Jiu/Rep/2020/2
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JIU/REP/2020/2 United Nations Policies and platforms in support of learning: towards more coherence, coordination and convergence Report of the Joint Inspection Unit Prepared by Petru Dumitriu JIU/REP/2020/2 Original: English Policies and platforms in support of learning: towards more coherence, coordination and convergence Report of the Joint Inspection Unit Prepared by Petru Dumitriu United Nations • Geneva, 2020 Project team: Petru Dumitriu, Inspector Sofia Palli, Research Officer Hervé Baudat, Research Assistant Dejan Dincic, Consultant Ruichuan Yu, Intern Willy Franklin Shen, Intern JIU/REP/2020/2 Executive summary Policies and platforms in support of learning: towards more coherence, coordination and convergence As the main asset of the United Nations system is its staff, learning is an indispensable tool in improving quality and efficiency. Through learning, staff can develop new knowledge and skills, acquire new competencies and improve behaviours and attitudes. Learning is not optional; it is a sine qua non condition for the organizations and their staff to be able to adapt in a highly competitive and dynamic environment. Moreover, the United Nations system cannot escape the transition to the future of work, which implies agility for organizations and continuous learning for individuals. According to recent studies, more than half of all employees in the world will require significant reskilling and upskilling in just the next three years. Such transformation can only be achieved by further learning. For the United Nations system, learning can be also a transformative force that can break down silos, stimulate inter-agency cooperation, create synergies and increase efficiency in the use of resources, whether from regular budgets or voluntary contributions. Beyond the diversity of mandates and governance arrangements, the United Nations organizations are, after all, intergovernmental entities created and supported by the same Member States. The main purpose of this review was to identify and recommend ways to optimize the intellectual capital represented by the staff of the United Nations, by means of learning. Main findings and conclusions The agreement that learning is strategic is not always substantiated by facts While there is general agreement on the principle that learning is strategic in the life of any organization, in particular for the organizations of the United Nations system, which are catalysts and brokers of knowledge, the allocation of resources does not reflect this principle. Already in 2003, the learning managers of the United Nations system proposed that 5 per cent of staff time and 2 per cent of staff costs should be devoted to learning, as an indicator that reflects its strategic importance. The Inspector found that few organizations meet those targets. The Inspector also found that some organizations take a narrow approach to learning and talent management, one that does not form part of a broader strategy in support of organizational effectiveness and increased competitiveness. When in need of specific skills and competencies, many organizations are driven to implement ad hoc, short-term solutions at the expense of developing a holistic talent management system. As a result, the strategic dimension of employees’ engagement, upskilling and reskilling is undervalued. Creating a new culture of learning has to be more programmatic The efficiency of the application of learning theories and methodologies is contingent on the introduction of a new culture, combining both cognitive and social dimensions. It would encompass the needs related to content and organizational context (recognition and reward, managerial and relational aspects), on the one hand, and the growing digital and networked infrastructure that facilitates access to learning resources and connecting tools, on the other. A new culture of learning implies the understanding of a new reality, where learning also takes place beyond its traditional forms and can augment knowledge at all stages of an international civil servant’s career. Meanwhile, the United Nations leaders are expected to showcase adaptability and continuous learning to keep the organizations relevant and agile in response to the changing demands. It is imperative that a new culture of learning and innovation should be developed, not just to keep up with new trends, but to maintain institutional relevance. The meaning and the forms of learning are undergoing profound metamorphoses in all areas of interest for the United Nations. Innovative learning solutions may also help organizations to overcome their funding problems and better adapt to changing needs. iii JIU/REP/2020/2 In the absence of continual efforts to promote a culture of learning, both in principle and in practice, staff performance may remain inertial and incapable of innovation. A comprehensive and systematic perspective on inter-agency cooperation is missing A new collaborative system-wide culture of learning is simultaneously made necessary and facilitated by two major driving factors: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the opportunities provided by innovative technologies for interactive and continuous learning. The complexity of the 2030 Agenda means that the learners in the United Nations must be prepared to meet new challenges, create new partnerships or networks and apply new solutions. It is essential that learning policies start by identifying the types of knowledge needed from the organizational point of view and the new individual skills that staff should develop. Yet, despite its emphatic holistic and collaborative call, as well as the interdisciplinary and crosscutting nature of its Goals, the adoption of the 2030 Agenda was not followed by a drive towards convergence or coordination of curricula. On the contrary, learning programmes on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proliferated with no visible concern for coherence, coordination or convergence. The fragmentation and uncoordinated nature of SDGs-related learning activities led to the opposite: a proliferation of courses and portals which may undermine the common vision of the United Nations and understanding of the role it is expected to play. In the absence of a comprehensive and systematic perspective on inter-agency cooperation, the JIU team was not surprised to find conflicting views and lack of clarity as to which operational requirements are not sufficiently met at the system-wide level. Learning units are often requested to operate in silos and develop solutions in a reactive way; a system-wide representative and authoritative voice on learning is missing. However, the report highlights some recent steps that point to an increasing awareness of the need for more inter-agency cooperation on learning, such as the on-going UNSDG:Learn initiative. The use of opportunities brought by new technologies remains random and inconsistent The importance of technology-based learning platforms emerged as a key issue for the review. New digital technologies can and should be another driving factor that facilitates and stimulates system-wide synergies and convergence, if learning policies and programmes are proactively and conscientiously coordinated. The new technologies combine not only the necessary hardware and software, but also the intended learning processes and the interfaces among them. Technology-enabled trends and capabilities, such as the increase in remote interactions, mobility, portability and the use of a personal cloud storage system, require the adjustment of policies, curricula and institutional arrangements. In the United Nations system, innovation in learning through the use of new technologies is not an abstract concept. The growing digital infrastructure amplifies the ability of United Nations organizations and their staff to access and use nearly unlimited knowledge resources. The same technologies offer unprecedented networking options, which should be unconditionally used for more coherence, coordination and convergence among the United Nations programmes, funds and specialized agencies at the system-wide level. The existing silos may have historical and bureaucratic justifications, but their continuation in the current digital era should no longer be tolerated, in particular in the area of learning. In terms of data collection and analysis, the review was conducted before the eruption of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. Attention to e-learning was thus already part of the vision of the future of learning projected by the report. Nevertheless, the importance of e-learning acquired a higher magnitude of importance during the almost universal lockdown. A by-product of the crisis was enhanced preparedness for, knowledge of and familiarity with e-learning practice across all hierarchical and professional horizons of United Nations staff, in the context of an unprecedented proliferation of e-learning solutions. iv JIU/REP/2020/2 E-learning can be construed as a step towards agile United Nations organizations The agile organization is a concept that describes a new balance between stability and dynamism. The prevailing traditional form of organization is static, siloed, with structural hierarchy, designed primarily for stability. The goals and decisions flow down the hierarchy. The structure is strong, but often rigid and slow-moving. We recognize in this description the prevailing profile of United Nations organizations at present. In contrast, agile organizations act as networks of teams that