Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company

Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company Peri-Urban Department

Restructuring of the Local LWSC Offices  Hierarchy, Staffing, Job Descriptions, Contracts and Remuneration for Staff of the Local LWSC Offices  Tools and Materials and Improving the Appearance of the Local Offices  Local Offices and the Supervision and Support Provided by the Regional Office

Table of Contents 1 Introduction: Objectives of Decentralisation and Restructuring...... 3 2 The Proposed Organisation Structure of the Local Offices...... 3 2.1 Existing Organisation of the Local Office...... 3 2.2 Proposed Hierarchy...... 4 2.3 The Composition of the Local SWSC Office...... 4 2.4 The Creation of Blocks...... 4 2.5 The Supervision and Inspection Structure at the Local Office...... 5 2.6 The Regional Office...... 5 3 Job Descriptions...... 6 3.1 Introduction...... 6 3.2 The Foreman...... 6 Tasks and Responsibilities of the Foreman...... 6 Recruitment of the Foreman: Preferring Existing Staff Members...... 7 3.3 The Customer Services Assistant...... 8 3.4 The Contracts of Local Staff, Salary Levels and Personnel Costs...... 8 3.5 Training of Staff of the Local Office: The Input of WSP...... 10 4 Regional Office and Local Office: Reporting & Cooperation...... 11 4.1 Introduction: need for Fast and Efficient Communication...... 11 4.2 Supervision is Key...... 11 4.3 The Community Development Officer...... 12

LWSC Restructuring of the Local LWSC Office June 2006 2

5 Recruitment of Local Staff and Transport Constraints...... 12 6 Routine Activities and Special Interventions...... 12 7 Tools and Materials – Transport and Communication...... 12 7.1 Current Procedure and Constraints...... 12 7.2 Proposed Solutions...... 13 7.3 Local Transport Problems...... 13 Office to Work Transport...... 13 Transport within the Area...... 13 Communication using Radio...... 13 8 The Local Office...... 14 8.1 Changing the Appearance of the Local Office...... 14 9 Remaining Problems that Need Addressing...... 14 9.1 Number of CSAs per Area and Creation of Blocks...... 14 9.2 Incentive Scheme for the staff of the Local Office...... 14 List of Abbreviations...... 15 List of Appendices...... 15 Appendix 1: Proposed Organisation of the Peri-urban Department...... 15 Appendix 2: Proposed Job Descriptions (CSA and CDO)...... 15 Appendix 3: Measures to Improve the Appearance of the Local office...... 15

1 Introduction: Objectives of Decentralisation and Restructuring The LWSC has embarked upon a decentralisation process which aims at achieving the following objectives:  Bringing customers services closer to the customer (i.e. improving the service delivered to the customer).  Increasing the revenue of the company increasing the collection efficiency and reducing the unaccounted for water.  Reducing technical losses and water wastage. The decentralisation of the Company will be reinforced by the outputs of the present DTF Consultancy which has as its main task to provide detailed proposals for the management of the LWSC to restructure its Peri-Urban Department. This restructuring process should be compatible with, - should reinforce – the decentralisation of the Company. This document presents a number of detailed proposals concerning the following issues:  The proposed organisation structure of the LWSC (prepared by the Peri-Urban Department; see Appendix 1) and the composition of the Local LWSC Office.  Job descriptions (CSA, CDO) and responsibilities.  Reporting and cooperation between the Zone Office and the Local Office.  How to determine staffing requirements.  Recruitment of local staff and transport constraints.  Incentive scheme for the staff of the Local Office.  Training requirements and the discussion of the new job descriptions.  Routine activities and interventions requiring a taskforce or specialised personnel and equipment. In the following chapters these topics will be discussed in more detail.

2 The Proposed Organisation Structure of the Local Offices

2.1 Existing Organisation of the Local Office One of the most remarkable findings of the visits to Bauleni is that none of the community-based staff members is in charge of the LWSC office. And if someone is in charge he or she is not aware of his or her responsibilities. Although all staff members seem to get along quite fine and divide the various tasks among each other, according to priority and job their descriptions, there is no one who takes decisions and who is responsible for supervision, efficiency and quality control.

According to the local staff the lack of authority, guidance and supervision at the local level is a prerequisite for an improved performance. One of the Plumbers expressed his frustration as follows: “ There is poor communication between our office here and the Head Office. Sometimes I even wonder who my boss is. We get different assignments from different people. We are lacking proper coordination, a good coordination system….. Sometimes, at Head Office we are told that there is a job to be done elsewhere. Yesterday, instead of coming here we ended up working in Kabanana, where we carried out a mass disconnection programme. We do not know who the boss is. Someone should be responsible.” The vacuum created by the lack of authority at the local level is certainly not filled by the LWSC Head Office. The community-based staff feels there is no supervision provided by the Head Office (“Our bosses never come here. They hardly ever come here to see what we are doing”).

2.2 Proposed Hierarchy The new set-up for the Local Offices of the LWSC put the Foreman in charge of the other staff members. This means that all other staff members (Cashiers, Guards, Pump Operators, Customer Services Assistants; see Chapter 3) report to the Foreman. The Foreman reports to the Water and Sanitation Engineer who is based at the Regional Office.

2.3 The Composition of the Local SWSC Office The Local Office of the LWSC is composed of the following staff members:  One Foreman (or woman).  One Cashier.  One or more Customer Services Assistants (number to be determined).  One or more Pump Operators.  One or more Security Guards (number to be determined). Appendix 1 shows the Organisation Structure for the Peri-Urban Department, which includes the Local Office.

2.4 The Creation of Blocks In order to strengthen the relationship with the customer, to improve monitoring capacities and put a stop to the proliferation of illegal connections, each area serviced by a Local Office will be sub-divided into a number of sub-sections or “Blocks”. Each area will be the responsibility of a Customer Services Assistant (CSA).

Another important reason for creating blocks is that, to a large extent, the CSA can be held responsible for the performance of the Company at block level. It also facilitates the supervision by the Foreman. Establishing the number of Blocks within the overall area covered by a Local Office has to be done on the basis of a number of criteria:  Distances within the area.  Number of registered customers.  Technical state of the network and other water supply infrastructure.  Complexity of the network.  Social constraints such as the prevalence of vandalism and the absence of a well functioning Residents Development Committee (RDC). According to our assessments one CSA can cover an area with 200 – 800 registered customers (depending upon the technical state of the network). Experience obtained with the New Kanyama pilot project will have to show whether this assessment is realistic. In order to arrive at a balanced set of blocks the foreman may redefine blocks if he/she concludes that the average workloads of the CSA differ significantly.

2.5 The Supervision and Inspection Structure at the Local Office The staff of the local office are managed and supervised by the Foreman. The Foreman reports to the WatSan Engineer who is based at the Regional Office. The Foreman is responsible for:  Supporting, supervising and inspecting the CSAs and inspects their work on a daily basis.  Preparing, together with the CSAs, the target-oriented weekly work programme of the CSAs.  Solving any conflicts that may arise within his/her team.  Solving any problems that may arise between the local staff and customers (or residents in general).  Maintaining good relationships with the residents, the Local Authority and with community-based organisations such as the RDC. Although he/she manages the Local Office, the Foreman, who has a technical profile, spends much of his/her time in the field together with the CSAs.

2.6 The Regional Office The restructuring of the Local LWSC Office and the introduction of the Customer Services Assistant (CSA), can only become a success if the Regional Office is able to provide:  The necessary support to the staff of the Local Office.  Close supervision of the CSAs and of the other staff.

Although the Foreman is responsible for the direct overall supervision of the staff of the Local Office, the Cashier will be monitored, supported and supervised by the Chief Cashier. When it comes to administrative tasks and responsibilities tasks related to customer care, community participation and the supervision of water Vendors and kiosks, the CSA will receive support and supervision from the Community Development Officer (CDO).

3 Job Descriptions

3.1 Introduction In order to provide the staff of the Local LWSC Office a more challenging set of tasks and responsibilities, new Job Descriptions were prepared for the following functions:  The Community Development Officer (CDO; based at the Regional Office)  The Foreman (based at and in charge of the Local Office).  The Community Relations Assistant (CSA; based at the Local Office). Appendix 2 presents the proposed Job Descriptions for the CDO and the CSA. It is important to mention that the restructuring of the Local Office and the job descriptions (and the job description of the CSA in particular), were discussed in detail with the peri-Urban department and with staff of the Local LWSC Office in New Kanyama.

3.2 The Foreman

Tasks and Responsibilities of the Foreman At the level of the Local Office the Foreman is responsible for:  The performance of the Local Office. The overall performance consists of a number of elements such as administrative performance, customer care performance, financial and commercial performance and community participation. This means that a number of performance indicators will be used to assess the performance of the Local Office and of the Foreman. Indicators such as billing and collection efficiency, customer satisfaction levels, etc.  The Foreman is responsible for the preparation of a weekly work programme. This programme is recorded on a specially prepared sheet which is submitted to the WatSan Engineer for approval.  Supervision of the other staff members of the Local Office. As far as technical works are concerned, the Foreman also provides advice and quality control.  The Foreman is responsible for the coordination of all activities taking place at the Local Office and in the area serviced by the Local Office.  Although each CSA is responsible for a Block, the Foreman may decide to create temporary teams (for example a team consisting of 2 CSAs and the Foreman him/herself) tin order to address specific (complex) problems (such as the repair of a main pipe).

 Reports all requirements and problems to the WatSan Engineer.  Preparing requests for materials which are submitted to the WatSan Engineer.  When it comes to the other tasks of the CSA and the work provided by the Cashier, the Foreman only considers such indicators as commitment, input, sense of duty, etc. When is comes to the quality of the work the CSA is supported and supervised by the CDO and the cashier by the Chief Cashier who are both based at the Regional Office.  The Foreman prepares a monthly budget for the Local office. This budget is made on the basis of expected requirements.  Solving any conflicts that may arise within his/her team.  Providing the Regional Office with all the information which is required to assess the performance of the Local Office.  Solving any problems that may arise between the local staff and customers (or residents in general).  Maintaining good relationships with the residents, the Local Authority and with community-based organisations such as the RDC.  The Foreman may be asked by the WatSan Engineer to participate in programmes developed by the CDO or by the Chief Cashier.  The Foreman may be asked by the WatSan Engineer to participate in and to coordinate major works such as network extensions and major repair and maintenance works.  The Foreman may be asked by the Head office or by the Regional Office to participate in public health emergency programmes. Such programmes may be coordinated or managed by an external organisation such as the Lusaka City council or the Ministry of Health. The Human resources Department of the LWSC will be asked to prepare detailed job descriptions for the Foreman.

Recruitment of the Foreman: Preferring Existing Staff Members The Foreman should have a technical background. The objective of the decentralisation programme of the LWSC and of the restructuring of the Peri-Urban Department should not result in a heavier and less flexible organisation. This means that preferably the Foreman should be an existent staff member. Plumbers, during their certificate education are trained in the following subjects:  Trade theory and practice.  Blueprint reading.  Basic engineering.  Trade mathematics.  Communication skills. Since the Foreman will be managing the Local Office (see the list of proposed tasks and responsibilities) he or she will have to acquire the following skills:  Management and supervision skills.  Ability of prepare work programmes

 Ability to prepare a monthly budget.  Ability of communicate with local residents, with local organisations and with the Local Authority and other institutions. Acquiring these additional skills will require the training of prospective Foremen and women. The WSP emphasises that, within the framework of the World Bank support to the LWSC, the training component can provide the necessary training of LWSC staff.

3.3 The Customer Services Assistant However, in order to increase the efficiency and output of the Plumbers we believe that Plumbers should be given additional responsibilities. Some of these additional responsibilities are related to the new kiosk management system. On the basis of a study carried out by the DTF in Bauleni and subsequent discussions with the management of the Company and with WSP, it was decided to transform the function of Plumber into the function of customer services Assistant (CSA). The difference between the job description of the Plumber and the one of the CSA is that the CSA is responsible for a number of additional tasks. The tasks of the CSA can be summarised as follows:  Technical tasks.  Customer care and customer services tasks.  Administrative tasks.  Community participation tasks.  Monitoring and supervision of Water Vendors and kiosks. Appendix 2 shows the proposed Job Description of the CSA. Another change is that each CSA assumes the responsibility of an area - a Block – within the overall area managed by the Local Office.

3.4 The Contracts of Local Staff, Salary Levels and Personnel Costs Currently a majority of the staff of the Local Offices of the LWSC are employed on the basis of a 2-year renewable contract. Income levels of Local Office staff are relatively low (a plumber takes home approximately ZMK 280,000/month, whereas a permanently employed Plumber has a net income which exceeds ZMK 800,000. There is a tendency within the LWSC to employ staff without carefully considering whether there exists a real need for additional labour. A water company is not a charitable institution and recruitment should be based upon an existing need. The study carried out by the DTF in Bauleni shows clearly that overstaffing is an existing phenomenon. Plumbers arrive very late at work, knock off early and almost always work in pairs. Instead of overstaffing and paying employees very low salaries it is preferable to have a smaller motivated workforce. Paying a salary which expresses the appreciation of the services delivered constitutes a first step.

The Human Resources Department should establish (for example by consulting experts at the Labour Office) whether the Company remains within the legal framework if is constantly renewing temporary labour contracts. On the basis of observations and discussions with LWSC staff the DTF would like to propose the following adaptations:  All Plumbers/CSAs who are on a temporary contract should be given the same contract and conditions. Currently there exist significant differences in income between plumbers who are working on the basis of a 2-year contract. One Plumber expressed his frustration as follows: “There is a lot of confusion. You have worked for more than one of 2 years for the Company and all of a sudden you are asked to work with your junior, the one who was one year behind you at school, who is being employed on the same kind of contract but who is going home with more money than you. This is simply not fair. Someone who works longer for a company should get more not less than a junior.” Their additional tasks and responsibilities, justify an improvement of the salary and working conditions of the CSAs. In order to appreciate their effort and acknowledge the fact that CSAs have additional responsibilities the CSAs should earn a minimum net income of ZMK 500,000. Ideally, an increase in salary levels should not result in much higher personnel costs. This means that the LWSC will have to asses at the level of every Local Office, how many CSAs are required. For example, the New Kanyama Local Office has a total staff of 5 persons, including 4 Plumbers. An assessment of the current water supply situation in New Kanyama and John Laing and a comparison with staff requirements of other CUs, shows that 2 CSAs could carry out all the required tasks (including the traditional tasks of the Plumber). It should be noted that the number of connections in the area covered by the Local Office does not exceed one thousand. The proposed measures, therefore, may result in the contract of a number of Plumbers not being renewed. Table 3.1 shows the possible impact of the proposed measures.

Table 3.1: Impact of the proposed measures

Current and proposed situation Current staff Proposed adaptations Function No. Labour costs (in ZMK) No. Labour costs (in ZMK) Foreman - - 1 900,000 Cashier 1 346,000 1 600,000 Plumbers / CSAs 4 (4 * 346,000) 2 1,200,000 Total: 5 1,7300,000 4 2,700,000

Although the proposed measures have a negative impact upon the personnel costs of the New Kanyama office, one has to consider that the objective of the decentralisation and restructuring process is to increase collection efficiencies, provide a better service, reduce unaccounted for water (UFW) and increase the

number of registered customers. Currently there are a large number of unregistered customers in new Kanyama. In other word, the higher personnel costs are justifiable if one consider the higher revenue levels. Table 3.2 shows the impact of an increase of salary levels under the assumption that 92 plumbers are being replaced by 14 Foremen and 30 CSAs.

Table 3.2: Impact of Salary increases and reduction of staff numbers

Current and proposed situation Current staff Proposed adaptations Function No. Labour costs (in ZMK) No. Labour costs (in ZMK) Foreman - 14 (14 * 900,000 =) 12,600,000 Cashiers 14 (14 * 346,000 =) 4,844,000 14 (14 * 600,000 = ) 8,400,000 Plumbers 92 (48 * 346,000 = ) 31,832,000 CSAs 30 (30 * 600,000 = ) 18,000,000 Total: 106 36,676,000 58 39,000,000

3.5 Training of Staff of the Local Office: The Input of WSP The additional tasks and responsibilities specified in the proposed job descriptions will require training and the development and implementation or special training programmes. The Water and Sanitation Programme (WSP) of the World Bank, within the framework of the support of the Bank to the LWSC, will provide extensive training to Company staff. A focus, of the overall training concept and programme that will be developed and implemented by and through the WSP, will be on communication and customer services and participation. Training on these important issues is precisely what the new CSAs and Foremen would require. The WSP, which is in the process to carry out preliminary works and which is also involved in the New Kanyama pilot project, will be asked to develop the necessary concepts and programmes. In order to facilitate the work of the WSP, the DTF consultants will carry out a first identification of training needs. This will allow WSP to:  Develop a training concept.  Develop a training manual.  Build in this concept a lessons learned concept. Although the training concept can be tired and tested within the framework of the New Kanyama pilot project it is important to keep in mind that there will be need for up-scaling in order to reach all the staff of the Peri-Urban Department.

4 Regional Office and Local Office: Reporting & Cooperation

4.1 Introduction: need for Fast and Efficient Communication The Bauleni Report prepared by the DTF, shows clearly that poor communication between the Head Office and the Local Office are seen as important factors explaining the poor performance of the Company in the peri-urban areas. The creation of the Regional Offices should be seen as an attempt by the Company to bring services closer to the customer, but equally as a way to keep internal communication, reporting and command lines as short and open as possible. Table 4.1 shows an example of an activity/communication chain which involves the Local Office and the Regional Office. The Head Office no longer plays a role.

Table 4.1: Activity/communication chains (an example)

Required action: Materials (pipes) are required to repair/replace part of the existing network

Activity/Level Local Office Regional Office Observation CSA identifies damage Communication CSA informs the Foreman Assessment Foreman assesses the material requirements

Decision Foreman makes a work plan and a list of the materials needed

Communication Foremen requests materials from The WatSan Engineer considers the request Regional Office and makes adaptations if necessary

Transfer Materials are sent to the Local office Implementation The repair work is carried out. The The WatSan Engineer may consider Foreman supervises or inspects. inspecting the works.

Communication The Foreman informs the WatSan The Foreman inspects the works carried out Engineer of progress and completion

4.2 Supervision is Key Internal supervision, within the Local Office and by the Foreman, is important but the same can be said about the support and supervision, which is provided by the Regional Office. The WatSan Engineer closely supervise (which involves visiting the areas within the service are of the Regional Office and communicating on a daily basis with the Foremen of the Local offices) the work of the Foreman and of the CSAs. The CSAs, when it comes to their non-technical tasks and responsibilities, are also supervised by the CDO who is equally based at the Regional Office. The Cashier is supervised and supported by the Chief Cashier.

4.3 The Community Development Officer Appendix 1 shows the proposed Job Description of the Community Development Officer. Job description for the other staff members of the Regional Office were not prepared by the DTF.

5 Recruitment of Local Staff and Transport Constraints One of the factors explaining low staff productivity/efficiency levels is that plumbers, for example in Bauleni, arrive late at work because they live in areas such as Kabanana and therefore, report to the head office first from where they are taken to their respective Local Offices. In order to assure that the new CSAs are able to deliver a good service it is important that they are able to start working at 0.800hs and leave work at 17.00hrs. CSAs and other local staff, therefore, need to be recruited from within the area or from nearby areas.

6 Routine Activities and Special Interventions In order to improve the output and efficiency of the staff of the Local Office, the LWSC should make a distinction between:  Routine/regular works.  Special (project-like) activities and interventions Local staff should only be responsible for the first category. Major technical and community interventions such as:  network extensions and  major maintenance and repair works, should be carried out by a special LWSC team or these projects should be outsourced. When it comes to these special interventions the Local Office should only be involved when it comes to:  The identification of needs (for example the need for a network extension).  Reporting major repair and maintenance needs.

7 Tools and Materials – Transport and Communication

7.1 Current Procedure and Constraints The procedure - and the delays that occur when following the procedure – for requesting for tools (pipe wrenches, etc.) and materials (fittings, pipes, etc.) is seen by the Plumbers and the Peri-Urban Department as one of the main constraints preventing the Company form responding quickly to reported damage. Appendix 1 shows the current procedure.

The lack of proper tools and materials should be seen as an important cost factor because:  Plumbers now work in pairs (instead of alone) due to the lack of proper tools and materials.  Instead of carrying out proper repair works, repair is carried out in 2 stages. Awaiting the supply of the necessary materials, the Plumbers first carry out temporary repairs suing their initiative and temporary materials.

7.2 Proposed Solutions In order to improve the response time and the efficiency of the Plumbers (CSAs), the following measures should be considered:  Each Local Office receives a lockable metal cabinet (proposed measurements: 180x120x40cm). This is used to store tools and materials. The Foreman has the key to this cabinet and is responsible for the local tools& materials management. He is issued with a Tools and Material Recording Sheet. The sheet should be updated on a daily basis.  Pipes and other large materials are kept in a lockable container at the Regional Office.  The Foreman can request the WatSan Engineer for materials from the Regional Office Materials Container.

7.3 Local Transport Problems

Office to Work Transport In order to prevent the inefficient deployment of local staff CSAs and other Local Staff should preferably reside within the area where they are working or within walking distance of their area of work.

Transport within the Area The company should consider the purchase of a strong bicycle for each Local Office. This bicycle can be used by staff

Communication using Radio In order to improve the communication between the Local Office and the Regional Office the LWSC should consider the introduction of a radio system. Such a system often proves to be more economical than a communication concept which is based upon communication using telephone landlines or mobile telephones. The LWSC should consider the costs and benefits of the various communication concept and technologies.

8 The Local Office

8.1 Changing the Appearance of the Local Office

One of the complaints expressed by customers and local staff is that the Local office is not recognisable as being a LWSC office. According to the cashier of the New Kanyama office, the neglect of the Local Office explains why customers prefer to pay their bills at head office as Currently Local Offices: “They do not believe this is a real office of the Company.” This document contains a number of proposals which aim to improve the technical and commercial performance of the LWSC. Improving the appearance and efficiency of the Local Office is another important measure which can help to achieve these objectives. Appendix 3 contains a list of relatively small investments that that have to be made in order to turn Local Offices into more customer and staff-friendly environments.

9 Remaining Problems that Need Addressing

9.1 Number of CSAs per Area and Creation of Blocks The table which contains the staff of the Peri-Urban Department shows that the number of plumbers exceeds 80 (one table prepared by LWSC even shows 92 plumbers, excluding the plumbers working for the George scheme). If one relates these numbers to the number of domestic and other connections and compares them to other water utilities one has to conclude the number of Plumbers is relatively high. The number of required plumbers is, of course, not only determined by such factors as the number of connections, but also by indicators such as the quality of the distribution network, average distances, population densities, etc.1 In order to establish the number of CSAs which are really required to do the work, the LWSC should carry out a careful area-after area analysis of local staff requirements. The DTF Consultants will contribute to the design of indicators and tools that can be used to assess staff requirements.

9.2 Incentive Scheme for the staff of the Local Office The LWSC has introduced an incentive scheme at the level of the Local Office level in the conventional areas. The Company should consider introducing a similar scheme in the peri-urban areas.

List of Abbreviations CSA: Customer Services Assistant CDA: Community Development Assistant CDO: Community Development Officer

1 Some local staff members suggested that an improvement of the availability of tools will already reduce the number of staff required.

LWSC: Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company RDC: Residents Development Committee WSP: Water and Sanitation Programme

List of Appendices

Appendix 1: Proposed Organisation of the Peri-urban Department

Appendix 2: Proposed Job Descriptions (CSA and CDO)

Appendix 3: Measures to Improve the Appearance of the Local office

LWSC Restructuring of the Local LWSC Office June 2006