In the same way as 2030 agenda has been introduced as integrated platform to assist the Member States in attainment of 17 SDGs, in the similar way UN Secretariat and UN system needs to address various degrees of organisational myopia, simplify rigid bureaucracy and hierarchy, break down artificially created boundaries and operational and mental silos, and as a whole needs to be more united in itself.
In alignment with the Secretary-General’s management reform and upcoming roll-out of the GSDM, the aim of the Talent Management initiative is to create dynamic, adaptable and (functionally) mobile global workforce that share knowledge and expertise, can quickly utilise more strategic and holistic approach towards delivery on increasingly complex mandates and breaks the existing operational silos demonstrating that change is possible and is effective and beneficial for all.
The initiative proposes targeted managed functional mobility (lateral job swapping within duty station for cost-free approach), through opt-in compendium and matching exercise for compatibility for placement, utilisation of buddy approach of the ‘swap couple’ to learn and develop new skills and train each other as well as oversee each other’s work during the swap (e.i. simultaneously development of leadership and supervision skills on the job).
This would be applied to general staff, professional staff to begin with and could be applied to consultants, interns (depending on the length and functional expertise requirements) and moving forward to national professional officers, temporary appointments and eventually to mobility across organisations through systematically targeted secondments aiming for attainment of united One UN.