Telling Our Story - Regional

Telling Our Story - Regional TDY Experiences

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Telling our Story Regional TDY Experiences

Women carry their seed rations back to their home in South Sudan© 2006 Kate Holt


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Welcome to ECSA!

Globally at CARE, we have always valued our staff for their strengths and their embodiment of our core values - Equality, Integrity, Transformation, Excellence and Diversity. Part of valuing our staff is being able to support them in their own career development, as well as providing the space to allow them to use their technical skills and expertise to help their colleagues around the region and the world. In line with this, we in the ECSA region have encouraged and supported national staff to take up temporary duty assignments (TDYs) in various CO’s and regions. This is aligned to the ECSA Roadmap on People, Leadership and Culture, to the wider organization’s work on enhancing our talent management systems and also with CARE’s integrated approach to talent development based on the 70/20/10 principle:

• 70% - on the job learning, actually doing the thing the person should be learning• 20% - feedback and coaching• 10% - traditional classroom, webinar etc learning

This has also been made possible by the development and implementation of the staffing guidelines which guide the process of TDY deployment for national staff. The guidelines are set out to ensure that a structured, systematic and consistent approach is adopted in relation to TDY assignments in the Region and are now in the process of being adopted globally. The movement of employees across CO’s in ECSA has been a very effective strategy in career and capability development.

In this first edition of Telling our Story, we focus on the Finance and Program Support departments, from which we list 15 national employees who undertook TDYs within the ECSA region. Through this storytelling, which is a pillar of the CARE USA strategy, we hope that this will inspire each one of us as we get to hear the stories of five employees who share their wonderful TDY experiences which give us a glimpse of what this experience meant to them, both at a professional and personal level.

Talent Management is an organization-wide approach to designing and implementing the strategies, systems and processes to identify, develop and retain employees, with the capabilities & commitment needed for current and future organizational success.


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Name Department Host CO Home CO TDY Location Date From Date To

1 Paul Museeh ICT CARE South Sudan ECSARO Juba, South Sudan

19/10/2015 18/12/2015

2 Kitusa Muthusi Internal Audit CARE Madagascar CARE Somalia Antananarivo, Madagascar

27/10/2015 06/11/2015

3 Biftu Kuma ICT ECSARO CARE Ethiopia Ethiopia 11/01/2015 30/06/20164 Gift Chinkwita-

PhiriICT ECSARO CARE Malawi Malawi 11/01/2015 30/06/2016

5 Mohamed Hamisi

ICT ECSARO CARE Tanzania Tanzania 11/01/2015 29/02/2016

6 Lawrence Kahara

Admin/Logistics CARE South Sudan CARE Somalia Juba, South Sudan

11/02/2015 18/12/2015

7 Daniel Djod-jouhouin

Programs CARE Burundi CARE Benin Bujumbura, Burundi

18/01/2016 29/02/2016

8 Musa Ndunguru

Sub-grants CARE Burundi CARE Tanzania Burundi 22/02/2016 26/02/2016

9 Elizabeth Wan-jiru

HR ECSARO CARE Somalia Regional Of-fice, Nairobi

20/03/2016 15/06/2016

10 Emanuel Uwimana

Internal Audit ECSARO CARE Rwanda Juba, South Sudan

29/03/2016 14/04/2016

11 Oliva Mukagasana

Grants & Con-tracts

CARE Madagascar CARE Rwanda Antananarivo, Madagascar

30/03/2016 30/06/2016

12 Kitusa Muthusi Internal Audit ECSARO CARE Somalia Uganda 18/04/2016 29/04/201613 Thandiwe

MwabutwaInternal Audit ECSARO CARE Malawi Khartoum 15/05/2016 31/05/2016

14 Medard Ouin-savi

Finance CARE Madagascar CARE Benin/Togo

Antananarivo, Madagascar

15/02/2016 30/04/2016

15 Mariama Said-ou Oumarou

Finance CARE Madagascar CARE Niger Antananarivo, Madagascar

16/01/2016 30/06/2016

16 Isaac Ofori Security CARE Ghana CARE South Sudan

Juba, South Sudan

11/04/2015 30/11/2015


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Kitusa MuthusiCountry Office Requesting – Madagascar and UgandaCountry Office Sending – SomaliaDepartments – Internal Audit

Please describe your overall TDY experience? I have done five TDYs in the last two financial years and I have found the opportunities very rewarding in helping me better understand how CARE is structured and how interventions done in different COs drive the overall CARE strategy. Every CO I have visited has been unique and this has given me insights into how different COs operate, their challenges, successes and innovations. Since my TDYs have principally involved audit support, I have also learnt the internal control and compliance challenges facing different COs, and used

that learning to self-critique and fine tune our audit procedures in Somalia. Above all, I have made new friends in the locations I have visited and enlarged my professional network within CARE. On a light note, I have also picked a few foreign words along the way, interacted with different cultures and discovered the limitations of google translate as an auditing tool; when trying to understand handwritten French, Kirundi or Malagasy.

What was the greatest highlight from the whole experience? Learning. My overriding objective in the five TDYs I have been involved in, has been to learn as much as possible from my colleagues and the different CO experiences. In the four COs I visited, I noticed that the values CARE stands for are indeed universal and people everywhere want to overcome poverty and live with dignity and security. Whereas the underlying factors preventing the achievement of those universal aspirations may be different in different countries, there is still a lot that colleagues in different COs can learn from each other’s successes and challenges.

What was your biggest challenge in the whole experience? The biggest challenge for me was balancing my time between the needs of CARE Somalia, and the benefits to be achieved from the TDY. For quite some time, our internal audit function in Somalia was under resourced, meaning that we could not effectively meet the needs of the CO, let alone having slack capacity to avail to other offices. My supervisor and I however recognized that going on TDY, if well managed, had greater advantages and in fact enhanced my skills to better support Somalia.

What are some of the lessons learnt during the experience? a) Lesson number one is to not take on the opportunity unless one’s work and personal circumstances allow it. Quite

often, TDYs are requested because there is an urgent need for extra capacity. More often than not, one therefore finds a significant TDY work load and if one carries work back-log from one’s own CO; the combined work load can be overwhelming.


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b) TDYs are great opportunities to learn from the experiences of other COs, enlarge one’s professional circle and also to visit places one would ordinarily not visit.

Do you feel you achieved your overall objectives for the TDY experience? Please explainAs mentioned earlier, the overarching objective was to learn from other CO contexts and experiences, and I found that each CO had a lot of learning to offer, both in terms of what they did particularly well, as well as what didn’t work well for them and the underlying reasons why they were not successful. Meeting new CARE colleagues and keeping in touch ensures that the learning and sharing continues long after the TDY is over.

For the specific task objectives, my TDYs usually came with terms of reference and therefore the output and outcomes were easily measurable. Where it was necessary to adjust the time allocation, I was able to negotiate new timelines with both my Somalia supervisor and the temporary supervisor at the TDY CO, to deliver on the ToR requirements. In most cases, after the TDYs, I received written feedback from the relevant parties.

How has the TDY experience contributed to your current role/growth?Immensely. I have been able to establish personal working relationships with many colleagues in the country offices I have done TDYs, and among the RMU and CUSA internal auditors I worked with in some of the TDYs. This makes consultations very easy whenever necessary.

Above all, the other COs experiences and challenges have enriched how I look at controls in my CO. For example, it has increased my professional skepticism even in areas where on the face of it, controls seem to be working effectively; by drawing on lessons from other COs where similarly well-constructed controls failed.

On the other hand, I have also learned from the innovations of other COs in their day to day activities, which has helped enrich my audit recommendations.

What recommendations would you give to improve the overall TDY experience? I would encourage that TDYs be used not just to plug temporary capacity gaps, but as a deliberate strategy to encourage learning across country offices. For instance, where practical, willing colleagues can go on secondment to other COs as part of a two way or three-way swap. This is particularly useful for auditors and I am glad this conversation has already started in the ECSA internal audit function.


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OUMAROU Mariama SAIDOUCountry Office Requesting – Madagascar Country Office Sending – NigerDepartment - Finance

Please describe your overall TDY experienceFrom 15 January to 15 July 2016, I was deployed for a TDY to CARE Madagascar for the post of Financial Controller. This was for me an extraordinary experience. Indeed in my country Office I held the position of Chief Accountant and this was the first time I was being confronted with the roles and responsibilities of a Financial Controller.

What was the greatest highlight from the whole experience? One of the most important things for me in this experience is the fact that I got to have interface between CARE France and CARE USA and I ensured that the books that are transferred to CARE France are clean.

What was your biggest challenge in the whole experience? The biggest challenge was managing the staff during this period of change. But it went well and I can only thank God for that.

What are some of the lessons learnt during the experience? In terms of lessons learned, I cannot mention them all. Indeed six months working in a completely different context from yours is a different school. But what I remember is that the foundational work is very important. It is good to regulate parts but filling up the gaps from the very beginning is much more important.

Do you feel you achieved your overall objectives for the TDY experience? Please explainI achieved the objectives of my TDY, the transtion went well and the two lead members were satisfied.The TDY experience now helps me in my daily work. I now take more time to look at the transactions and I am able to anticipate what may happen in case of an audit. This has made me more careful and detailed in my work.


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Oliva MukagasanaCountry Office Requesting – Madagascar Country Office Sending – RwandaDepartment – Grants & Contracts Management

Please describe your overall TDY experience? The TDY role was to support the Finance Controller of CARE Madagascar in the daily management of grants and contracts especially in the process of Management transition from CARE USA to CARE France.

What was the greatest highlight from the whole experience? The team was supportive and wanted to share their knowledge. They also wanted to learn from others and were also interested by the support being offered.

What was your biggest challenge in the whole experience? Generally, there was no big challenge related to what I was doing. Most of the minor challenges were linked to my daily work. However, when you are in foreign country, you face challenges related to climate and language. When the locals start communicating in local languages, you definitely feel like a stranger.

What are some of the lessons learnt during the experience? The TDY allows you to have an opening on what happens outside you CO. You only need to have self-confidence, to do your best, learn quickly and share your knowledge.

Do you feel you achieved your overall objectives for the TDY experience? Please explainGenerally, I did what I could have done but it was a process which was still going on after I left. However, one of the major tasks was around the elaboration of the financial reports, verifying and confirming them. The variance was identified and appropriate actions taken so that the provisional status of grants and contracts for ongoing projects was shared with CARE USA and CARE France in order to facilitate the transition and I am confident that I contributed to the success of the that transition.

How has the TDY experience contributed to your current role/growth?The TDY allowed me to know more about donor rules and regulations which CARE Rwanda does not have interactions with such as BMZ, CARE France and CARE Germany. It also allowed me to share and gain experience and knowledge from the CO and their CI Members.

What recommendations would you give to improve the overall TDY experience? I highly recommend to anyone going for a TDY to be eager to learn and share his/her experience. Also, the TDY experience opens one’s perspective and contributes to the improvement of teamwork especially when you are with different people from different areas. It really made me happy to learn from them!!


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Musa NdunguruCountry Office Requesting – BurundiCountry Office Sending – TanzaniaDepartment -

Please describe your overall TDY experience?I have been in Burundi for two different TDYs concerning support in the implementation of CUSA Audit recommendations and also supporting forensic Audit. These TDYs helped me learn how Burundi managed their partners, understanding how forensic Audit is being conducted and the challenges on undertaking it. It also gave me a chance to reflect and compare what we do in our COs in order to determine our areas of strength and weakness so that we take appropriate effort to improve. Furthermore the TDYs gave me exposure to different cultures, social interactions, and different organizational and management style.

What was the greatest highlight from the whole experience? • The TDY strengthened my understanding on relationship management• Understanding how the forensic audit is done• Better understanding of the Sub-agreement policy and its appendices• Common challenges faced by our COs in managing partnership• Understanding the key areas that CUSA is concerned about in partnership management.• Understanding the differences in controls and legal restrictions in different countries

What was your biggest challenge in the whole experience? The biggest challenge was the limitation of scope due to insecurity.

Do you feel you achieved your overall objectives for the TDY experience? Please explainI partly achieved my objectives as I managed to share and improve the file management system of the Burundi CO and I also managed to support the forensic audit by providing appropriate response and supporting documents necessary for smooth audit undertaking.

How has the TDY experience contributed to your current role/growth?The TDY has broadened my understanding of partnership management, partner’s information management, handling partner compliance and fraud issues as well as exposure to different internal control procedures in different countries.

What recommendations would you give to improve the overall TDY experience? • There should be a designed structure on following the implementation of agreed actions after a TDY. This should be

part of the agreement and no cost should be committed on this rather than part of accomplishment of TDY.• There should be a dedicated host staff to host the TDY incumbent so as to enable them practically learn the culture and

working environment of the respective CO. This will help the incumbent to have the same experience with the CO staff as well as reducing some accommodation cost incurred in the big hotels which can be channeled to other programing areas.


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Gift Chinkwita-PhiriCountry Office Requesting – ECSARO/South SudanCountry Office Sending – MalawiDepartment - ICT

Please describe your overall TDY experience? I had a wonderful experience. It was more of a learning one. I had never been to South Sudan. Everything was new.

What was the greatest highlight from the whole experience? I was impressed by how the office kept going despite the extra ordinary circumstances that the office has to operate in. With the countries limited infrastructure and other challenges, the office still continues with its various programs. The IT systems that I went to review

were functioning way better than what I expected.

What was your biggest challenge in the whole experience? Normally, I am used to working during odd hours since with a lot of IT services we need to work whenever there is need regardless of the hour. In juba it was different. There are less working hours at the office and the schedule is fixed. It is not possible to work adhoc hours. This was certainly a constraint but eventually I adjusted and began to find ways around but this was certainly a big challenge.

What are some of the lessons learnt during the experience? There are many things that we take for granted in our day to day life. Like switching on the light bulb or turning on the water tap. These are things that are not so easy to come by in South Sudan. The biggest lesson I learnt is that as much as we are all on the African continent we are the same but we are also different in a number of ways. We need to take each country in its context. What works in one country will not necessarily work in another. A one size fits all approach can be detrimental. We have high tech networking equipment that needs to be switched on 24/7, but this is not quite practical in South Sudan where the power is guaranteed to be on for approximately 10 hrs. Of course this has been noted and a power environment review is being done for each country where we are to implement the network blueprint.

Do you feel you achieved your overall objectives for the TDY experience? Please explainMost certainly. My stay was short and I wished I would have stayed longer. I was able to attend to all the support items on my TOR and to do a readiness assessment of the new building that the CO intends to occupy. In addition I was also able to make some recommendations on certain areas. It was a very fruitful experience.

How has the TDY experience contributed to your current role/growth?My understanding of the region continues to grow. This has enabled me to refine how I provide IT support in a multicultural environment.

What recommendations would you give to improve the overall TDY experience? South Sudan hosted me very well. I have no further recommendations I can make.


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Documents

Telling Our Story - Regional