The National Assembly has just voted to pass a Resolution on the socio-economic development plan for 2026. One of the notable tasks in the National Assembly's resolution is to assign the Government to conduct the assessment of civil servants according to the criteria for performance results of civil servants' duties (KPI);
Tighten discipline and administrative discipline; resolutely and effectively overcome the situation of avoiding, pushing, and fearing responsibility among a number of civil servants.
The Government is assigned to complete regulations on the organization of the administrative apparatus, remove inadequacies and overlaps in the operation of the new apparatus, especially at the grassroots level. The key task is to handle problems related to resources, human resources, facilities, planning, digital transformation and data; decentralization, maximum delegation of authority associated with resource allocation and accountability.
Talking to Lao Dong, Mr. Nguyen Tien Dinh - former Deputy Minister of Home Affairs - said that for a long time, the assessment of cadres, civil servants and public employees has still been heavily formal.
"Every year, there is a year-end assessment, everyone completes their tasks well, even excellently. Meanwhile, the reality of work does not accurately reflect that.
The main cause is the fear of pockets, avoiding, and being afraid of collisions. Leaders are hesitant to evaluate subordinates because they are worried about affecting working relationships or being phancted" - Mr. Nguyen Tien Dinh said.
From a practical perspective, Mr. Nguyen Tien Dinh said that it is necessary to soon apply KPI to the administrative apparatus.
If businesses use KPI to evaluate the performance of employees, public authorities can do the same. If each cadre has clear targets and transparent supervision, there will be no longer a situation of dealing with or being irresponsible.
National Assembly delegate Nguyen Huu Thong (Lam Dong delegation) said that when applied to the public sector, KPI will help shift from sentimental and formal assessment to specific results-based assessment or to qualitative assessment. Thereby creating motivation to strive and compete healthily among the staff and civil servants.
However, KPI in the public sector cannot be moved from the private sector but needs to be adjusted to suit the specific nature of public service activities, if not done properly, it will be counterproductive.
Because the private sector has the goal of profit and revenue, while the public sector focuses on public value and serving people and businesses.
According to the delegate, a good set of KPI in the public sector needs to comply with three principles: suitable for job positions, associated with public policy goals and the ability to measure transparently.
In particular, in the process of researching and building KPI, it is necessary to conduct field surveys, analyze specific job positions and have the participation of people and organizations using public services to ensure objectivity.
Paying salaries based on work efficiency, which here is through KPI, will create relatively fairness, encourage, promote the working spirit and responsibility of cadres, civil servants and warn bad workers.
This will also help reduce the " venerable communist" mentality in the public sector, where salaries are currently paid almost the same regardless of the level of contribution.
