📌 Which HR & L&D Management Models Are Vietnamese Companies Actually Following?

Insights from a Mini-Survey of 30+ HR Professionals and L&D Leaders

Recently, the RespectVN & Weatwork.co team posed a seemingly simple question to over 30 HR professionals and L&D leaders in Vietnam:

“Which HR/L&D management model does your company currently follow?”

At first glance, this appears to be a straightforward inquiry. But as we analyzed the responses, a more nuanced reality emerged—Vietnamese organizations are rarely following a single model. Instead, they’re experimenting with a hybrid mix of HR and L&D frameworks, reflecting both adaptability and, at times, ambiguity.

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🧭 The Landscape: Classic to Contemporary HR & L&D Models

Among the responses, the following frameworks stood out:

• Harvard HRM Model - Emphasizes stakeholders, situational factors, HRM policy choices, and long-term consequences.

• Ulrich’s HR Business Partner Model – still dominant, especially among larger enterprises.

• Balanced Scorecard (BSC) – especially in performance management.

• 70:20:10 Learning Model – shaping many L&D strategies, though not always applied rigorously.

• LEAN Learning & Capability Frameworks – emerging among manufacturing-driven firms.

• Behavioral Competency Models – used to anchor both hiring and leadership development.

The word cloud built from responses shows Harvard HRM, Ulrich’s HR Business Partner, 70:20:10 Learning Model and BSC as dominant keywords, indicating wide usage—but not necessarily alignment or clarity in implementation.

Survey Results

⚖️ Blending Models: Strategic Integration or Unclear Direction?

The hybrid approach can indicate organizational maturity and adaptability. Many HR and L&D teams are customizing models to fit their business context, workforce profile, and industry dynamics. That’s a good thing.

But without conscious integration, this blending may result in:

• Conflicting metrics and terminologies across departments.

• Fragmented employee experience in learning, performance, and development.

• Unclear accountability between line managers, HRBPs, and L&D units.

• Redundant or siloed initiatives under the guise of different models.

One L&D leader commented:

“We’re using OKRs for goal setting, BSC for strategy execution, and 70:20:10 for learning. But our team struggles to connect them all into a coherent system.”

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🔎 What’s Missing: Shared Language, Shared Understanding

Models are only as powerful as the shared understanding behind them. A major insight from the survey is that many employees, even HR staff themselves, are unclear about:

• Which models their company actually follows.

• Why those models were chosen.

• How those models connect across hiring, training, development, and performance.

This disconnect can weaken the strategic role of HR and diminish the impact of L&D.

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🧠 From Model-Centric to People-Centric Execution

Ultimately, HR and L&D management models should empower people—not just structure programs.

To move from fragmentation to focus, HR teams may need to:

✅ Map all currently used models and identify overlaps or contradictions.

✅ Clarify model purposes and how they interrelate (e.g., how OKRs and 70:20:10 can complement each other).

✅ Educate internal stakeholders—not just top leadership, but also frontline managers—on model logic and application.

✅ Co-design contextualized models that reflect Vietnam’s unique workforce dynamics and cultural expectations.

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📣 A Call to Reflect and Co-Create

This survey wasn’t meant to be conclusive. It’s a snapshot, and more importantly, an invitation.

As Vietnam modernizes its workforce and builds globally competitive organizations, it’s time to ask deeper questions:

• Are we building people systems that truly support strategy?

• Are our frameworks working together—or working against each other?

• Are we designing models for certification—or for transformation?

Let’s co-explore these questions—across companies, sectors, and HR communities.

Because in the end, the best model is one that’s understood by all, applied with intention, and lived daily in the way people grow, perform, and lead.

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Weatwork.co is Vietnam's pioneering platform for aligning goals and teams.

Our products are uniquely tailored to fit Vietnamese and Asian work cultures, transforming individual and team ideas into impactful, organization-wide actions through lean thinking, design thinking, infographics, animated videos, and comics.

Our mission extends to redefining organizational and people development models in Vietnam and globally, aiming to prepare purpose-driven leaders and foster people-centric organizations in an ever-evolving business landscape.

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