Duties and Responsibilities
The objective of the consultancy is to Identify gaps and misalignments between funding, program needs, and staffing levels. Provide strategic recommendations for actions required in the immediate short-term to ensure for resource optimization, including staffing adjustments, programme priorities, and cost-efficiency measures.
Informed by the programmatic, cross sectoral and operational priorities of the 2022-2026 Country Programme, the Consultant will:
-Identify the skills required for all programming, operational and cross sectoral areas to deliver the Zimbabwe Country Programme
-Develop a detailed action plan with clear timelines, responsibilities, and deliverables to implement the recommendations.
-Develop a change management plan, which encompasses mitigating resistance guidance on monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to track the effectiveness of the implemented changes, including a comprehensive staff support plan.
-Submit a report issued by end of March to inform the short-term decisions (ad hoc PBR) and final report that includes a roadmap with milestones, issued by end of April 2025.
-The consultant will work closely with Country Management Team (CMT) members of the UNICEF Zimbabwe Country Office to discuss the current climate, political economy, financial horizon, programme priorities, skills mapping, capacity gaps, identification of potential skills to support office efficiency and deliver the remaining half of the CPD.
Methodology:
An phased approach will be adopted to allow for the collection, analysis, and presentation of data considering the programming, operational and cross-sectoral sections, reflecting multiple dimensions.
Phase 1: Review CPD and Programme Shifts to ensure alignment with an affordable structure
The consultant will review the CPD and the Midterm Programmatic Shifts that were aimed at accelerating results for children. This review will include the following activities:
Review CPD
Review Programme Shifts
Affordability Analysis and related documents
Meet with Senior Management and Section Chiefs to explore the impact of and the current fluid and uncertain funding and programmatic landscape, including current geopolitical landscape, driven by a mix of structural shifts, geopolitical tensions, and domestic political trends.
Assess current programmatic priorities and resource allocation.
Evaluate existing staffing levels and core structures required to deliver the programmatic needs
Conduct skills assessment through mapping staff capability levels based on the skill sets required to achieve the organization’s strategy.
Output:
-Inception report, which will include a detailed workplan, methodology, and tools to be used for the consultancy – to be presented to the CPD-CPMP Task Force, the CMT, and All Staff.
-Review of the technical competencies and skills required to implement the Midterm Programme Shifts aimed at accelerating achievement of the CPD targets.
Phase 2: Develop a change management plan.
The Consultant will facilitate meetings with Section Chiefs and staff to review and validate the data leading to discussions on the implications and opportunities for the section based on the skills gaps, including required emerging skills needs in the context of technological advancements, evolving programmatic approaches, and global best practices differentiated per function, post, and grade.
Output:
-A comprehensive staffing plan that aligns with the organization's country programme priorities. This plan should outline the number and types of staff needed, their roles, and the skills required Development of a staff support plan for positions that are not part of a core structure
-Efficiently manage resources by matching the right profiles to the required functions to deliver to a high standard. This involves allocating tasks, and ensuring there is adequate capacity to meet deadlines
Resource management also includes evaluating skill gaps or redundant skills and/or functions of current staff, highlighting high-risk areas.
Phase 3: Identify solutions optimizing existing capacities and bridging capacity gaps.
This phase will involve working with Section Chiefs in highlighting job matching where applicable and/or potential areas for investment in learning and development to bridge the capacity. Any remaining skills gaps will be considered as funds become available, in the meantime, a core structure that is able to deliver the programme will be identified.
Output:
Conduct a job/skills matching exercise
-A learning and development plan to enable targeted solutions to close skill gaps in sections and at an organizational level – including how to make the best use of available Organizational resources and general guidance for staff to take ownership of their growth and career development.
-A well-designed internal training/capacity building capacity/development plan with a list of skills to fill the gap addressing the analysis result.
Phase 4: Compilation of Report and Presentation of electronic file
A report will be presented to the Senior Management Team and Country Management Team.
Output:
Present to Senior Management, the CMT, and all staff a structure and is fit for purpose and
Draft Change Management Plan
Final consultancy report.
Tasks and Deliverables:
The projected timeline for support to Zimbabwe Country Office is two (2) months starting by the third week of March 2025, with an interim report issued by thrif week of April 2025 to inform the short-term decisions (ad hoc PBR) and final report The report will include an actionable roadmap with milestones for execution.
The Consultant will undertake the exercise in person and remotely with support from the People and Culture team and the Staff Development Committee (SDC).
A core requirement of this process is to work closely with the ZCO to develop appropriate solutions to ensure recommendations have the agreement and support of those responsible for implementation.
An effective participatory approach including the CMT, staff and Staff Association is crucial to the process of this exercise to ensure that the Consultant benefits from the enormous knowledge and institutional memory possessed by key staff in the ZCO.
The Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) will agree on a communication strategy to maximize staff engagement, ensuring that the exercise is managed carefully and in a transparent manner with the participation of all staff, including emphasis on change management principles to allay staff concerns.
