Jim Kim reorganizes 'global practices,' appoints senior staff

The World Bank is set to undergo another round of institutional changes less than a year after transitioning into a new organizational model called “global practices.” In an internal message to staff, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim announced he will reorganize the offices into three groups and appoint three senior staffers to lead them in order to “strengthen our operational delivery model and allow us to respond more quickly and efficiently to client demand.” This change comes as World Bank staff are getting used to the new global practices structure — put in place in July 2014 and one of the changes resulting from a long and controversial reform process that began in 2013. Kim wrote that this latest decision to reorganize the global practices was made “recognizing existing patterns of collaboration, the strength of joint [International Finance Corp.]/World Bank Practices, and feedback from staff.” “This will further strengthen the global nature of the model by better aligning the structure and reducing transaction costs such as budget management and efficient movement of staff across GPs,” the World Bank chief added. Under the new organization, the education, health and social protection and labor global practices will report to Keith Hansen, a bank staffer since 1991 who worked as sector manager and then sector director of human development in the Latin America and Caribbean region before becoming one of two vice presidents heading the global practices. The agriculture, energy and extractives, environment and natural resources, social, urban, rural and resilience, transport and ICT, and water global practices will report to Laura Tuck, a bank staffer since 1987 and most recently vice president for Europe and Central Asia. The governance, finance and markets, macroeconomics and fiscal management, poverty, and trade and competitiveness global practices will report to Jan Walliser, a bank staffer since 2002 and most recently director of strategy and operations in the Africa region. The appointments will go into effect July 1. What do you think about senior management’s decision to organize the World Bank’s global practices into three groups? Let us know 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.