Professionalizing State Rural
Livelihoods Missions:
Challenges and Solutions
By
Ved Arya, SRIJAN
15 February 2011
at
Maharashtra NRLM Workshop, Pune
Poverty in Maharashtra and Paradigm
Shifts in NRLM
• Perceptions of Prosperity and Reality of
Poverty in Maharashtra
• Building Institutions of the Poor
• Pro-Poor Financial Sector
• Implications for Human Resources
– Empowerment
– Quality SHGs
– Work Ground Up: Process Intensity
What does Professionalizing mean?
Some Questions.
• How should the leadership behave and what
culture should s/he promote?
• What kind of organisational structure and
staffing would deliver results?
• How to get the best talent possible to work in
SRLM? Is salary the only weapon?
• How to retain the best performers, when the
job market is dynamic?
Some Answers
Evident as they are from other
Experiences
Professionalising …
• Results Orientation in Leadership;
• Competence of staff (subject matter related expertise
and experience, leadership);
• Scientific and Transparent Recruitment and Selection
Methodology (eliminating bias);
• Promotion and Salary are performance-linked,
• Pro-staff and Coded HR policy leaving less scope for
discretion;
• Challenge:
– Demonstrating it across the state as opposed to in a few
districts through a SPV;
Autonomy of the State Structure
• Financial autonomy to decide Human
Resource related norms;
– To decide on salary – higher salary may mean
higher productivity;
– To decide on recruitment and selection – open
market, or deputation;
– To decide on several other things such as
performance linked salary, travel and leave rules;
• Examples of several states – Gujarat
Bihar: Structure and Staffing
State Team
State Project Managers
Project Managers
District Team
District Project Coordinators
Training/CB Coordinator
Training/CB Officer (DTO)
Functional Specialist
Block Team
Block Project Managers
Area Coordinator
Community Coordinator
Lessons in Human Resource Policy for
States in NRLM
7
Organisational Structure….
• State level autonomous society
• Usual Structure with a few innovations
– State and district management units - specialists headed
by full time long tenure CEOs – (i) state CEO an IAS officer,
aided by a COO from the market; (ii) district CEO from the
market;
– Experience range of specialists – state (10-15), district (5 to
10); Block (3 to 5); what is relevant experience?
– State specialists to have enough experience to command
respect, to be mentors to their district and block level
colleagues;
• Structure to retreat as Community Institutions Take
Over, and Community Resource Persons take on some
of the roles
Leadership and Culture
• Evident earlier in MP, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, and
now at the national level in NRLM
– Leader is accessible, approachable – listens mobile and email address;
– Creates a culture of openness – anyone can read
the documents – googlegroup for NRLM;
– Consultative rather than authoritarian – networks
and dialogues with insiders and outsiders
– Welcomes interaction with community and with
its leaders
Dedicated Teams at the Block and Sub-block
level: Was something missing in SGSY?
• Commitment and Psychological Dimension of Dedication:
– Commitment to the vision of empowerment of rural poor;
– Building institutions of the poor, that will empower them;
– Reaching out to genuine poor and working out solutions for the
problems they face
• ‘Professional teams’ at the cutting edge,
– Work in a demarcated area - not larger than 30 or 35 village cluster,
– Work with a single objective and clear strategy to ensure development
outcomes;
• Such dedicated professional teams must be allowed
– large scope and freedom and given adequate resources to work
intensively with community, and
– Innovate and implement community demand based solutions rather
than implement top down schemes;
Human Competency Set
Knowledge
Values
Creative,
Committed, People
Oriented
Leadership and
Workforce
Skills
Attitude
Lessons in Human Resource Policy for
States in NRLM
11
Recruitment and Selection….
•
•
•
•
Compensation Structure to be based on market survey
Bidding Process to Select an independent HR agency
Multiple tests to objectively assess “attitude” and “values”
Challenges:
– Asking for the moon (everyone would want a Sachin Tendulkar)
– Universe: Staff from Leading NGOs and Existing Externally Aided
Projects – would need more than raise 20% plus
– Work within parameters of “reservation” system – to find
enough people from among SC/ST/EBC communities, women;
– Branding SRLM and Attracting talent from campuses, private
sector
Selection Tests
Teaming
Personality/Attitude
Knowledge
Development
Awareness
Temperament
Group
Discussions
Role play
Motivational
Profile
Leadership Style
IQ
Case Analysis
Lessons in Human Resource Policy for
States in NRLM
13
Retention ….
• Challenge 1: How does the system work with “contract staff”
especially when they are professionals in their own right?
• Challenge 2: Leadership will see two phases
– Phase I -- Inspiring, visioning, inducting, training freshly recruited staff
– Phase II -- Staff tiring out, retiring, leaving, seeking new opportunities;
• Solutions
– Coded HR Policy
– Performance management system (PMS)
– Ongoing training and career growth
Performance Management System in Tamil
Nadu: Salient Features
• Weightage to self-assessment and verification of
results in the field;
• Encouraging team spirit;
• Including community members in the assessment
team;
• Randomising selection of village panchayats
enhancing objectivity;
• Linking reward to performance
Linking Reward to Performance
S No
1
2
3
4
Grade
Star Performers
Action Taken
Incentive of 20% of consolidated pay
given at the time of renewal of
contract
Good
Incentive of 15% of consolidated pay
Performers
given at the time of renewal of
contract
Average
No incentive at the time of renewal of
Performers
contract and to be put on notice to
improve performance
Poor Performers Contract not to be renewed
Results of Performance Assessment
Staff
Number
Assessed
Star
Performers
Good
Performers
Average
Performers
Poor
Performers
DPM
10
6
2
-
2
APM
Team
Leaders
TOTAL
59
19
36
2
2
309
107
190
5
7
378
132
228
7
11
POSITION
Summing Up
• Organisational Culture of Openness and
collegiality to create a learning organisation
• Recruit people who would be empathetic to
poor as well as capable
• Retain those who perform
Thank you for Your Patience!
www.srijanindia.org