Individual Consultancy Service to Design an Organisational Performance Index (OPI)

  • Senior-level, Short-term contract assignment
  • Posted on 7 July 2023

Job Description

2. CONTEXT AND JUSTIFICATION

ACBF’s approach to capacity building is based on a set of processes targeting two levels of capacity: human capital and institutional capacity. The main interventions of the Foundation over the years have mainly focused on enhancing individual capacity and strengthening institutions essential for Africa’s transformational change and sustainable development. In the area of skills and knowledge building, ACBF has supported the development of professional training programs and academic courses in collaboration with several universities and training institutions in countries across Africa. Today, some of these programs have become an integral part of the academic systems of the partner institutions, including Economic Policy Management, Master’s in Finance and Banking, and Interuniversity Collaborative Master’s and PhD Programs. The investment in training interventions has enabled ACBF to enhance the skills and knowledge of more than 50,000 people contributing to an increased critical mass of expertise in relevant development areas in the continent, such as economic policy formulation and management, public financial management, public administration management, control and accountability, and leadership and governance.

At institutional-level capacity building, the Foundation has also played a critical role in the establishment or strengthening of many institutions at national, regional, and continental levels in Africa. About 50 think tanks were supported to enhance evidence-based policy formulation and implementation across the continent through the production of policy research papers, the provision of policy advice and capacity building, and the facilitation of policy analysis and dialogue. Capacity building services were also provided to government institutions, parliaments, private sector organizations, and civil society organizations to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of their mandate. Ministries of economy, finance, and in charge of planning remained the main targets of ACBF’s capacity building support for governments in African countries. At the CSOs level, the Foundation has contributed to the improvement of organizational systems, processes, and procedures of several civil society entities operating in diverse areas including women empowerment, governance, agricultural development, and tobacco control advocacy and policy change. In addition, regional economic communities (RECs) and continental entities such as the Africa Union Commission (AUC) and other AU organs were also reached out by ACBF’s capacity building efforts to enable the achievement of the regional and continental development agenda.

To assess organizational performance as end-results of its interventions, ACBF has been using multiple tools which are often embedded in its evaluation processes and vary according to the type of interventions and the nature of target organizations. The Foundation has a well-defined process for conducting organizational-level capacity

building including capacity needs assessment, capacity improvement plan, and capacity development intervention in the form of programs or projects. However, there is not yet a standard tool to ensure a comprehensive and harmonized organizational performance assessment across programs and projects.

Currently, the Foundation is implementing two organizational capacity building programs (SALCA and SPIA[1]) in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) aiming at improving the organizational performance of target organizations working in the areas of climate adaptation and bio-medical research and development. The main success factor of the two programs is the transformation of the target organizations to become mature entities playing a leading role in their respective competency areas. To ensure a systematic assessment of the programs’ results and ensure a comparison across entities within the same program and between the two interventions, the Organizational Performance Index (OPI) has been specifically identified as the primary measurement tool.

Therefore, adopting standardized methodology and tools to help measure, analyze, and report on organizational performance as result of its capacity development interventions is key for ACBF. Responding to this need has become more critical today as the Foundation is embarking on the implementation of its new Strategic Plan 2023-2027 using the Institutional Accelerator Model (IAM) as one of its key instruments and service offerings. OPI represents an adequate tool for measuring the outcomes of ACBF’s support to its partners or clients when applying IAM.

The index is meant to assess the performance of supported organizations in delivering development results within the scope of their mandate. This goes beyond an assessment of organizational systems, policies, procedures, and practices. ACBF hereby calls for an expression of interest from a suitable individual consultant adhering to all the requirements of these ToRs.

3. OBJECTIVES OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The overall objective of the assignment is to develop and deploy a comprehensive Organizational Performance Index (OPI) as a standard tool to help ACBF measure change in external performance of target organizations resulting from internal capacity improvement provided to these entities. The index will measure organizational performance in terms of efficiency and effectiveness in delivering results, their relevance

[1] SALCA: Strengthening African Leadership for Climate Adaptation Program

SPIA: Strengthening Capacity of Strategic Partner Institutions in Africa Program

to stakeholders, level of their organizational sustainability and appropriateness of their organizational culture. The specific objectives are as follows:

- Develop an Organizational Performance Index (OPI) framework built around the key performance areas as defined by ACBF.

- Propose a clear mode of computation of each of the performance indicators and the methods of aggregation in the form of index.

- Ascertain the validity, reliability, and usefulness of the tool for measuring organizational performance.

- Prepare a short guideline to support the understanding and use of ACBF’s OPI by the internal and external stakeholders of the Foundation.

4. SCOPE OF WORK

The scope of work will consist of designing the organizational performance index (OPI) around the five domains of performance as follows:

- Relevance: The extent to which organizations respond to the current needs of their stakeholders and their ability to adjust to emerging needs through continuous learning and improvement

- Effectiveness: The extent to which organizations deliver results at high quality and within the scope of their mandate.

- Efficiency: The extent to which organizations ensure an optimal utilization of financial, technical, and human resources to generate the best quality products and services

- Sustainability: The extent to which organizations could maintain their operations over time and probability that the results delivered by the organization will be sustained over time

- Culture: The extent to which organizational culture is grounded in shared values and gender equity, diversity, and inclusiveness mainstreamed throughout the organizations

Each domain of performance will then be decomposed into sub-domains under which appropriate indicators will be defined to help measure the performance achieved in the related sub-domains. The selection criteria of the sub-domain indicators will be based on the specificities of the SALAC and SPIA Program which are the key driver of the design of ACBF’s OPI. In addition, other standards that are key in ACBF’s program context will also be considered in the indicators’ selection process.

5. DESIGN METHODOLOGY

The Consultant will develop and use appropriate methods and tools for the assignment including:

· Desk review: It will include all relevant documentation and material critical for the assignment.

· Internal and external stakeholder’s consultations: The key actors to engage include ACBF’s staff, funding partners and implementing partners.

· OPI tool design: It will mainly include the development of the index structure and framework, data collection and analysis tool, mode of calculation of the index and the rating method.

· OPI Tool pre-testing and refining: This will be the step for the verification of the reliability and validity of the OPI tool which will be followed by its refinement and finalization.

6. KEY DELIVERABLES

The following deliverables will be expected from the consultants:

- Inception report: The consultant will prepare an inception report following the inception meeting with ACBF’s team. The contents of the inception report will include background, understanding of the assignment, key components of the index framework, design methodology, detailed work plan and reporting formats.

- Draft OPI tool: The consultant will design all the components of the OPI tool including then framework, data collection and analysis instruments, modes of computation of sub-don indicators and performance domains rating, and method of aggregating indicators to index.

- OPI Pre-testing and validation report: The consultant will undertake a pre-test of the draft OPI tool using a sample of programs/projects to assess the reliability and validation of the tool. The consultant will use the findings of the pre-test to inform the validation and refinement of the tool.

- Final OPI Tool: the consultant will prepare the final OPI tool package following the completion of the pre-testing and validation process.

- OPI Guideline: The consultant will consolidate the key highlights of the OPI tool in the form of document to guide a coherent and effective the utilization of the tool within ACBF.

7. SCHEDULE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The development of the ACBF’s Organizational Performance Index (OPI) is expected to be completed by 30 September 2023 along the following schedule:

Tasks Description

Duration (person days)

Deadline

1. Inception meeting and report submission to ACBF

Five (5) days after the contract signing

15 July 2023

2. Design of the organizational performance index tool and submission of draft OPI to ACBF

Eighteen (18) days following the submission of inception report

14 Aug. 2023

3. OPI pre-testing and validation meeting with ACBF and its partners

Seven (7) day following the completion of the index design

21 Aug 2023

4. Finalization of OPI tool and submission to ACBF

Three (3) days following submission to the validation report

25 Aug. 2023

7. Preparation of OPI guideline and submission to ACBF

Seven (7) days following the submission of the final index tool

10 Sept. 2023

Total

40 days

8. PROFILE OF THE DESIRED CONSULTANTS

To be qualified for the assignment, the consults must meet the following requirements:

- A Minimum of a Master’ degree in Development Studies, Social Studies, Economics, or Statistics

- At least 5 years of experience in undertaking similar assignments in designing an index for organizations.

- Had developed in the past an organizational performance index for an African-based development organization.

- Demonstrated a good understanding of African development issues, and an experience in managing capacity building interventions in Africa.

- Excellent written and communication skill skills in English and proven proficiency in French is an advantage.

9. ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTS

- Reporting Line: The evaluation team will conduct its assignment under the direct supervision of the ACBF’s M&E Unit in the Programs Department (PD). The overall

coordination of the evaluation is managed by the Director, Programs Department.

- Process Facilitation: ACBF will provide the evaluation team with all necessary documentation required for the assignment, including program documents, relevant reports, and any other related materials. ACBF will also facilitate the introduction of the evaluators to the stakeholders (internal and external) as required. ACBF will also provide relevant logistics arrangements to facilitate the work of the evaluation team.

- Intellectual Property: ACBF shall, solely and exclusively, own all rights in and to any work created in connection with this contract. The evaluation team shall not be allowed to post or publish (electronically or in print) any proposal-related information without the explicit consent of ACBF.

10. EXPRESSION OF INTEREST SUBMISSION

Kindly submit a Resume and Cover Letter expressing your interest in undertaking the consultancy. Submission should be with subject clearly marked, “Expression of Interest: ACBF/REOI/011/23/NRF – Individual Consultancy Services,” to email address ProcurementUnit@acbf-pact.org on or before 17.00 hours (local Harare time), on Wednesday, 19 July 2023.


About the Organization

INTRODUCTION

The performance of an organization depends heavily on its capacity to deliver on its mandate and objectives at strategic and operational levels. The stronger the organizational capacity, the better its performance. The primary focus of capacity building efforts of an organization is therefore to improve its organizational performance, which goes beyond a mere enhancing organizational policies or systems to ensure effective delivery of development results by organizations whilst meeting stakeholders’ needs, optimizing resources use, and maintaining long-term operations.

The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) has been pursuing similar objectives in providing capacity development services to its partners and clients across Africa. Assessing organizational performance as outcomes resulting from capacity building interventions is therefore essential for ACBF to help measure the real effects of its work. However, the Foundation is facing challenges of measuring in the same way organizational performance following its interventions to harmonize the assessment and allow comparison across supported-organizations due to the absence of standardized processes and measurement tools.

Against this background, the Foundation intends to develop and deploy an Organizational Performance Index (OPI) which will serve as a standard ACBF corporate instrument to support the assessment of the results of its capacity building work. To this end, the Foundation seeks the service of a suitable individual consultant who meets the qualifications criteria and other requirements for the assignment as specified in these terms of reference.

More information

Expression of Interest Process No - ACBF-REOI-011-23-NRF - English.pdf

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