Asian Development Bank reviews about "management"

Poor middle management Asian hierarchical organization

Slow progress, two tier empoyee cadre

poor managers who have to be taught how to manage after being promoted to managers, opportunities given based on manager whims, HR systems focused on repressing conflict and not on promoting resolving issues, no career development support, poor performance management especially for toxic bullying staff.

Politically driven promotion, lack of field experience at the managerial level, busy copying the WB model

Manila is a horrible city - think twice before coming. There may be pockets of "Singapore" but the rest of the city is not great. It is depressing seeing the slums, while being stuck in traffic. And you have to deal with typhoons and earthquakes. The institutions has many rules and they follow it, even it does not make sense. Things can be more efficient but they would rather stick the rules, because it is easier to do so. No one takes responsibility. There is such deference to senior management, and adherence to hierarchy. People are addressed as DG, VP, etc. The quality of manager is mediocre. Manager is focused on fulfilling the requests of senior management and less on the quality of work from staff. But you see that they are not penalized for this, but rewarded. The average quality of staff is low as it is difficult to attract and retain the good people in Manila. It is then not motivating to be working in the team.

Declining Benefits: Be cautious about the compensation package—benefits have shrunk significantly, especially for new hires in recent years. Don’t assume a standard international organization package; the current offerings are a much smaller percentage compared to peers. Always consult current/new employees for the latest updates before joining. Work Culture Variability: While the environment is often praised, it can be intensely competitive. In some teams, you may feel like "prey on the Serengeti," with coldly pragmatic colleagues prioritizing deadlines over collaboration. Management Gaps: Until the Principal Specialist level, most roles are operational with no real management function. Promotions to leadership often happen without prior management experience, leading to hit-or-miss outcomes. Your experience may depend heavily on luck.

So many unproductive staff leaves very unbalanced work load between the “doers” and the “free riders “. Management doesn’t address the performance issues. HQ in Manila just not a great quality of life city. Very slow cumbersome processes make it difficult to respond to client needs in a timely way.