SENIOR LEADERS PROGRAMME

 

MRF Tools

DMSPC/Office of Human Resources launched its multi-rater feedback programme for senior leaders on an annual basis following a pilot that took place during 2018-2019. Participants receive feedback from peers, direct and indirect reports and other stakeholders and learn of the results through a confidential report and debriefing session with an executive coach.

This exercise is meant to provide an opportunity for senior leaders to have feedback on their leadership and management skills, which they can use as a tool for career development. It is in no way intended to inform on their performance.


Process and timeline 

A summary of the main stages of the process and timing:

16 November – 23 November 2022

  • Senior leaders will identify respondents to give them feedback. These will include peers and direct and indirect reports as well as key stakeholders.
  • Senior leaders will fill out a self-assessment in the form of the survey that respondents will also take.
  • This will allow the leaders to see where their self-perceptions differ from those around them.
    *Deadline for participants to nominate respondents: 16 November 2022

Mid November – 30 November 2022

  • Respondents fill out a survey that OHR and ODRL, the external vendor, have developed based on the competencies in the Leadership and Management Model.
    *Deadline for respondents to fill out the survey: 30 November 2022

5 December - Mid December 2022

  • Leaders receive feedback results through a report and an individual de-briefing by an executive coach from ODRL, the external vendor. Key strengths, gaps and development goals will be identified. Starting Monday 5 December 2022.

Mid-December 2022 – end of February 2023

  • Leaders do two additional coaching sessions to address developmental goals or other challenges. 

 


Testimonials: Hear from Participants

Najat Rochdi

Deputy Special Coordinator, UNSCOL, Lebanon

Satya Tripathi

Former ASG and Head of NY Office, UN Environmental Proramme

Lisa Filipetto

Head of Support Office for UNSOM, Somalia

 


 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

 

GENERAL

The programme is a learning and development tool; its purpose is to help senior leaders increase awareness of how colleagues of various levels and roles perceive their leadership styles and behaviours.  It will also help leaders identify areas for development in the future.

No, the programme is for developmental purposes only. Individual feedback results will not be shared with anyone except the participants and the external executive coaches who de-brief them.

The vendor (ODRL) will produce an aggregate report of all results with no identifying information and will share it with OHR simply for programme evaluation purposes. The OHR project team will assess, for example, how respondents, as a group, answered certain types of questions.

At this time, the Multi-Rater Feedback Programme for Senior Leaders is not linked to indicators in the Senior Managers Compacts.

This programme, although it is developmental in nature, provides leaders with the insight needed to improve their leadership skills and performance overall.  In that sense, it is connected to performance management reform.

The Secretary-General has continually highlighted the importance of multi-rater feedback reviews. In his reform report A/72/492. for example, he committed to “introduce 360-degree reviews, starting with senior management, to strengthen the link between leadership and performance management.”

The programme will require about 4-5 hours of a participant’s time. The initial steps of nominating your respondents and taking a self-assessment will take approximately 60 – 90 minutes.

At the end of the feedback process, you will be expected to participate in 3 hours of time with an executive coach. The first session will be a debriefing in which the coach walks you through the results of the feedback process.  The second and third sessions will be focused on forming a development plan and/or addressing any issues that participants want to explore further. 

At this time, OHR plans to conduct one multi-rater feedback programme for senior leaders each year. 

 

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FEEDBACK TOOL

Feedback will be collected through an online survey hosted on the ODRL web site. There are 41 statements that respondents will rate on a numerical scale and there are six optional free-response questions.

The competencies in the Leadership and Management Model as well as the new Values and Behaviours will be assessed. The Leadership and Management model is a draft framework developed by DMSPC/OHR in 2018. 

The 5 competencies in the model (and assessed in the programme) are:

  • Managing for results
  • Building and nurturing teams
  • Driving transformational change through co-creation
  • Thinking and leading strategically
  • Encouraging integrity, inclusion and respect for diversity

A sixth competency, “Leadership in uncertain times,” was added to the programme as well. Statements in this section focus on a leader’s ability to adapt their style and reassure staff during crises such as the current Covid pandemic. 

The model is a draft framework developed by DMSPC/OHR in 2018.  It has been used to inform various learning and development initiatives including a pilot multi-rater feedback programme for senior leaders in 2019.

Going forward, DMSPC/OHR will review the leadership competencies in light of the new Values and Behaviours Framework, once promulgated.

The values and behaviours  as reflected  in the new Values and Behaviours Framework are also included in the assessment.

The four values are :

  • Inclusion
  • Integrity
  • Humility
  • Humanity

 

The five behaviours are :

  • Connect and Collaborate;
  • Analyse and Plan;
  • Deliver Results with Positive Impact;
  • Learn and Develop; and
  • Adapt and Innovate

 

QUESTIONS ABOUT RESPONDENTS

  • Direct reports: at least 5

These are staff for whom you serve as First or Second Reporting Officer, directly assigning tasks and evaluating their performance. Please include all your current direct reports any past direct reports you feel would be relevant. These are colleagues who probably know you well. Include as many as possible that have worked with you for 6 months or more.  

  • Indirect reports: at least 7

These are colleagues who report to your direct reports; include senior managers, professional and support staff with whom you may or may not interact with on a regular basis. The rationale for including indirect reports is that you will learn how your leadership style and behavior is experienced by staff who are not in your immediate circle of colleagues. It is crucial to understand how well your vision and messaging, for example, are understood by staff across your entity.

You may know which respondents you’d like to hear from. If not, you could consider consulting with your direct reports about which of their staff have been in your entity for at least 6 months.  Another alternative is to randomly pick 7 or more colleagues from your entity’s team list, but it is important to ensure that they have been with your entity for at least 6 months.

  • UN system peers: at least 7

Peers are colleagues from the same grade as you – or very close to you - with whom you work on a regular basis in the UN system.  Consider peers that work not just in your Secretariat entity but in other UN country teams/agencies/funds/programmes.

  • External stakeholders (optional): at least 5

External stakeholders include people outside the UN system, for example, NGOs, government offices or the private sector with whom you work regularly or for shorter, intense periods of time.  They may be in positions above or below your own.

 

When you finish nominating respondents in the ODRL portal your respondents will receive an automated email with instructions and log-in credentials.

We ask that you finish nominating respondents by Friday 29 October 2021. 

First check your inbox for an email from ks@odrl.org. If you don’t see it, check your Other account in Outlook, and your Spam and Junk folders as well.

If you still cannot find it, please contact Kay Sahdev (ks@odrl.org) and she will resend the email. Please cc ChrisCoomber@odrl.org.

You will be asked to nominate a minimum number of respondents across four categories: direct reports (5), indirect reports (7), UN system peers (7) and external stakeholders (5). But it is strongly advisable to nominate additional respondents for each category – beyond the minimum.  Some participants nominate dozens of colleagues for each category. The more diverse feedback you receive, the richer the feedback results will be. 

Please note that sometimes respondents do not participate for various reasons. If you receive feedback from less than the minimum number required for a category, then feedback from that category will be collated into another category.

Choose a wide range of staff, not just those who easily and regularly agree with you. Feedback from diverse sources and points of view will enrich the learning and development you achieve from this exercise.

For reasons of confidentiality, the vendor will not share with participants who has completed their reviews for your report. (And OHR does not have access to this data).

The vendor, however, will periodically remind respondents to give feedback. And they will let participants know if the minimum number of responses are not met after the deadline.

 

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FEEDBACK REPORT

The feedback report is a compilation of the survey results from the ODRL platform. It will summarize quantitative and qualitative information received by your respondents. It will be sent to you in a PDF by the ODRL executive coach who will de-brief you on its results.

No. Only participants and their respective executive coaches from ODRL will have access to the report.

 

QUESTIONS ABOUT COACHING

After your initial de-briefing session about the results, you will have two additional coaching sessions. The coach will help you identify areas of development and help you strategize on changes you can make.

You will have four phone conversations with the coach: a 15-minute introductory phone call, a 60-minute de-briefing session on the feedback report and two (2) 60-minute coaching sessions.

All coaching sessions should be completed by end of February 2022.

Yes, ODRL coaches have worked with many UN staff including at senior-most levels. They are familiar with the UN’s unique structure, purpose and varied working environments across duty stations.

Executive coaching sessions will be available in English, French and Spanish.

 

 

 


 

Important documents: