ADB chief outlines new HR priorities

As staffing uncertainty at the World Bank continues, the Asian Development Bank appears intent on taking a different path. ADB President Takehiko Nakao tells employees how management will communicate more directly with them and open more opportunities for career advancement.

As staff uncertainty at the World Bank over President Jim Yong Kim’s internal reform process continues to make headlines, the Asian Development Bank appears intent on taking a different path by communicating more directly with employees and opening more opportunities for career advancement.

On Friday, ADB President Takehiko held a “town hall” meeting with staff at the bank’s Manila headquarters and revealed a few details on upcoming changes to the institution’s human resources policy, including more deployment of senior staff to country offices and increased rotation between departments — all part of the bank’s 2020 Strategy internal review initiated by Nakao himself.

“We are one ADB. And one ADB is about all staff working together to help the bank succeed by making use of everyone’s talents and background,” he said at the meeting, adding that he wants to re-emphasize the importance of communication within and across the institution, as well as the “need to share information with all staff, especially younger and newer staff, and fully engage everybody in pursuing our mission and bringing about necessary changes in ADB.”