How coaching can help build more resilient and resourceful humanitarian staff

For some years now, the United Nations Population Fund has been working in the humanitarian space, developing processes around its duty of care and support mechanisms for staff in the most difficult duty stations. In the last few years, the world has seen an increase in the need for humanitarian interventions, which has driven this focus at UNFPA, explained Michael Dahl, the agency’s chief of talent management. UNFPA has also become more involved in this space since gender-based violence became one of its focus areas, he added. Many staff members who had traditionally worked in a development focus were going to find themselves in situations which were unfamiliar to them in humanitarian posts, Dahl explained. Humanitarian missions can be “very fast-paced and high-stress” and involve staff being away from their families, he added. “[Coaching] is a very effective methodology for people to understand their own inner resources and to acquire tools to better communicate and advocate for themselves in situations.” --— Jason Ighani, founder, The Humanitarian Coaching Network Under Dahl’s leadership, UNFPA partnered with The Humanitarian Coaching Network to offer greater support to staff in the most destitute and remote locations. Founded by Jason Ighani, HCN started out as a small unit of professionals responsible for supporting the psychological well-being of UNICEF staff in the field. In 2013, it became an independent entity and has since worked with several other U.N. agencies to support staff development and well-being. Devex spoke to Dahl and Ighani to find out more about how coaching can support professional and personal development of humanitarian staff. Identifying need While UNFPA was already using coaching tools for talent development and performance, the partnership with HCN focused specifically on humanitarian coaching for individuals. The idea was to promote dialogue around staff development and well-being, and to move from a remedial, crisis-intervention mode to a more proactive approach which would foster resilience, engagement, and growth throughout the organization. The agency wanted to provide a service for staff to be able to talk to someone — whether they were thinking about their next move or wondering how to manage their work-life balance, Dahl explained. Participating staff were paired with a coach and, over the course of a few months, entitled to four hours of remote-led coaching that they could structure as they wished — some opted for a two-hour session, while others preferred to break it up into eight half-hour sessions, Ighani explained. UNFPA had very little involvement in determining the specifics of the coaching sessions and the discussions were primarily to focus on whatever the staff found to be more useful for professional or personal development. Some 30 countries with duty stations holding the highest level of hardship were given priority and some of the key groups to receive coaching included members of UNFPA’s humanitarian surge roster, leadership pool members, and staff members due for rotation. A proactive approach The coaching works on the assumption that staff more actively engaged in reflecting on their well-being, growth, and development will be more resilient when a crisis hits, Ighani explained. Coaching is not a solution for all types of stress or trauma — for example, it wouldn’t be the appropriate intervention in helping someone suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, Ighani continued. “It’s about creating a buffer,” he said, “so when something happens you have done some groundwork to know ‘OK, how do I care for myself, who do I reach out to?’” The more empowered individuals feel, the better they can cope with and navigate crisis or traumatic events, according to Ighani. “It [coaching] is a very effective methodology for people to understand their own inner resources and to acquire tools to better communicate and advocate for themselves in situations,” he added. For staff serving in hardship duty stations, it’s particularly important to feel that they have support networks. Coaching can serve many different purposes, Ighani explained, but one of its biggest benefits is to help counterbalance the feeling of isolation that many staff experience. Measuring the impact Since the partnership began in 2016, 200 staff have gone through the coaching process each year, and feedback suggests that it has been helpful. Based on a participant survey, 68 percent of staff rated their coaching as a “very positive” experience, while 26 percent said it was “positive,” and 6 percent were “neutral” on the topic, Dahl told Devex. These results are a “strong sign,” Dahl continued, and anecdotal evidence also suggests that the experience has been useful to staff. However, it is yet to be determined whether this will translate into higher productivity or lower stress levels. The agency has just finished gathering feedback as part of a staff survey it carries out every other year — which includes issues such as work-life balance and stress — but it will be difficult to make a direct link, Dahl explained, since the survey involves more than just those staff who participated in the coaching. Still, a change in the feedback from the previous years may be identifiable, he added. UNFPA is also exploring the idea of managers doing a 360-degree evaluation before, and then a year after, the coaching experience. It was also helpful, although not particularly surprising, for the agency to see what staff were most interested in developing through the coaching process. The majority of individuals had chosen to focus on leadership development and thinking. Other topics of interest included professional growth; managing interpersonal conflicts and tensions; personal wellness and growth; and work-related change and transitions. “Our hope is it has helped a lot of people to move and change in a little bit of a more thoughtful way,” he added. An evolving process The partnership with HCN is just one part of UNFPA’s commitment to coaching, but it has been a very positive process, Dahl explained, and the plan is to continue with it in the year ahead. The agency is also looking to provide more high-level coaching for leadership and this would involve some predetermined focus areas such as transformational leadership, the new U.N. reform, and the new U.N. leadership framework. There are also plans to pilot team coaching. “We will maybe try out some more team dynamics, getting like-minded people together,” he explained, “so they can spend some hours together and think through how they can help each other.”