MatchMaker Solution Pack | Human Resource Management for Local Humanitarian NGO Networks

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This resource package was developed as part of the Oxfam HST-LHL programme. Click on the button below to download the full report.

We welcome external contributions. Please feel free to use the “comment” function to share your thoughts with us or suggest additional solutions you would like us to feature.

LOCATION: Global

SECTOR: NGO Management, System Strengthening

DEMOGRAPHIC

  • Primary target group: Executives, Operations and HR managers of local NGO networks and their members

  • Other possible target groups: Partners of local NGOs and networks, localisation programme specialists

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  • This MatchMaker Resource Pack provides an overview of potential solutions for human resource management in networks of local humanitarian NGOs. It has been commissioned by the Humanitarian System Transformation through Local Humanitarian Leadership (HST-LHL) programme facilitated by Oxfam in partnership with more than 30 local and national actors, and funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. While this resource is primarily addressed to networks of local NGOs operating in humanitarian contexts, its contents should also be relevant to networks of civil society actors operating in the development space as well as large Clusters, NGO working groups, consortia, alliances and the like.

    This resource package contains a review of top solutions to a challenge that was identified and refined by key informant interviews and a desk research exercise undertaken by Response Innovation Lab (RIL), and selected as a priority by HST-LHL programme teams and partners operating in the seven program countries: Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Kenya, Myanmar, South Sudan and Yemen. This Pack is meant to be an iterative resource, with solutions added and refined with the support of HST-LHL programme partners in an open-source manner, with curation from RIL. You can see the full synthesis of the research process that led to this challenge being selected here.

    It is important to note that this research specifically focused on internal operational risks and capacity gaps that local networks of humanitarian NGOs experienced and not on the broader challenges of humanitarian response systems (e.g., power dynamics between global and local actors).  Instead, this document focuses on suggesting solutions that can be directly investigated, assessed, trialled and adopted by local NGO networks and their members.  Partnership with international organisations in a risk sharing framework, however, is highly encouraged and may lead to more transformational results. A section dedicated to risk sharing suggestion is included in the document.

    Response Innovation Lab is a global collaboration between leading humanitarian non- governmental organisations (World Vision, Oxfam, Danish Refugee Council and Save the Children), and Civic (an international community social impact accelerator). RIL manages the largest network of response-based social innovation hubs, with a focus on strengthening the innovation ecosystem and scaling solutions through collaborative partnerships.

  • The MatchMaker Solutions Pack is meant to be a guide that helps an organisation or network kickstart the process of identifying one or more solutions that can effectively address a particular type of challenge.  This process is meant to be internally driven, with or without external support and should include the following key steps:

    ·       An analysis of the specific gaps that the organisation or network faces in regard to the challenge highlighted in the specific MatchMaker Solutions Pack;

    ·       An assessment of the types of solutions presented in the document and their applicability to the specific needs of the organisation or network;

    ·       A decision to further explore one or more of the solution types and to identify providers available in, and adapted to, the organisation’s specific context;

    ·       Collecting information about the providers’ offerings and selecting the most suitable one(s) to pilot;

    ·       Testing this solution via a pilot project and using the evidence to make further decisions about further adapting and/or adopting the innovation.

    Throughout this process, outreach to peer organisations, networks and relevant knowledge hubs is highly encouraged to gather more specific insights into what solutions have succeeded and failed in the specific operational context.

    As you go through the contents of this MatchMaker Solutions Pack, please keep in mind the following:

    ·       The types of innovation provided are broad categories that include ideas that range from the simple to the highly disruptive, depending on the ambitions of the user. The same basic idea (for instance, enhanced professional training) can be applied in limited ways (assigning a one-off training course) or in a more transformative manner (developing a comprehensive digital staff training curriculum).

    ·       There may be barriers to some of the solutions presented and the user will need to assess whether these prohibit the use of an innovation type or whether they can be overcome through introducing an additional solution. For example, if poor connectivity prevents an organisation from accessing certain digital tools, it may be possible to introduce a new connectivity solution (such as an internet satellite subscription) that can be added to the pilot project.

    ·       This MatchMaker Solutions Pack was specifically designed for the Humanitarian System Transformation through Local Humanitarian Leadership programme and targets networks of local humanitarian organisations active in a wide range of operational settings (from highly fragile, low-income contexts to more stable, middle-income countries). It is possible that some solutions presented will not be considered innovative in some more economically advanced contexts. Conversely, some innovations suggested may not be as feasible in some of the more difficult operating environments.

    We hope that you enjoy reading this document and, more importantly, that you find enough inspiration in these pages to start a meaningful conversation about creating change in your organisation or network.  We wish you an exciting and fruitful innovation journey!

  • PROBLEM DESCRIPTION

    Human resources management is an essential part of the operations of any structure. At its core, it covers the ability of any organisation to mobilize the staffing necessary for it to carry out its mission. For the purpose of this exercise, RIL defined the challenge as:

    Difficulties in hiring, retaining and upskilling qualified staff that creates structural instability, chronic capacity shortages, and recurrent recruitment and on-boarding costs.

    Interviews and desk research identified several components to address, including:

    ·        Staff poached by higher-paying organisations (usually international or private sector actors);

    ·        Lack of resources to invest in professional development of existing staff;

    ·        Difficulties in identifying and recruiting qualified personnel;

    ·        Inexperienced, under-trained or uncertified staff;

    ·        Short employment contracts.

    In the survey administered to HST-LHL programme partners, the issue of human resource management was voted #3 out of ten internal risks and capacity gaps, underlining the pervasiveness of the problem.

    OBJECTIVES OF THE SOLUTION

    This MatchMaker Solutions Pack will focus on identifying innovations addressing the following key components of the above-described challenge:

    ·        Access to quality, low-cost, relevant and accessible training to rapidly upskill new and existing staff:

    ·        Inability to retain qualified staff;

    ·        Problems recruiting or maintaining staff in core positions

    Solutions are meant to provide options which local humanitarian NGO networks and their members can adapt, test and adopt, either through an internal process or in partnership with one or more external organisations. They are proposed separately but can be mixed and matched to fit the specific needs and contexts of the adopter.

    Scope

    This MatchMaker Solutions Pack is meant to provide ideas for local humanitarian NGO networks and their members operating anywhere in the world.  As per the focus of the HST-LHL programme, special care has been taken to highlight solutions available to NGO networks operating in contexts ranging from low-resource settings (e.g. Yemen, South Sudan et al.)  to Middle Income Countries (e.g. Indonesia, Colombia, et al.). Additional solutions may be applicable to NGO networks operating in higher-resource settings.

    CRITERIA FOR DESIRED SOLUTIONS

    The research focused on solutions that respond to the following criteria:

    ·        Feasibility: Solutions should comply with local labour laws and practices and be in line with the realities of the local labour market.

    ·        Affordability: Solutions should not increase staffing costs in the long run but rather generate long-term savings.

    ·        Scalability and Sustainability: Solutions should be able to expand and evolve from the pilot phase to become fully integrated parts of organisational HR strategies. They should be replicable across organisations in the same network and can scale to cover an increasing part of the staff structure.

    ·        Impact: Solutions must be capable of producing significant positive change for the organisations adopting them. These improvements should be measurable and attributable to the solution though the full impact of adoption may take longer than the pilot phase to be assessed.

    CONTEXTUAL CONSIDERATIONS

    Adopters of solutions will need to account for the specific opportunities and limitations defined by their operating contexts. The description of solutions below will mention specific requirements and whether these might be a challenge in certain contexts.

    BUDGET AND TIME

    ·        It should be possible to adapt and pilot the solutions listed below at budgets ranging from US$10,000 to $25,000 and for a duration of 9-12 months.

    ·        Long-term costs of applying the solution at scale will vary.

  • While there is much that a local NGO network and its members can do to increase HR capacity, employee well-being and payroll expenses, some key risks that have been surfaced in the research need to be addressed through a risk sharing approach.

    Understaffed organisations or undertrained staff in positions of responsibility can generate threats to many key functions:

    Operationally, a lack of mastery of major organisational systems can lead to poor decision-making, frequent errors and low quality of service delivery;

    Reputationally, partner and community engagement with under-trained /-qualified staff can reduce trust in the organisation and incite donors to introduce more constraining compliance measures;

    In terms of safety, understaffed organisations may be forced to increase workload for existing employees generating risks of stress, burnout and illness.  Overstretched organisations may also be forced to ask staff to work in unfamiliar locations.

    There are also clear legal and compliance risks when staff are not trained on national and international programming and administrative standards, applicable management and reporting systems, or safeguarding protocols.

    The gaps in salary scales between international and local actors is usually such that employees of the latter are easily “poached” by INGOs, UN agencies and aid contractors offering higher pay and, at times, improved benefits and opportunities for international career advancement.  International organisations could help narrow this gap through several risk sharing approaches, including:

    ·        Increasing the amount of Indirect Cost Recovery (ICR) funds that local partners receive (ideally, to match the percentage that the international actor receives);

    ·        Approving local partner budgets that include staff salaries in line with their own national employee pays scales for equivalent roles;

    ·        Adopting policies aimed at limiting poaching from local partners;

    Approving partner budget lines with reasonable requests for staff training, employee well-being initiatives, alternative work arrangements and other such costs.

Overview

Many HR-related problems may be solved by relying on known best practices in the sector. These can be found widely on the internet, via either toolkits like the one developed by Disaster Ready or publicly-shared HR Manuals developed by international or local NGOs. This guidance can help an organisation better structure its HR functions, generate a more transparent and coherent pay structure, develop ways to incentivise and motivate staff and create more robust recruiting, on-boarding and career development processes. While this MatchMaker Solutions Pack will propose more innovative solutions that may not yet be considered standard practices in the humanitarian sector, the successful application of any of these will rely on the organising relying on a set of robust and well-documented human resource policies. Three general areas of innovative solutions are hereby proposed:

·        E-Learning:  Ways to rapidly and cheaply train incoming staff and provide ongoing career development opportunities and performance management to existing personnel;

·        Flexible work arrangements: A set of practices that challenge the traditional structure of employment as time-bound, place-based and salaried;

·        Outsourcing and partnerships: Solutions that decentralise staff structures so as to decrease the number of full-time salaried positions the organisation is responsible for filling.

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