The NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency’s vision is to have an effective organization whose workers will be highly motivated to achieve desired result.

This vision was shared at a briefing session organized by the Human Resources Division on May 16 in Midrand. Led by Mrs. Fatou Cessay Jallow, the briefing was jointly facilitated with a team from management consultants KPMG, which has been working closely with HR on the project since February.

Mrs. Jallow said management was working to introduce long-term work contracts instead of the current ones that are very short in nature, to ensure that members of staff are motivated. “This objective would be achieved when the Agency’s proposed new structure is approved by the Continent’s heads of state at the forthcoming African Union Summit,” she said.

NEPAD staff were called upon to put in their best at all times and be fully involved in every facet of the organization’s activities.

Another morale-boosting strategy being planned is a skill development programme. According to the plan, a skills audit exercise would be carried out to enable management design training programmes for those in need.

Ms. Elna Meintjies of KPMG stressed the need for members of staff to become “change agents” who are self- inspired and positive in their thinking. “This attitude is good for everybody to have,” she said.

In his closing remarks, Director of Corporate Services, Mr Bankole Adeoye, appealed to the HR Project Management Team to ensure that the outcome of the current exercise is implemented.  “There are many reports and recommendations that are lying in offices; I hope this one will not end up like one of them,” he said.

Earlier, members of staff from different African countries shared the unique features about their countries. In the end, people were better educated about their colleagues’ countries of origin. Many also expressed the hope that the HR plan would help them become better equipped to contribute their quota to the agency.