Doosan taps into worker pride

As Doosan Vina’s new CEO, can you reveal what the company will focus on in its upcoming development phase?

Two of my main priorities are: Localisation through the cultivation of talent as well as the transfer of technology, and “Supporting Healthy Communities”.

How has Doosan Vina nurtured the strength of the local workforce?

We have nearly 2,500 Vietnamese employees under Vietnamese management. Also, we’ve been training, recruiting, and equipping Vietnamese workers since commencing operations in 2009. Today we have over 642 Vietnamese engineers, managers, supervisors, and technicians that have all been developed organically.

This seems like a complex objective, can you explain a bit further?

We’ve always believed that our Vietnamese employees are our future; they will take Doosan Vina to the next level of development.

Every year we get closer to realising our engineer development and technology transfer strategies. To begin our operations we invested $300 million in land acquisition, building of the complex, and equipping it with the most technically advanced machinery available.

Localisation involves more than training and promotions. Another factor is the fact that we’ve brought the most advanced technology available in the world of heavy industry to Vietnam, several of our machines cost well over a million dollars. Our next initiative is to offer a big brother type programme to Vietnamese companies that can benefit from being associated with us.

We selected these strategies because they align with Vietnam’s plans and our goals for the development of the company and our staff, and as Vietnam develops there will be an industrial base that has grown in tandem with the country to support the nation’s future.

You said earlier that you want to “Support Healthy Communities”. How and why will you achieve this?

The “why” is because we want to be a part of the community, and we want that community to be sustainable and healthy. First and foremost is the provision of Healthcare. We have provided healthcare to over 15,000 people who live near our company; facilitated exchanges between Vietnamese and Korean doctors; distributed free medicine; provided surgical missions to Vietnam and flown many children to Korea for treatment.

The second prong of this strategy is Education. We have awarded over $250,000 in scholarships, rebuilt, renovated, and equipped schools with much-needed equipment. The third prong is Housing. Many elderly people living near the company have urgent housing needs and we’ve built, rebuilt, and renovated many homes to help remedy this situation. In a little over six years we’ve invested $5.5 million in our community through corporate social responsibility (CSR).

What do you envision for the company beyond localisation and CSR?

Our other priorities are: Safety, Quality, and Change driven by innovation, creativity and co-operation. To achieve these goals we must be able to deliver on key drivers that are critical to all our stakeholders.

A primary objective is ensuring a safe and healthy working environment.

Doosan Vina adheres to stringent EHS policies that are embedded in our business and a part of Doosan Vina’s DNA. Doosan Vina supplied the boiler for the Mong Duong 2 power plant, and we have been recognised for having zero workplace accidents since beginning operations in Vietnam.

Finally, change is a key part of our culture, and something we pursue constantly because for a company to be successful they must evolve with the market and change with the times.

What do you feel has been Doosan’s most significant achievement here in Vietnam?

Something that we’re really proud of is the development of our Vietnamese employees; learning to be a skilled welder, engineer, or technician in heavy industry is not an easy journey. The products are custom-made so it’s not assembly line work. Today, Doosan Vina’s employees are some of the world’s finest craftsmen, and the products made by our Vietnamese staff are now being used in 27 countries around the world.

One of our slogans is “Made in Vietnam, My Country, My Products, My Pride”. Those few words sum up quite nicely why our Vietnamese employees have grown into such a dynamic force in heavy industry; they believe in their country, their workmanship, and they want the world to know Vietnam has arrived and is not just meeting the challenges of the global market, it is raising the standards for others to meet!

*Yeonin Jung was appointed Doosan Heavy Industries Vietnam’s third chief executive officer and general director on October 2, 2015 after the retirement of his predecessor.