Managing people in emergencies

The impact and effectiveness of relief and development operations depend on the quality of staff and volunteers and the support an agency gives them. This guide for humanitarian programme managers aims to help to create, manage and develop teams while working during emergency situations. It is based on the People in Aid Code of Good Practice and shares the codes‘s guiding principle that “People are central to the achievement of our mission’.

The guide is based in principles developed following evaluations of relief and development work which emphasised the centrality of people in delivering organisational and program objectives. It focuses on the following areas to enhance management and support of staff and volunteers in humanitarian situations:

• Planning, including: 
  assessing staffing needs, terms and conditions for contracts, checking if existing team and current staff already have the right skills and experience, financial resources, managing high staff turnover, collaborating with other organisations and accountability to stakeholders
   
• Effective recruitment, including:
  preparing job descriptions and definiing person specifications and competencies, ensuring equality and diversity within the team, whether and how to advertise or head-hunr for a post, 
  
• Deployment, including:
  travel, induction, training, briefing and handover, probationary periods
   
• Management, including:
  building and managing teams, communication, performance, retention, salary review, health and safety, HR records, discplinary actions
   
• Staff development, including:
  learning, career plannig, change and restructuring
  
• Transition

Within each section:  

• Major risks are identified and suggestions made about how to manage them 
• Resources and further reading are provided
• Case studies are used to illustrate what has happened in other programmes