REPORT
ON HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
I.
INTRODUCTION
1. Effective human
resources management continues to underpin the efficiency of the
Organization and the
effective delivery of programme and operational activities in support of
the IOM Strategy. The
importance of human resources management has been amplified over
the reporting period
as a number of critical organization-wide reforms took place, including
the structure reform
and the development of the unified Staff Regulations applicable to all
IOM staff members.
2. The implementation
of the staff rotation policy continued in 2010. One of the
objectives of
rotation has been the placement of senior managers from Headquarters in the
Field and a
corresponding transfer of Field colleagues to key positions at Headquarters.
This
movement of senior
officials bodes well for improved coherence between Headquarters and
the Field. At the
same time, it is recognized that rotation has placed additional pressure on the
Organization in terms
of its structural and financial capacity to absorb change. The
Administration will
therefore take into consideration lessons learned in next year’s rotation
exercise, in
particular to manage the impact of restructuring.
3. The Human
Resources Management Division (HRM) teams in Manila and Panama
have continued to
provide operational human resources support to the IOM Field Offices,
while the HRM team at
Headquarters has focused on a number of policy reforms and other
activities that seek
to enhance human resources management in IOM. Specific activities
include the
following:
(a) Finalization of a
unified version of the Staff Regulations for all IOM staff.
(b) Review of the
existing Performance Development System together with the first steps
taken towards the
development of a new and integrated system that will embed staff
evaluation within the
broader managerial architecture of the Organization.
(c) Completion of the
second year of the annual rotation exercise supported through the
development and use
of the Rotation Management System software, which operates as
an electronic
database for storing relevant information and producing related reports
and statistical data.
(d) Active HRM
engagement in the structural review at Headquarters and in the Field
Implementation Team.
(e) Ongoing support
for rapid deployment of staff in response to emergencies in Haiti and
Pakistan.
II.
IOM STAFFING
Vacancies
and placements
4. During the period
under review, there was no significant change in the staff strength of
the Organization:
7,735 in June 2009 and 7,699 at the end of June 2010, representing a 0.5 per
cent decrease in the
number of staff over the year. Between January 2009 and June 2010,
IOM issued 94 vacancy
notices for officials and recruited or placed 73 officials through
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internal (51) and
external (22) advertisements. Furthermore, 8 vacancy notices were placed
for General Service
staff at Headquarters and 56 short-term vacancy notices were issued for
officials.
Recruitment activities were weighted towards the recruitment and deployment of
staff to support IOM’s
response to natural disasters and post-crisis activities, in situations
such as the aftermath
of the earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2010, and to meet staffing
needs in Afghanistan,
Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Sudan.
Associate
Experts
5. During the period
under review, five new Associate Experts funded by the
Governments of Italy,
Japan, Sweden and the United States of America joined IOM, bringing
the total number of
Associate Experts deployed within the Organization to 23. IOM’s
Associate Experts
Programme comprises 16 agreements with donor countries and fosters the
link for matching
donor priorities with ongoing and potential IOM programmes, providing a
valuable opportunity
to achieve mutually beneficial developmental goals. As a result of the
ongoing initiatives
by the Organization to encourage donors to fund Associate Experts from
developing countries,
the Italian Government funded a national of Zimbabwe under the
Programme. Administrative
procedures are under way for a further three Associate Expert
positions to be
filled. The Organization retained two Associate Experts during the reporting
period.
Staff
exchanges, secondments and loans
6. A total of 29
people were seconded to or from IOM during the reporting period. The
secondments to IOM
included one senior official from the Ministry of Justice of the
Netherlands who was
deployed to Haiti. In addition, 20 staff were seconded from SYNI1 to
IOM. Of these, 14
have been deployed at Headquarters and 6 have been deployed in Field
Offices in Eastern
Europe. Discussions leading to the secondment of a researcher from the
Migration Policy
Institute to work for IOM were initiated during the reporting period. IOM
seconded officials to
the Global Forum on Migration and Development, the International
Labour Organization
(ILO), the World Health Organization and the World Intellectual
Property Organization
and is also discussing the loan of a Legal Officer to the United Nations
Office for Project
Services with cost coverage provided by the Office.
The
IOM Internship Programme
7. The IOM Internship
Programme continues to be a valuable source of support to IOM’s
core expertise,
providing students or recent graduates with the opportunity to learn about the
Organization’s
activities and to gain initial work experience. During the reporting period,
70 interns were
hosted at Headquarters and 123 in the Field from a wide range of educational
backgrounds and
nationalities. In addition, new agreements for hosting interns have been
signed with the
Nagoya University and the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies in Japan.
1 SYNI
is a non-profit-making professional project carried out by Lausanne City
Council which offers motivated
professionals the
possibility of participating in formative international cooperation assignments
in Switzerland and
abroad. To that end,
it facilitates short-term subsidized assignments for professionals residing in
Switzerland and
interested in acquiring
international work experience. SYNI is funded and commissioned by the Swiss
State Secretariat
for Economic Affairs
(SECO) and Lausanne City Council.
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Rotation
8. The 2009 rotation
list was made up of 61 officials and included rotations that had been
deferred from the
2008 exercise. A total of 33 officials were rotated as part of this cycle and
out of these 26
officials were eligible for rotation. The remaining seven rotations were a
result
of necessary changes
in the structure or emergency rotations brought about by the specific
needs of some
projects. Officials whose rotation was deferred from the 2009 rotation process
will be included in
the next rotational cycle. The Administration and the Staff Association
Committee held
several consultative meetings including a one-day retreat with senior
managers to address
issues related to staff mobility and rotation and to examine lessons
learned from the
first rotation exercise. Participants were aware that the rotation process had
required a
significant cultural change for the Organization and also recognized that the
management of the
next rotation cycle, together with the implementation of the structural
review
recommendations, will require a great deal of consultation and coordination in
2011.
III.
EFFECTIVE HUMAN RESOURCES SERVICE DELIVERY
HRM
policy and services
9. During the
reporting period, the Human Resources Policy and Systems Unit, working
in coordination with
the Office of Legal Affairs and the Staff Association Committee,
finalized the revised
unified version of the Staff Regulations that will apply to all IOM staff at
Headquarters and in
the Field. A summary document explaining the new Regulations and
comparing them to the
previous Regulations for officials and employees will be submitted to
the Standing
Committee on Programmes and Finance for review and submission to the
Council.
10. In the past year,
the following additional policies and guidelines were developed and
implemented:
(a) The IOM policy
and guidelines on employment contracts were reviewed and
standardized. The
revised guidelines define the different types of contracts and
associated
entitlements and regulate the conditions required to obtain each type of
employment contract.
A new fixed-term contract for two years was introduced and the
conditions for
granting regular contracts with no fixed period of employment were
modified to require,
among other things, a minimum of 10 years of continuous service
instead of the 5
years required under the previous instructions.
(b) New guidelines
defining the administration of sick leave and submission of sick leave
requests under the
human resources information system (PRISM HR) were developed.
(c) New instructions
to establish uniform and transparent rules related to the appointment
and employment of
close relatives of IOM staff members, while respecting the
principle of
non-discrimination, were established.
(d) A policy to
update and clarify the mandatory nature of IOM’s internal controls for
payroll management
and other financial procedures was instituted.
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Staff
well-being, health insurance and improved working conditions
11. During the year
under review, IOM joined the Dual Career and Staff Mobility
Programme as part of
an initiative to support officials moving to various duty stations as part
of the rotation
process. The Programme is supported by the United Nations system and
partnering
organizations to assist globally mobile families to adapt to new duty stations
and to
help expatriate
spouses/partners find jobs and maintain their professional careers.
12. Agreements were
concluded with additional hospitals in Switzerland, the Philippines
and Kenya, to
facilitate admission procedures and improve the cost-effectiveness of health
services. Other
agreements are being negotiated in other IOM Field locations.
13. The extension of
the Medical Service Plan health insurance coverage to IOM Field
Offices is still in
progress. Twelve additional offices have been enrolled in the Plan during the
reporting period. A
total of 115 Field Offices are now enrolled, with 6,148 participants (staff
members and eligible
dependants).
14. In response to
the increasing risks of violence against humanitarian workers and
exposure to traumatic
events, the Occupational Health Unit (OHU) and the Health and
Insurance Medical
Unit (HIM) in Manila delivered and participated in different training
activities for staff
(first aid training for drivers; tactical emergency first aid training;
security
training for frequent
female travellers) to reduce risk exposure and allow better initial
reactions that can
save lives. To minimize post-traumatic stress among staff, OHU/HIM also
offered stress
management and medical support to offices in Afghanistan, Haiti, Myanmar,
South Africa and Sri
Lanka in coordination with Stress Counsellors from the United Nations
Department of Safety
and Security’s Critical Incident Stress Management Unit. A stress
management booklet
focusing on staff working in conflict zones was produced to help staff
cope with stress
under traumatic conditions.
Staff
relations
15. HRM has continued
to work closely with the Staff Association Committee. Regular
meetings are convened
between the Administration and the Staff Association Committee and
HRM has sought to be
proactive in addressing issues and concerns raised by the Committee in
relation to staff
matters.
16. At the beginning
of the year HRM initiated the Staff Welfare Group,2 which
meets
once a month to
address and initiate strategic mechanisms to help staff members and
management cope with
difficulties and problems which, if left unresolved, could adversely
affect the work and
effectiveness of Offices and the Organization as a whole.
17. In relation to
staff grievances, the Joint Administrative Review Board received
10 appeals in the 12
months ending on 30 June 2010. No complaints were filed with the
ILO Administrative
Tribunal.
2 The
Staff Welfare Group is composed of the Ombudsperson, the Gender Officer, the
Head of the Staff Development and
Learning Unit, the
Head of the Occupational Health Unit, the Policy Specialist, the Legal Officer
and the Insurance and
Provider Specialist
and is chaired by the Director of HRM.
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Staff
development and learning
18. The Training
Advisory Committee was established in October 2009 with the aim of
providing guidance on
the overall orientation of Staff Development and Learning Unit (SDL)
initiatives. The
Committee has been consulted several times during the reporting period, and
its recommendations
have been embedded in the overall application of staff development and
learning tools.
19. Continuing the
trend established in 2009, Phase 2 of the IOM Project Management
Training Package is
now delivered in Field Offices in order to facilitate staff access by
reducing travel
costs. Five sessions were organized in 2009,3 as
opposed to four in 2008.4 Six
sessions are planned
for 2010, one in Geneva and five in the Field.
20. Recognizing the
complex role that IOM Chiefs of Mission have to play, SDL has
advocated for a
modular approach for targeted and meaningful training for Chiefs of Mission.
As such, the first
module “Managing IOM Resources” will be piloted in October 2010, with
new modules on
managing the security of IOM Staff, operations, media and mediation skills
planned for delivery
in 2011.
21. The Performance
Development System was reviewed at the end of 2009 by a group of
Resources Management
Officers and HRM Specialists in Manila and Panama. Taking on
board the
recommendations of this review, HRM and SDL have now taken the first steps in
developing a more
robust system that will embed staff evaluation within the broader
managerial
architecture of the Organization. The intention of the IOM Administration is to
launch the new system
in the first half of 2011.
IV.
CONCLUSION
22. The coming year
will present heightened challenges for the Administration as it
implements the Field
re-structuring procedures. It is anticipated that recent and ongoing
reforms such as the
new Staff Regulations and the implementation of a new staff evaluation
system will
facilitate HRM’s support to this implementation process. HRM continues to take
important steps
towards improving the quality of human resources management in IOM.
3 Sessions
were organized in Brussels, Geneva, Manila, Nairobi and Panama.
4 All
these sessions were organized in Geneva.
