Concern Worldwide’s Strategic Plan recognises the key role played by people in its operations. ”Having the necessary quantity and quality of human resources”, it states in the Executive Summary, is “fundamental to the attainment of all the objectives in the strategic plan.”

One of the 10 objectives in the Strategic Plan itself is dedicated to human resources. It states that Concern aims “to recruit, retain and develop staff, and to promote the organisation’s ethos with them through appropriate human resources policies in line with the People In Aid Code of Good Practice” in order that it might “carry out its mission as effectively as possible”.

For Concern, growth is “not just about the number of countries we work in or the number of people which the organisation works with. It is also about the quality of the work we do.” The growth will be determined by “the development of organisational capacity and human resources”. From this derive a number of priorities, such as becoming an employer of choice, quality of recruits, investment in training, giving career opportunities and creating the right working environment.

Of course, such objectives do not just happen. There are many specific resources identified in the Strategic Plan as being necessary to the achievement of the objectives in the human resources strategy. For example, 4% of each country or department’s payroll is allocated to training and development and an HR post can be established for every country employing over 75 staff.

The Leprosy Mission International currently works in 24 countries, and to ensure the organisation continues to reflect the overall vision and strategy, recent moves towards a more participatory and community-based approach were accompanied by structural change.

Changes were led by a “structure review action group” which received input from the entire organisation and key stakeholders via focus groups and a survey. As a result, regional field forums were established and incorporated within the new structure, with the aim of improving working relationships between donors, beneficiaries and staff. Each forum comprises between 12 and 15 members, and includes a Board representative, the relevant field director (or regional manager), together with a number of international and local field staff and also beneficiaries.

Regional field forums meet once a year and, in addition to acting as advisors to the field director for new programmes and budgets, they also influence the overall operational strategy. They are ultimately accountable to the Board of Directors, which reviews their activities on a regular basis.

As an international organisation the British Council enjoys enormous diversity among its staff. Of the 7,300 staff around the world, some 6,000 are employed in-country. Such diversity is to be celebrated, but it brings many challenges and these are being overcome by the organisation’s diversity strategy.

A programme of organisational culture change is helping the British Council become a better place to work, and providing the impetus for harmonisation of terms and conditions, the creation of consistent job families and the clarification of staff development and progression opportunities. Workshops and an interactive CD Rom have helped communicate the revised equal opportunities and diversity strategy throughout the whole organisation.

Senior level targets to increase the numbers of women and minority ethnic staff at senior management over a five to ten year period have been supported by a programme of positive action, and progress to date is tangible.

Diversity working groups are forming the basis for a global network of staff committed to the diversity agenda, and a global staff survey provided helpful insights into potential problem areas. The results were discussed on a country-by-country basis and supporting action plans established to address the issues raised.

The World Bank workforce comprises 147 nationalities spread over 106 country offices. To better reflect their clients’ diversity and priorities, as well as to model employment best practice worldwide, the Bank has an established Diversity Programme.

The Programme is aimed at engendering a diversity of thought and voice and its ultimate objective is that of inclusion. It covers nationality, race, gender, educational background, academic discipline and previous work experience. Many initiatives put this into practice. For example, in recruitment, skills are prioritised and then candidates are sought further afield than has been traditionally the case; and in the workplace itself, staff have been trained to embrace the richness of the Bank’s cultural diversity through the ”Working with Respect” campaign.

In the words of the World Bank: “As decentralisation and devolution locates more and more expertise in the field we are more conscious than ever that the legitimate aspirations of a globally-located and diverse workforce will require working with respect and full inclusion for optimal development effectiveness and poverty eradication.”

Oxfam GB has developed an HIV/AIDS Workplace policy and programme to respond to the impact of HIV/AIDS on the organisation. In developing the policy, Oxfam GB assessed the scale of the problem, identified ways in which the organisation was vulnerable to the impacts of HIV/AIDS, and then assessed the cost/benefit of investing in a workplace programme. This involved widespread consultation with a range of internal stakeholders, as well as researching the approaches of other agencies and commercial multinational companies. Local input and buy-in was achieved partly through a series of workshops and one-to-one interviews with key staff in the areas most affected.

Staff awareness of the policy and practice is being increased through the provision of a central resource pack, which includes a staff handbook, a general staff leaflet and induction materials for adaptation and use locally. The organisation is also identifying HIV Champions in local offices to support the education and prevention programme.

Clear guidance on the scope of the policy and the implementation process now exists for managers. The challenge of implementation is being eased through the provision of training and support, and by the establishment of modified information systems that are able to track key indicators in the field (such as sickness, absence and medical costs). In addition dedicated Implementation Managers have been appointed to ensure success in the two African regions assessed as priorities.

ITDG (Intermediate Technology Development Group) is a global organisation and with its overseas offices and programmes being managed exclusively by local staff, the role of the HR team in the head office is to provide support and guidance on policy formulation, adaptation and implementation to overseas offices when required.

ITDG has seven country offices and each has a dedicated human resources representative, who is also responsible for Finance and Administration, in its main office. S/he manages the HR processes locally and, with the country director, will have final responsibility for ensuring that HR policies remain consistent with equivalent policies throughout the organisation across the world, yet also reflect the local needs and legal or cultural norms.

The process is effective and the benefits of such local empowerment are quite tangible. A virtual network between ITDG’s staff responsible for HR around the world has helped improve the rate of information sharing between offices, and the plans to strengthen this further will enhance the capacity of local staff.

Islamic Relief is committed to maintaining a level of pay and benefits that is fair to all employees and competitive in the local market. Changes in the local market are monitored by senior management who assess the impact they might have on existing policies. This research informs a regular review process and any changes are introduced following consultation with staff.

Islamic Relief recently addressed the issue of fairness in its benefits policy by harmonising it across the organisation, bringing consistency between countries while retaining a degree of flexibility to ensure local requirements were addressed. For example, per diem allowances are now based on the same principles and eligibility criteria throughout the organisation and applied uniformly to all staff irrespective of position, status, nationality or country of origin, but the actual rates are defined locally according to currency fluctuations and cost of living. Similarly, staff working in recognised “hardship” postings receive a hardship allowance calculated as a fixed percentage of basic salary. All staff in the hardship programme or location (whether international or local) have the same percentage added to their normal pay.

As well as incorporating issues of fairness and consistency, Islamic Relief also endeavours to ensure the benefits policy remains in keeping with employees’ expectations. For example, rather than impose life assurance cover, all staff receive a health insurance allowance which gives them the option of making their own personal arrangements in line with their own wishes.

Health Unlimited’s (HU) Managers’ Handbook addresses most aspects of human resource management. It responds to staff and management requests for policy consistency, and for guidelines on human resources issues for managers in the field. It aims to “ensure that HU has consistent management practice by having global policies and procedures; ensure that the management practice is of a good standard by writing appropriate policies informed by best practice; save management time and effort in the field and in HQ by having clearly worded policies, procedures and practical tools by reducing managers’ need to refer back to HQ; and allow flexibility by providing clear principles and minimum standards with room for interpretation locally”.

The introduction stresses the importance of the input provided by managers themselves and the “best practice collected from other British NGOs, especially through the People In Aid group”. Input from staff and managers was collected at regional meetings, where human resources is always an agenda item. Regional meetings also provide the forum for adapting policies to the local context. Updates are circulated regularly.

Tearfund works through local partners in around 80 countries. In recent years Tearfund has broadened its disaster management work and so introduced a Disaster Management Development Programme. This aims to strengthen the knowledge, experience and capabilities of existing field managers, equipping them for disaster management work in operational programmes and partner support work. The programme is open to all managers and so far almost half the delegates have been national staff. It was designed by Tearfund’s own learning and development specialists around a “cascade” model in which individual participants are encouraged to transfer their learning to others and to their programme.

Tearfund aims to use the programme to develop current and emerging leaders and the first course module – “programme design and planning” - has been validated by the UK’s Institute of Leadership and Management. External validation forms part of a formal accreditation process and such recognition assures participants that the content is of a high quality. The remainder of the programme covers aspects of disaster management, generic people and project management together with skills for personal development and developing others.

The first module has been extremely well received. Staff are eager to learn and having had numerous opportunities to apply their enhanced skills they are, in the words of one field co-ordinator based in Sierra Leone, feeling very “fulfilled” and much more confident in their ability to do their jobs.

World Vision developed its global leadership development initiative “Pathways to leadership” in recognition of the fact that competent management of the NGO non-profit sector is an extremely important issue. The initiative is driven by an acute awareness of the strategic importance of effective leadership at multiple levels, and the scarcity of competent leaders to meet these needs in the developing world.

All World Vision’s managers receive a wide range of relevant training and support, but the “Pathways to leadership” programme seeks to develop high-potential leaders in their work with the poor and oppressed and there is a particular focus on cultivating national staff.

The uptake is almost equally split between male and female staff, and the benefits to individuals have been quite tangible, with many remarking on the increased effectiveness of their work as a result of improved skills.

The benefits to the organisation have also been significant. World Vision’s recent evaluations suggest that programmes are having a much greater impact on communities. Moreover, the ability to source high calibre leaders from within the organisation is paying dividends, with a large number of course participants promoted to leadership positions.

A new appraisal scheme at Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) means that all UK-based staff have an annual appraisal between March and May, after budgets and organisational objectives have been set for the coming year. The new scheme links these corporate objectives to key objectives set for each employee, each with SMART performance indicators – specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely - as well as including discussions around personal and team development plans. Employee progress during the previous year is assessed against the key objectives and also against VSO’s brand characteristics. These are, in essence, behavioural competencies linked to VSO values and include “professional”, “passionate”, “empowering”, “collaborative” and “openness to learning”.

The benefits of the new scheme include improved individual and organisational performance, improved dialogue and support between staff and their managers and better individual and organisational staff development.

For both appraising managers and staff being appraised, VSO provides annual workshops on the skills of appraisal, including feedback skills, and how to get the most out of the process.

VSO’s intention is to extend the core principles of the scheme to all staff working in their programme offices. These will be considered carefully to ensure that there is a good cross-cultural “fit” and where necessary they will be adapted to meet different cultural needs.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has revised its Code of Conduct. This provides managers and staff with clear guidelines on behaviour during their employment. Staff are required to sign the Code of Conduct along with their contract documentation when they join the organisation.

The Code of Conduct ensures that staff are aware of their professional responsibilities when on an international posting. It covers general points, such as “upholding the highest standards of competence, efficiency and integrity” through to more specific issues, such as complying with local safety directions and a responsibility to update oneself when changes are made. It acts as a reference during the selection process and during briefing/induction, as well as serving as a guide for managers during regular performance review meetings with staff.

The themes covered in the Code of Conduct result from in-depth discussion inside the agency, and NRC’s emphasis now is on training managers in how to deal with difficult and sensitive issues or allegations appropriately.

The International Nepal Fellowship (INF) has around 60 expatriates and more than 450 local staff working on a number of projects spread throughout west and mid-west Nepal.

The size of the organisation, and the physical distances that separate staff (up to 600km) pose particular difficulties when dealing with issues that require comprehensive consultation and communication. Yet INF is committed to effective and meaningful employee participation, as demonstrated by the way it reviews the terms and conditions for national staff each year (part of the employee procedures manual revision process).

The annual review starts in January with an invitation for proposals for change going out to staff and their union, and ends with the beginning of the Nepali financial year in July. Over the consultation period, all staff are able to give their views, and the dialogue involves managers, the union and human resources staff. Virtual meetings and exchanges of information are successfully combined with face-to-face meetings, and the final recommendations from nominated staff representatives are presented to board directors for approval prior to implementation. Completing the process with the Board’s sign off underlines a commitment to open communication at all levels of the organisation. Ensuring all staff and volunteers have a voice is not only in keeping with the organisation’s values but also contributes to employee satisfaction.

After a year of discussions, IHE (the International Health Exchange) and RedR entered into a full and successful merger.

From the outset both agencies agreed that the process had to be as transparent as possible. Information was shared openly which made it easier for staff to cope with the inevitable uncertainty; drafts of communications to internal and external stakeholders were also shared for comment prior to formal release to ensure consistency and clarity. Both parties worked through a staff representative and regular meetings were held to ensure open and transparent communication. Fortunately no staff posts were placed at risk by the merger and discussions therefore focused around staff’s current position and their future prospects within the merged organisation.

Both parties agreed that involving an HR professional would ensure that legal obligations towards staff were met throughout the consultation and merger process and a member of the RedR board was selected for this role. IHE’s well developed and comprehensive employment procedures manual also helped provide a sound framework for the change process and as a result is being incorporated within the new entity’s management system.

A “staff merger working group” is charged with managing the ongoing integration of the two organisational cultures, systems and business processes, and their work is monitored by the “joint trustees merger monitoring group”, which comprises three trustees from each board.

Amnesty International grew in a fairly unplanned way from a small informal network of dedicated people into a much larger and more complex organisation with all the associated implications in terms of planning, management and hierarchies.

Stakeholder dissatisfaction with the fact that the management infrastructure had not kept pace with global growth and decentralisation prompted a worldwide review of staff management.

Senior staff initiated a consultative approach, enabling any member of staff to share concerns and to offer practical solutions via the intranet. Three months were spent simply listening to as many people as possible at headquarters and around the world. Then came diagnostic presentations offering an evolving process of consultation and debate to key stakeholders. The whole review process endeavoured to create space and opportunity for staff to try new ways of problem solving and to contribute ideas.

There was an immediate improvement of morale in the short term and a new and positive framework was set with the main trade union. Confidence and enthusiasm for change is apparent. This led to increased expectations, which Amnesty is meeting with a significant investment in human resources and in the application of innovative approaches to strategic and operational planning.

When the People In Aid Code was first launched the sector agreed that as a part of its accountability to staff, a process for verifying implementation was necessary. Social audit, an accountability tool (see page 23), was judged to be closest to values commonly found in the sector in that it is a participatory and transparent process.

Social audit allows organisations to gain a clearer picture of how their stakeholders view them and build more beneficial relationships with them. It helps them to anticipate concerns the stakeholders have, manage consequential risks and let stakeholders know how they are performing.

With the People In Aid Code, the main stakeholders are staff and volunteers. All agencies which have used social audit to implement the Code have used surveys or focus groups to work with their staff and benefit from their input. One agency piloting the process summed up the views of many: “The greater level of consultation which resulted from engaging in the [implementation] process was welcomed by staff.”

Save the Children UK recruits hundreds of people each year through its London office, many of whom will go on to have contact with children and young people. Incorporating robust and successful child protection measures in its recruitment procedures is given absolute priority.

One particular challenge is vetting applicants who have lived or worked in countries where reliable criminal record or police checks are unobtainable. In such cases, alternative means of checking suitability are required.

Some of the steps introduced include rigorously checking the employment history of short-listed candidates, ensuring they have submitted signed application and disclosure of conviction forms and that their identity is checked at interview.

Interview panels always include at least one interviewer trained to screen for child protection concerns, and candidates must answer specific questions relating to child protection, which are drawn up with guidance from the organisation’s child protection manager.

Before confirming any offer of employment, at least two (usually three) satisfactory references must be received with a reference from the previous line manager a pre-requisite. All references are verified, a process which involves telephoning the referee and confirming the authenticity of the reference.

Save the Children publicly declares its commitment to protecting children and young people from abuse and emphasises that appropriate checks will be carried out on all applicants. Where this does not deter those deemed “unsuited to work with children and young people” from applying for jobs, the robust procedures provide a comprehensive safeguard.

Terre des Hommes developed a comprehensive recruitment and selection policy and procedures following consultation with managers in a range of Terre des Hommes country programmes. The result is a framework for recruitment and selection which is consistent with best practice and allows for adaptation to the local legal and cultural contexts.

Training to support local managers implementing the policy was piloted in Egypt and is now being rolled out to the rest of the organisation. The impact on programmes in Egypt, Ethiopia and Afghanistan has already been reported as positive and this can be attributed to empowered local managers with enhanced skills making fair and effective recruitment decisions based on written policies and procedures.

The Agency for Co-operation and Research in Development (ACORD) has around 500 staff working for social justice and development alongside some of the poorest and most disadvantaged people in 17 countries throughout Africa.

A period of intense organisational change (culminating with the re-location of the headquarters to Nairobi during 2003) encouraged a review of organisation-wide policies and initiatives. Among these was the successful introduction of measures to meet the agency’s commitment to fair, transparent and consistent recruitment, which was a challenge for an organisation whose individual country programmes have developed quite autonomously over many years.

Recruitment of all senior-level programme staff is monitored closely. Vacant posts are carefully reviewed in consultation with the head office and interview panels always include an independent and objective interviewer. Short-listing is undertaken on the basis of competencies alone (personal data is removed beforehand) and the interview is also primarily competency-based. The organisational development director reviews all supporting notes and interview documentation to ratify the whole selection process for fairness and consistency prior to an offer of employment being confirmed. A member of the panel then communicates the panel’s decision to all interviewed candidates and feedback is given where requested.

Ensuring that all delegates are fully prepared before a Red Cross mission is critical to enabling them to be effective in their roles. At the British Red Cross Society (BRCS) this starts with a compulsory eight-day induction course, held annually and covering the Red Cross context together with the basics of International Humanitarian Law, cultural sensitivity, stress management and security awareness.

Written documentation is then issued as part of the pre-mission briefing process, followed by face-to-face briefings with the desk officer responsible for the country of posting, technical advisors, the international personnel team plus a medical review. These comprehensive briefings are normally supplemented by further briefings in Geneva (by the International Committee of the Red Cross or the Federation) and in the field.

Preparation does not stop once someone is on mission. BRCS has a written training and development policy that outlines opportunities delegates can expect to receive. Delegates are encouraged to review their training and development requirements through their appraisal, post-mission debriefs, and professional development plans. A training panel is responsible for approving individual requests or management recommendations for both internal and external training. Where appropriate, external courses or academic study, with recognised qualifications, are encouraged. BRCS also runs specific courses, such as security or project management, which are planned and budgeted a year in advance.

BRCS also acknowledges alternative ways of learning by developing possible traineeships and mentoring schemes, for example.

At Oxfam Community Aid Abroad (Oxfam Australia) the debriefing process assists organisational learning and is helping increase the impact of programmes and improve conditions for future employees.

While debriefing is beneficial to the individual staff member, it also enables Oxfam Australia to address any issues that require action from an organisational perspective.

In particular, the learning from the assessment and analysis of debriefing returned staff from Oxfam Australia’s East Timor emergency response has been substantial. Feedback has led to recommendations made at field, head office and policy level, resulting in a number of changes being made, for example in recruitment processes and the housing and accommodation policy.

A two-stage debriefing process (in-country, and with a representative from international human resources) ensures a focus on work-related and management issues as well as general human resources topics, such as recruitment, health-related issues and the individual’s personal development. Matters relating to the individual are followed through, relevant feedback on organisational issues is collated and the trends or key points are regularly shared with management at appropriate intervals.

For the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), with 6,000 staff based across 280 offices in 120 countries, staff access to learning opportunities is a major challenge. A realisation that conventional training workshops were neither effective nor sustainable in encouraging learning, resulted in a strategic shift that brought learning to the workplace and the learners.

UNHCR has supported this strategic shift in a number of ways. Since 1999, 20% of its staff development budget has been allocated to the field offices who are empowered to identify their specific learning needs and identify local solutions. On-the-job learning (for example, coaching, shadowing, action learning, guided missions) is encouraged. From its headquarters in Geneva, training providers in the various subject areas are converting or redesigning training workshops into distance learning modules or blending self-study elements and workplace application with the face-to-face events to create 9-month learning programmes. E-learning was introduced in early 2003 with on-line courses in management, personal effectiveness and communications skills. Where the subject matter warrants (staff safety, induction and supply chain), UNHCR has developed interactive learning CD-Roms in-house. There remains a need to develop more tools for self-directed learning (self-study guides, coaching guides, job aids) in a number of UNHCR-specific subject areas and to reinforce the important role of all supervisors to more proactively facilitate the learning of their staff.

The adjustment has been surprisingly well accepted, particularly in the field offices where lack of access to learning opportunities was a source of frustration. Skills development is all the more important as offices expand and contract with refugee influxes. While learning activities must match organisational needs we should not ignore the fact that capacity building of locally recruited staff is also an organisational obligation. 

CARITAS Europa (CE) is part of the international confederation of Catholic relief, development and social service organisations, which work in 198 countries to alleviate poverty and suffering.

In a major crisis, CE’s Emergency Response and Support Teams are often among the first to arrive on the scene, and this is to a large extent due to the careful attention paid to emergency planning.

When news of a crisis reaches the head office, available staff are identified and selected from a regularly-updated database, and are then comprehensively briefed before mobilisation and in more detail upon arrival in the country of posting.

To speed up the mobilisation of emergency staff, CE ensures those on the database receive regular emergency response training. This includes International Humanitarian Law, security procedures, team-building, trauma counselling, minimum standards in emergency response, as well as financial and project management.

Staff that travel, or are likely to travel, internationally are kept up to date with their inoculations and have a compulsory annual or biannual medical check-up, according to the policy of the individual CE member organisation. This does not preclude the need for an appropriate health check and briefing prior to mobilisation but it does reduce the time spent on activities that could have been undertaken previously.

Some of the stress experienced by field staff comes from isolation, such as for geographical reasons, the type of mission, conflicts in the team or curfew restrictions. The personal make-up of the humanitarian worker can lead to a feeling of loneliness, even if working in a huge refugee camp in a large team of co-workers. To compound the situation, individuals may feel unable to share their difficulties with the team or the managers, perhaps for personal reasons or perhaps because the mechanism for them to do so is somehow lacking, and they thus “soldier on” as “walking wounded".

The Center for Humanitarian Psychology (CHP) addressed the problem througha free and confidential support service with a team of three psychologists who have field experience. More than 400 people made contact via email or phone last year, although half were callers primarily seeking reassurance in their situations. A small number actually presented with signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and were advised that they should seek professional support immediately.

The CHP says the cases it has dealt with “clearly demonstrate that organisations have a huge responsibility towards staff well being, especially as staff near the end of their contracts when effective debriefing is essential”.

In Afghanistan, Mission East’s Country Director found that a constant dialogue with both national and international staff was essential for effectively managing security. In late 2001 and during 2002, the working context was characterised by instability and insecurity. Situations changed extremely rapidly and agencies had to be able to respond appropriately.

Mission East worked in the north east of Afghanistan, some distance from the capital Kabul. The organisation’s security policy and guidelines were adapted to the local context at the outset. To mainstream a security awareness within the whole team, all staff received comprehensive and participatory training on security and staff safety. Decision trees, scenario planning and role-playing helped individuals to think and plan laterally. Great efforts were made to embed this security awareness within routine operations and every individual was required to participate in security discussions. To overcome an initial reluctance in sharing information, the country director would make a point of meeting with all staff at the end of each day and these informal team meetings provided an extremely valuable forum for sharing a wide range of information that impacted on security management. Staff quickly realised that even what appeared to be basic information or what might be considered a trivial or one-off incident was relevant and needed to be shared with colleagues, management and even other NGOs working in the area.

C3 is a CARE-Canada initiated project, triggered by experiences in Rwanda, now run for the agency by a human resources consultancy. It is a psycho-social counselling program offered to staff being deployed into high-risk areas, as well as for critical incidents. A small roster of psycho-social counsellors from across the world, with different specialties and language skills, offer staff pre-deployment briefings, in-country support and debriefings. The programme also offers training sessions to country directors and HR professionals to help them detect warning signs for burnout and depression.

During critical incidents, counsellors are made available to staff. For mission-critical or multi-victim incidents counsellors are deployed to the scene. Otherwise, and for longer-term support, individuals are referred to local service providers. Families are also given appropriate personal support when required.

“The Missing” project is an extremely important piece of work for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and one of the outcomes has been the development of guidelines for all those working with families of those who have disappeared during conflict or for another reason.

The guidelines highlight the fundamental responsibility agencies have in training and supporting their staff (who are working with such families), and recognise that staff and volunteers may themselves also become victims as a result of the stress they suffer during the course of their work.

The guidelines insist that all fieldwork be preceded by comprehensive briefings by experts with local knowledge and experience of local culture and traditions. In addition to specific training required for the job they perform, all staff will be trained in the psychological reactions trauma victims may suffer, and on the ways in which they themselves can avoid secondary traumatisation. Teams will be regularly debriefed, and while in the field, continuous supervision together with ongoing support will help staff deal with particular problems. It is intended that these guidelines will go a significant way towards minimising the risk of staff becoming traumatised or suffering burnout.

At Malteser Hilfsdienst, a German relief agency, debriefing is part of a continuous process of communication rather than an activity confined solely to the end of the contract, although in keeping with good practice all international staff are required to pass through the head office for debriefing and an exit interview when their contract has ended. While the agency is concerned that this process be perceived less as ”supervision”, the principle of regular and open communication throughout the employment contract helps the organisation identify and deal with issues affecting the security, health and safety of this category of staff in a timely manner.

Regular contact between field staff and desk officers in the head office is supplemented by regular visits by the desk officer to the field. A process of regular and open communication, together with a strict enforcement of regular leave (and rest and relaxation periods where appropriate), helps the organisation to identify stress or health issues affecting international staff before the debriefing stage and take action before unmanageable problems develop. When it becomes evident that an individual requires medical attention or additional support, a medical professional at head office assumes the responsibility of co-ordinating further assistance. Local staff benefit from the open and transparent communications and in many of Malteser’s country programmes also receive exit interviews and debriefings.

InterHealth says: “In our work as health advisor to many international aid agencies, we daily see the dire consequences to individuals and agencies when health related issues and work-life balance are not given top priority. We strongly encourage all agencies to adhere robustly to Principle seven. This will help to avoid preventable problems and should they occur, will minimise their impact. “