Effective development co‑operation depends on diverse, skilled and adaptable people and teams. Within governments, strategic workforce planning, mobilising diverse skill sets, continuous learning, and flexible staffing practices enable better policy design, partnerships and delivery. Engaging staff, fostering collaboration and investing in country-level presence help maximise impact, efficiency and responsiveness, including in more fragile contexts.
People and skills
Abstract
Development co-operation is only as good as the people that underpin it. Building people and teams that are flexible, innovative, mobile, diverse and efficient helps Development Assistance Committee (DAC) Members to fully understand context, formulate appropriate policies, build effective partnerships and ensure optimal use of limited resources.
Most DAC Members have standard civil service codes, charters and ethics statements to guide their people management. The OECD has also identified three building blocks for an effective public service.
Note: Section B.2 of the OECD DAC Peer Review Analytical Framework on human resources capabilities and skills identifies the need for members to have the necessary diversity, skills, capacity for critical thinking, and knowledge at all levels to manage and deliver development co-operation efforts effectively, and ensure the right skills are in the right places.
With specific regard to development co-operation, the DAC expects that members have a diverse, skilled and knowledgeable workforce. The number or profile of staff, how performance is managed, and the extent of decentralisation or delegated authority depends on each member’s policy objectives, institutional structure, ways of working and scale.
1. Plan strategically to ensure capacity is in place to deliver policy objectives
Management dashboards: Many members, including the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, use management dashboards to track and anticipate staff numbers, skills and performance.
A long-term perspective to recruitment: France’s Development Agency (AFD) anticipated expansion of its workforce five years in advance. This has allowed time to ensure skills were in place and to negotiate new contracts.
Institutional reviews: Belgium and the Czech Republic periodically review their institutional arrangements, e.g. the division of labour between the ministry responsible for development and its related agency. This minimises the duplication of technical skills and increases efficiency.
2. Build skills and capacities through continuous learning
Staff rotation: Smaller administrations, such as Denmark, the Slovak Republic and Ireland, ensure a regular rotation of staff between policy, programming and support functions, as well as between headquarters and overseas posts. Good workforce planning is needed to manage turnover, ensure adequate attention to induction, handover and knowledge management.
Helpdesks: Technical helpdesks offer guidance and advice to teams across government on diverse issues such as disability, innovation, adaptation or evaluation.
3. Buy or borrow additional skills to make best use of core staff
Knowledge transfer: DAC Members are increasingly crowding in expertise and skills from across their own ministries and institutions. Examples include Norway’s Knowledge Bank and Expertise France.
Outsourcing: The United Kingdom uses third-party monitoring in fragile states and a private contractor to provide humanitarian experts when needed. Learning objectives and structured feedback can help to ensure that evidence and knowledge are retained in-house. Outsourcing procurement, recruitment, training, security and IT support can also free up staff for other tasks.
Regional hubs: Where resources are scarce or where members find it challenging to staff fragile contexts, posting staff to regional offices – for example to Nairobi to cover the Horn of Africa – is a strategy used by France, Italy, Luxembourg and Denmark, to name a few.
4. Engage staff in shaping policies and monitor well-being
Shaping policies: The Netherlands engaged all teams in their Fewer, Bigger, More Flexible reform. This built ownership of critical decisions that led to a 25% reduction in the number of partnerships.
Ethics and well-being: The United States conducted regular staff surveys and facilitated staff representation in decision making, including for Foreign Service Nationals. All staff received training on ethics and codes of conduct, including on topics such as sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment.
5. Support team building by encouraging an agile and motivated workforce
Knowledge sharing: The United Kingdom’s advisory cadres enable a flow of information, collaboration and innovation across programmes and countries. Individual performance assessment includes a requirement to contribute 10% of time to other teams.
6. Invest in country presence, particularly in fragile contexts
Local staff in key roles: Germany, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States have created senior roles for locally-engaged staff. This provides institutional memory, builds relationships and networks, and contributes to better understanding country priorities and needs.
Review local capacity: The United Kingdom regularly reviews which skill gaps can be filled by locally-engaged staff or regional recruits and allows staff to move between country offices. This has helped to attract staff to fragile contexts.
How do we know if DAC Members are moving in the right direction?
The member regularly reviews plans to build and maintain adequate expertise and capacity, encouraging staff development.
Staff diversity is reflected at all levels, and a performance system is in place that encourages collaboration and critical thinking.
Appropriate responsibility and resources are devolved to country offices, supported by adequate staffing, particularly in fragile or crisis contexts.
Human resource management systems include a code of conduct and ethical standards with proactive measures to engage staff and promote wellbeing. Further information
“Bureaucracy Lab”, World Bank [blog].
OECD Council Recommendation on Public Service Leadership and Capability, [OECD/LEGAL/0445].
Report on the Implementation of the OECD Recommendation on Public Service Leadership and Capability, OECD Council.
Public employment and management, OECD [website].
Civil Service Capacities in the SDG Era, OECD Publishing, Paris.
Toolkit to Support Implementation of the OECD DAC Recommendation on Ending Sexual Exploitation Abuse and Harassment, OECD Publishing, Paris.
Development Insights: DAC peer learning brief on building, buying and borrowing skills, Development Co-Operation Directorate, Development Assistance Committee.
DAC Evaluation Resource Centre (DEReC), OECD [website].
More Framework principles are available on Development Co-operation TIPs • Tools Insights Practices.
