Strategic-level personnel planning is a matter of paramount importance that is directly linked to the destiny of the Party, the future of the nation, and public trust, Party General Secretary and State President To Lam said on June 23.
"Effective planning today means preparing the Party’s leadership capacity for tomorrow, ensuring strong succession, continuous renewal, and the sustainable development of the revolutionary cause," he said while addressing a meeting with officials included in the personnel planning scheme under the management of the Politburo.
The Party has consistently regarded the development of a contingent of officials, especially those at the strategic level, with sufficient qualities, competence and prestige as a decisive task, he stressed.
Strategic-level officials, he said, must be capable of participating in policymaking, organising the implementation of major guidelines, handling critical issues, building consensus, maintaining discipline, and safeguarding the interests of the Party, the nation and the people, particularly during difficult times.
The top leader emphasised that strategic-level personnel planning is not merely a personnel matter serving a single Party Congress, term of office or organisational structure. Rather, it is an integral part of strategic governance aimed at preparing future Party leadership and the country’s long-term development.
He called for correcting misconceptions that regard personnel planning as a means of reserving positions or guaranteeing future appointments. Planning must remain open without lowering standards, flexible without becoming arbitrary, and attentive to organisational structure without allowing structure to replace merit and qualifications.
According to him, “open” means not limiting personnel sources to a particular sector, locality or network of relationships, while identifying capable officials from grassroots levels, difficult areas and emerging fields. “Flexible” means allowing personnel to be added, removed, promoted or reassigned based on their actual performance, reputation and development prospects.
He noted that Viet Nam is facing both major opportunities and challenges in institutional reform, innovation in leadership methods, science and technology development, digital transformation, international integration and non-traditional security. New and unprecedented tasks require stronger reforms in personnel planning.
Outlining the requirements for strategic-level officials in the new period, the leader said they must possess firm political mettle, high ethical standards, integrity, and a strong sense of responsibility. They should have strategic vision and implementation capacity; dare to think, dare to act and dare to take responsibility for the common good; show a commitment to lifelong learning, digital competency, and the ability to identify and utilise talent effectively.
General Secretary and President Lam asked the Party Central Committee’s Organisation Commission to conduct in-depth reviews of strategic-level personnel planning in recent tenures and propose breakthrough mechanisms for evaluating, selecting, planning, rotating, employing and protecting officials who dare to think and act. Work performance and genuine public credibility should serve as key criteria.
He also called for developing a comprehensive set of criteria and data-based evaluation methods covering political courage, ethics, strategic thinking, institutional development capacity, implementation ability, digital transformation skills and public trust.
Personnel management, he said, should gradually shift from relying mainly on administrative records to using dynamic and continuously updated data. Each official included in planning scheme should have a comprehensive profile reflecting performance, reputation, potential, and risk indicators.
The top leader stressed the need for early identification and nurturing of outstanding talent while promptly detecting signs of declining credibility or misconduct. He underscored that no unqualified individual should enter the planning process, while genuinely capable and ethical officials must not be overlooked.
