Training top civil servants in developing countries: Insights from Bangladesh

Through continuous training, top civil servants acquire up-to-date skills, strategies, and insights necessary for informed decision-making and innovative leadership. However, existing literature, particularly in developing countries, pays limited attention to the training of top civil servants. Using the analytical framework developed by Van Wart and Hondeghem, this study examines how top civil servants in Bangladesh are trained using government policy documents, training institute records, and semi-structured interviews with training providers. The findings show that, although Bangladesh lacks a distinct leadership model, top civil servants are expected to demonstrate transformational leadership behaviors. They are predominantly generalist careerists who undergo grade-specific training throughout their careers, both domestically and abroad. The Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre (BPATC) delivers core and short-term programs aimed at developing leadership skills for policy processes. This study contributes to the limited literature on top civil servant training in developing countries and identifies key limitations in current training programs to guide the design of more effective programs.