Liberia Forestry Development Authority: An Institutional Capacity Assessment January 2020 Disclaimer: This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. All omissions and inaccuracies in this document are the responsibility of the authors. The findings, interpretations, and views expressed in this guide do not necessarily represent those of the institutions involved, nor do they necessarily reflect the views of PROFOR, The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. 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Design: Patricia Hord.Graphik Design CONTENTS Acknowledgments v Executive summary 1 Context and Objective 2 Liberia’s Forests and Their Significance 2 Forestry Development Authority 3 Study Objective 3 Conceptual Framework and Empirical Approach 5 Main Survey Findings 8 Staff Productivity 8 Internal Governance and Stakeholder Interaction 12 Policy Recommendations 14 Improving Skills 14 Stronger Management 15 More Equitable and Transparent Pay 16 More Cooperation and Coordination with Key Stakeholders 16 Better Data, Key Performance Indicators, and Staff Engagement 17 References 20 List of Figures and Tables Figure 1. Allocation of Forest Land in Liberia, 2015 2 Figure 2. Forest Sector Contribution to Liberia’s Economy 2 Figure 3. Conceptual Framework for Institutional Capacity of the FDA 5 Figure 4. Relevant Pillars of the FDA Strategic Plan 7 Figure 5. Survey Modules That Will Inform the FDA Strategic Plan 7 Figure 6. Staff in the FDA Have Comparatively Low Educational Qualifications 8 Figure 7. “Are Training Programs Held to Improve Learning and Performance?” 8 Figure 8. Staff Motivation Across the FDA Varies Considerably 9 LIBERIA FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: AN INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT iii Figure 9. “Are FDA Staff Paid Fairly and Equally Across the Organization?” 10 Figure 10. “What Are the Biggest Problems with the Compensation System?” 10 Figure 11. Quality of Management Varies Considerably Across Units 10 Figure 12. “Has Employee Performance Improved Because of Performance Evaluations?” 10 Figure 13. “Does Management of Your Unit Conduct Performance Evaluations?” 10 Figure 14. Conducting Performance Evaluations Correlates with Higher Motivation 11 Figure 15. Individuals Who Joined the FDA for Pro-social Reasons Have Higher Motivation 11 Figure 16. Less Than 20 percent of Projects Are Successful Most of the Time 11 Figure 17. Better Targeting Improves the Likelihood of Project Success 11 Figure 18. Perceptions of Rent-Seeking: Percentage of Respondents Saying Yes 13 Figure 19. Limited Knowledge About the Code of Ethics 13 Figure 20. Reporting Unethical Behavior: Percentage of Respondents Saying Yes 13 Figure 21. Perceptions of the FDA Among Stakeholders: Percentage of Respondents Saying They Do Not See the FDA as Trustworthy and Competent 13 Figure 22. Reasons for Project Failure 13 Figure 23. Main Policy Recommendations 14 Table 1. Proposed Key Performance Indicators on Public Employment and Management 17 iv LIBERIA FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: AN INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This report was prepared by Zahid Hasnain (Senior Public Neeta Hooda, Garo Batmanian, Benoit Blarel, Snezana Sector Specialist), Lida Bteddini (Senior Public Sector Mitrovic, Asmeen Khan, and Steve Davenport. Specialist, GGOEW), Nalin Kishor, Kerenssa Kay, and Ravi Somani. Eva Shiffer and Anushree Shetty assisted with the The initiative has been supported by Liberia’s Forestry customization of the survey questionnaire. Comments on Development Authority, which provided the funds for the overall approach were provided by Tuukka Castren, the field survey through the Liberia Forest Sector Project. Joel Turkewitz, Ian Munro Gray, and Vivek Srivastava. Additional funding was provided by PROFOR, through the Valuable overall guidance was provided by Daniel Rogger, Governance-PROFOR partnership initiative. LIBERIA FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: AN INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT v vi LIBERIA FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: AN INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report presents the findings from an improve performance, but only 31 percent state that institutional capacity assessment of Liberia’s Forestry their managers conduct these evaluations. Staff who Development Authority (FDA) based on a survey have managers who evaluate their performance are 13 of FDA employees. The FDA plays a pivotal role in points more motivated than staff whose managers do managing Liberia’s forest resources, and its Strategic not evaluate performance. Plan (2018–2030) prioritizes institutional strengthening • Management practices and access to facilities affect for achieving its vision of “sustainable forestry for FDA outputs such as success rates for projects. sustainable development.” The FDA employee survey was conducted to provide scientific evidence on the main On internal governance and the customer charter, the organizational and personnel dimensions of institutional survey’s main findings were the following: capacity, including staff skills, management practices, staff attitudes and behaviors, experiences of corruption • FDA staff report high levels of rent-seeking in the and undue political interference, stakeholder interaction, organization, with 55 percent believing that there is and factors determining project success. A total of 438 a practice of regularly collecting informal fees from FDA employees, or approximately 82 percent of the staff, citizens and companies for solving problems. were interviewed, and the sample covered Monrovia and • Better management is associated with safer and more the field offices. trustworthy work environments. While most employees believe that it is acceptable to report unethical The survey’s findings are relevant to key FDA behavior, only half of them feel safe to do so. Staff strategic pillars of improving staff productivity, are 15 percent more likely to feel safe reporting on an strengthening internal governance, and improving unethical colleague in units characterized by above the agency’s customer service charter. On productivity, median management quality as compared with units the survey found the following: with below median management quality. • FDA staff have weaker educational qualifications • FDA staff value community engagement that reinforces than staff in other Liberian ministries or international the importance of the FDA’s customer service charter. comparators, and they lack adequate access to in- Staff view community interaction as vital to project service training. success, with 44 percent reporting that insufficient • Staff motivation levels vary widely across the FDA, with engagement is the main reason for project failure. 69 percent of staff reporting lower motivation levels These findings identify four key reform pillars that, compared with when they joined the FDA. when supported by a strong foundation of better data • The perceived opaqueness and inequity of the FDA’s and more regular monitoring and evaluation, will help compensation structure is a large source of tension and strengthen FDA’s institutional capacity: improving skills dissatisfaction. Only 40 percent of staff are satisfied through merit-based recruitment and competency-based with their salary, and 70 percent of them state that they training; stronger management practices, in particular, are not paid fairly or equally, the main reason being performance assessments, targeting and monitoring; that pay setting is highly discretionary. more equitable pay; and greater community engagement. • The quality of management, particularly staff Administrative data and regular staff surveys can be the performance evaluations, is a main determinant of basis of a key set of indicators on public employment and staff motivation. Seventy-five percent of staff view management that the FDA can use to assess progress performance evaluations as an effective tool to toward institutional strengthening. LIBERIA FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: AN INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT 1 CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE Liberia’s Forests and Their Significance1 and GeoVille 2016) as percentage of land area in West Africa; and the forests have a high biodiversity value and Liberia is the most forested country in West Africa. a high commercial value. In 2015, forests (defined as greater than 30 percent tree canopy cover) made up 6.5 million hectares, or 68 The forest sector is also a large employer and an percent, of Liberia’s land surface (Metria and GeoVille important source of livelihoods for rural Liberians. 2016). This includes some areas under tree crops such as More than a third of Liberia’s population lives in oil palm, rubber, and cacao. Out of this, about 4.3 million forested areas. The formal sector contributes to gross hectares are categorized as dense tropical forest with a domestic product (GDP) and formal employment. The canopy cover of more than 80 percent. informal sector contributes significantly to incomes and employment, through activities such as chainsaw milling Existing forests have different uses (Figure 1). Of the and charcoal production. The annual revenue generated total forest area (nearly 6.6 million hectares), almost 28 by chainsaw milling alone is estimated to be US$31–$41 percent is designated for commercial timber production million, or about 3–4 percent of GDP (USAID 2015). (under Forest Management Contracts [FMCs] and Timber Sale Contracts [TSCs]), 18 percent is under existing and Despite the important contributions they make proposed protected areas, 5 percent is under palm oil to the economy and to livelihoods, forests are concessions, and 1 percent is under rubber and other under threat and need to be better managed. plantations. The nondesignated category accounts for Overall, net forest depletion (as percentage of gross about 45 percent of the forest area. This land is used in a national income), a measure of unsustainable variety of ways by communities, smallholder cultivators, use of the forest, increased from 0.5 percent and transitory populations. in 2005 to 32 percent in 2015 (World Development Indicators 2015). The deforestation (forest loss) rate is FIGURE 1. ALLOCATION OF FOREST LAND IN LIBERIA estimated at 0.46 percent per year over 2005–2015 (2015) (Winrock International 2016). Deforestation and forest 2% degradation (depletion of existing forests) are caused Mining by shifting agriculture, chainsaw milling, charcoal (Class A licences and MDA) 1% production, poor enforcement of regulations governing 3% Rubber and other plantations TSCs forest concessions, expansion of commercial agriculture 5% concessions (for example, palm oil), and widespread Palm-oil concessions mining. Additionally, ineffective management of protected areas poses a risk to biodiversity and critical 18% 45% ecosystem services. Existing and Non-designated proposed Land Protected Areas FIGURE 2. FOREST SECTOR CONTRIBUTION TO LIBERIA’S ECONOMY 24% LIBERIA GDP BY SECTOR AT 1992 PRICES FMC 1000 Services Manufacturing 800 The forest sector contributes significantly to national Mining & Panning Agriculture & Fisheries development, and there is the potential for even Forest greater gains. Liberia’s forest sector is uniquely placed: 600 It contributes a relatively high share (10 percent) of the national economy compared with other sectors (Figure 400 2) and serves as an important source of employment; Liberia has the highest forest cover (68 percent) (Metria 200 1 This section and the next draw heavily from the Country Forest Note for Liberia (Hooda, Kishor, and Verheijen 2018). 0 2014 2015 2016 2017 2 LIBERIA FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: AN INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT Significant progress has been made toward director and two deputy managing directors and is institutionalizing forest management and establishing overseen by a Board of Directors; it is organized into five a conducive legal framework. The establishment of major departments—Legality Verification, Commercial, the Forestry Development Authority in 1976 and the Conservation, Community Forestry, and Research and enactment of the National Forestry Reform Law in 2006 Development—to effectively discharge its mandate. Each and the Community Rights Law with respect to forest department is led by a technical manager, who reports lands in 2009 have helped better institutionalize forest to the deputy managing director of operations. The management in Liberia. The National Forestry Reform total staff strength of the FDA is about 550, distributed Law has provided a new framework for identifying, between Monrovia and four regional offices (FDA 2016). allocating, and managing logging concessions; it The central offices determine policies, whereas the field also ushered in the era of the “three Cs” approach, offices generally focus on implementation, monitoring, giving equal balance to community, commercial, and and enforcement. The FDA monitors the movement conservation aspects of forestry. It has provided a of timber and forest products around the country and solid foundation for the operation of the sector and its maintains a presence at road checkpoints to issue sustainable contribution to the economy. The Community waybills and collect related revenues. The various field Rights Law provides a strong basis for engagement teams are managed from the central offices in Monrovia of communities in forest management. However, and report to managers within the various departments. implementation and enforcement of forest policy, laws, and regulations that would result in sustainable forest management and benefits to communities are lacking. Study Objective The objective of this study is to undertake an The sector still faces several challenges that need institutional capacity assessment of the FDA through to be addressed before it can become an engine a diagnostic survey of its staff to generate granular- of growth for the economy. The factors contributing level data on the inner workings of the agency. to the underperformance of the sector pertain to The survey captures the work practices, management weak implementation of the existing legal, policy, and approaches, staff motivation, leadership, and work regulatory frameworks; poor governance; and limited environment at the FDA to highlight specific human capacity and budgetary constraints of the FDA. These are resource and institutional weaknesses that constrain its compounded by cross-sectoral challenges from mining effective functioning. The survey serves as a diagnostic and agricultural concessions because of a lack of national tool to identify the interventions needed to alleviate those and regional land use planning. constraints and provide the basis for a key set of indicators on public employment and management that the FDA can Forestry Development Authority use to assess progress toward institutional strengthening. The FDA has a pivotal role in sustainable forest Anecdotal evidence points to serious deficiencies in management in Liberia. The agency was established as many of the FDA’s operations, including human resource a state-owned enterprise, with a broad remit to conduct management. The survey allows for a systematic look research, provide training, and “devote all publicly at the work practices, management approaches, staff owned forest lands to their most productive use for the motivations, leadership, and work environment to permanent good of the whole people, considering their highlight specific weaknesses that constrain the FDA’s direct and indirect values” (FDA Act, Section 3 (b)). The effective functioning. The survey findings will also help agency’s vision, as stated in its Strategic Plan (2018–2030), identify key interventions needed to remove those is “sustainable forestry for sustainable socioeconomic constraints. In addition, it will provide a baseline measure development,” with a core emphasis in the plan on of civil service productivity against which progress can be institutional capacity building, particularly in the first measured as interventions get implemented. Specifically, five-year phase. Pillar 1 of the plan focuses on optimizing this work will do the following: the institutional efficiency and effectiveness of the FDA by enhancing staff skills and productivity, developing • Measure in a scientific manner the attitudes and complementary infrastructural facilities, and exploring behaviors of public employees that are known to improved revenue collection options. matter for organizational performance. • Elicit the experiences and perceptions of FDA The FDA’s central management team is based in employees on management practices, compensation, Monrovia, with a network of district offices across and other human resource management factors that the country. The agency is headed by a managing impact attitudes and behaviors. LIBERIA FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: AN INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT 3 • Identify priority reforms to be supported by the Liberia mechanisms would be able to provide more insight into Forest Sector Project. this aspect of organizational function. • Establish a baseline to monitor progress on reforms. • Suggest key performance indicators to monitor Survey Methodology progress toward institutional strengthening. The FDA survey was undertaken December 2018– The study is both an individual (perception-based) February 2019 and included 82 percent of FDA staff. For and organization (management)-level survey. The the FDA, it was more cost-effective to conduct a census survey instrument was developed using a set of core of employees owing to the relatively small size of the modules designed by the Bureaucracy Lab, which have organization and the wide distribution of FDA staff across been validated in various other settings, and which the regions. In other settings, a representative sample of were tailored to the Liberian forest sector context. An the organization’s staff would be surveyed to ensure the assessment of the constraints to citizen engagement survey was a practical exercise but still a useful one. would be an important addition to understanding The data collection was carried out by a team of 18 highly the demand-side accountability mechanisms in trained enumerators, split into four teams. The teams were place. The survey abstracts from this to focus on assigned regions and an itinerary was drawn up based on workplace practices; however, a future assessment of the location of the selected field offices and sites. citizen engagement, transparency, and accountability 4 LIBERIA FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: AN INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND EMPIRICAL APPROACH A government agency production function is a the amount of revenues collected, and the type of useful framework for conceptualizing and measuring regulations enacted. Outputs in turn will influence institutional capacity (Figure 3). A production the long-term outcomes of sustainable forestry for function is the process by which “inputs,” or the human sustainable socioeconomic development. Agencies with and financial resources available to a public sector high capacity are not only those with enough inputs but, organization, are converted to outputs. These outputs more importantly, those efficient in converting the inputs can be the number of children educated or, as in the into outputs through effective policies and practices. FDA, the number of forestry projects implemented, FIGURE 3. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY OF THE FDA COUNTRY CONTEXT (Politics, Macroeconomy, Societal Preferences) LEADERSHIP POLICIES AND BUDGET LABOR MARKET APPOINTMENTS REGULATIONS AVAILABLE INPUTS (LABOR, BUDGET, INFRASTRUCTURE,...) INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY FDA POLICIES AND PRACTICES Wages and incentives Recruitment Training and Goal-setting and alignment monitoring Motivation and effort Autonomy and Ethics and trust Transparency and culture accountability OUTPUTS (Projects implemented, revenues collected, regulations enacted...) OUTCOMES (Sustainable forestry...) LIBERIA FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: AN INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT 5 We define institutional capacity as the agency- politicians do not unduly influence their decisions to level factors that impact the production process. create bias in the allocation of resources, in the award Specifically, we zero in on personnel management of contracts, and in the selection and implementation of policies and practices to underline that institutional projects, which can hurt implementation effectiveness. capacity is only partly a function of the quality of personnel or resources in an agency; it is also, and For the purposes of this survey, we are most arguably more importantly, a function of the effectiveness interested in the factors that operate inside a with which these resources are converted to outputs government agency and can be changed by agency through management practices, wages and incentives, leadership, depicted in the blue box in Figure 3. training and alignment, and other agency-level factors. Clearly, the linear and unidirectional relationship depicted A growing empirical literature has shown that effective here is simplistic as agency-level factors also influence organizational and personnel management practices the amount of resources an agency will be given and the determine organizational productivity in firms and interaction with the political leadership. However, this governments (Bloom and Van Reenan 2007; Rasul and conceptual distinction is important to identify reforms Rogger 2018). Merit as the main criterion for selection that require distinct levels of decision making. and promotion is the hallmark of the Weberian The conceptual framework utilized is directly relevant bureaucracy and can help create strong professional to three Pillar 1 activities of the first phase of the norms that drive performance. Equally important is the FDA’s strategic plan (Figure 4). The relevance of day-to-day management of whether an agency has clear the production function approach to staff productivity goals with quantifiable targets, and regular monitoring is self-evident. Management practices, the external of the achievement of targets; the extent to which staff environment, and staff integrity are also crucial for internalize those goals and effectively work together to internal governance and the extent and quality of achieve them; whether managers effectively involve staff FDA’s interactions with its customers, such as forest- in problem solving and give them autonomy to work; and dependent communities, local traditional authorities, the regularity and robustness of performance evaluations nongovernmental organizations, and forest-based and performance conversations. enterprises. The FDA’s interaction with senior bureaucrats An extensive academic literature has also shown needs to be accountable to elected officials, but this that motivation and professional norms impact responsiveness needs to be balanced with appropriate the productivity of government employees. These rules and protections for civil servants so that their attitudes and behaviors—motivation and effort, decision making is impartial and politicians do not unduly ethics and trust—are particularly important in public influence their decisions. In many systems, political administration given that it is difficult to monitor the daily factors undermine impartial decision making. Clientelism, work of bureaucrats, which creates unique accountability or the provision of jobs, contracts, welfare support, challenges (Dixit 2002). These attitudes are a function budget, and so forth in exchange for political support, is of selection mechanisms that attract and screen for a common feature of the public sector across countries intrinsically motivated workers, in addition to those with in all regions and income groups. Politicians also often the necessary skills, and good management practices that create bias in the allocation of resources, in the award motivate staff and ensure that they work with integrity. of contracts, and in the selection and implementation of projects, which can hurt implementation effectiveness. Institutional capacity is also influenced by country context and government-wide policies outside the The empirical approach adopted for this study agency. Country-level influences include the overall measures institutional capacity through a survey political environment and socioeconomic context. of the FDA employees. The survey is a scientific way These impact government-wide factors such as policies to assess the core elements of the FDA’s personnel and regulation, the available budget, the leadership management and enables the identification of priority appointments in ministries and agencies, and the overall areas for reform that can then be operationalized through labor market in which the government operates and activities funded by the Liberia Forestry Sector Project. competes with the private sector for human resources. The survey findings will help establish a baseline against The political-bureaucratic interface is especially important which the impact of these reform initiatives can then be because while senior bureaucrats need to be accountable assessed. The granularity of the survey captures variation to elected officials, this responsiveness needs to be in management practices and attitudes and behaviors balanced with appropriate rules and protections for civil across units and localities within the FDA that can help servants so that their decision making is impartial, and better target interventions. 6 LIBERIA FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: AN INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT FIGURE 4. RELEVANT PILLARS OF THE FDA STRATEGIC PLAN “SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY FOR SUSTAINABLE SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT” INSTITUTIONAL STRENGTHENING OF THE FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Strengthen Improve Staff Develop Increase Revenue FDA Customer Improve Gender Internal Productivity Infrastructure Collection Service Charter Mainstreaming Governance The survey design draws on the experience of the hospitals. The module on management draws on the World Bank’s Bureaucracy Lab (the Lab). The Lab World Management Survey (WMS), a rigorous method has conducted and analyzed surveys of approximately of quantifying managerial and organizational practices, 30,000 public employees in 10 countries. Some of the which has revealed that the quality of management is FDA survey modules are derived from core modules that the main driver of innovation and productivity in firms the Lab has developed and refined over the course of across the world (Bloom and Van Reenen 2007; Cirera and implementation in these countries and which have been Maloney 2017). The survey adapts this tool to measure tailored to the FDA context. These relate to staff skills, the quality of management of public sector organizations. management practices, and attitudes and behaviors The module on motivation measures general job that are important for all organizations irrespective of satisfaction, a summary measure that represents a their unique functions. Other modules were designed comprehensive assessment of all relevant job aspects that specifically for the FDA to capture aspects of its activities some studies have found are linked to labor productivity; in the forest sector. satisfaction with salary; and an employee’s current motivation levels compared with when they first began The survey has six modules covering various their job. The survey also asks about the prevalence aspects of the FDA’s institutional capacity and to of rent-seeking, attitudes toward taking bribes and inform reforms that can be implemented under the reporting on colleagues that engage in corrupt practices, strategic plan (Figure 5). The survey modules on skills staff views on the FDA’s interaction with communities, and and facilities measure staff educational qualifications, perceptions of project success. These different modules demographics, access to training, and IT abilities; the help provide a comprehensive picture of the quality of availability of resources such as vehicles; and access outputs of the FDA and the various factors that may be to electricity and the internet, and to schools and impacting performance and results. FIGURE 5. SURVEY MODULES THAT WILL INFORM THE FDA STRATEGIC PLAN STAKEHOLDER INTERACTION STAFF MANAGEMENT PRODUCTIVITY INTERNAL SUCCESSFUL CORRUPTION FACILITIES GOVERNANCE PROJECTS MOTIVATION CUSTOMER SKILLS SERVICE CHARTER LIBERIA FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: AN INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT 7 MAIN SURVEY FINDINGS The FDA staff survey was conducted from December FIGURE 6. STAFF IN THE FDA HAVE COMPARATIVELY 2018 to February 2019 and 438 employees (313 LOW EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS technical and 125 nontechnical staff in Monrovia and the four regional offices), or approximately 82 100 95 97 percent of all FDA staff, were interviewed, with a 91 response rate of 98 percent. The data were collected 82 80 by a team of enumerators using computer-assisted 67 personal interviews (CAPIs). The questionnaire had 10 60 modules with over 250 questions. 60 The majority of survey respondents—85 percent of 42 40 all, and 86 percent of technical—were male, which reflects the demographic composition of the FDA. Women are even less represented in the regional 20 offices. Improving gender mainstreaming is one of the priorities of the FDA’s strategic plan and clearly serious 0 effort will need to be made to attract more women Liberia Liberia Ghana Ethiopia Pakistan Indonesia Philippines FDA other to the organization. Since there are very few female ministries respondents in the survey, the survey findings cannot be disaggregated by gender. FIGURE 7. “ARE TRAINING PROGRAMS HELD TO IMPROVE LEARNING AND PERFORMANCE?” Staff Productivity Weak educational qualifications and the lack of “in- Never 41 service” training significantly limits the productivity of the FDA staff. Thirty-one percent of all staff, and 42 percent of technical staff, have an undergraduate degree, which is much lower than staff in other ministries Sometimes 50 in Liberia or other low- and middle-income countries for which we have data (Figure 6). Staff skills are particularly deficient outside of Monrovia: Only 23 percent of staff in the regions have a university degree. On average, only five individuals can use office software like PowerPoint Regularly 8.5 and Excel across all units in the FDA, and in over half of the units, there is only one staff member with these skills. 0 10 20 30 40 50 Furthermore, only 8.5 percent of staff state that training programs are regularly held to improve skills, whereas 41 percent of staff state that they have never received is considered “manual labor,” so schooling is not training (Figure 7). considered an important requirement of the job by many staff. Limited resources of the Forestry Training Institute The lower qualifications of FDA staff compared and the Forestry School of the University of Liberia, which with those in other Liberian government agencies provide the pool of new entrants for the FDA, is one suggests that the problem has less to do with the reason for the limited training opportunities and the poor overall availability of skilled professionals and more skills of graduates. to do with the attractiveness of the FDA as an employer or deficiencies in recruitment practices. Staff productivity is also compromised by weak Anecdotal evidence from the field suggests that much facilities such as limited access to electricity, the of the work carried out by technical staff of the FDA internet, health and education facilities, office 8 LIBERIA FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: AN INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT space, and other resources. In a typical working day, FIGURE 8. STAFF MOTIVATION ACROSS THE FDA 90 percent of staff outside of Monrovia report that they VARIES CONSIDERABLY never have access to electricity (with 23 percent of all staff reporting no electricity access). Most regional 20 staff have very limited access to their email (that is, every month or every quarter), constraining their ability to ensure regular communication with central offices. 15 While 69 percent of staff in the regions state that they have access to vehicles, only 22 percent state that there is enough fuel to utilize them effectively. Furthermore, 10 only 50 percent of regional staff have relatively easy access to education and health facilities. The absence of basic infrastructure suggests that significant investments in infrastructure and facilities will be necessary in 5 the regions before a significant move toward greater decentralization can be effective, as presented in the 0 50 100 150 200 second phase of the FDA’s strategic plan. The FDA Imagine that when you started your motivation was 100. does not receive adequate annual budgetary allocation What number would you say it is now? to develop an effective investment plan for the sector, thus limiting its ability for strategic multiyear planning different job titles. Associated with a subset of these for its activities. Additionally, the actual disbursements job titles are benefits like housing allowances, access to to the FDA are rarely made on time and quarterly vehicles, fuel allowances, and per diem for travel. Only disbursements have often been arbitrarily cut back.2 40 percent of all FDA staff are satisfied with their salary, and only 10 percent are satisfied with their benefits. Staff motivation levels vary widely across the FDA. Seventy percent of staff state that they are not paid fairly The survey aims to measure employee motivation or equally (Figure 9). The main reasons stated are that in several ways, ranging from general questions of pay setting is highly discretionary (that is, 30 percent respondents’ satisfaction with their jobs to reasons of respondents state that this process is determined for joining the public sector and assessment of their by personal relationships between the staff and the current motivation levels compared with when they manager); there is a lack of clear standards (27 percent); joined the FDA. While 71 percent of staff are satisfied and that decisions are subject to political interference with their overall experience working in the FDA, this (22 percent) (Figure 10). Sixty-five percent of staff also average masks the considerable variation in motivation believe that the compensation system is a source of levels, particularly when individuals reflect on how their tension and conflict within the agency. Ultimately, the motivation has changed over time. On this measure, main source of dissatisfaction is the lack of pay equity the survey asks respondents to imagine that when they and transparency, which is not surprising given the large entered the FDA their motivation was 100; they are then number of different positions relative to the number asked what their motivation level is now relative to then. of staff in the FDA (253 to 550). Furthermore, the lack Findings suggest that on average FDA staff are more of rigorous job evaluations underpinning the class motivated—the overall motivation score is 103—but there and grade classifications for these jobs exacerbates is wide variation in motivation levels, with 31 percent of challenges with the perceived discretion associated with staff reporting higher motivation levels compared with the enforcement of compensation policies. when they joined the FDA and the remaining stating that their motivation levels were lower (Figure 8). While many staff report that decisions around compensation are unfair, the quality of management A perceived opaqueness of the compensation is the main determinant of staff motivation. While structure and discretionary implementation of staff are dissatisfied with their salary, compensation is not compensation policies work to weaken motivation associated with motivation—staff who are satisfied with levels of staff. The FDA has its own salary scale—the their salary do not report higher levels of motivation than Personnel Classification and Compensation Plan— staff who are dissatisfied with their salary. The quality of approved by its Board of Directors, which establishes management, as detailed below, is a more important the classes and grades that determine salaries for 253 determining factor of how effectively staff believe they are in implementing their respective tasks. 2 Personal conversations with the managing director and the comptroller at the FDA. LIBERIA FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: AN INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT 9 FIGURE 9. “ARE FDA STAFF PAID FAIRLY AND EQUALLY FIGURE 10. “WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST PROBLEMS ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION?” WITH THE COMPENSATION SYSTEM?” 80 70 70 Play setting is not transparent 15 60 Political 22 50 interference 40 Lack of performance 27 30 standards 22 Personal 20 relationships and 30 favoritism 10 8 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 Staff are paid Staff are paid equally Staff are not equally and fairly but not fairly paid equally The quality of management varies widely across conduct these evaluations (Figure 13). In addition to the units of the FDA. Several dimensions of management infrequency of the evaluations, staff complain that, when practices are measured in the survey: the extent to which they are conducted, they are based on poor criteria a unit has explicit targets for its goals and whether they and not done fairly by managers. The Bureaucracy Lab are effectively communicated to staff; whether regularly surveys from other countries also reveal that performance monitoring of these targets takes place; processes evaluations and incentives are the weakest aspects of around the distribution of tasks across employees, the management, compared with organizational targeting and levels of staff involvement in problem solving, and levels monitoring, which are relatively stronger. Staff in these of staff autonomy to carry out their tasks; and the use of other countries also highlighted problems of favoritism incentives, particularly regular performance evaluations, and lack of objectivity in performance evaluations, though to motivate staff. Survey findings suggest that the average unlike in the FDA, the actual conduct of performance management score across these dimensions varies evaluations is relatively high. significantly, with some of the key client-facing units like FIGURE 12. “HAS EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE IMPROVED Conservation and Community Forestry ranking in the BECAUSE OF PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS?” bottom five on management (Figure 11). FIGURE 11. QUALITY OF MANAGEMENT VARIES Yes No CONSIDERABLY ACROSS UNITS 25 75 FIGURE 13. “DOES MANAGEMENT OF YOUR UNIT CONDUCT PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS?” Yes No What particularly stands out is the unevenness in how 31 regularly staff performance evaluations are conducted. Seventy-five percent of staff view performance evaluations as an effective tool to improve performance (Figure 12), but only 31 percent of staff state that their managers 69 10 LIBERIA FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: AN INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT The conducting of performance evaluations and survey findings illustrate a correlation between access to selection of pro-socially oriented individuals are adequate facilities like vehicles and fuel and higher staff correlated with staff motivation levels in the FDA. motivation levels. We find that staff who have managers who evaluate their performance are 13 points more motivated than Management practices and access to facilities affect staff whose managers do not evaluate performance FDA outputs such as success rates for projects. FDA (Figure 14). The regularity of performance evaluations staff generally have a poor view of the rates of successful has a similarly positive association with self-reported staff project completion, with only 18 percent of respondents satisfaction. Other management practices like effective saying that most projects (more than 75 percent) are screening for pro-social candidates are also correlated successfully executed (Figure 16). Better management, with motivation levels, underlining the importance especially better targeting, improves likelihood of of effective recruitment practices that select for both project success—going from below median to above skilled and pro-socially motivated staff. Staff who median targeting is associated with a 3 percentage-point state that they entered the FDA to serve Liberia or to increase in successfully executing at least 75 percent improve the ecosystem are 15 points more motivated of projects (Figure 17). Staff who say that they have than those that entered for extrinsic reasons such as adequate access to vehicles are also 4 percentage points income, benefits, or prestige (Figure 15). Unsurprisingly, more likely to say the FDA successfully executes at least 75 percent of projects. FIGURE 14. CONDUCTING PERFORMANCE FIGURE 16. LESS THAN 20 PERCENT OF PROJECTS ARE EVALUATIONS CORRELATES WITH HIGHER MOTIVATION SUCCESSFUL MOST OF THE TIME STAFF MOTIVATION RELATIVE TO START PERCENTAGE OF PROJECTS THAT ARE 96 SUCCESSFULLY EXECUTED 100 83 80 18% Between 75 and 100% 60 Between 25 and 50% 62% 20% Between 0 and 25% 40 20 0 Manager does not Manager evaluates evaluate performance performance FIGURE 17. BETTER TARGETING IMPROVES THE LIKELIHOOD OF PROJECT SUCCESS FIGURE 15. INDIVIDUALS WHO JOINED THE FDA FOR PROBABILITY OF SUCCESSFULLY EXECUTING AT LEAST PRO-SOCIAL REASONS HAVE HIGHER MOTIVATION 75% OF PROJECTS 15 STAFF MOTIVATION RELATIVE TO START 14 100 97 12 11 82 80 9 60 6 40 3 20 0 0 Joined FDA for Joined FDA for Below median Above median other reasons pro-social reasons targeting targeting LIBERIA FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: AN INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT 11 Internal Governance and Stakeholder staff are aware that a code of ethics exists, very few Interaction are knowledgeable about it. Eighty-seven percent of respondents are familiar with the existence of an FDA FDA staff report high levels of rent-seeking in the code of conduct, yet 55 percent said that they had not organization. Fifty-five percent of staff believe that there read the code, and only 10 percent had read the code is a practice of regularly collecting informal fees from and were very familiar with its provisions (Figure 19). citizens and companies for solving problems, though only While most employees believe that it is acceptable to 23 percent think that there is more rent-seeking in the report unethical behavior, only half of them feel safe FDA than in other agencies in Liberia (Figure 18). Several to do so (Figure 20)—only 15 percent of staff have other survey questions confirm the high prevalence of reported a colleague for unethical behavior. According paying and accepting bribes. For example, 50 percent of to the survey, staff are 15 percent more likely to feel safe respondents stated that it was acceptable for an officer reporting on an unethical colleague in units characterized to receive a small amount of money or a small gift, and by above median management quality as compared to 40 percent said it was fine to accept a large amount of units with below median management quality. money and an expensive gift, from a citizen for solving their problem. External factors including undue political FDA staff value community engagement that influence seem to compromise project quality, with 46 reinforces the importance of the FDA’s customer percent of FDA staff saying that politicians try to influence service charter. The charter lays out a commitment to staff in their units, such as on decisions related to the and a framework for defining service delivery standards, choice of projects or procurement. Staff cite the main the rights of customers, and how complaints from reasons for rent-seeking as low pay, selection of corrupt or customers will be handled. FDA staff generally believe corruptible individuals, too many regulations that enable that they have a good working relationship with key officers to exercise bureaucratic power, and pressure from stakeholders through regular interactions with forest- their superiors to engage in corrupt practices. dependent communities, forest-based enterprises, local traditional authorities, nongovernmental organizations, There are also high levels of political interference and development partners. Staff believe that these in the promotion of staff. Given the dearth of regular stakeholders consider the FDA to be trustworthy and performance evaluations, it is unsurprising that a competent, except for forest-dependent communities, significant proportion of staff (32 percent) do not believe whom more than half of survey respondents believe do that merit is a key criterion for promotion. By contrast, 53 not trust the organization (Figure 21). Staff also view percent of respondents believe that promotions in their community interaction as vital to project success, with units are likely to be based on political connections. 44 percent reporting that insufficient engagement is the main reason for project failure, followed by corruption Better management is associated with safer and (Figure 22). more trustworthy work environments. While FDA 12 LIBERIA FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: AN INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT FIGURE 18. PERCEPTIONS OF RENT-SEEKING: FIGURE 21. PERCEPTIONS OF THE FDA AMONG PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS SAYING YES STAKEHOLDERS: PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS SAYING THEY DO NOT SEE THE FDA AS TRUSTWORTHY AND COMPETENT Rent-seeking hurts my 43 Other government agencies ability to perform NGOs and 3 development partners 15 There is more rent-seeking 23 in FDA than other agencies Private sector 15 52 Forest-dependent communities There is a practice of 55 collecting informal fees Liberian citizens 15 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 FIGURE 19. LIMITED KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE CODE OF ETHICS FIGURE 22. REASONS FOR PROJECT FAILURE STAFF FAMILIARITY WITH THE FDA CODE OF CONDUCT Projects are technically difficult Have not read them 55 Community rejects projects 3 9 Corruption in the private sector 9 Have read them but only remember the main ones 21 Corruption in the FDA 11 44 Insufficient community engagement Have read them but do not 14 remember most of them Misappropriation of 24 funds by local leaders Have read them and are familiar with them 10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 FIGURE 20. REPORTING UNETHICAL BEHAVIOR: PERCENTAGE OF RESPONDENTS SAYING YES 80 74 70 60 50 50 40 30 20 15 10 0 It is acceptable to Staff feel safe to Staff have reported report unethical report unethical a colleague for behavior of a behavior unethical behavior colleague LIBERIA FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: AN INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT 13 POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS The survey findings identify four key reform pillars as Liberia, is to place relatively greater emphasis on that, when supported by a strong foundation selection through testing via written examinations rather of better data and more regular monitoring than selection purely on academic qualifications and and evaluation, will help strengthen FDA’s interviews (Ashraf, Bandiera, and Lee 2014). Written institutional capacity (Figure 23): improving skills examinations are the most common approach to ensure through merit-based recruitment and competency- merit because they limit discretion and the potential based training; stronger management practices, in for political influence or nepotism, and they can be particular, performance assessments, targeting, and implemented relatively cheaply. monitoring; more equitable pay; and greater community engagement. Recommendations are limited to Drawing on the experiences of both Organisation activities that are within the purview of the FDA and that for Economic Co-operation and Development can be implemented by the FDA within the timeline of (OECD) and low-income countries, as well as Liberia’s Pillar 1 of the strategic plan, with support from the World own President’s Young Professionals Program, a Bank’s Liberia Forestry Sector Project. merit-based recruitment policy should include the following elements: First, there should be open, Improving Skills external advertisement for job vacancies to help ensure transparency and perceived fairness in the recruitment To improve staff productivity, merit-based process. Second, the establishment of pre-identified recruitment practices based on tests are essential minimum qualification requirements, including education to help identify more qualified and public-service levels for technical staff, will help ensure that new recruits motivated individuals. Merit-based recruitment is a have a university degree. Third, a knowledge-based basic pillar of the Weberian bureaucracy model, and written examination that tests for key skills is an essential research shows that it is associated with lower levels component that will help filter the pool of candidates. of corruption, higher citizen satisfaction and trust, These skills should be a combination of basic legal and greater performance, motivation, and satisfaction knowledge (Liberia’s constitution and forestry-specific among civil servants (Rauch and Evans 2000; Cingolani, laws) and analytical and problem-solving abilities that Thomsson, and de Crombrugghe 2015; Meyer-Sahling, can be measured through a psychometric test. The test Schuster, and Mikkelsen 2018). While countries have a can be multiple-choice to make it cheaper to implement. variety of assessment mechanisms to ensure merit, the While competency-based recruitment has become recommended approach for low- and middle-income increasingly common in OECD countries since the early countries with high levels of political patronage, such 2000s, it would be more relevant for managers and FIGURE 23. MAIN POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS INSTITUTIONALLY STRONGER FDA IMPROVING SKILLS STRONGER MORE EQUITABLE PAY MORE COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT ENGAGEMENT Merit-based recruitment Implement PMS Revised salary structure More Transparency Competency-based Management training Strengthen existing training and mentorship engagement platforms Whistle-blower protection BETTER DATA, KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS, AND STAFF ENGAGEMENT 14 LIBERIA FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: AN INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT senior-level employees than for new entrants in Liberia Management System (PMS) that aims to stimulate regular as the screening process is both more demanding and monitoring and resolution of staff challenges, with the more discretionary. Fourth, candidates who pass the ultimate objective of shifting civil service culture toward threshold for the test should be assessed for personality a performance orientation for improved productivity. The traits, particularly pro-social motivation, through essay performance appraisal tool evaluates staff on personal questions that screen for reasons for joining the FDA. goals and objectives that are linked to organizational Lastly, final interviews would help identify the final targets, as well as on desirable behaviors. The PMS selection of candidates that have passed the above is currently being implemented in several ministries, stages of the recruitment process. accompanied by a training of managers and staff. Given the important impact performance evaluations Merit-based recruitment should be complemented seem to have on staff motivation and performance, the with an outreach program to attract motivated FDA should participate in the Civil Service Agency’s and skilled young Liberians to join the FDA. As pilot program to benefit from this reform initiative and discussed, FDA staff who are more pro-socially oriented maximize potential synergies. To be maximally effective, have higher motivation levels. The experience of the the PMS (a central-level reform program) will need to be President’s Young Professional Program is instructive and customized to the specific FDA context, in which a very inspirational: It reveals that a program that emphasizes large proportion of staff are based in remotely located service to Liberia, and to the ecosystem and the global field offices. climate in the case of the FDA, can be attractive. Pro- socially motivated, qualified candidates are often willing Effective performance management will require to forgo higher pay in the private sector for such an regular implementation of the PMS, accompanied opportunity. For example, a recent study showed that by a shift from evaluation to coaching and problem university graduates are willing to taking relatively lower solving. While the implementation of the PMS will be pay in the Ghanaian civil service as they view government an important reform, academic research reveals that the jobs as a unique experience and a long-term investment effectiveness of performance appraisals is contingent that could potentially present more lucrative future upon the perceived fairness of the process, the quality careers in the private sector, development organizations, of the relationship between the manager and employee, or nongovernmental organizations (McDonnell 2017). and employees’ reaction to feedback (Center for Evidence-Based Management 2016, 19). A cross-country Regular competency-based in-service training is survey of 23,000 civil servants from four continents necessary to ensure that staff skills are continuously found that for clear impact, performance needs to be upgraded and that staff skills remain relevant and evaluated against objectives identified in advance, and up-to-date. These competencies would not focus performance results need to be perceived to matter for on a candidate’s topical knowledge, but rather on promotions, pay rises, or job stability (Meyer-Sahling, broader issues such as leadership, teamwork, and Schuster, and Mikkelsen 2018). However, the difficulty strategic, critical, and innovative thinking. The OECD, of objective measures of performance, and limited for example, has identified four necessary skills for opportunities for promotions and pay increases, make civil servants: policy advice, working with citizens, effective implementation of performance appraisals collaboration in networks, and commissioning and in public administrations difficult. In response to this contracting. Encompassing these four skill sets are three challenge, many OECD countries are shifting the competencies: strategic thinking, professional expertise, performance conversation from one that evaluates staff and innovative capabilities (OECD 2017). The necessary to a two-way conversation in which employees get the competencies for the FDA will likely differ by unit, direction and developmental opportunities to continually and the first stage should be an identification of core improve performance, while evaluators have the chance competencies for these different units, which will then to provide timely feedback. help in the design of a training program. Managers can use a variety of tools beyond performance evaluations and performance Stronger Management conversations to motivate staff. Evidence from Undertaking regular and robust performance ethnographic studies points to effectiveness of access evaluations is a clear recommendation that emerges to training or learning opportunities, a friendly work from the survey results given its impact on staff environment, staff recognition and appreciation, motivation and performance. In Liberia, the Civil and involvement of staff in decision making as key Service Agency has rolled out a new Performance motivational devices that managers can use particularly LIBERIA FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: AN INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT 15 in resource-constrained environments (McDonnell 2017; protection is “legal protection from discriminatory or World Bank 2019). disciplinary action for employees who disclose to the competent authorities in good faith and on reasonable Managers will need to be incentivized and mentored grounds wrongdoing of whatever kind in the context of to improve management practices. These incentives their workplace” (OECD 2016). A necessary requirement can include conditioning managers’ own performance is whistle-blower protection legislation based on evaluations on the regularity and quality of the internationally accepted principles. In Liberia, a draft performance feedback that they provide staff, both whistle-blower protection law has been under debate through the PMS and, more importantly, through regular for several years, yet, according to the government’s performance conversations. Increasingly, managers in self-assessment report under the Open Government OECD countries have a different performance appraisal Partnership, the challenge in implementing the system than the rest of the civil service, with an emphasis commitment is the lack of political will.3 In the meantime, on their achievement of strategic organizational goals the FDA can implement a protection policy that informs as well as their managerial and leadership skills (Kuperus employees about their rights and obligations, establishes and Rode 2016). To be effective coaches, managers a reporting channel (for example, a complaints portal) will need targeted training in assessing employee that maintains the anonymity of the whistle-blower, and skills, mastering difficult conversations, and giving specifies penalties for retaliation against whistle-blowers. constructive feedback. For example, in Ireland managers need to undergo 30 hours of training specifically on performance appraisal, and in Canada managers receive More Equitable and Transparent Pay special training on performance management from the A simple pay and grading structure based on clear Canada School of Public Service. Equally important is job profiles will help restore staff confidence and mentorship, ideally by high-performing managers in the ensure more equitable pay for equal work. The Liberian public administration (these individuals could complexity of the FDA’s Personnel Classification and be identified from the FDA and broader Liberia public Compensation Plan—with one position for every two administration surveys), who can provide hands-on employees in the organization—is not based on any clear coaching that can potentially have more impact given job evaluation methodology, resulting in some surprising their embeddedness in the local context. classifications. For instance, rangers, a core technical Organizational management practices like targeting job, are classified lower than administrative and legal and monitoring also need to be strengthened assistants, and among rangers, those in the Department to complement these personal management of Community Forestry have a lower class and grade improvements. The survey reveals that better than those in the Commercial Forestry and Conservation organizational management practices have a strong Departments. Therefore, it is not surprising that the staff correlation with improved staff motivation and staff survey revealed such high levels of dissatisfaction with productivity. At the same time, the quality of specific pay, specifically lack of pay equity and transparency. components of management practices, such as targeting, Restoring staff confidence will require a simplified monitoring, and performance tracking, vary widely classification and compensation plan that both reduces across the departments of the FDA. Encouraging the the number of job titles and assigns grades based on an adoption of internal best practices can therefore be established job evaluation methodology. a cost-effective way of improving staff motivation and organizational productivity. The FDA’s strategic plan has More Cooperation and Coordination with a concrete set of time-bound goals that can be the basis Key Stakeholders of organizational objectives and goals, which can then be cascaded down to unit-level targets that managers can A robust forest governance framework includes focus on and be held accountable for achieving. mechanisms for stakeholder participation in policy making and implementation. According to the Whistle-blower protection is an essential reform findings of the staff survey, FDA staff recognize the to address staff safety concerns regarding their need to improve interactions between the FDA and ability to report on corrupt practices. While reducing local communities. The “9-Step” process, under the corruption is an institutionally complex reform that Community Rights Law, brings together the agency and requires prevention and enforcement measures that forest communities to foster collaboration on forest go well beyond the jurisdiction of the FDA, managers can create a culture where staff feel safe to report 3 https://www.opengovpartnership.org/members/liberia/commitments/ wrongdoing. The OECD definition of whistle-blower LR0019/. 16 LIBERIA FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: AN INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT management. The use of trained facilitators, particularly Better Data, Key Performance Indicators, sensitive to community interests, helps develop a and Staff Engagement relationship of trust between the two major stakeholders. Opportunities for quality interaction are also available Better data, both administrative data and staff through the Community Forest Working Group (CFWG), surveys, are necessary for informed human resource the Community Forestry Development Committee management practices and broader evidence- (CFDC), and the Regional Inter-Agency Task Forces based policy making and implementation in the (RIATs). Ensuring that these platforms are well resourced forest sector. Better information systems including the and managed is integral to their effectiveness. necessary infrastructure and staff capacity are necessary to ensure an effective management of information in Improve public access to information. The FDA has the sector. Better data generation, both of accuracy and developed protocols and procedures on public access frequency, backed by reliable information systems, is the to information. It finalized protocols for public disclosure backbone of effective monitoring and evaluation and, in 2016 (FDA 2016), patterning them after the National in turn, evidence-based decision making. Furthermore, Freedom of Information Act of 2010. The protocols the FDA staff survey provides a baseline against which provide user-friendly, step-by-step descriptions of internal the impact of human resource management and other and external channels for obtaining information from the reforms can be measured through follow-on surveys. FDA. These protocols will improve the agency’s credibility Surveys should be complemented by administrative and strengthen the level of transparency, accountability, data, particularly payroll data, to measure inefficiencies in and good governance for the sector. To operationalize staffing and inequities and distortions in compensation, public access to information, it is recommended that the and to identify staffing needs and gaps. These data FDA establish an adequately resourced unit dedicated are a vital tool for management for improving internal to responding to public requests for information, decision making, for identifying high-performing and promptly and with clarity. Given the sense of distrust low-performing units, and to help the FDA develop of local communities in the FDA as reported by FDA momentum for reforms. staff, the establishment of an information desk in the regional FDA offices where members of the public These data will enable the FDA to compile and may go to request information would be particularly regularly track a set of indicators on public beneficial to strengthen public access to information. employment and management to assess progress Furthermore, the development and implementation of toward institutional strengthening. A proposed set of an information management system in consultation with key performance indicators, measured by payroll data other key stakeholders and according to a clearly agreed and surveys, is listed in Table 1. upon timetable would help reinforce public trust in the agency’s capacity to deliver on its mandate. Short and regular surveys can also be an effective motivational tool for staff. An SMS-based short survey, regularly conducted, can be an effective mechanism TABLE 1. PROPOSED KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS ON PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT AND MANAGEMENT INDICATORS FROM STAFF SURVEYS INDICATORS FROM ADMIN. DATA Attractiveness % applicants/staff who think that Vacancy rate (by grade/type of recruitment is based on merit position) Number, qualification, and scores of applicants to public administration positions Length of time individuals search for public sector jobs (relative to private sector jobs) LIBERIA FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: AN INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT 17 INDICATORS FROM STAFF SURVEYS INDICATORS FROM ADMIN. DATA Retention % staff who think about leaving the FDA Turnover rate (disaggregated by key staff categories and positions) % of staff who think about leaving the public sector Reason for turnover (voluntary versus forced) Skills % staff satisfied with the relevance, Number of staff trained frequency, and targeting of training programs Proportion of staff who have the minimum set of qualifications for % staff who believe they have the right skills their job for the tasks (technical and nontechnical) Quality of management % staff who believe that: Vacancy rate (by grade/type of position); average duration of • Managers conduct regular and robust vacancies performance evaluations Turnover/mobility rate within the • Managers and supervisors try to use the public administration right staff for the right job Frequency of reorganizations • Their department has a clear set of targets derived from the agency’s goals and objectives • Staff perception of percentage of projects successfully executed • Their organization has the job-relevant knowledge and skills necessary to accomplish organizational goals Motivation % staff who: Public-private wage differential (controlling for worker and job • Joined FDA to serve Liberia and improve characteristics) the ecosystem Relative wages across FDA • Are satisfied with their experience in occupations (both vertically and public service horizontally) • Staff perceptions of alignment of FDA Relative wages across occupations mission with their personal motivation between FDA and other ministries • Have motivation levels above that when they joined the FDA 18 LIBERIA FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: AN INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT for engaging staff, eliciting their feedback, and having The FDA staff survey provides granular-level data on the type of regular performance dialogue that research existing organizational-level challenges affecting its reveals as having positive impacts staff motivation. A performance and effectiveness. Much of the findings separate manager-level survey would be helpful to get highlight challenges relating to the broader human direct information on the availability of skilled staff and resource management framework and management their appropriate deployment, and the effectiveness of practices across different units. In order to improve the PMS. The public sector in general has not adequately organizational capacity to deliver on its mandate, the leveraged technology for performance management, but FDA would benefit from investing in skills development many global private sector companies are increasingly through targeted training programs of its staff; building using mobile applications to elicit feedback on staff and staff morale through regular performance evaluations manager performance (Ewenstein, Hancock, and Komm and more equitable compensation schemes as well as 2016). These applications are used to gather structured more access to adequate resources required for staff to and unstructured real-time feedback from meetings, fulfill their tasks effectively; and stronger accountability problem-solving sessions, completed projects, and frameworks through meaningful stakeholder interaction so forth. The important point is that this technology- and stronger information management systems to feed enabled communication should not be about monitoring into policy decision making and implementation. staff performance, as that can create perverse incentives, but instead be about eliciting staff views on issues and involving them in solving organizational problems. LIBERIA FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: AN INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT 19 REFERENCES Ashraf, N., O. Bandiera, and S. S. Lee. 2014. “Do- Hooda, N., N. M. Kishor, and L. Verheijen. 2018. Liberia: Gooders and Go-Getters: Career Incentives, Selection, Country Forest Note (English). 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Development of Liberia’s REDD+ Reference Level: Final Report for Republic of Liberia Forestry Development Authority. Arlington, VA: Winrock International. LIBERIA FORESTRY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: AN INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY ASSESSMENT 21 The Program on Forests (PROFOR) multi-donor partnership generates innovative, cutting-edge knowledge and tools to advance sustainable management of forests for poverty reduction, economic growth, climate mitigation and adaptation, and conservation benefits. Through its programs, PROFOR is advancing forest-smart development, which recognizes forests’ significance for sustaining growth across many sectors, including agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and water.