Are managers accountable?

[The Following article appeared in the December 2003. Newsletter of the World Bank Group Staff Association. It is reprinted by permission. Any of this sound Familiar?]

Introduction

1. World Bank Group managers are all snakes and weasels and are always playing games at the expense of staff.

2. World Bank Group managers are the most put-upon and abused group of staff in the Bank. Who would possibly want to be manager with all that they have to suffer?

3. World Bank Group managers are not accountable to anyone and can and do get away with whatever they want.

4. World Bank Group managers have all sort of constraints on them.

We have heard all of these views (and many more) and all, of course, have elements of truth in them. Before we look at them in detail, let’s ask what we think about our managers. In the 2003 Staff Survey 76% of staff thought that their manager encouraged open and honest discussion, 79% thought that s/he acted with honesty and integrity and 67% thought that s/he demonstrated the people management skills to effectively lead the group. (Of course, the corollary is that 24%, 21% and 33% respectively did not. Out of around 7300 staff responding, that’s quite a lot.) However, the general perception is that most of us, more or less, think our boss is OK. We may have less positive views about our boss’ boss but that is another story.

Snakes and Weasels

I picked that term deliberately as it was used in an e-mail to me by a relatively senior staff member about all Bank managers. For the record, I don’t agree with him/her but see where s/he’s coming from. There are a lot of reasons for this perception but let’s look at a few:

• Transparency. If there is a theme to all the articles in this newsletter, it is the lack of transparency in the organization. We are a secretive organization. Our critics accuse us of that and staff strongly feel it. There seems to be a reluctance to share information. When it is shared, there is often an element or, at the very least, a perception of spin. We often feel that we are not getting the whole truth. Our bosses always seem to be having confidential meetings. The assumption, therefore, is that they must be up to something (note: sometimes they are but usually it is really very, very boring stuff that they are discussing.) The rumor mill in this place is phenomenal. I get informed at least once a day of some senior person who is leaving/moving/ having an affair/up to no good/generally misbehaving. 99% of it is untrue (though 99% is fun to talk about.) Part of this stems from the fact that there is a reluctance to share information, so staff speculate, start rumors, spread rumors.
• Old boys club. A very senior staff member who had been here just a few years announced, on his departure, that he had only recently discovered that there was a secret Bank and that he was not part of it or, indeed, till shortly before his departure, even aware of its existence. There is no doubt that there is a or, rather, several old boys clubs in the Bank (and they are mainly, though by no means exclusively, men) and that they keep others out and seem to run things. Indeed, one of the most common complaints we get from women, particularly those from Part II countries, is about this issue.
• Rules. The Bank does have a lot of rules, doesn’t it? I bet that there are many of your reading this who have never read the Administrative Manual. There are probably quite a few that have never even heard of the Administrative Manual. The Staff Manual, which regulates much of our terms and conditions of employment, is arcane and often difficult to understand. There are many even in HR who are not very familiar with it (and misquote it) and most staff probably only look at it when they need to refer to something of relevance. There are a variety of other rules which affect us, of which most of us are unaware — Operational Manual, RM/Budget, Legal, Pensions and, yes, the Staff Association. There are probably quite a few even I am not aware of. Worst of all are the unwritten rules. All too often the Staff Association and staff are informed of some action taken because “that is the rule” but nowhere is that rule written. “It has always been done that way.” HR even now has policygrams (search the term on Yournet) which are how they have interpreted various rules. Yes, organizations must have rules to follow but…
• And how to bend them. Of course, the secret is to know how to bend them. Managers are often good at that, as they have been around a long time and often know what they can get away with and who to talk to in order to bend them. The use of NRS as a way round dollar budgeting (mentioned elsewhere in this newsletter) is a prime example. They call it gaming the system.

To be continued in the next issue.