MISSION STRATEGY TO INCREASE U.S. EMPLOYMENT AND PROMOTE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 UN ROME 000017 SIPDIS FOR IO/MPR - MADELYN EVANS ALSO FOR IO/HS - JOHN TUMINARO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AORC APER FAO SUBJECT: MISSION STRATEGY TO INCREASE U.S. EMPLOYMENT AND PROMOTE GENDER PARITY AT FAO REF: UN ROME 0005 Summary -------------- ¶1. In our ongoing effort to increase U.S. employment and promote gender parity at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),Mission requested a meeting with the FAO Human Resource (HR) Director, Tony Alonzi. Alonzi briefed Mission officers on efforts to increase U.S. geographic representation and overall HR Reform initiatives. The United States is currently outside of the desirable range in terms of representation by nine positions, with five American citizen retirements anticipated in 2010. FAO has some new initiatives, including a database that would allow FAO vacancy announcements to be sent directly to professional organizations and universities in the United States. They also started a true internship program as opposed to their previous program that was strictly volunteer-based. A specific process was identified to help the Mission track job openings of interest. Mr. Alonzi noted the overall goal of gender parity and identified a specific target of 38 percent by 2013. HR Reforms are lumped under six main initiatives; 1) an electronic 360 performance evaluation system, 2) a management development and assessment center, 3) online human resources information for managers, 4) career mobility, 5) decentralization, and 6) streamlining HR processes. END SUMMARY. U.S. Under-Represented at FAO -------------- ¶2. The United States falls well below the desirable minimum range in terms of geographic representation. As of December 31, 2009, 118 staff in posts subject to geographical distribution were held by American citizens, well below the desirable range between 127 and 172. ¶3. According to FAO HR, this first became an issue when the calculations for determining geographic representation were changed in 2003 at the request of the member states. Prior to 2003 positions occupied at FAO were weighted based on their level. For example, a D-level position would be worth more than a P-level position. According to FAO HR, in 2003 the calculation was brought into conformity with that of the UN Secretariat where the main factors are population and contributions. Since then countries like the United States and Japan have been 
under-represented and countries such as the United Kingdom, France and Italy have been over-represented. Strategies to Improve U.S. Representation -------------- ¶4. The Mission has taken several steps to work with FAO in order to increase U.S. representation. First, the Ambassador has met with American citizen employees at FAO in both large and small gatherings to improve networking and hear their suggestions on how to increase the numbers of American citizen employees. Secondly, the Ambassador and other Mission officers highlight the importance of this issue at the most senior levels of FAO management. Finally the Mission has worked with FAO HR to determine how some new initiatives could be used to get qualified Americans into the FAO recruitment process such as: ¶A. Mission provided FAO Head of Recruitment with a list of land and sea grant universities to go into a new database that will automatically send FAO vacancy announcements to interested parties. UN ROME 00000017 002 OF 003 ¶B. FAO has started an internship program along the lines of other UN agencies that is open to all nationalities. While the program mainly targets developing countries, it would be a good means of getting an American citizen's foot in the door. ¶C. A standard operating procedure has been mapped with the FAO Recruitment Office to track individual inquiries from American Citizens. While the recruitment decisions have been decentralized to the relevant departments, new recruitment software being installed at FAO should help FAO HR better track individual vacancy announcements of interest to the USG. ¶D. Mission has entered into discussions with FAO and relevant USG agencies about increasing the number of Junior Professional Officer (JPO) positions at FAO. This will provide excellent opportunities for American citizens with relevant specialized skills to get hands-on experience within the organization, thereby opening the door to more long-term career opportunities at FAO. Gender Parity -------------- ¶5. According to Alonzi, there is no written regulation or administrative rule calling for gender parity in FAO, but Director General (DG) Jacques Diouf has made it clear that all Divisions seek gender parity as an overall goal in their hiring. Members of the DG's office also confirmed that the DG requires that all short-lists for vacancy announcements contain at least one qualified woman. According to data received from the FAO HR Division, as of January 15, 2010, 32 percent of the FAO professional staff were women (P-level staff at 34 percent and D-level at 15 percent). The overall FAO target for 2013 is 38 percent. Mission has raised this issue with other like-minded members and will follow-up in the Geneva Group and Finance Committee. HR Reform at FAO -------------- ¶6. FAO has initiated a large reform program to improve the functioning of the Human Resources Division. The six main initiatives are highlighted below and involve leveraging information technology and updating policies. ¶A. FAO HR is in the process of implementing a 360 evaluation program called the Performance Evaluation Management System (PEMS). It is a corporate software system that will manage all aspects of the performance cycle. ¶B. FAO has hired outside consultants to run a Management Development Center (MDC) that provides coaching and leadership development opportunities. ¶C. Managers and HR staff will also have easier access to personnel data and reports after the implementation of an HR Online Information system. ¶D. Several new HR Policies will be implemented to improve internal mobility and thereby increase morale. They include cross-functional and cross-regional opportunities that target medium and long term development of employees. FAO also intends to expand the Junior Professional and Associate Professional Programs UN ROME 00000017 003 OF 003 ¶E. Restructuring of the FAO HR system includes implementing corporate services, while decentralizing authority and de-layering management hierarchy. ¶F. Finally, HR will continue to focus on streamlining by delegating more authority and improving HR services. Comment -------------- ¶7. The chances of seeing an immediate improvement in terms of U.S. representation at FAO remain very slim. The hiring process itself is very slow, 260 days on average. While we have identified many proactive strategies, in the end our ability to influence the recruitment process directly is still only marginal and highly dependent on the exogenous factor of having qualified American citizen candidates apply. ¶8. HR reform at FAO is very welcome and the leadership in the Human Resources Management Division appears very engaged and responsive. However, improvements will be gradual as the entire organization will have to embrace the new technologies and processes involved. Currently one of the weak points of the system is the transition to more decentralization of the recruitment process. Empowering divisions to become more engaged in the decision process is clearly beneficial, but efficiency has not been a hallmark of the system. Divisions have on average been taking six to nine months to take the recruitment process from the pre-screening stage to the short-list. ¶9. Finally, some proposals that have emanated as part of the reform process would clearly be detrimental to our goal of increasing U.S. representation. In particular there is a proposal to post all vacancy announcements internally. Only if a qualified candidate could not be found internally would the position then be advertized externally. This would follow the practice of the World Food Program, and more closely follow FAO's own administrative regulations. The result would clearly be fewer opportunities for under-represented countries at higher level positions. The Mission will take an active role in the governing bodies to oppose this change. END COMMENT. COUSIN