Making cadre assessment a key stage in personnel work

To meet the requirements of public governance reform and build a professional, integrity-based, effective, and efficient public administration, the policy of quarterly evaluation and classification of cadres in leadership positions is being implemented. The move aims to strengthen discipline and administrative order while improving the quality of public service delivery.

This represents not only a change in management methods but also a shift in the approach to cadre assessment, from periodic year-end reviews to frequent and continuous evaluations based on outputs and work performance.

 Assessing cadres by results

Thai Bao, Deputy Secretary of the Dong Nai City Party Committee and Head of the City Party Committee's Organization Commission, said that, to concretize the regulations and conclusions of the Politburo on the review, assessment, and grading of the quality of collectives and individuals within the political system, as well as the guidance of the Party Central Committee’s Organization Commission on the periodic quarterly assessment of leaders and managers at all levels within the political system, the Standing Committee of the Dong Nai Provincial (now Municipal) Party Committee issued Regulation No. 84-QD/TU dated November 24, 2025, on the review, assessment, and grading of the quality of collectives and individuals within the political system in the city. More recently, it issued Guidance No. 07-HD/TU dated June 19, 2026, on several contents concerning the periodic quarterly assessment of leaders and managers at all levels within the political system in the city (referred to as Guidance No. 07).

A leader of Dau Giay Ward (left) meets with residents under the “Morning Coffee – Listening to and Exchanging Views with the People” model.

The quarterly assessment of cadres aims to continue reforming and improving the quality of cadre assessment in a frequent, continuous, substantive, and comprehensive manner, linking it to the fulfillment of assigned responsibilities and duties, outputs, practical effectiveness, and individual accountability, particularly the accountability of heads of organizations. Through this process, cadre assessment is gradually being transformed from a difficult and weak area into a critical priority in personnel work.

The results of quarterly assessments are tracked, updated, and accumulated as an important basis for year-end quality assessment and grading and for supporting personnel work when necessary.

According to Guidance No. 07, the quarterly assessment and grading of leaders and managers at all levels within the political system in the city cover a set of general criteria and the results of assigned task performance.

Specifically, the assessment includes the results of implementing projects, tasks, and key duties registered under Resolution No. 05-NQ/TU dated May 1, 2026, of the Dong Nai City Party Committee’s Executive Committee on launching the special 500-day-and-night emulation campaign under the theme "Solidarity – Discipline – Efficiency – Breakthrough, building a civilized and modern Dong Nai," with the goal of maintaining and improving implementation quality through 2030.

At the same time, the assessment covers the results of performing individual duties and exercising powers in accordance with working regulations and the assignment of tasks by agencies, units, and competent authorities. In this section, Guidance No. 07 sets out six pillars for each leader and manager to refer to when assessing specific positions. These include primary tasks related to socio-economic development; law enforcement; promoting decentralization and delegation of power linked to inspection and supervision; scientific and technological development; building the clean and strong Party and political system; cultural and human development; and ensuring national defense and security.

Failure to complete tasks for two consecutive quarters may lead to reassignment

According to Guidance No. 07, the process of assessing and grading the quality of leaders and managers consists of five steps and applies a scoring method based on key performance indicators (KPIs). The authority that directly manages the cadre and assigns tasks is responsible for providing comments and assessments and proposing the grading level.

In cases where an individual is graded as failing to complete tasks for two or more consecutive quarters in a year, the competent authority will consider and decide on reassignment or placement in other duties in accordance with cadre management decentralization.

The City Party Committee's Standing Committee reported that, in the first quarter of 2026, six cadres under the management of the Politburo and the Secretariat were working in the locality. Of them, two completed their tasks excellently and four completed their tasks well.

There were 874 cadres under the management of the City Party Committee's Standing Committee. Of these, 190 completed their tasks excellently, 682 completed their tasks well, and two completed their tasks.

In the second quarter of 2026, six cadres under the management of the Politburo and the Secretariat were working in the locality. Of them, one completed their tasks excellently and five completed their tasks well.

There were 522 cadres under the management of the City Party Committee's Standing Committee, of whom 501 were assessed and graded. The results showed that 45 completed their tasks excellently, 433 completed their tasks well, and 23 completed their tasks.

The quarterly assessment of cadres has directly affected Dong Nai's transformation since its apparatus began operating under the two-tier local government model. In 2025, for the first time, Dong Nai's state budget revenue exceeded the 100 trillion VND mark. On April 30, 2026, Dong Nai officially became a city. Dong Nai is currently striving to achieve GRDP growth of 11% in 2026 and state budget revenue of 150 trillion VND or more.

At the conference held in September 2026 to approve the draft report on the results of the inspection and supervision conducted by Inspection and Supervision Delegation No. 231 of the Politburo and Secretariat regarding the leadership, direction, and implementation of personnel work by the Dong Nai City Party Committee's Standing Committee, Le Minh Tri, Politburo Member, Secretary of the Party Central Committee, and Chairman of the Party Central Committee's Commission for Internal Affairs, remarked that cadre assessment work in Dong Nai had seen many reforms in awareness and methods, had become systematic, and had effectively served personnel placement and utilization. He suggested that, to correctly assess cadres, it is necessary to focus on developing assessment criteria that are realistic and appropriate to the cadres' specific working positions, sectors, fields, and localities.

Dr. Nguyen Huu Hoang, a lecturer at the Academy of Politics Region II, argued that, when assessing cadres, attention should be paid not only to how many tasks a cadre has completed but also to what they have resolved, how difficult those tasks were, and what outputs and impacts they created. For cadres included in personnel planning, it is necessary to focus on difficult, complex, interdisciplinary, or backlog tasks, or those requiring coordination and organizational skills. These results are more valuable for identifying and assessing capabilities when considering assignments to higher positions.

By Phuong Hang – Translated by Minh Hong