Capacity Building

What is capacity building?

Despite the common use of the term “capacity building” a common level of understanding is needed if activity is to result in a sustained, cost-effective improvement in the workforce. Whilst training (often a one-off event or a ‘workshop’) is the usual activity accepted as in-creasing people’s skills and knowledge; capacity building is about more than this. It in-volves a strategic view of the development of the human resource, in the context of organisation and sector targets. Effective capacity building relates to the role the individual is meant to be filling within an organisation and how that individual contributes to the goals of the or-ganisation. In identifying what capacity needs to be improved, individual job descriptions and organisational structure need to be in place.

Capacity strengthening or capacity development is sometimes referred to, recognising that staff already have skills and that development is required by staff at all levels and all situations if an organisation is not to stand still. Recognising the importance of staff’s con-tributions to an organisation’s success introduces the concept of the human resource (HR) and human resource development (HRD) as an integral part of management.

Increasing resources in parallel

An investment in computing training will only be effective if staff also have computers to work on. It will only increase performance if the work requires computers. It will only contribute to reaching the goal if other factors, such as data for analysis or funds for delivery, are also available.

Whose capacity?

If managers are focusing on results, they need to consider all inputs into the process. Here the concept of the human resource needs to be taken as wide as necessary.

“HRD … conveys a sense of developmental policy that can extend beyond those who work in the organisation to those who, although not legally its ‘employees’, none the less make an essential contribution to its success – for example [non-governmental organisations] ,[private operators] and suppliers”

When a task is examined, many people will be involved. Training district officials in contract man-agement will not meet the desired results of contracted out services if private and NGO institutions do not understand their role. If the outcome is a functioning community water supply, then capacity of the community has to be developed . The body of people whose capacity needs to be developed is a mix of individuals, groups and communities all leading to a successful outcome.

The changing workforce in the sector

The sector is now involving people from diverse organisations and wider professional backgrounds. This is due to an increase in the activity in the sector and also an expansion of the range of institu-tions involved. Decentralisation has given responsibility to local districts; privatisation is bringing in the private sector; NGOs are active in everything from advocacy to the delivery of services. The work is also changing; technical staff are working as contract managers, planners, regulators and facilitators. Outputs are changing from physical indicators, to a demand-led service. Increased ac-tivity and decentralisation means that technicians now have more management responsibility, for financial, human and physical resources.

The staffing arrangements for DWO offices puts human resources in the centre of service delivery. The role expected of staff will determine both the quantity and quality of the people employed. The decentralization to sub-county level will require local staff to be able to manage their own work to a greater degree than in a centralised management system. Staff employed at each level need to have some guarantee that they have the skills, experience and motivation to deliver. The wage bill not only relates to the money spent, but the value for money that the staff investment can provide.

Change is not unique to the water sector. Any sector that is not stagnating will be developing, with new technologies, more efficient practices and staff joining, gaining experience and learning skills.

Factors in building capacity

Staff require three factors to be in place if they are to work to their full potential:

Considering people as a vital resource has led institutions to move from addressing administrative “personnel issues” to “human resource management” (HRM) and the trend from “training” to “hu-man resource development” (HRD), recognising that staff need just as much management to maximise their potential as more tangible assets, such as financial or material resources. Accounts are audited and vehicles serviced according to plans, but the development of staff can easily be piecemeal or taken for granted.

Changing the model of Human Resource Development

Just as technical delivery of water and sanitation services has changed to take a more demand-led approach, human resource management has also been developing its approach to meet the needs of organisations. Professional development has to be put into the business context to ensure that investments in staff are targeted to meet institutional strategies. This approach can also be applied to groups of separate institutions to determine a sector-wide strategy, such as the method UWASNET has taken in developing the whole of the NGO sector working in water and sanitation.

Staff development is a cycle of assessment within an organisational strategy, followed by actions to enhance the resource and finally by assessing the impact and the areas in need of further development. This change moves from a one-off “training needs analysis” exer-cise to on-going “skills analysis” – centring the development of people in their job, the or-ganisation and the sector objectives. Evaluation of need and impact occur at the start and finish of the development cycle.

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