Seven
leading aid agencies have improved security and support for their field workers
by implementing a code of best practice in human resources.
The
results of the sector’s first audit of HR practices highlighted how agencies are
improving safety and welfare through better management, training and support.
Called
Ahead of the Field, the report details how the seven agencies signed up to a
seven-point code of best practice, consulted staff, developed action plans and
opened themselves to an external audit to see whether they had met their
commitments.
The
agencies included large charities, such as the British Red Cross, Tearfund and
Concern Worldwide, and smaller ones, including specialist engineering
organisation RedR and development charity Health Unlimited.
Through
implementing the code, all had substantially revised their HR practice and
policy.
Joan
Coyle, director of HR for British Red Cross, said the code has created a
framework for good practice.
“The
code has seen a concrete improvement in HR services both in the Red Cross and
in the aid sector in general,” she said.
“It
has made charities more professional and accountable as well as work closer
together and produced a formal channel where we are able to cooperate and share
information. This in turn has helped us to monitor equal opportunities and the
diversity of our workforce,” Coyle added.
Sara
Davidson, co-author of the report and chief executive of the independent
charity that developed the code, said aid workers were among the worst served
of any employees on HR.
She
said: “In some agencies staff and staffing issues are regarded as a necessary
evil.”
But
with increasing professionalism now a condition of funding and aid agencies
struggling to attract and retain high calibre staff, changes were needed.
She
added: “This code should be a benchmark for every agency, large or small.”
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By
Daloni Carlisle
