What motivates or demotivates UN staff?
| 2005 | 1995 | 2005 - 1995 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (a) professional skills | |||
| Very Good | 22.81 | 23.20 | -0.39 |
| Good | 65.76 | 63.40 | 2.36 |
| Insufficient | 10.54 | 12.20 | -1.66 |
| Bad | 0.90 | 1.20 | -0.30 |
| (b) human relations | |||
| Very Good | 25.66 | 22.50 | 3.16 |
| Good | 64.45 | 60.60 | 3.85 |
| Insufficient | 8.43 | 13.90 | -5.47 |
| Bad | 1.46 | 3.00 | -1.54 |
| Total | |||
| Very Good | 24.24 | 22.85 | 1.39 |
| Good | 65.10 | 62.00 | 3.10 |
| Insufficient | 9.48 | 13.05 | -3.57 |
| Bad | 1.18 | 2.10 | -0.92 |
When it comes to judging the professional skills of colleagues or peers, the assessment is virtually the same as ten years ago. Almost 90% of the respondents consider their colleagues to be generally good or very good. Less than 1% think their colleagues are actually poor performers on the whole. If we look again at the three categories: supervisors, colleagues and supervisees, the assessment is similar for supervisees’ and colleagues’ performance with around 11% of respondents considering them to be bad or insufficient, while 17% put supervisors into these two categories.
In terms of human relations, it seems that the situation has improved even further since 1995, with 90% of the respondents considering their colleagues to be generally good or very good, while ten years ago the percentage was around 82%.
How do UN staff judge the performance appraisal system (PAS)?
| 2005 | |
|---|---|
| Effective | 11.78 |
| Time-consuming | 25.50 |
| A waste of time | 31.38 |
| Counterproductive | 13.55 |
| Encouraging dialogue with supervisors | 17.78 |
Around 45% of the answers indicate that the current appraisal system is either a waste of time or counterproductive. Only 11% consider it to be effective and 18% believe it encourages dialogue with supervisors. A quarter of the answers indicate that, in any case, it is time-consuming. These assessments do not depend on the professional category of the respondents, except that P/L staff tend to consider it to be less effective than do Ds and GS. D and P/L are more likely than GS to find it time-consuming.
One piece still missing to get a full picture of our daily work environment is information.
| 2005 | 1995 | 2005 - 1995 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (a) Your Division | |||
| Regularly | 46.99 | 40.98 | 6.01 |
| Occasionally | 38.14 | 34.35 | 3.79 |
| Rarely | 14.87 | 24.67 | -9.80 |
| (b) Your Department? | |||
| Regularly | 45.68 | 38.99 | 6.69 |
| Occasionally | 38.85 | 34.26 | 4.59 |
| Rarely | 15.48 | 26.65 | -11.17 |
| (c) The United Nations? | |||
| Regularly | 29.99 | 23.61 | 6.38 |
| Occasionally | 47.37 | 37.78 | 9.59 |
| Rarely | 22.65 | 38.60 | -15.95 |
| Total | |||
| Regularly | 40.89 | 34.53 | 6.36 |
| Occasionally | 41.45 | 35.46 | 5.99 |
| Rarely | 17.67 | 29.97 | -12.31 |
It seems that during the past ten years enormous progress has been made in the provision of information, be it within divisions or departments or the Organization as a whole. In fact most progress has been achieved for the UN as a whole. Still, some 15% of colleagues are rarely informed about what’s going on in their department or division, and 23% are rarely told what’s going on in the Organization as a whole.
Those who are not informed about their divisions or their departments are in equal proportion P/L and GS; D and above seem to be much better informed, even though 8.5% still complain that they don’t know what’s going on. Regarding the Organization as a whole, the percentages are almost the same for all categories.
Is enough being done for women?
| 2005 | 1995 | 2005 - 1995 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Necessary | 28.34 | 27.96 | 0.38 |
| Effective | 16.06 | 10.34 | 5.72 |
| Overdone | 15.67 | 18.22 | -2.55 |
| Ineffective | 12.60 | 13.19 | -0.59 |
| Insufficient | 12.08 | 15.89 | -3.81 |
| Superfluous | 9.79 | 8.32 | 1.47 |
| Other | 5.46 | 6.08 | -0.62 |
Almost one third of the responses mention that what is done for women is necessary and 16% find it effective. In fact, the effectiveness of the measures seems to have increased compared to ten years ago.
| Women | Men | |
|---|---|---|
| Necessary | 31.20 | 25.30 |
| Insufficient | 18.10 | 5.50 |
| Ineffective | 15.20 | 10.00 |
| Effective | 13.30 | 19.00 |
| Superfluous | 8.70 | 10.70 |
| Overdone | 7.30 | 24.70 |
| Other | 6.20 | 4.90 |
As could be expected, women find these measures necessary, insufficient and ineffective. Men find them certainly necessary but overdone and effective.
| 2005 | 1995 | 2005 - 1995 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Positive | 27.41 | 25.00 | 2.41 |
| Negative | 15.88 | 18.20 | -2.32 |
| No impact | 56.71 | 56.80 | -0.09 |
As to whether these measures have had an impact on our careers, the majority answers “no”, to almost the same extent as ten years ago.
| Men | Women | |
|---|---|---|
| Positive | 20.90 | 33.00 |
| Negative | 27.10 | 5.20 |
| No impact | 52.10 | 61.80 |
One third of the women say that these measures have had a positive impact, while almost one third of the men say they’ve had a negative impact on their careers. Finally, 62% of the women say that they’ve had no impact at all and 52% of the men say the same thing.
| 2005 | 1995 | 2005 - 1995 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enriching | 72.81 | 61.90 | 10.91 |
| Stimulating | 19.93 | 25.10 | -5.17 |
| Difficult | 4.01 | 7.40 | -3.39 |
| Other | 1.71 | 2.30 | -0.59 |
| Frustrating | 1.55 | 3.30 | -1.75 |
As far as working in a multicultural environment is concerned, more and more people find it enriching and fewer find it difficult.
| 2005 | |
|---|---|
| Necessary | 29.30 |
| Difficult to implement | 26.64 |
| Helping staff fulfil their potential | 14.11 |
| Disruptive | 9.26 |
| Counterproductive | 8.13 |
| Unnecessary | 7.06 |
| Other | 5.50 |
As a whole, staff are fairly upbeat about the new mobility policy. Almost 30% of the responses state that it is necessary, but difficult to implement. Only one quarter of the responses say it is disruptive, counterproductive or unnecessary.
Broken down by department, the results tell a different story: in New York only 22% find the mobility policy necessary, in Geneva 26%, in UNICEF and in the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) 42%. According to our colleagues in UNICEF and UNMIK it helps staff to fulfil their potential, while staff in Geneva and New York think it’s difficult to implement.
| 2005 | 1995 | 2005 - 1995 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contributing to the UN ideals | 32.60 | 30.99 | 1.61 |
| Career development | 25.64 | 23.50 | 2.14 |
| Adventure | 16.03 | 14.92 | 1.11 |
| Financial reward | 8.78 | 8.17 | 0.61 |
| Other | 5.21 | 7.49 | -2.28 |
| Frustration at work | 3.51 | 7.15 | -3.64 |
| Personal reasons | 4.49 | 4.90 | -0.41 |
| Nothing | 3.73 | 2.86 | 0.87 |
| 2005 | 1995 | 2005 - 1995 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Family situation | 34.17 | 0 | 34.17 |
| Personal reasons | 13.63 | 34.18 | -20.55 |
| Recruitment procedures | 13.17 | 14.88 | -1.71 |
| Contractual status | 9.42 | 12.07 | -2.65 |
| Refusal of your supervisor | 9.4 | 14.29 | -4.89 |
| Fear of risk | 8.34 | 5.70 | 2.64 |
| Other | 6.36 | 10.46 | -4.10 |
| Negative impact on your career | 2.99 | 5.44 | -2.45 |
| Lack of skills | 5.52 | 2.98 | -0.46 |
What motivates staff to go on mission is essentially their desire to contribute to UN ideals or their hope of improving their career prospects and, to a lesser extent, they are drawn by the adventure of mission assignments. What prevents them from going is their family situation and to a lesser degree personal reasons and recruitment procedures.
| 2005 | 1995 | 2005 - 1995 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (a) Your career? | |||
| Positive | 64.20 | 51.60 | 12.60 |
| Negative | 5.70 | 6.80 | -1.10 |
| No impact | 30.10 | 41.60 | -11.50 |
| (b) Your personal development? | |||
| Positive | 86.50 | 90.40 | -3.90 |
| Negative | 2.43 | 2.00 | 0.43 |
| No impact | 11.07 | 7.60 | 3.47 |
| (c) Your professional competence? | |||
| Positive | 83.28 | 83.20 | 0.08 |
| Negative | 1.64 | 1.30 | 0.34 |
| No impact | 15.08 | 15.50 | -0.42 |
| Total | |||
| Positive | 78.01 | 75.00 | 3.01 |
| Negative | 3.25 | 3.40 | -0.15 |
| No impact | 18.73 | 21.60 | -2.87 |
The impact of these missions is basically positive — on careers, but most of all on personal development and professional competence. Nevertheless, almost one third of the respondents who have been on mission say it had no impact on their careers.
| 2005 | |
|---|---|
| (a) Management skills | |
| Very Good | 11.94 |
| Good | 49.95 |
| Insufficient | 26.17 |
| Bad | 11.94 |
| (b) Professional skills (presentation skills, writing skills, etc.) | |
| Very Good | 15.63 |
| Good | 66.09 |
| Insufficient | 16.49 |
| Bad | 1.79 |
| (c) Language skills | |
| Very Good | 41.38 |
| Good | 53.24 |
| Insufficient | 4.83 |
| Bad | 0.55 |
| (d) Computer skills | |
| Very Good | 24.93 |
| Good | 65.02 |
| Insufficient | 8.62 |
| Bad | 1.43 |
The UN language courses are the most appreciated, followed by courses in computer skills and other professional skills, such as presentation skills and writing skills. Management courses are less popular, with almost 40% of the respondents considering them to be insufficient or even bad. Turning individuals into people managers is undoubtedly an uphill struggle. And perhaps the effects of a 5-day management course simply wear off too quickly.
Staff members put forward more than 1400 proposals for new courses. These range from training to acquire a better knowledge of the functioning of the UN, to specific courses related to work, management, PR and marketing of the UN, longer courses in management, mediation and negotiation, courses in new technologies and periodic training in administrative processes to ensure that all offices are on the same page.
