Consultancy - Facilitation of UNICEF Eastern Caribbean Area (ECA) Office Team Building Retreat

Contract

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UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. To save their lives. To defend their rights. To help them fulfill their potential.

Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, every day, to build a better world for everyone.

And we never give up.

For every child, a champion

How can you make a difference?

Location: Hybrid

Duration: 22 days over 2 months

Start Date: 01 February 2024

End Date: 31 March 2024

NB: Actual retreat facilitation time is 2.5 days. Preparatory and post retreat deliverables included in contract duration. Facilitator expected to be physically present in Barbados for full retreat week of 04-08 March 2024.

Supervisor: Operations Manager with guidance from the Retreat Working Group

BACKGROUND:

In 2022 the Eastern Caribbean Area Multi Country Office successfully finalized the development of the 2022-2026 Multi-Country Program Document (MCPD) and in 2023 the accompanying Country Program Management Plan (CPMP) was finalized. This comprehensive process has introduced changes in the programme approaches, strategies, and staffing structure. It has been an extensive and emotionally taxing journey, compounded by a protracted emergency in response to the Migrant Crises in Trinidad & Tobago and preparatory and response elements of the annual Atlantic Hurricane Season which requires a constant state of alert and readiness. This compounded with the recruitment of over 20 personnel across eight countries in 2022 and 2023 has significantly impacted staff wellbeing at a time when uniting around a new strategy and welcoming new personnel should have been a priority focus.

The well-being of individual staff members and teams is pivotal for achieving results for children. Their mental state and interpersonal relationships and dynamics are key contributors to these results. This therefore requires UNICEF Eastern Caribbean Area Office to provide the space, time and platform to cultivate and foster a culture that values its staff members; acknowledges their contributions; nurtures healthy working relationships and teams; and creates a safe and enabling environment where every individual can fully realize their potential. This is even more important where nearly half of the new personnel are new to ECA and many new to UNICEF; compounded by the hybrid nature of the office with personnel dispersed across multiple countries.

To foster such an environment and build a reinvigorate sense of team and unity, it is essential to purposefully allocate quality time and space for each personnel and the collective teams to engage in the ongoing co-development and co-maintenance of a nurturing and collaborative work environment where staff can thrive as they contribute to achieving results for children.

It is for this reason that UNICEF ECA is organizing a team building retreat at this juncture to create a platform and a space for staff members to focus on unity and purpose, self-care, appreciating each other, form stronger bonds, forge new relationships, and just enjoy themselves and have some fun after such a challenging two years. The retreat is a strategic pause for the country office to reflect, rejuvenate and co-create a workplace culture that not only empowers the team to make a significant impact for children but also contribute to their personal fulfilment.

GOAL and OBJECTIVE:

Under the supervision of Operations Manager in close consultation with the Working Group, the consultant is expected to design the Team Building programme to address the following four main pillars:

1. Teambuilding: Enable staff members to get to know each other outside of their formal roles to build strong working relationships. In addition, identify strengths and weaknesses and how they can be harnessed to deliver results for children.
   1. Team building exercises (details to be suggested by the facilitator with input from Working Group)
2. Workplace culture: Create a platform to reflect, discuss and co-create a workplace culture that appreciates and acknowledges contributions and enables staff to better deliver results.
   1. Session on work-life balance (details to be suggested by the facilitator with input from Working Group).
   2. Session on communication and self-awareness (details to be suggested by the facilitators with input from Working Group)
3. Self-care: Increase staff morale through the creation of a space for self-care and work-life balance.
   1. Introduce guided practices to help staff learn how to incorporate mindfulness into their daily routines including relaxation activities (details to be suggested by the facilitators with input from Working Group)
4. Dialogue: create a space for honest and solution-oriented conversations on how to build and foster an environment of speaking up, open communication, accountability, mutual respect, equal participation by all and timely feedback.

It is expected of the facilitator to recommend impactful activities for each of the above pillars. The facilitators’ role is crucial in guiding these activities, maintaining a positive and productive atmosphere, and ensuring that the retreat meets its intended objectives.

APPROACH and METHODOLOGY:

For the forthcoming retreat, the ECA MCO strongly proposes an experiential learning approach that is participatory, inclusive, engaging, reflexive and innovative, blended with elements of fun and relaxation. This will allow a space where all team members feel comfortable to reflect, interact, participate, and share openly and easily.

The facilitators are required to use creative methods that should cultivate buy-in, spark curiosity, keep the team members invested in the process, create a sense of shared responsibility for both the process and outcome of the retreat, encouraging the teams to commit to the agreed actions and workplace cultural shifts. The structure of the retreat should therefore maintain a dynamic pace and include a mix of activities that cater to different learnings and interactions; keeping team members engaged throughout.

The ECA MCO values diverse opinions and inclusive conversations that allow all staff members to feel that their voices are heard, and that build collective understandings and outcomes. The technical proposal must provide details of the proposed methodology in the light of this approach and how these methods will help achieve the objective of the retreat, specifically how they will enable the team to reflect on and co-create their workplace culture, enhance self-care, improve dialogue and instill a renewed sense of team and unity.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Conduct interviews with personnel to clarify expectations and aspirations to determine the type of retreat they want and discuss options.
• Conduct an objective assessment of the current UNICEF ECA team dynamics; applying data gathering tools such as pre-retreat surveys, key informant interviews, review of 2023 Pulse Survey on Workplace Culture results, Retreat Working Group survey results, and other means as deemed necessary with the primary intention of deriving a deeper understanding of the main challenges and greatest strengths from which the overall team can be strengthened, including proposing activities to address weak indicators.
• In consultation with the Representative, Country Management Team, Retreat Working Group and Local Staff Association, design and develop the retreat agenda based on outcomes of the preliminary assessment and pulse survey results. The programme must ensure light, participatory, and fun activities that help initiate dialogue and reflection, all targeted at overcoming barriers to a supportive, safe and enabling work environment.
• Design experiential activities that enable participatory and fun team building exercises designed to address retreat objectives and assessment findings.
• Facilitate the retreat.
• Administer participatory workshop assessments such as mood meters for example and a final evaluation.
• Collate and analyze the workshop evaluation results.
• Write and present a final retreat report that includes the findings arising from the initial assessment of working dynamics, pulse survey results, a brief outline of the workshop itself and recommendations on how to improve the overall UNICEF ECA work culture and environment with focus and consideration around the nature of the MCO with personnel dispersed across eight countries.

EXPECTED DELIVERABLES:

The team building retreat is a strategic opportunity to reinforce team bonds and foster a shared sense of belonging among staff. The retreat activities should balance structured sessions with team-building activities, while also allowing time for relaxation and informal interactions. Therefore, it is expected to achieve a smoothly executed and fun team-building retreat which aligns with staff expectations while addressing the preliminary assessment findings on team dynamics and expectations and the pulse survey results. A written report will be provided, outlining the team’s work dynamics along with concrete recommendations on how to enhance communications, improve better work relations and sustain and expand upon the retreat’s positive outcomes. The deliverables will be as per the below table.

Table 1: Deliverables

Deliverables Estimated # Days****Estimated DeadlineAnalysis of all feedback mechanisms; Pulse Survey; interviews, etc., design of retreat and development of draft agenda in consultation with stakeholders1012-Feb-2024Finalization and presentation of final retreat concept and agenda reflecting feedback from ECA stakeholders226-Feb-2024Facilitation of retreat, including pre and post refinement on site508-Mar-2024Preparation and presentation of draft retreat report recommendations322-Mar-2024Submission of final retreat report, including final recommendations229-Mar-2024TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS:

This assignment will require travel to the Barbados Duty Station for the full week of the intended retreat (04-08 March 2024).

The consultant is responsible for arranging his/her own travel, including bearing the costs visas and travel insurance. Accommodation, meals and incidentals costs must not exceed the UN daily subsistence allowance rates. The costs for approved travels will be reimbursed by the UNICEF ECA upon submission of receipts and based on applicable UN DSA rates. All approved travels to be conducted in accordance with UNICEF travel rules and regulations.

PAYMENT SCHEDULE:

Payment of professional fees will be based on submission of agreed deliverables which receive satisfactory quality review. In general, individual contracts shall not allow for fee advances. However, a maximum of 30 per cent of the total contract value may be authorized by the Approving Authority in cases where advance purchases, for example for supplies or travel, may be necessary.

MINIMUM EXPERIENCE/QUALIFICATIONS:

To qualify as an advocate for every child you will have…

• At least a Master's degree in organizational psychology, business administration, communications, marketing, international relations, education, economics, or any other related technical field with special expertise in facilitation.
• At least 10 years’ experience in delivering of trainings or facilitation of retreat and team building workshops, previous work with UNICEF or UN Agencies is an added advantage.
• Experience delivering trainings or facilitating retreats within a diverse and multicultural organization.
• Experience delivering team building sessions.
• Excellent communication, analytical and facilitation skills.
• Proven competence in public speaking, team building, group dynamics, conflict resolution, leadership development, and communication and collaboration skills.

For every Child, you demonstrate UNICEF's values of Care, Respect, Integrity, Trust, Accountability, and Sustainability (CRITAS).

ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS:

This assignment is a hybrid assignment based in consultant’s home location with travel required to Barbados for one week. The Consultant is expected to work with his/her laptop and mobile phone and email address. The Consultant will report to the Operations Manager but is expected to work closely with the Retreat Working Group, Country Management Team, and the Local Staff Association. Periodic discussions will also be carried out during the consultancy period to monitor progress and constraints, support required and proposed solutions.

CONDITIONS OF SERVICE:

Before commencing work, the consultant shall submit a statement of good health and take full responsibility for the accuracy of that statement, including confirmation that he or she has been informed of the inoculations required for the country or countries to which travel is authorized. Consultants shall assume all costs that may occur in relation to the statement of good health. Consultants are required to certify that they are covered by medical/health insurance.

The selected candidate is solely responsible to ensure that the visa (applicable) and health insurance required to perform the duties of the contract are valid for the entire period of the contract. Selected candidates are subject to confirmation of fully-vaccinated status against SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) with a World Health Organization (WHO)-endorsed vaccine, which must be met prior to taking up the assignment. It does not apply to consultants who will work remotely and are not expected to work on or visit UNICEF premises, programme delivery locations or directly interact with communities UNICEF works with, nor to travel to perform functions for UNICEF for the duration of their consultancy contracts.

RECOURSE:

UNICEF reserves the right to withhold payment in case the deliverables submitted are not up to the required standard or in case of delays in submitting the deliverables on the part of the consultant. Performance indicators against which the satisfactory conclusion of this contract will be assessed include: timeliness/quality of submission and responsiveness to UNICEF and counterpart feedback.

TITLE RIGHTS:

All materials created by the Contractor which bears a direct relation to, or is made in order to perform, this contract and any intellectual property rights thereof, including but not limited to patents, copyright and trademarks, shall be jointly owned by UNICEF and the Contractor. At the request of UNICEF, the Contractor shall assist in securing such property rights and transferring them to UNICEF in compliance with the requirements of the law governing such rights. Any third party usage shall require written permission from both parties.

TRAININGS:

Consultants and Individual contractors, even those working from home, must complete the following online courses prior to signature of contract. All certificates should be presented as part of the contract:

• Ethics and Integrity at UNICEF
• Prevention of Sexual Harassment & Abuse of Authority
• Sexual Exploitation Abuse (PSEA)

Consultants and Individual Contractors must complete the following course before commencement of any travel on behalf of UNICEF.

• BSAFE Security Training

Any consultant or individual contractor who is issued a UNICEF email address must complete the following courses no later than 30 days after signature of contract.

• General Information Security Awareness Course
• Fraud Awareness

HOW TO APPLY:

Prospective consultants should apply through UNICEF jobs website no later than Tuesday, 9 January 2024 2024 (11:55pm Atlantic Standard Time). The application package should include the following:

1. A cover letter;
2. Detailed Curriculum Vitae
3. A proposal stipulating all-inclusive fees, including lump sum travel and subsistence costs, as applicable.

UNICEF is here to serve the world’s most disadvantaged children and our global workforce must reflect the diversity of those children. The UNICEF family is committed to include everyone, irrespective of their race/ethnicity, age, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, socio-economic background, or any other personal characteristic.

UNICEF has a zero-tolerance policy on conduct that is incompatible with the aims and objectives of the United Nations and UNICEF, including sexual exploitation and abuse, sexual harassment, abuse of authority and discrimination. UNICEF also adheres to strict child safeguarding principles. All selected candidates will be expected to adhere to these standards and principles and will therefore undergo rigorous reference and background checks. Background checks will include the verification of academic credential(s) and employment history. Selected candidates may be required to provide additional information to conduct a background check.

UNICEF offers reasonable accommodation for consultants/individual contractors with disabilities. This may include, for example, accessible software, travel assistance for missions or personal attendants. We encourage you to disclose your disability during your application in case you need reasonable accommodation during the selection process and afterwards in your assignment.

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted and advance to the next stage of the selection process.

Individuals engaged under a consultancy or individual contract will not be considered “staff members” under the Staff Regulations and Rules of the United Nations and UNICEF’s policies and procedures, and will not be entitled to benefits provided therein (such as leave entitlements and medical insurance coverage). Their conditions of service will be governed by their contract and the General Conditions of Contracts for the Services of Consultants and Individual Contractors. Consultants and individual contractors are responsible for determining their tax liabilities and for the payment of any taxes and/or duties, in accordance with local or other applicable laws.