Organisational Development Review and Stock Take Kevin Doran Oxford Policy Management

Remit 1. Stock Take of the Implementation of the OD Process. 2. Reflection on UNRWA’s Plan for Sustaining Change. 3. Preliminary Reflection on the Impact of OD on UNRWA’s effectiveness.

Activity to Deliver the Remit 1. Review of Plans Focus Group meetings with Field and HQ managers and Staff. 3. Individual meetings with all the HQ and Field Directors. 4. Meetings with 3 Donors. 5. Two site visits – health clinic and food distribution warehouse.

Remit – Part 1 - Stock Take of Implementation 1. Firstly the OD Plan itself. – –It is not just that the Plan itself was good technically – the Plan was a representation of a clear direction of travel that is Decentralisation. – –The last 3 or 4 years have demonstrated that this was absolutely the right direction of travel, AND should continue to be the direction of travel for the future. – –Right Direction and Right Plan.

Remit Part 1 – Stock Take – Implementation of the Plan Four Levers of Change 1. Programme Management Cycle – Medium Term Strategy, FIPS, HIPS and crucially reviewed the Programmes (education, health, relief and social services). Assessment – got a capacity for planning that didn’t exist before. First cycle was not perfect, but it never is. Major step forward has been taken, foundation in place to be built upon.

Four Levers of Change – Human Resource Management A lot of activity – for example, new on-line recruitment process, LMDP leadership & management development, limited duration contracts, performance management initially with Gaza etc. Assessment – genuine progress on a number of fronts at the same time. Again it is “work in progress”, particularly classification, grading and pay.

Four Levers of Change – Leadership and Management Again a lot of activity, and progress, but the progress came from your direction of travel as much as the activity. LMDP positive and will have an impact, refreshed the leadership team, decentralisation had a significant impact. Assessment – good progress and more “work in progress”. Issue for future is design and implementation of accountability framework.

Four Levers of Change – Organisational Processes A lot of “bottom-up” activity, some of which has been implemented and capable of being implemented. But the big “wins” are usually in re-engineering 2 or 3 cross Agency processes, and that generally involves a strong “top-down” approach and design. Assessment – success here really hangs on the outcome of the “ERP” debate. Need to resolve this issue, clear need for an ERP system. Lack of an ERP system will become a real obstacle to change.

Reflections and Assessment Could more progress have been made across the Agency in the last 4 years? Overall no – I do not think so. Timescale – 10 years plus. Some initiatives have had a good start and make significant progress, most are work in progress, some issues need a bit of work to catch up. Overall – Agency really deserves some credit for where it has got to. There has been a fundamental change in the Agency over the last 4 years.

Part 2 – Sustaining Change – Plan for the Future Current Plan Focus on Programmes and Fund Raising. Agree. But I would broaden it to include the following Reinforce/Clarify HQ-Field Roles, Responsibilities, wrap it up in a accountability framework that is applicable for the Agency; Training – key, technical, managerial & leadership; ERP – management information system key; Strategy – focus to complement planning approach; Communications – strengthen and develop your existing capacity.

Part 3 – Preliminary Reflection on OD and Agency’s Effectiveness Got a different Agency from that of 4 years ago – but it is work in progress. Improved Managerial Effectiveness. Starting to see some examples of improved service delivery – but the big gains won’t happen until after next phase. Organisational Effectiveness – is dependent on at least 3 things – quality of Management & Leadership, change programme and resources available.

Risks 1. Fatigue – senior management fatigue and donor fatigue. 2. Problems in the wider context of what you do cannot be ignored and distract you. 3. Current funding problem AND lack of funding certainty “consumes” senior management and stops planning for future of the change programme. If one, or all of the above happen, you risk losing the value of investment already made and progress achieved.

ONE SUMMARY STATEMENT Good progress has been made, BUT it is not “job done” and everyone now has to “stay the course”. As UNRWA, as Funders - FINISH THE JOURNEY – you started.