Reform Agenda

Reform Agenda: Keeping ADB Relevant
An Interview with Managing Director General Young-Hoi Lee

December 2004

What has happened since the special assembly on the Reform Agenda on 14 June? Managing Director General Young-Hoi Lee who oversees reform initiatives to make ADB more effective tells Bank Forum the progress made, expectations from staff, and steps to keep ADB relevant.

The Reform Agenda provides a framework for addressing our institutional challenges to deliver more effective development results. Increased communication on work plans within departments is essential for its success.

In my view, individual staff members are not expected to do anything new or special, but they should actively participate in and contribute to formulating and implementing planned or ongoing initiatives. I want to encourage staff to discuss with their colleagues and supervisors how to do their work more efficiently and in a more results-oriented manner. I am sure that we will make a big difference if each one of us, in either operational or nonoperational sections, shares ownership and responsibility for the reform program and results.

In his first address on the Reform Agenda, President Tadao Chino asked staff to embrace essential reforms to help our DMCs accelerate socioeconomic development and achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

Since June, each vice-president has been discussing the Reform Agenda with line management and staff and providing guidance on implementing the work program for each initiative. The objective is to seek stronger support and commitment of ADB staff to make implementation of this agenda successful.

Achievements

Management thanks staff for the progress made in the past 6 months including the following:

• A Results Management Unit was established to work on mainstreaming Management for Development Results. The first results-oriented country strategy and program was prepared and approved by the Board in late October (It was for Nepal)



• The enhanced Poverty Reduction Strategy, Knowledge Management Framework, and Human Resources (HR) Strategy have been formalized and are being implemented



• Policies, strategies, and frameworks are being prepared or reviewed. These include the Public Communications Policy, the Ordinary Capital Resources Partnership Framework (formerly Partnership Framework with Middle-Income Countries), the Performance-Based Allocation Policy, the Innovation and Efficiency Initiative (formerly Infrastructure and Utilities Finance), and the Independent Assessment of the Reorganization



• The Reform Coordination Committee (RCC) was established, and the first progress report on the implementation of the Reform Agenda is being prepared. The RCC currently has 10 senior staff as standing members. It facilitates and coordinates implementation of reform initiatives, monitors their progress, and communicates with staff internally and with shareholders and other external stakeholders. An Internet web site on ADB’s Reform Agenda was launched by the RCC in September to communicate externally with stakeholders. An intranet web site will soon be launched

Looking Ahead

The key to the success of the Reform Agenda is the effective implementation of the new HR Strategy. Achieving development effectiveness will depend ultimately on the work of our staff and the alignment of staff incentives with their performance.

In the coming months, vice-presidents will continue to discuss and guide staff in implementing the initiatives based on their work programs. Any additional resources required for implementing specific activities will be identified and provided.

The RCC will facilitate individual reform initiatives by monitoring progress, identifying common issues and addressing them, and providing overall coordination. Management will continue communicating with staff and external stakeholders to make them fully understand the Reform Agenda and to reflect their views and inputs. The web sites and e-newsletters will publish outcomes and progress.

The reform initiatives will be implemented in various phases mostly during the next 2–3 years. Therefore, what we achieve in the next 3 years will be crucial to ADB’s future.