Leadership and Management Development (LMD)

'Leadership and Management Development' - A visual overview of the UN Secretariat’s leadership and management development journey, showing programmes available at different career levels.

The UN Secretary-General is leading efforts to create a culture that is focused on results, values innovation and better manages risks.

Core to these efforts is building and sustaining leadership and managerial capacity of the Organization at the senior, middle and junior levels. Doing so promotes a responsive, results-oriented culture that supports continuous learning, high performance, creativity, and managerial excellence.

In striving to fulfil this mandate, the Secretariat has developed the UN Leadership and Management Journey based on the United Nations System Leadership Framework.

The UN Leadership and Management Journey aims to build leadership competencies progressively in scope and complexity, adapting to the increased responsibilities our leaders take on as they transition in the Organization from young talent to senior leadership roles.

Curriculum

The Leadership and Management Development curriculum consists of the following programmes, which are sponsored by the Office of Human Resources (OHR) for all eligible and selected staff, with the exception of Peacekeeping staff who should contact their mission’s training centre.

For more information, you can contact the Leadership and Management Team in OHR at leadershipdevelopment@un.org.

The UN Leaders programme, offered by the UN System Staff College, is geared towards Senior Leaders at the D1 and D2 levels. It offers a Transformational and Adaptive Leadership Development approach with an emphasis on Strategic and Systems Thinking and Ethical Leadership. The programme also includes coaching, mentoring, and online learning resources.

Who can enroll?

  • Senior Leaders at the D1 and D2 levels
  • Fixed-term, continuing or permanent appointments (no SPA nor secondment)
  • OHR will sponsor participation in this programme for a limited number of staff members.

If interested in enrolling please apply through your Department/Office/Executive Office, or Human Resources Section.
Entities may financially support staff to participate in this course.
Information on recent/upcoming editions can be found on the UNSSC website (https://unssc.org)

This four-month online learning programme, tailor-made for UN managers, provides practical tools and knowledge to help managers address complex UN realities and deliver results effectively, both in the field and at headquarters.

It aims to:

  • Create high-performing teams by motivating and coaching staff, supporting their career development. Monitor and evaluate staff performance and address under-performance in a constructive manner.
  • Translate overall visions into realistic goals by planning strategically, implementing result-based management systems, mitigating risks, and managing resources and funds successfully.
  • Communicate effectively with staff, senior managers and peers. Build and maintain long-term partnerships with key stakeholders.
  • Create a UN Secretariat peer network.

Who can enroll?

  • Staff with a Second Reporting Officer (SRO) role, across job levels
  • Fixed-term, continuing or permanent appointments (no SPA nor secondment).

Eligible staff interested in the programme must apply through an online form. The detailed timeline of the nomination period and the programme are communicated in due time by broadcast.

Programme Format

ProgrammeTime Requirement
Nine e-Learning modulesFour months (five hours per week - including a two-hour weekly webinar)
360 assessment and individual coachingIndividual coaching: one session of 1.5 hours; one session of 1 hour
Online WorkshopFive days

Entities may financially support staff to participate in this course.

The E-Management Certificate (EMC) is a self-paced programme uniquely designed to respond to the needs and challenges of UN managers, both at headquarters and in the field. It enables participants to be in control of their own learning, by personalizing and creating their own management development journey. The learning content, which is firmly anchored in the UN system leadership framework, spans across four different dimensions of management, including: people management, planning, programme implementation and resource management.

The EMC modules are available under the Blue Line leadership hub. Register online at: Blue Line

Who can enroll?

  • The EMC is geared mainly towards staff with First Reporting Officer (FRO) functions
  • Open to personnel with a valid UN e-mail account who would like to prepare themselves for undertaking a FRO role

Programme Format
The whole Programme consists of over 40 online modules covering key areas of management, leadership, innovation and evaluation in the UN. Participants need to complete 25 modules (15 mandatory + 10 additional) to award the e-Management Certificate

This five-day programme, offered by the UN System Staff College, covers leadership approaches, gender and cultural dimensions at the UN, with the intent to build women’s leadership roles while networking and learning from each other’s experiences.

Who can enroll?

  • Female staff at P4 and P5, FS-7, and NO-D levels
  • Fixed-term, continuing or permanent appointments (no SPA nor secondment)

OHR will sponsor participation in this programme for a limited number of staff members. Eligible staff interested in the programme must apply through their Department/Office/Executive Office, or Human Resources Section/Learning Focal Point.

Entities may financially support staff to participate in this course.

Information on recent/upcoming editions can be found on the UNSSC website (https://unssc.org)

The Leadership Skills for Emerging Talents Programme, co-designed by OHR and the UN System Staff College, aims to create a network of young managers in order to cultivate their leadership potential to become future senior managers and leaders of the Organization.

Who can enroll?

  • Staff at NO-A, NO-B, and P-2 levels
  • Fixed term, continuing or permanent appointment (no SPAs nor secondment)

Eligible staff interested in the programme must apply through their Department/Office/Executive Office, or Human Resources Section/Learning Focal Point.

The Blue Line offers a range of digital learning resources, including all e-Management Certificate modules, a leadership and management toolkit as well as various reference materials to help UN leaders and managers deal with everyday tasks and responsibilities, and challenges as they arise. By being available to all UN Secretariat staff interested in developing their skills, it supports a leadership culture aligned with the UN System Leadership Framework.

Secretariat staff can link Blue Line modules and learning paths to their Personal Development Plan goals and supervisors can encourage their teams to take advantage of this learning opportunity.

This leadership hub is available to all staff with a UN.ORG e-mail account.

You can register online at: Blue Line

This curated learning path provides recommended courses that will help staff develop key leadership and managerial skills aligned with the UN System Leadership Framework. Participants will be in charge of their own learning, deciding how and when to take the different courses under each track of this leadership journey.

Secretariat staff can associate LinkedIn modules and learning paths to their Personal Development Plan goals and supervisors can encourage their teams to take advantage of this learning opportunity.

Additional resources on Leadership Development can also be found at: https://www.linkedin.com/smart-links/AQF24AY7R-wJxg