4.2.5 Cultural change fostered and critical technical and administrative processes strengthened through a new operating model that optimizes organizational performance and enhances internal communications

Scorecard

The overall assessment on the progress made for this output is strong, with a rating of above satisfactory for all dimensions apart from gender, equity and human rights. The output delivery team’s discussions revealed that the average score for the gender, equity and human rights dimension may have been lower in part because relevant work in some WHO regions has not yet been implemented but will be in 2021.  

Achievements and challenges

Many aspects of WHO’s transformation were reinforced and accelerated as part of the COVID-19 response. For example, the Chief Scientist and the division of External Relations and Communications, as well as the new divisions of Emergency Preparedness and Response and Data and delivery for impact, were quickly tasked with operating new capacities and functions at scale, thus validating the importance of these new functions and capabilities.

The worldwide shift to remote working necessitated by the pandemic provided an opportunity to rapidly implement and test more agile, collaborative and innovative ways of working across the three levels of the Organization. For example, in the Regional Office for the Western Pacific, agility and risk management were combined to support critical office operations – such as programme planning, budget and finance and information technology – by establishing alternate teams in case one team was required to quarantine.

Early transformation initiatives aimed at increasing the use of digital and cloud platforms helped ensure WHO’s business continuity in the new, virtual operating reality. For example, e-workflow platforms were rolled out at WHO’s headquarters and the Regional Offices for Africa and Europe, and new tools to track virtual correspondence and manage virtual meetings were introduced in the Regional Office for the Americas. In the Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, the COVID-19 pandemic also accelerated the transformation of key operating models supporting the incident management and support team.

Three-level internal communications were significantly enhanced in 2020 as part of the COVID-19 response. Staff seminars; open houses; town halls with the Director-General and Regional Directors; and newsletters, emails, updates and video blogs from the Director-General and Regional Directors helped strengthen internal information exchange. New two-way feedback channels opened additional opportunities for staff to engage and provide feedback.

Initiatives to promote cultural change are ongoing across all of WHO. For instance, the change network in the Regional Office for Africa (now 280 staff strong) and the Staff association in the Regional Office for South-East Asia are playing active roles in driving organizational culture at the regional office and country office levels. The Regional Director for Europe has actively promoted a new ethos of open, two-way communication and engagement as a move towards enhancing a healthy, respectful workplace.

Two comprehensive progress reports were published in 2020 as well as a paper for the 148^th session of the Executive Board (Transforming for enhanced country impact), which was submitted via the Regional Committees.

Balancing competing demands and priorities in the context of the COVID-19 response has been a major challenge. In some instances, the repurposing of staff and refocusing and mobilizing of resources to support the COVID-19 response affected the Organization’s capacity to implement planned activities.

Logistical and operational challenges arising as a result of the worldwide shift to remote working required the postponement or complete revamping of some planned activities. It also became difficult to provide some of the usual types of cooperative support to countries.

Communicating with internal audiences in a timely, transparent and consistent manner when the information and context are uncertain and ever-changing has been a major challenge. The Organization’s high number of priorities and limited resources and capacity for global internal communications has further compounded this challenge.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the importance and relevance of the transformation agenda, and in response, WHO’s country focus and operational agility have been increased.