A reporter from Nhan Dan Newspaper interviewed him about this issue.
Reporter: Professor, Dr. Le Quan, what prompted you and your research team to update the framework for leadership and management competencies in the public administration sector at this particular time?
Professor, Doctor Le Quan : After working trips to localities, especially during and after storms and floods, I personally realize that it is very necessary to pay attention to personnel work after the reorganization of administrative units, especially civil servants at the commune level.
Local governance in the coming period will face many new challenges: new geographical spaces; changing development spaces with multiple growth poles and new development corridors; new institutions with a two-tiered government system; diverse local cultures; deep international integration with the goal of rapid and sustainable growth based on science, technology, and innovation; responding to climate change, natural disasters, and catastrophes; low labor productivity, etc.
The "Framework for Leadership and Management Competencies in the Public Sector" was issued by the VNU research group in 2013. Based on this framework, we have further developed three competency groups: Competency in integrating into new development spaces; competency in integrating into changing institutions; and competency in cultural and international integration.
Reporter: In your opinion, what are the major opportunities and challenges facing local governance today?
Professor, Dr. Le Quan: Expanding development space through the merger of provinces and cities, applying science and technology, promoting innovation and international integration helps localities have more room for development, access new resources, apply new technologies and modern data-driven management models.
But this also comes with very clear challenges: a broader and more diverse governance space, and more complex intertwined interests.
Besides limited land and natural resources, Vietnam has a significant advantage in human resources with its large population and young workforce. However, our human resources are currently imbalanced.
The number of young people without education or stable employment is increasing at an alarming rate. The number of students who finish grade 9 but do not continue on to vocational training or high school, especially students in disadvantaged areas and ethnic minorities, is on the rise.
The quality of higher education and vocational education has not kept pace with international standards. There is an uneven distribution of attention between education in culture, history, and ethics; and knowledge and technology.
Reporter: So, in your opinion, what new competencies do local leaders and managers need to possess in the new era?
Professor, Dr. Le Quan: We don't approach competency in a general sense, but rather concretize it into a competency framework that can be applied in practical management at the departmental and commune levels. The competency framework consists of 6 groups with 42 core competencies.
The new aspect here is that, in addition to fundamental competencies such as public service ethics and professional expertise, we are updating and emphasizing competencies that meet the demands of the new context.
Firstly, there is the group of competencies related to local understanding within an open development space. Officials not only need to understand their administrative area, but also the entire region, value chains, culture, and development dynamics. For example, after a provincial merger, a locality will have multiple growth poles linked to many cities, such as Can Tho; or encompassing both highland and coastal areas, such as Gia Lai.
Secondly, there is the group of strategic thinking and coordination skills, which helps officials work effectively in a multipolar, multi-variable, and rapidly changing environment that is difficult to predict. One skill that needs to be emphasized is disaster response. Lessons learned from recent floods show that there still seems to be some confusion in coordination efforts.
Thirdly, there is the group of skills in team management, leveraging collective strength, reducing dependence on individuals, and creating a foundation for sustainable personnel planning, rotation, and development.
Fourthly, there is the group of self-management skills, which are especially important in high-pressure environments with great responsibility.
This capacity helps officials maintain a positive mental state, an open mind, a systems thinking mindset, and the ability to learn continuously. We deeply empathize with the pressures and changes that local leaders and managers are currently facing and will continue to face.
Reporter: You've repeatedly emphasized the shift from subjective evaluations to evaluations based on competence and results. What does this mean in practice?
Professor, Dr. Le Quan: This is very important, but it is also not easy to implement. When the goals of high growth, sustainable development, and ensuring social equity are set, the responsibility of officials cannot be assessed solely through qualitative evaluations.
In the new era, KPIs, outputs, and data-driven decisions need to become the primary measures of employee performance and effectiveness.
This requires officials to be more "technocratic," based on evidence, and evaluated based on concrete results. The competency framework helps to make the evaluation of officials more transparent and substantive.
In principle, officials are appointed when they meet two conditions: they have performed their current job well with clear results; and they meet the requirements of the new job.
Reporter: One topic of interest to readers is disaster response capability. Why do you particularly emphasize this capability?
Professor, Dr. Le Quan: Because climate change and non-traditional security challenges are becoming increasingly prevalent.
Natural disasters, epidemics, contaminated food, air pollution, environmental crises, etc., directly impact people's lives, and the response capacity of local authorities directly affects the safety and security of the community. When managing a large area, officials need systems thinking, interdisciplinary knowledge, and the ability to make quick decisions under uncertain conditions.
This is no longer an additional competency but a core competency of modern public administration.
Reporter: In your opinion, what should local authorities and the leaders and managers themselves do to develop these new capabilities?
Professor, Dr. Le Quan: I believe there are several main approaches. Firstly, localities need to continue promoting the use of competency frameworks as a governance tool, from assessment, planning, training to the utilization of personnel.
Secondly, training institutions need to design programs that are aligned with the current capabilities of officials and the specific situations of the locality, avoiding purely theoretical training.
Third, competence needs to be developed through training, experience, and continuous learning.
At the same time, personnel policies should encourage officials to dare to innovate, dare to act, and dare to take responsibility, allowing them to learn from mistakes and correct them when better solutions are available.
Fourth, there needs to be a reward policy that meets the new requirements. Pressure to improve; motivation to spread knowledge and innovate.
Reporter: Thank you very much, sir!
Source: https://nhandan.vn/quan-tri-dia-phuong-trong-ky-nguyen-moi-post938179.html
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