NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITYFACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGESDEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ENGLISHTRAN THI KIM ANHRECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE INTERNAL COMMUNICATION ATGEAR INC., VIETNAM LIMITED COMP
INTRODUCTION OF GEAR INC., VIETNAM LIMITED COMPANY — —.diđ
Founding and development of Gear Inc., Vietnam Limited Company
Gear Inc Vietnam Limited Company is a Vietnam company providing software outsourcing, information censorship and game production Gear Inc
Vietnam Limited Company is also known as Gear Inc (used as Gear Inc from now on).
In 2006, Gear Inc was established with a small office in Hanoi, focusing mainly on software outsourcing In 2009, the company cooperated with others to produce the first online game of their own, which was a milestone marking the transformation of Gear Inc., to enter the video game market In 2012, the company expanded into the field of quality testing (QA) The company's QA team will check the quality of games and software according to customer requirements In 2016, the company provided the service of censoring content and images on social networking sites In 2019, Gear Inc opened three offices in Da Nang, marking outstanding development through the relentless efforts of the staff.
For more than a decade, the company has created many products that are well-known in the video game market such as Meteor Blitz which had over 300,000 downloads and was in the Appstore's global top 10 for the next few months; Tribal Rivals now has more than 5 million downloads; Words of Fortune game in association with Sony Pictures Television Gear Inc has also demonstrated its strength when cooperating with big names in the world such as Shopee Vietnam (in the field of censorship of livestream videos), Tiktok Vietnam (in the field of moderating the content and user information), Sony Pictures Television, Udemy,
Business field and vision of Gear Inc., Vietnam Limited Company
Tran Thị Kim Anh — 11190547 — Business English 61A
Gear Inc focuses on producing or cooperating to produce video games on the mobile platform Some games that the company has made: Words of Fortune,
Legend of Runeterra, Meteor Blitz, Poker, Pet Hotel, Tribal Rivals, etc.
Control quality of websites and applications
In addition to developing and producing video games that attract various players, Gear Inc also develops quality assurance for websites and mobile applications.
Some of Gear Inc.’s customers are Wattpad, Kik,
Content moderation on social networks
Gear Inc is a leading company in the field of moderating content and images on social networking sites at the request of customers Content moderation is the regulating of videos, clips, and live streams Image moderation is the regulating of images posted by users and user information such as identification.
Gear Inc.'s customers in this field are Shopee, Facebook, Instagram, Zenly,
Taking care of customers on online learning platforms
Gear Inc is the outsourced unit of the Udemy online learning application to take care of their customers The responsibility of the customer service staff is to answer complaints based on the scenarios that Udemy has prepared.
Gear Inc.'s vision is “Our goal is to grow our team, allowing all staff to develop their skills, their personal development and progress in their careers Our strength comes from people That is the reason why Gear Inc always try treasure those who accompany them We also try to create the most interesting game for the market.”
Tran Thi Kim Anh — 11190547 — Business English 61A
Company Structure 1107
Back Office Udemy & Games & QA Business
Table 1.1 Gear Inc.’s company structure
Founder: is the legal representative of the company cum manager of the Back Office and Head of Human Resources He is the person who has authority over all departments in the company, runs and ensures the business activities of the company In addition, the founder also directly manages the Back Office department, closely monitoring the daily activities of the three departments including Accounting, Administration and Human Resources Moreover, at present, the founder is also the head of the Human Resources Department, directly managing the activities of the Human Resources Department.
Game Production Department: Plan to work on their own or with partners to produce video games on mobile platforms In addition, this department also undertakes the task of creating characters in the company's games using 2D, 3D technology, creating story scripts.
Quality Control Department: their main task is to check the quality of websites, platforms, and applications, constantly finding product errors to ensure product quality meets the standards required by customers.
Tran Thị Kim Anh — 11190547 — Business English 61A
Content Censorship Department: censor all videos and clips including promotional videos on social networking sites that are partners of the company.
Moreover, in 2020, the Content Censorship Department started censoring livetreams on e-commerce platforms.
Image Censorship Department: censors all images on social networking sites that are partners of the company as well as censors the identification documents that users send to the company's customers.
Customer Care Department: takes care of customers and addresses customer complaints about the services of online learning platforms.
Accounting Department: is responsible for monitoring debt management and budget, ensuring reasonable spending for the company, making periodical accounting reports, and final settlement according to state regulations.
Human Resources Department: search, recruit workers, train new employees, and manage employee benefits In addition, the department also conducts internal communication to connect employees in the company and supports other departments when they have problems related to human resources.
Administration Department: manage the reception, ensuring facilities, purchasing equipment, and stationery, take care of employees’ lives.
Sales Department: search for customers, develop and expand the market,propose options to promote products, and advise the Founder on the business plan.
Tran Thi Kim Anh — 11190547 — Business English 61A
Structure of Human Resources DeparfI€TI - <2 3E **vE+skEseeeseereserree 9 1.5 Characteristics of employees at Gear Inc., Vietnam Limited Company
Table 1.2 Gear Inc.’s Human Resources Department structure
Gear Inc.'s Human Resources Department is divided into two main segments: Recruitment and C&B with a scale of 16 employees including a Human Resources Director who is also the Founder of the company and a Deputy of Human Resources Department The Recruitment team consists of 1 Recruiting Team Leader, 3
Recruiting Specialists and 2 interns while the C&B team consists of 1 C&B Team
Leader, | Internal Communications Specialist, 2 Expat Support Specialists, 2 HR
Gear Inc.'s Human Resources Department performs 2 main functions:
- Responsible for all steps involved in the employee’s circle.
- In charge of Health Insurance, Social Insurance and employee benefits.
- Archive and finalize company procedures, company handbook and some company reviews.
- Manage English and Vietnamese classes for employees
- Support foreign employees to come to the company to work
Tran Thị Kim Anh — 11190547 — Business English 61A
- Organize and communicate to employees traditional events of the Company, and holidays (October 20, March 8, Christmas., ).
- Receive recruitment requests from other departments, analyze job requirements and implement the existing recruitment process at the company.
+ Make reports, plan and organize recruitment events.
+ Organize events to communicate and develop the Employer brand.
- Research and cooperate with Headhunt companies to recruit some of the key positions of the company.
1.5 Characteristics of employees at Gear Inc., Vietnam Limited Company
Members of the CEO team of Gear Inc all have bachelor's degrees or higher, and all have experience in managing large companies and corporations around the globe, for instance, the US, the Netherlands, Singapore,
The company's management team all meet the requirements of having a university degree or graduating from major universities in the world as well as in Vietnam In addition, each period, the company will provide managers with training courses to improve their qualifications.
Besides Vietnamese employees, Gear Inc also recruits a number of foreign employees to work at the company, so the company's working environment can be considered as an international working environment Working in an environment with many colleagues coming from many parts of the world will enable the company's employees to develop their English skills and be trained with international standards.
Although the company's leaders and managers have university degrees, it does not mean that Gear Inc only respects the degree What the company chooses to care about first is experience If the candidate has a lot of experience in the field the company is doing, the company is completely willing to hire he/she.
Tran Thi Kim Anh — 11190547 — Business English 61A
Tran Thi Kim Anh — 11190547 — Business English 61A
Years of | Less than | 120 130 160 179 experience year
(Source: Human Resources Department of Gear Inc.)
Table 1.3 Gear Inc employee characteristics
Current internal communication at Gear Inc., Vietnam Limited Company
At Gear Inc., oral communication consists of daily conversations and meetings Based on each team’s needs and characteristics, they will have daily, weekly or bi-weekly meetings, and the duration also varies The office style at Gear Inc is an open area, where every member of a team sits together By that design, staff will not only have their personal space but also can communicate easily with other people in their team.
Tran Thi Kim Anh — 11190547 — Business English 61A
The main communication channel of Gear Inc is Slack and Skype groups.
All important notice is posted to these channels which include every staff in the company to ensure everyone has received the information.
Besides, Gear Inc also has an email (help @ gearinc.com) to receive any request, order, or feedback from the employees There are an estimated total of 3 emails sent through this channel every day, ranging from requests on personal working equipment to inquiries about employee compensation and benefits Human
Resources and the General Administrative department are responsible for replying to those emails Based on the question or request in each email, people in charge will be assigned to answer properly.
The company always determines the goal of developing a strong staff, allowing every member to develop skills, career, and personal development Gear
Inc.'s leadership team always keeps in mind that the strength of the company always comes from the staff and the company always tries to support all employees working at Gear Inc Therefore, internal communication activities are always carried out by
With the motto “Where Work is Play”, Gear Inc strives to provide a comfortable and fun work environment where everyone is empowered The company always wants its employees to have a balanced life between work and personal life, so it has built a culture of "2- NOs" which 1s no uniform and no fingerprints At Gear Inc, employees are free to choose their work clothes as long as they are suitable and appropriate The company also does not require employees to check fingerprints because the company values creativity and comfort Besides flexible working hours, there are always snacks and free drinks in the office as well as three cats and a dog These animals provide a sociable and friendly working environment for Gear Inc.
The Human Resources Department is responsible for internal communication including time, location, organizational ideas, budgeting, submission to the Head ofHuman Resources and Administration, making preparation and then noticing to all
Tran Thi Kim Anh — 11190547 — Business English 61A employees through company groups Every year, there will be two big events for all employees in the company, namely Summer Event and Year-end Party.
Employees will receive paid leave as well as financial support from the company to participate At events, all employees are divided into teams, participate in cohesive team games, and also have moments of entertainment and relaxation after tiring
In addition, in order to connect the members of the company more, the company always organizes some activities such as Puppy Day, Football
Tournaments, company trips, and Year-End parties There is a gym and game room that provide space for exercise and recreation Yoga classes are held 3 times a week, and game nights are held weekly on Fridays attracting a lot of employees to participate.
Trần Thị Kim Anh — 11190547 — Business English 61A
Tran Thi Kim Anh — 11190547 — Business English 61A
10 Competition between different departments Every two months lãi Teambuilding Every three months
12 Culture training Every two months
The relationship between individuals, colleagues or between leaders and employees is based on the following principles:
- Communicate problems with colleagues or team leader.
- Try to build and strengthen relationships with colleagues at work as well as in daily life.
- Share thoughts and views on issues arising at work, as well as in social life.
The members want to understand each other not only in work but also in daily life.
Not only sharing the good things within the company, the members as well as the leadership also share those cultural values with the disabilities through social activities The company always organizes charity events and notably in 2019 when employees donated unused items and then held a small fair to sell those items The money earned are then donated to a charity The company also organized a volunteer event at Vietnam Cancer Hospital to give presents and give free stationery to poor children suffering from incurable diseases At the end of 2019, the CEO of Gear Inc. supported the Comcothit Charity Fund by purchasing calendars for all office workers and donating old, unused calendars to the hospital.
These events mark the company's first steps in contributing to society The company always appreciates the support and enthusiasm of its employees and wishes to organize similar activities every year.
According to a survey conducted by the Human Resources Department in
2021 assessing the company's environment and culture, 90% of respondents said that the company's working environment is very professional, and they have nothing to complain about Facilities are also provided by the company fully, no one has to use personal devices when working at the company The relationship between colleagues is also quite good, not everyone often hangs out with colleagues after work, but there is no serious friction between everyone The company also tries to organize activities such as team building, and year-end parties so that everyone can bond closer together Regarding the decision of management, everyone agrees with most of the decisions of the management, however, there are also 4-5 people who think that sometimes the management is too strict, and values customers more than
Tran Thi Kim Anh — 11190547 — Business English 61A employees Although they understand the management, that strictness puts pressure on the company's employees.
10% of interviewees have some mixed opinions such as they have a lot of problems with and the company's working environment, for example, company employees play in groups, there is a manager's bias towards the company, with friendly staff There are some injustices in the division of work, some people have to work too many night shifts, and others only need to work during office hours, but the company's requirement is that everyone must work at least one night shift a week This 10% comes from the content moderation department, which explains this problem, the content moderation department is quite special, the staff is quite young, only 20-21 years old, and the number of employees is large Therefore, management has not been closely followed, leading to injustice among employees, now, the board of directors has met and made stricter regulations to bring the room back to the right order.
With the characteristics of the field of Content Censorship and Game Development, the fields with continuous development and innovation research, Gear Inc set principles that promote development and innovation in working There is no strict rule for employees’ dress code or start working time, as long as it is appropriate.
As the motto “Where work is play”, Gear Inc creates a comfortable environment where all opinions and ideas are welcomed and considered thoroughly. Everyone can raise their voice to improve the company's working environment.
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SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE INTERNAL COMMUNICATION AT (7.9.0) :::(:::ễệễ:46ệÚ(ddđ4ii43
Communication between staff and managers (mezzo leve]) .- ô-<-ô++ô++ 31 4.2 Communication between staff and the company (macro leve]) - ôô ôô+ 32
The communication gap happens due to inadequate or ineffective communication between two sides Therefore, the manager of each team needs to allocate their time more efficiently to spare time for handling problems raised by their team members Their responsibility includes managing the team, so more effort should be put into this task.
In addition, they should communicate directly since this is the most effective way evaluated by staff Through face-to-face communication, the manager probably knows what issue is happening with their members, consequently providing them with timely responses Direct communication not only saves time but also helps people avoid misunderstandings that can cause when communicating on online platforms A text can deliver a lot of content but it may fail to deliver emotions, silence or even authenticity, which are great components of a natural conversation.
When all these components are left out, misunderstandings are bout to happen.
Besides, the company should open a training course to improve communication skills of both managers and staff To communicate effectively, everyone should be equipped with business manners, professional but still friendly Although the main language used in official communication channels is English, staff should consider carefully whether to choose English or Vietnamese when communicating to remove the language barriers Human Resources departments should implement language
Tran Thị Kim Anh — 11190547 — Business English 61A training as well as communication skill training during employee's working process in order to have effective conversations.
4.2 Communication between staff and the company (macro level)
Firstly, due to different working hours of some teams, requests or issues from employees are not handled properly or timely Therefore, the management board should consider assigning staff who will work at the same hour as the team they involve so that they could provide timely and effective support Depending on the size of each team, the number of staff for thi position will vary.
Secondly, announcements or responses from the company should be customized based on the characteristics of each team or individual Different age groups prefer different ways to communicate, so an announcement may not be suitable for everyone at the company People responsible for preparing the announcement should customize the language for the target audiences, hence the information could be well delivered Besides, when approached by staff for personal issues, people in charge needs to alter their language to match with the one they are talking to, both in online groups, emails or face-to-face conversations.
Besides, to decrease missed notification, internal communication team should distribute messages or announcement at different time that is the most suitable for employees For example, team Express are not allowed to use their mobile phones when working, so instead of sending important announcement in their working hours, internal communicators should schedule to send in break time This is to make sure all staff are well informed about changes or updates in the company.
Lastly, the Human Resources department could make a weekly newsletter that updates all current events in the company Thus, staff will be updated about what is happening on a weekly basis To attract employees’ attention, newsletters should have eye-catching visual, brief but impressive content and stunning titles.
Tran Thị Kim Anh — 11190547 — Business English 61A
In summary, internal communication plays an essential role in an organization It not only fosters mutual understanding between different stakeholders in a company but also generates positive energy for an exciting and innovative working environment As a bridge between the company's leaders and employees, internal communication attributes to reach business goals Hence, its role is increasingly important in this fast-changing world.
Internal communication at Gear Inc has brought about many impacts on each individual as well as the company as a whole The internal communication team and management board have built up a considerable internal communication system to serve every stakeholder in the company This system creates a good environment for smooth communication between all employees.
However, there still exists some weaknesses in communication between staff and managers and staff and the company that can be improved As proposed in the last part, Gear Inc can implement different plans such as language and communication skill training courses, customize communication styles for each target audience, assign internal communicators for each team, or distribute announcements and messages at a suitable time to enhance current internal communication By doing so, the company could have more effective communication and achieve more success in the future.
This thesis has achieved some above-mentioned results However, due to limited resources, it inevitably contains some mistakes In this thesis, the author has just surveyed a relatively small number of employees compared to the company size, hence the results may not valid enough.
Besides, due to the large number of factors involved in the communication process, the author could not include and consider all components in a more detailed way.
Tran Thị Kim Anh — 11190547 — Business English 61A
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4 Internal documents of Human Resources Department of Gear Inc., 2019
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6 Littlejohn, S W., & Foss, K A (2010) Theories of human communication.
7 McLean, S (2002) The basics of speech communication Pearson College
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10 Stevanovié, M I., & Gmitrovié, A M (2016) Importance and role of internal communication in organizations Applied Mechanics and Materials, 806, 302-307.
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Tran Thị Kim Anh — 11190547 — Business English 61A
1 How often do you use these channels to communicate with your colleagues?
(Rate from the most to the least) e@ Online group (Slack, Skype) e Email e Face-to-face
2 How often do you use these channels to communicate with your manager? (Rate from the most to the least) e@ Online group (Slack, Skype) e Email e Face-to-face
3 How often do you use these channels to communicate with the company? (Rate from the most to the least) e@ Online group (Slack, Skype) ® Email e Face-to-face
4 What kind of difficulties do you often meet when communicating with your colleagues? e Missed announcement
I don’t have any difficulties Other (please state clearly)
5 What kind of difficulties do you often meet when communicating with your manager? e Missed announcement e Misunderstanding e Timely response
Tran Thị Kim Anh — 11190547 — Business English 61A e I don’t have any difficulties e Other (please state clearly)
6 What kind of difficulties do you often meet when communicating with the company? e Missed announcement e Misunderstanding e Timely response e I don’t have any difficulties e Other (please state clearly)
6 How often do you meet those difficulties? e Never
7 Rate the effectiveness of each channel below from the most effective to the least effective in communication with your colleagues e@ Online group (Slack, Skype) ® Email e Face-to-face
8 Rate the effectiveness of each channel below from the most effective to the least effective in communication with your manager e@ Online group (Slack, Skype) e Email e Face-to-face
9 Rate the effectiveness of each channel below from the most effective to the least effective in communication with the company e Online group (Slack, Skype)