Human Resources AG (2018-2022)

Human Resources AG (2018-2022)

Activity period: 2018 - 2022

Objectives

To promote Human Resources as an integral part of good business practices in financial services providers (FSPs). These commonly have a large customer base – and many employees, with the institutions' success, and its social and financial performance, depending to a large extent on their human resources – their qualifications, their motivation and level of satisfaction. The HR AG activities offered a landscape of HR functions and practices in the financial inclusion sector and promoted the exchange of experiences and learnings on human resources practices carried out in a strategic and sustainable way.

Activities

Survey on Human Resources Development Practices in FSPs (2018-2021)

Mapping existing HR practices in FSPs assessing how far institutions use HRD as a strategic instrument for managing social and financial performance and filtering out good practices as well as gaps in HR practices. It was designed to allow participant institutions to understand their current state of HR practice and gain insight into alternative approaches that contribute to social and financial performance
Survey in 5 languages (English, French, Spanish, Arabic, and Lao)
Research conducted by consultant Cheryl Frankiewicz in collaboration with the HR AG members.
Survey Results were important input to the review of Dimension 5 of the Universal Standards on Social and Environmental Performance Management (USSEPM) in 2022

Blog series on HR practices (2021)

Blogs documenting 5 thematic case studies based on the recommendations of the survey report and a blog by ADG on the Talent Management Life Cycle (TMLC)
Case studies prepared by Cheryl Frankiewicz with the participation of 7 FSPs - ASKI (Philippines), Bank Arvand Tajikistan, Buusaa Gonofaa (Ethiopia), Crystal (Georgia), FINCA Guatemala, Mutuelle pour le Développement à la Base (MDB) Benin, and Vision Fund Guatemala.

Webinar Series on Experiences from the Field (2022)

4 webinars to promote the results of the survey report, highlight the experience of selected FSPs in the implementation of different HRD practices, and exchange with practitioners on specific topics.
Collaboration with ILO-Social Finance and support in the organization from consultant Cara Forster.
Webinars on ‘Aligning HR practices with business strategy’ with the participation of Baobab Madagascar and Crystal (Georgia); ‘Supporting managers in their HR role’, with Al Majmoua (Lebanon), ASKI (Philippines) and FUBODE IFD (Bolivia); and two webinars (English and Spanish) on ‘How to Promote Gender Equality among Management and Staff in MFIs’, with CoreWoman and The Friendship Bridge (Guatemala).

A special thank you to:

The 195 FSPs from 56 countries that participated in the survey and to the FSPs that were willing to share their experiences through the thematic cases and webinars.
The AG members, particularly ADA, ADG, ILO, MFC and SPTF for their contributions in promoting the survey and to ILO for its financial contribution in the organization of the webinar series.
The AG Heads, Patricia Richter from ILO and the ADG team (Elisabeth Niendorf, Abbad El-Rayyes and Isabelle Katthagen).