Human Resource Management at the heart of Customs Modernization!
In the framework of the West African Customs Administrations Modernization (WACAM) project, funded by the Swedish government, the World Customs Organization (WCO) delivered a regional workshop in the fields of staff planning, job descriptions and competency framework in Lomé (Togo) from the 23rd to the 27th of September 2013.
This workshop is the logical follow-up of the WACAM project in the field of Human Resource Management (HRM) with the West African Portuguese-speaking and Francophone Member Administrations in 2013. Indeed, in February 2013, the first WACAM regional workshop on HRM took place in Dakar and brought together HRM Directors and lead officers from 10 different West African countries. Out of these Members and as a direct consequence of the workshop, nine out of 10 Member administrations requested further support from the WACAM project to continue the work initiated in Dakar. The workshop held in Lomé in September 2013 was designed to address the received requests.
Throughout the week in Lomé, the participants did not only have the opportunity to build on the knowledge acquired in Dakar but were also able to develop and acquire new skills and knowledge in the fields of staff planning, job descriptions and competency framework. Among others, the issues related to « over staffing » and « under staffing » were analyzed and the importance of adequately formulating and using well-drafted job descriptions as a critical recruitment, training and performance management tool were highlighted.
At the end of the week, the participants were able to prepare a specific HRM action plan for their Administrations based on Results-Based Management (RBM) principles. These action plans will guide them as a road map to support their HRM modernization efforts.
The workshop, facilitated by experts from Swiss Customs and the WACAM Project Manager, gathered 17 HRM directors and/or officers (including 5 women) from the following countries: Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.
These 7 Members will now have the opportunity to benefit from tailor-made national support in the field of HRM from the WACAM project to implement their HRM action plans as they clearly put HRM at the heart of their Customs modernization efforts!
It is important to highlight here that this regional workshop in Lomé was already the fifth HRM capacity-building activity carried out by the WACAM project on the field since the beginning of 2013; another sign that HRM is a major priority for Western Africa but also for the WCO.
For more information about this workshop and the WACAM Project, please contact the WCO WACAM Project Manager, Mr. Richard Chopra (Richard.chopra@wcoomd.org )