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Why Middle Managers Account for Up to 70% of Employee Retention
In many discussions with senior leadership teams, when employee turnover becomes a topic of concern, the most common reflex is to review salaries, revisit policies, or adjust benefits. However, when we analyze cases in which employees leave after six months to one or two years, one factor consistently emerges as the most decisive: the direct manager.
Performance Management in the Digital Era
For many years, KPIs have been a familiar concept in corporate management. Almost every organization has KPIs, every department is assigned targets, and every individual is given numerical goals. However, as organizations enter the digital era—where data, technology, and AI fundamentally reshape operations—an increasing number of companies face a paradox: KPIs are abundant, yet actual performance improvement remains limited.
2025: Several SMEs Expose Five “Classic Operational Failures”
2025 has been a distinctive year. Many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have managed to sustain operations and, in some cases, achieve modest growth. However, a common sentiment among leaders is one of fatigue, tension, and a lack of operational ease. What is particularly noteworthy is that this level of exhaustion is not proportional to the effectiveness achieved.
Lean – Kaizen – Agile: “The Three Keys” to Help Small and Medium Enterprises Thrive Sustainably in the VUCA Era
Vietnam’s economy is entering a challenging phase: markets are volatile, input costs are rising, consumer behavior is shifting, skilled labor is scarce, and customers are becoming increasingly demanding.
Building and Standardizing SOPs – Transforming from Personal Experience to Standardized Procedures
Throughout our journey accompanying many service enterprises in Vietnam, we at Lead-UP Academy have repeatedly encountered familiar situations: the business is growing, customers are increasing, yet internal operations begin to get... “messy.” Senior employees work based on habit. New employees work based on personal interpretation. And leaders become weary because “everything depends on people” when there is still no clear operational system with standardized procedures and practices.
The Portrait of a Manager in the AI & VUCA Era
As a department head, deputy manager, or team leader, you are the “bridge” between senior leadership and frontline employees. The success or failure of your department largely depends on how you organize, lead, and adapt. And today’s context is fundamentally different from the past: we are living in the AI & VUCA era – where everything is volatile (Volatility), uncertain (Uncertainty), increasingly complex (Complexity), and often ambiguous (Ambiguity). So, what does the “portrait” of a mid-level manager look like in order not just to survive, but to truly thrive in this environment?
