A Decade of Performance Management Reforms in Bhutan: Problems and Prospects

Abstract

Bhutan has implemented two bold performance management reforms within the last decade. These reforms are based on the business and neoclassical economics models focusing on outputs and strict performance measures. The first of these reforms, performance management system, was implemented as one of the main components of the Position Classification System (PCS) reforms in 2006. The second reform, Managing for Excellence (MaX) was introduced in 2017. Both these reforms have sought to improve the performance of the public sector in Bhutan. However, the implementation of the performance management system faced major challenges. This commentary describes the two performance management reforms, and briefly examines some of the challenges in their implementation.