| Theme | Country / region | Partners |
|---|---|---|
| Stabilisation and state resilience | Somalia / Africa | Antylles (Lead) |
The Client
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an international financial institution and specialized United Nations agency established in 1977 to finance development projects, primarily for food production in developing countries. IFAD’s mission is to enable poor rural people to improve their food and nutrition security, increase their incomes and strengthen their resilience. IFAD works with the rural poor and other partners (governments, donors, non-governmental organizations, etc.) to mobilize funding and implement projects that transform rural areas, often through increased access to financial services, markets, technology, and land or other natural resources.
IFAD’s capacity to deliver on its mandate and maximize its contribution to the 2030 Agenda depends on it having sufficient human resources with appropriate capabilities, efficient corporate processes and the required technological solutions to deliver development results. While the Fund’s recent reforms represent a significant step towards improving IFAD’s operational capacity, more must be done to enhance IFAD’s effectiveness and efficiency.
To this end, in 2020 Management launched the People, Processes and Technology Plan (PPTP) to bridge gaps in IFAD’s workforce capabilities and corporate processes.
The Challenge
With this in mind, Management commissioned two external assessments, one by McKinsey & Company, who evaluated IFAD’s workforce composition, and the other by Alvarez & Marsal, who examined IFAD’s business processes. Both assessments identified gaps in IFAD’s human capital as well as inefficient processes and insufficient technological solutions to support needed changes. After careful review, and considering IFAD’s strategy towards a more decentralized business model, Management launched an action plan centred on three mutually reinforcing workstreams: People, Processes and Technologies. Uniting these three areas follows best practices in organizational design and change management and aims to enhance organizational efficiency and value for money.
The Solution
Antylles was engaged to support the Change Management Project Management Office and advise the change management team on efforts to (1) envision the future capability for the change management PMO and business process management in IFAD and set out a memo for IFAD’s leadership to discuss, and (2) to advise the team on PMO operations, help to manage the levels of reporting and benefits realization, and reporting to the Executive Board.
The Result
The engagement successfully support the IFAD PMO through its business process redesign journey. The PMO organization and functions were reviewed and a future capability was presented. At the same time, the Antylles contribution assisted in introducing good program management practices such as program monitoring, vendor management, benefits management and realization, and developing a reporting process to support both internal reporting and reporting to donors.
Contact our expert with direct experience in this case study: Dr. Gregory Wilson.