The call for coherence and strategy

The sector wide approach to planning has brought the value of coordination to the fore. Overall direction comes through the PEAP, the Joint Sector Review, the Sector Working and Thematic Groups and the annual adoption of ‘undertakings’, and district level plans supported by the TSUs. Capacity development requires the same approach: coordination, direction and ultimately an alignment of sub-sector strategies.

Good practice in human resource development is easily explained and generally makes sense. However, it is more difficult to take responsibility and action. It is clear that a finance manager has prime responsibility for the work performance of accountants and bookkeepers (and takes steps to manage and improve their performance); all managers should accept responsibility for the training and development of their own staff. This does not mean acting in isolation but rather working directly with other managers, training and personnel staff to identify and prioritise HRD needs and contribute to the shaping of cohesive corporate human resource strategies. This is particularly challenging where heavily centralised decision-making procedure is being transformed into a decentralised structure.

All this points toward the need for a shift in the way we think and act in relation to capacity development. Attitudes towards training and the prevailing organisational culture regarding learning and access to it, risk undermining the skills people have and their willingness and ability to participate in change. Just as technical delivery of water and sanitation services has changed to take a more demand-led approach, the management of people at work 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 the Uganda Water And Sanitation Network (UWASNET) has taken in developing the whole of the NGO sector working in water and sanitation.

“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”(Training for Real consultation (2003))

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” exercise to on going “skills analysis” – centring the development of people in their job, the organisation and the sector objectives. Evaluation of need and impact occur at the start and finish of the development cycle.

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