Why the World Bank's staff survey is delayed

As the World Bank clamors through a controversial reform process, senior management and human resources are working to make employee engagement across the institution a priority. Progress though, doesn’t always come as fast as they’d like — especially as bank leaders work through a series of complex reforms that have affected the organization’s structure and hierarchy. The stated commitment of the world’s largest multilateral donor to employee engagement is clear. Yet the institution still struggles to carry out employee engagement surveys on a regular basis, leaving some staff frustrated and feeling out of touch with bank priorities. In November of last year, the bank conducted its first institutionwide employee engagement survey in four years. With a participation rate above 70 percent, the 2013 Employee Engagement Survey was revealing. Among its key findings: Although 90 percent of respondents said they were proud to work with the bank, just 42 percent felt they understood the direction in which senior management was leading them; 46 percent felt they could report unethical behavior without fear of reprisal. When these results were disseminated in early 2014, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim vowed to take immediate action to address these and other concerns. In an internal email to staff, he emphasized that “the level of employee engagement correlates strongly to an institution’s level of performance and productivity.” Kim promised to “conduct annual surveys from this point forward.” As 2014 draws to a close, some bank employees began to raise questions about the state of this year’s survey. In a message posted on the bank’s intranet, Fabrice Houdart, the bank’s senior country officer for the Maghreb, sparked a conversation around employee engagement that has since trickled into social media, arguing that the survey was “much needed this year” and expressing the hope that staff discontent over Kim’s ambitious reform plans has not discouraged management from carrying it out. Rachel McColgan, program manager for human resources communications and branding, quickly clarified that this year’s survey has not been forgotten. Rather, it’s been delayed for a number of reasons, including a change in the survey’s vendor. “We wanted to look for a different feel and a different approach to the modalities and to the various platforms, and so we’ve moved to a new vendor,” McColgan told Devex Friday. “The ink is literally drying on that contract.” Another reason for the delay, according to McColgan, is a change in the hierarchical structure within the World Bank Group — a result of Kim’s change agenda. The challenge now, McColgan explained, is solidifying who reports to whom and understanding the systems and links associated with the new structure. “Over the last few months, there’s been a huge effort to try and get that hierarchy 99.9 percent complete. And with a number of the movements, particularly on the operational side of the bank, it’s just not been ready yet,” McColgan said. “But I think we are inching towards that now.” Management is also putting together a new governance structure for the survey, which includes a steering committee of four vice presidents and the chairman of the staff association, as well as an advisory committee that is drawn from staff across the vice presidential units. The advisory committee had their first meeting on Dec. 16, according to McColgan, discussing issues such as the scope and timing of the survey as well as whether to change any of the questions. These and many other specifics still have to be ironed out. Surveying bank employees The World Bank has struggled to survey its employees regularly over the years. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, it conducted so-called attitude surveys, which were carried out every two years, with some gaps. Prior to the 2013 Employee Engagement Survey, the bank took a four-year hiatus from running the large-scale survey. There was a different major survey during that time, though: In the fall of 2012, management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. conducted an “organizational health inventory” of the World Bank. According to McColgan, it helped to shape Kim’s change agenda. Also, between 2009 and 2013, management conducted a series of pulse surveys on specific themes, and McColgan said they didn’t achieve the same response rate the broader surveys had. Conducting an annual staff survey won’t be enough for bank employees rattled by a year of high-stakes reforms, though. What will count even more is Kim’s reaction to those findings. Robust action plans are essential to implementing positive change after an employee survey, said Patrick Masterson, an organizational development consultant at the University of Maryland’s Center for Leadership and Organizational Change. “If you can’t focus the majority of your efforts on what happens after the survey, all you’ve got is a picture of how disengaged or engaged your employees may be,” Masterson told Devex. Bank leaders recognize the importance of developing robust and meaningful action plans, McColgan suggested. “That’s one of the things that we also want to discuss within this advisory committee.” Running behind schedule on such a survey may create new challenges. “If you’ve implied that you’re going to do [a survey] again on a regular basis, an annual basis, and then you don’t, you’ve done damage, and you’ve got to make up for that somehow,” Masterson cautioned. Human beings naturally fill in the blanks when there is a high level of uncertainty, he explained, and we rarely fill those blanks with positive interpretations. And a late survey, according to this expert, raises the level of uncertainty and leaves room for negative interpretations, however far-fetched they may be. Bank leaders plan to share more news on the employee engagement survey in January, McColgan suggested. Meanwhile, they are reviewing best practices from other financial institutions and considering the timing, scope, governance structure and other elements of the bank’s employee survey. After a turbulent year of reforms, employees will be on edge, making clear, timely and consistent communication all the more critical for bank leaders eager to demonstrate that they’re prepared to listen. How do you think the World Bank and other development institutions should approach employee engagement in 2015 and beyond? Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment below. Read more international development news online, and subscribe to The Development Newswire to receive the latest from the world’s leading donors and decision-makers — emailed to you FREE every business day.