The purpose of this study is to help the government of Bangladesh establish a more effective and efficient civil service to move the country toward its goals for social and economic development. The report begins by examining the scope of previous civil service reform initiatives in Bangladesh and the reasons why their track record has been so poor. This investigation focuses on civil service management practices, such as recruitment, training, performance evaluation, promotion, and career management. The rules and practices guiding these elements of personnel management most directly affect civil servants behavior and their approach to their tasks. Although Bangladesh s civil service comprises nearly a million officials, this study is deliberately restricted to a small group - the Class I officers, who make up only 10 percent of the civil service. This group is at the tip of the civil service pyramid
it has the potential to function as the spearhead of reform. The study makes two major recommendations: Give additional emphasis to merit in managing the civil service
and focus on the fundamentals of civil service reform, where tinkering at the edges has been unproductive, by building a stronger legal framework, more independent oversight, and better tools for managing performance.