Staffing Architecture & Human Resources (HR)

This category speaks to how donor/financing agencies have invested in and built out their staffing infrastructures to support gender-related investments, including internal-focused gender mainstreaming efforts. Components listed include staffing architecture (e.g., types of gender expertise at different levels of the agency, allocation of gender staff, etc.), capacity building (e.g., trainings, technical support, etc.), and general HR processes (e.g., hiring, retention, staff support and risk mitigation, performance procedures, etc.).

Putting it in Practice

Explore a story illuminating the practical implementation of this element

“We’ve become intentional about creating an organizational culture that values gender equality – with gender training for everyone. It helps us weave in gender considerations within every team’s design thinking, implementation and evaluation processes, and reporting mechanisms. And it helps all staff to understand why the gender mandate is so important. Our institution also makes sure that we can hold leaders accountable to gender equitable HR policies and practices.”

  • STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS

    What types of staffing architecture exist to support the gender mandate?

    • Gender architecture (non-sector-specific gender expertise) is resourced throughout the institution to support all initiatives.

    • Gender staff hiring and placement requirements (i.e., gender experts as focal points, specialists, advisors; per the policy) are based upon whether the programmatic budget exceeds a certain amount and whether the investment is located in an emergency context.

    • Gender advisors/specialists/officers/points-of-contact are required at every level of the institution.

    • Regional and country gender focal points exist in most country offices.

    • Gender experts exist in all sectors and report to sector leads.

    • The institution has standard position descriptions for all gender specialist hires.

    • The institution Gender Equity Division (i.e., a network, committee, or secretariat) provides a central platform for strategic, operational, and knowledge cooperation across departments and between HQ and country offices/missions.

    ENFORCEMENT MECHANISMS

    How do institutions enforce the stated staffing architecture for gender?

    • Divisions/operating units must hire gender advisors/specialists within 3 years of the gender policy release date.

    • Gender focal points and field staff undergo a mandatory certification process to demonstrate technical rigor within these positions.

    • Some institutions’ gender staffing architecture is carried out as guidance only, with "soft" enforcement of certain positions and qualifications; "soft" here refers to the internal advocacy that is needed to ensure these positions are instated.

    RECOMMENDATIONS

    How might institutions better enforce their commitment to gender staffing architecture?

    START HERE: Develop a "good practice guide" to gender equality work that lays out features of an effective gender accountability mechanism, including a well-staffed unit, caliber of staff, description of standards, and means of integrating gender staff throughout various departments/functions (e.g., HR, finance).

    • Include the mobilization of sector-specific gender specialists in donor proposals, as well as gender expertise secondments and surge capacity in emergency response efforts.

    • Given that gender staffing relies heavily on country/regional office budgets, ensure all offices have flexible funding options for hiring gender positions.

    • Consider recommendations in the Leadership section, as support for a robust gender architecture relies on sound leadership support.

    • Align the number of gender experts hired within an institution in accordance with the portfolio size, or define a ratio of gender experts that is similar to other areas of expertise, such as monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning (MERL) specialists.

  • STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS

    How do institutions approach gender-related capacity building?

    • Gender trainings are available for all staff, and some are mandatory.

    • Institutions offer a range of gender trainings (at varying levels of complexity) to cater to different staff and allow for continued growth and learning.

    • A basic gender training is required for all staff within 1 year of hire (or 1 year of policy release date).

    • The institution requires additional trainings (x2) for gender specialists, within 5 years. Such capacity development may include in-person trainings, on-site visits, relevant exercises, etc.

    • Targeted technical support is provided to gender specialists.

    • Gender training is offered to implementing partner staff.

    • Gender content is integrated into other technical and sector trainings.

    • Training exists on a number of platforms: web-based, podcasts, and on-demand and customizable capacity development/coaching by gender team.

    • Trainings cover issues including foundational gender principles, gender integration, institutional “gender marker”, and in-depth gender concepts including barriers to access, norms, and unintended consequences.

    • Institutions offer customized technical assistance provided by internal experts to individual staff members, as needed.

    • Institutions offer on-demand capacity building/technical assistance through an external partner.

    • Institutions hire individuals with gender expertise to lessen the burden of capacity building for non-gender-focused staff.

    ENFORCEMENT MECHANISMS

    How are capacity building structures tracked and enforced?

    • Development of training and resource materials are tracked in the institutional results frameworks and performance reviews.

    • Certain gender trainings are required for all staff, often within a specified time period (e.g., within 1 year of gender policy's release); still other trainings are required for all gender advisors/specialists (e.g., within 3 years of policy release).

    • Training for gender advisors/specialists are tied to their annual performance reviews and enforced by their supervisors.

    • Inventory is taken to track all who attend gender-specific awareness-raising activities and trainings.

    • Follow-up conversations are conducted with staff who attend awareness-raising activities and trainings, to track attendance and comprehension.

    • The gender team offers on-demand, customizable capacity development/coaching, which is intended to entice learning and growth in gender integration; these efforts are tracked, but not required.

    


    RECOMMENDATIONS

    How might institutions better enforce their gender-specific capacity building structures?

    START HERE: Ensure at least a basic gender training is required for all staff.

    • Institute penalties or consequences for not completing training requirements.

    • Link a basic gender training to the onboarding procedures for new staff.

    • Require an annual refresher training to all staff (or select staff, depending on their technical responsibilities).

    • Include gender training as part of institutions' continuing education requirements.

    • Offer a range of gender trainings that are relevant to different cadres of technical staff, and tie participation to annual workplans/performance objectives.

    • Track attendance through training inventory (e.g., sign-in sheets, attendance rosters, etc.).

    • Assess knowledge acquisition and application of new skills obtained from gender trainings through follow-up sessions and one-on-one check-ins with staff.

    • Offer on-demand, customizable coaching to staff, as possible and appropriate.

  • STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS

    What other HR processes support the gender mandate?

    • Institutions aim for gender parity in hiring.

    • Institutions aim for gender equality in HR processes (i.e., EDGE certification).

    • Institutions employ workplace policies and/or formal systems that promote equity and counter/address SEA/SH, including reporting back to staff on institutional progress in these areas.

    • Institutions create a working group to oversee the prevention and response of SEA/SH.

    ENFORCEMENT MECHANISMS

    How do institutions enforce HR practices that support the gender mandate?

    • Institutions follow EDGE Certification protocols for institution-wide HR procedures: 1) equal pay for equivalent work, 2) recruitment and promotion, 3) leadership development training and mentoring, 4) flexible working arrangements, and 5) company culture.

    • Gender parity is enforced through governing bodies (e.g., the UN Secretary General).

    • The Executive Board requires progress reports on gender-related workplace policies' implementation.

    • An internal staff survey is used to assess the percentage of men and women who believe they are given fair promotion opportunities.

    RECOMMENDATIONS

    START HERE: Set a requirement for hiring staff who have a baseline competency in gender.

    • Routinely include gender skills and experience requirements in position descriptions.

    • Instate a mechanism to track and report on gender parity in hiring.

    • Survey staff to understand perceptions of and enforce fair promotion opportunities, flexible working conditions, and promotion and retention of women in senior positions, among other gender-related HR policies.

    • Encourage EDGE certification for internal and external enforcement of HR practices.