Resolution 24-NQ/TW: A breakthrough in personnel work.
In the process of national renewal and development, personnel work has always been identified by our Party as the "key of keys," having a decisive impact on the success or failure of the revolutionary cause. Entering a new era of development – the era of the digital economy, digital transformation, green transformation, and global knowledge competition – the demands placed on the cadre team go beyond mere dedication, fulfilling their roles, or compliance; they must possess the capacity for innovation, a spirit of commitment, and the courage to think and act boldly.
Tran Quoc Thanh |Present:Huu QuanSeptember 30, 2026
In the process of national renewal and development, personnel work has always been identified by our Party as the "key of keys," having a decisive impact on the success or failure of the revolutionary cause. Entering a new era of development – the era of the digital economy, digital transformation, green transformation, and global knowledge competition – the demands placed on the cadre team go beyond mere dedication, fulfilling their roles, or compliance. They must possess the capacity for innovation, a spirit of commitment, the courage to think, act, and take responsibility for the common good.
The issuance of Resolution No. 24-NQ/TW of the Politburo on"Promoting the pioneering spirit, exemplary conduct, innovative spirit, and willingness to think outside the box, act boldly, and take responsibility of cadres and Party members in the new era."This marked a strategic shift. It was not just an ordinary directive, but a genuine institutional breakthrough in personnel management, aimed at unleashing creativity and preventing the fear of making mistakes and the insularity that are hindering development resources.
Resolution 24 was issued at a historically significant moment, carrying profound contemporary meaning and directly addressing the urgent demands of national development. It can be said that this is the driving force to remove the "bottleneck of bottlenecks"—the fear of making mistakes and the tendency to retreat in implementation. In the past period, as the fight against corruption and negative practices was thoroughly intensified, a significant number of officials and civil servants developed a defensive and procrastinating mentality. This avoidance of responsibility stalled numerous investment projects, slowed down the disbursement of public investment funds, and created administrative bottlenecks. Resolution 24 was issued as a mandate for action, eliminating this retreating mentality, clearing the ideological bottleneck, liberating spiritual resources, and strengthening the confidence of officials to act with resolve. It is also a breakthrough institutional solution to serve strategic breakthroughs in the new era. The country is facing historical milestones (2030 marks the 100th anniversary of the Party's founding, and 2045 marks the 100th anniversary of the nation's founding). To escape the middle-income trap, Vietnam cannot continue to rely on the traditional growth model (resource exploitation, cheap labor, etc.), but must break through with the digital economy, digital transformation, AI, green transformation, low-level spatial economy, innovation, and the knowledge economy... These new development models are even unprecedented and not yet detailed in the legal system. If officials passively "wait for guidance documents," the country will miss a golden opportunity.
Resolution 24 is the key to unlocking a safe legal environment, encouraging pioneering officials to experiment with new mechanisms (sandbox), transforming innovation from slogans into concrete actions. In the current context, innovation is a crucial driving force for improving productivity, competitiveness, and the adaptability of the economy, requiring an innovation ecosystem. As a ruling party, Resolution 24 has opened up a complete innovation ecosystem with the following components: the Party - the State - scientists - businesses - the people. At the same time, Resolution 24 also serves as a benchmark for screening and selecting officials with innovative thinking, the courage to take risks, and truly groundbreaking products that meet the development needs of the locality and the country in the new era.
The resolution aims to achieve the following goals: “Strongly foster a pioneering, exemplary spirit, daring to innovate, daring to think, daring to act, and daring to take responsibility for the common good; contribute to building a team of cadres and Party members, especially leading and managerial cadres at all levels, with the courage, intelligence, ethics, and capacity to act, meeting the requirements of renewing the Party's leadership and governance methods, building a modern, effective, and efficient national governance system; consolidate the close relationship between the Party and the people, strengthen the people's trust in the Party, the State, and the regime; perfect a comprehensive, unified, transparent, and feasible institutional and legal framework to identify, encourage, honor, utilize, and protect cadres who are dedicated, daring to innovate, creative, and groundbreaking for the common good; thoroughly overcome the state of hesitation, fear of making mistakes, working half-heartedly, avoiding, and shirking responsibility; create a clear transformation in discipline, order, quality, and efficiency in task implementation; and contribute to building a national system.” "Dynamic, honest, professional, and creative public service, with the products, results of implementation, and satisfaction of the people and businesses as the main measures; establishing mechanisms to control power, manage risks, clearly define authority and responsibility, and protect officials in the right positions, according to their true nature."
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Resolution 24 marked a major turning point in the thinking and methods of human resource management in the public sector. The resolution identified five key, systematic groups of tasks and solutions, encompassing everything from ideological work, institutional reform, and personnel organization to inspection and supervision. The core, breakthrough issues within each group of tasks and solutions are:
Raising awareness, innovating thinking, and building a culture of commitment and innovation. Propagating and thoroughly understanding throughout the entire political system that innovation, daring to think and act for the common good is not only a right but also a political responsibility and a mandatory public service requirement for officials in the new era. Building a "public service culture that encourages innovation." Eliminating prejudiced thinking and suspicion of motives towards those proposing new solutions; gradually forming an open work environment that accepts scientifically-based and controlled risks.
Improve institutions, policies, and mechanisms for protecting officials. Expeditiously revise and harmonize Party regulations and State laws (Law on Officials and Civil Servants; Law on Inspection; Criminal Code, etc.); build a safe legal framework for testing new, unprecedented models and policies. Specify the process for exemption and mitigation of responsibility, clearly institutionalizing regulations for considering exemption from criminal, civil, or disciplinary responsibility for officials when encountering objective incidents or risks during the implementation of reform proposals, provided that the process has been followed correctly, openly, transparently, and with completely pure motives.
Strongly innovate personnel management. Incorporate the "innovation index" into planning and appointments. Evaluate Party members and officials based on concrete results, the effectiveness of resolving practical bottlenecks, and the level of satisfaction of citizens and businesses. Make breakthroughs in the reward and incentive mechanisms for officials with innovative thinking and outstanding achievements and breakthrough products.
Promote decentralization and delegation of authority, emphasize the responsibility of leaders, and foster a spirit of exemplary leadership in implementing innovative solutions. Leaders and leadership teams are responsible for building a culture of innovation within their organizations. Leaders act as facilitators and bear the risks. They should not merely call for action but also directly listen to, evaluate, approve, and take primary responsibility for innovative proposals from subordinates; they should not shift responsibility to higher levels or pass risks to lower levels. Leaders who show signs of avoiding responsibility, fearing accountability, delaying proposals, or deliberately obstructing innovative initiatives that benefit the common good must be resolutely dealt with and replaced.
Strengthen inspection, supervision, risk management, and prevention of abuse. Supervision should begin from the initial idea stage. Establish a proactive monitoring mechanism and risk management process (Assessment - Approval - Implementation Monitoring - Acceptance Evaluation) to promptly detect and support staff in resolving difficulties during the pilot phase, thereby implementing the cycle of "Testing - Evaluation - Refinement - Scaling Up - Legalization". Strengthen the inspection and control of power to prevent and thoroughly stop the abuse of the guise of "bold thinking, bold action" and "innovation" to legitimize violations, corruption, negative practices, or personal gain and group interests.
The Politburo's resolution outlines very comprehensive tasks and solutions, but the actual implementation process will inevitably face difficulties and challenges related to institutions, public service attitudes, governance tools, and enforcement capacity. Specifically: the Party's resolution allows for experimentation and risk acceptance, but the legal system demands absolute adherence to procedures. This creates apprehension among officials, and furthermore, amending and supplementing relevant laws by the National Assembly and issuing guiding decrees by the Government always takes time.
Secondly,Ingrained mindsets and internal obstacles remain quite prevalent. The habit of working based on experience and a reluctance to change processes are deeply rooted. Individuals who are proactive and propose innovative models are often perceived as "show-offs," their motives questioned, or face passive resistance from colleagues. Therefore, time is needed to promote innovation, change mindsets, and build a culture of creativity.
Third,For a long time, testing in the field of science and technology, even with systematic procedures, has been difficult. Issues related to mechanisms, institutions, and legal frameworks are even more challenging, requiring a clearly controlled and transparent testing framework and a contingency fund for risks. Therefore, an independent mechanism for evaluating innovative ideas/solutions/projects is essential to ensure scientific accuracy, objectivity, and minimize risks. The mechanism for evaluating test results is particularly complex and time-consuming. Furthermore, incorporating innovation indicators into KPIs for evaluating staff is also a difficult task. Without a rigorous and detailed set of quantitative criteria, it is easy to fall into subjective evaluation, or even to distort and exploit policies.
Fourth,Pressure at the grassroots level. This is the "front line," where administrative decisions and policies are directly implemented, as well as where all practical issues are handled. However, this is where there is a lack of expert legal support and advice. Grassroots officials are prone to errors and are more hesitant to innovate. Shouldn't the criteria for innovation at the grassroots level differ from those at higher levels? For example, a grassroots official identifying a problem, the cause of a bottleneck in practice, and compiling a report for higher levels is considered an innovative idea! Because to innovate, one must identify the "problem," find the "pain point" of practice, only then will the solution be meaningful.
The year isThe leadership's leadership is crucial. In the innovation ecosystem, leaders often play the role of "midwife," guiding, directly approving, and sharing responsibility with their subordinates. If they lack leadership, professional competence, or support mechanisms, they will choose the safe option. Therefore, the Resolution advocates incorporating innovation indicators into the personnel evaluation mechanism, prioritizing those with innovative achievements for promotion and appointment. Simultaneously, it establishes a risk management mechanism for innovative ideas and protects those who dare to innovate and take responsibility for the common good.
Resolution No. 24-NQ/TW of the Politburo is a "breath of fresh air" that ignites the spirit of dedication and the desire for breakthroughs among cadres and Party members in the new era. The resolution has struck the right chord in personnel work by harmoniously combining "tightening discipline" and "expanding the space for creativity." For Resolution 24 to be put into practice, it requires decisive and coordinated action from the central to the grassroots levels; the courage and impartiality of leaders; and the unity of the people. By successfully addressing these key issues, we can have complete confidence in a new generation of cadres: courageous, knowledgeable, innovative, and wholeheartedly dedicated to the sustainable development of the nation.
