Education, Training and Employment sector days 2017 Made by: Wouter Vandamme

1. A case study of BTC’s new strategy for competency development
Improved Service delivery
Enable Organisational Change and Transformation
Staff are developed and retained
Increased Transfer of Learning

2. Agenda
1. Who are we? What is Support to Development for Human Resources (SDHR)?
2.A new strategy for what?... MORE IMPACT!
3.Lessons learnt
4.Turning learning into action
5.System integration, influence and culture
6.Strategic Way forward
2

3. 48 selected beneficiary organisations across
Uganda reaching around 3500 employees
Implemented by
Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development
Ministry of Health
Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Sports
Ministry of Water and Environment
With the financial support of
3
1 What is Support to Development of Human Resources (SDHR)?

4. 4
1 Who are beneficiary organisations for SDHR?
Selected organisations of the priority sectors of the Direct Bilateral Cooperation Program.
MoH - Ministry of Health; Health Manpower Development Centre, Arua Regional Referral Hospital, Oriajin Health
Centre IV, Adjumani DHO, Adjumani Hospital, Mungula Health Center IV, Yumbe DHO, Yumbe Hospital, Midigo Health
Centre IV, Zombo DHO, Holy Family Hospital Nyapea, Fort Portal Regional Referral Hospital, Bundibugyo DHO,
Bundibugyo Hospital, Nyahuka Health Centre IV, Ntoroko DHO, Karugutu Health Centre IV, Kasese DHO, Bwera Hospital,
Kagadi Hospital
National Teachers College Kabale, National Teachers College Kaliro, National Teachers College Mubende, National Teachers
College Muni, National Teachers College Unyama, MoESTS - Tutor Instructor Education and Training Department (TIET),
MoESTS - Construction Management Unit (CMU), MoESTS - Procurement and Disposal Unit (PDU), MoESTS - Human
Resource Management Department (HRM), Kyambogo University department of Teacher Training and Instructors' Training,
National Council for Higher Education (NCHE), National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC), Directorate of Industrial
Training (DIT), Uganda Business and Technical Examinations Board (UBTEB), Abilonino Instructors College, Kichwamba
Technical College, Kyema Technical College, Kasese Youth Polytechnic, St. Simon Peter’s Vocational Training College, St.
Joseph Technical Institute-Virika, Millennium Business School
MoWE - Wetlands Management Department, MoWE - Forestry Support Services Department, MoWE - Climate Change
Department, MoWE - Uganda National Meteorological Authority, MoWE - Policy and Planning department, MoWE - Finance and
Administration Department
Health
Sector
Education
Sector
Environment
Sector

5. We select and strengthen organisations to
define objectives to improve their
organisational performance.
We use these objectives to strengthen
organisations to develop an HRD and Training
Plan.
And we consequently support the effective
implementation of selected activities from the
HRD and Training Plan to ensure improved staff
performance at the workplace, increased
transfer of learning and through contribute to
organisational development and change and
improved service delivery.
5
1 What is our ideal for HRD?
Skilled Human Resources are Better at their Jobs

6. 6
1 Strategic vision
Learning and development of staff from an organisational perspective

7. Ownership
Phase 1 - Organizational
readiness for change and
change planning
Phase 2 - Planning of
Human Resources
Development and
Training
Phase 3 - Human
Resource
Development and
Training and Transfer
of Learning
Organisational
Self Assessment
(create urgency)
Identification of
Improvement
Areas and related
Skills Gaps (focus)
Create
commitment to
change
Justification for
Change
HRD/Training
Planning
HRD/Training
Budgeting
Training
organisation
Action planning
Improved Staff
performance
(Transfer of
Learning into
Action)
Improved
Organization
Performance &
Service Delivery
Planning
1 Operational strategy

8. 8
1 As a multi-sectoral project we aim at taking part to an ecosystem involving
many partners
SDHR
project
Ensure ownership of the organisations and build
engagement of the organisation’s management
Identify Key Levers to embed
Human Resource
Development in organisations
Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic
Development
Ministry of Health
Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Sports
Ministry of Water and Environment
Ministry of Public Service
(Training Committees, HR Technical Workings Groups,
HR Departments, Sectorial Technical Committees)
Secure synergy and complementarity to
enhance chances for sustainable change at
the organisations
TTE
ICB
CDM
PNFP
SSU
Contract quality OD and
HRD providers for service
delivery

9. 9
1 Challenges and mitigation measures
Challenges Mitigation measures
Maintain change readiness of organisations
and motivation
1. Maintain ownership at all process stages. Attention for management.
2. Guarantee that the right objectives are set
Conditions not always in place at the
organisations (hampers use of learned skills)
Invest in equipment from sector projects AND/OR enhance threshold for
equipment within the training plans
Staff are not retained 1. Include as criteria in the organisational self-assessment.
2. Collect staffing lists and update them
3. Set up a bonding system
4. Study and formulate recommendations/ policy development
Ensure effective Transfer of Learning 1. Maintain ownership at all process stages.
2. Maintain the focus on change and not only on learning (ROI)
3. Set up a transfer of learning system (= introduction of Action Plans)
Lean HR limits capacity to ensure proper
training arrangements and quality control
1. Enhance team capacity (realized in April 2017)
2. Formalize link with the sector projects (engage their field staff)
Securing synergy to create Added Value for
overall success of the Cooperation Portfolio
Need for more formal linkages and formal agreements that enable synergistic
communication, appreciative understanding and use opportunities for
integrating actions

10. 10
1 Challenges and mitigation measures
Sustainability issue Measures
Hardly any staff development budget /
National Training Policy has no budget
framework.
Set the issue on the agenda of ministries and GoU.
Staff motivation affected by low salary. This
drives motivation of some to much towards
allowances (interest in cash benefits).
1. Set the issue on the agenda of ministries and GoU.
2. Work on a system that (1) rewards real engagement and (2)
sanctions where there are issues with motivation to learn and
improve performance.
3. Direct management modality.
Some elements of the national civil service
system and weak enforcement are not
conducive for enabling change at organisations.
1. Lobby for a stronger involvement of the MoPS.
2. Study and formulate recommendations/ policy development on
strategic topics (bonding, strategic HRM, retention, centralized
versus decentralized HRM, leadership development).
3. Increase leverage of technical working groups.
Inexistence/ very limited coordination around
investments in pre- and in-service training by
both government as donors.
1. Set the issue on the agenda of ministries and GoU.
2. Increase leverage of technical working groups.

11. 11
2 A new strategy for what?... MORE IMPACT!
Impact = 3 magic words: IN ORDER TO …
A “separate training intervention” IN ORDER TO …
1. Sustainable capacity development (strategy 2012)
2. Organisational approach (strategy 2012)
3. Reach more people (strategy 2012)
4. Synergies with the other interventions and in some cases be complimentary (strategy 2012)
5. For organisations in the sectors in which the Belgian Development Cooperation is active
(strategy 2016)
6. Close collaboration with sector interventions is a must, as they better understand the sector
(strategy 2016)
7. Sector programmes cover the individual, organisational and sector/institutional level and these
projects limit their interventions to particularly the individual level (strategy 2016)

12. 12
2 Building blocks of the new strategy
Organisational
change
Sustainable
capacity
development
Needs assesment
and training
planning
Transfer of learning
Complementarity /
Synergy
More variety in
terms of training
modalities and
more topics

13. 13
3 Lessons learnt
Lessons learnt
Training and HRD is only 1 strategy of capacity
development, sometimes other capacity development
strategies are better for the situation, sometimes a
combination of strategies is needed.
To make HRD and training effective, the environment
within the organisation and the environment wherein
the organisation works need to be enabling.
Certain elements of the general strategy and the
project set-up/design (selection of organisations, call
for applications, limited instruments, different start-up
times ...) are limiting factors to innovate further.
Strategy is defined by forces that act on the
intervention. Doing nothing is no option. We have a
choice to opt to “fit” within the forces or to “stretch”
the strategy that could lead to growth.
There is not enough joint commitment to aligned
change objectives
“No one can whistle
a symphony. It
takes a whole
orchestra to play
it.” —H.E. Luccock

14. 14
4 Turning learning into action
1. Maintain the focus on change (in terms of improved
performance of staff as a lever for organizational change) and
not only on learning. Change is were the final Return on
Investment is!
2. Set up a transfer of learning system at the level of the
organisations that includes (1) learning specific action
planning, (2) structured reflective practices, and (3) an
accountability framework. (= introduction of Action Plans for
Linking Learning to Performance).
3. Adapt the project strategy and allow the project to fund also
other capacity development strategies (advice, study, ….).
4. Create within BTC an enabling framework for synergistic
working relationship as it is a powerful phenomenon to
witness in action—people working together to consume the
fewest resources possible to get the job done, while achieving
a higher quantity and quality output than if they worked
independently. (move from 1 + 1 = 2: STATIC RELATIONSHIPS
to 1 + 1 > 2: SYNERGISTIC RELATIONSHIPS)
Merely finding innovative approaches to integrate
various viewpoints is not enough. It is only through
active planning, goal setting, discipline, and consistent
application of various change facilitating methods
that a transition can be successfully achieved. Without
a structured implementation plan, the likelihood is low
that a synergistic advantage will occur.
JOINT COMMITMENT TO ALIGNED CHANGE
“There’s a difference between interest and
commitment. When you’re interested in doing
something, you do it only when circumstances permit.
When you’re committed to something, you accept no
excuses, only results.”

15. 15
Strategic
vision
Operational
strategy
Systems
integration
Influence
and culture
5 Components that should take place in order to achieve successful synergies

16. Achievements
• Select organisations that are shared with the sector projects
• Organisations define their organisational improvement objectives (change objectives)
• More people trained through a wider variety of modalities
Challenges
• Do we share the same objectives?
• Are the other conditions to make training successful available?
• Maintain change readiness and motivation at the level of the organisations
16
5 Strategic vision
Learning and development of staff from an organisational perspective

17. Achievements
• A phased and integrated capacity development framework
• Embedded, tailored, complementary approach with a potential to influence
• Participation of line ministries and colleagues from the sectors in sector technical committees
• Coordination on training plans + division of labour with respect to training efforts.
Challenges
• Guaranteeing that learning turns into action (maintain focus on change!)
• Flexibility in terms of training support (tailor made for organisations but also for sector projects?)
• Is division of training labour the way to go?
17
5 Operational strategy

18. Achievements
1. Ad hoc exchange between project coordinators
2. Participation of SDHR in Steering Committee of Education program (and PCC)
3. Business planning SSU
4. Organisational assessment used in baselines
5. Monthly joint team meeting with TTE2
6. Shared communication to NTCs
Challenges
• Need for more formal linkages and formal agreements that enable:
o Synergistic communication
o Appreciative Understanding
o Use opportunities for integrating actions
o Implementation
• Get the HR(D) agenda on the sector agenda’s
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5 System integration, influence and culture

19. 19
6 Strategic Way forward
A support tool (fit) or an opportunity to organisational growth (stretch)?
Return to scholarships?
Integration in sector projects?
A multi sector project?
A capacity development fund?
A multi sector multi country training hub?