Project: Coaching the Global Village will work with Handicap International (HI) in a training at a crucial time in their work in Haiti. In early 2013, HI needs to effectively transition its activities from Emergency to Development and achieve this with an almost entirely new, and local staff. Coach training will be an enormous asset for managers to navigate this change successfully and continue to assist the vulnerable population of this country. The training will be delivered in French by the experienced and credentialed lead coaches.
Lead Coaches: Marie-Claude Lapalme and Manon Dulude
Training Dates: April 23-25, 2013
Project Update: [April 2013]
Project Background:
Handicap International (HI) is an independent and impartial aid organization working in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster. They take action and bear witness to respond to their beneficiaries’ essential needs, improve their living conditions and promote respect for their dignity and fundamental rights. Since its beginnings in 1982, Handicap International has operated in 63 countries. Their work has benefited several million people in that time. They have been awarded, in 1997, the Nobel Peace Prize (Co-recipient with partners in the International Campaign to Ban Landmines) and in 2011, the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, recognizing their work with and on behalf of persons with disabilities and other extremely vulnerable groups.
In Haiti, with local partners, they have responded to emergencies in the Gonaives region and to the 2010 earthquake. Since August 2011, their rehabilitation and development actions continued in the western region, including Port au Prince and the South East.
Their primary local partner in Haiti is Healing Hands for Haiti (HHH), who will also take part in this training. HHH is a registered, non-profit organization dedicated to fostering the expansion of quality rehabilitation services and programs for the benefit of Haitian adults and children with physical and mental disabilities. Healing Hands for Haiti believes that the best way to serve the people of Haiti is to enable them to help themselves by delivering sustainable training, education and support.
The needs for this coaching program are diverse. Firstly, since the 2010 earthquake, the complexity of the reality faced by HI and its staff has been very demanding and as a result, it may have been at times, difficult for them to maintain a healthy pace and perspective. Signs of burnout in some individuals have been observed. The development of coaching skills in managers will benefit this organizational context in two ways:
- Enhance the capability of management to surface and address human resource issues while promoting accountability and personal responsibility;
- Maximize their own capacity to maintain a healthy perspective in light of ongoing challenges and disparity between needs and resources available.
Secondly, HI works in partnership with local stakeholders (training, skills transfer) with the aim of ensuring the sustainability of the implemented actions, Healing Hands for Haiti being a primary one in Haiti. Collaborating effectively with external organizations requires an alignment in mission and objectives that is achieved through conversations that focus on strengths, possibilities, and a focus on accountability. Coaching skills develop both the level of listening and the type of dialog necessary to achieve such higher level goals.
Finally, in 2013, HI plans to transition its activities from Emergency to Development. Indeed, HI aims to support the coherent and relevant development of the rehabilitation sector in Haiti. This change in focus will involve a change in human resources as some expatriates will leave the organization and be replaced by local resources. This newly formed group will be comprised of a mixture of seasoned staff and newly arrived individuals. Developing coaching skills in all of managers will enable them to work together effectively more rapidly, and increase their efficiency in mobilizing people towards their new goals.
The training objectives are as follows:
- Learn to create a level of presence with another for a focused conversation addressing a challenge, individual or community
- Acquire focused and intentional listening skills
- Develop skills on how to ask powerful questions and use appreciative inquiry
- Hold conversation which focus on strengths of individuals and community
- Learn the art of possibility thinking, leading to new outcomes
- Acquire new skills to create accountability and personal responsibility
- Provide a forum to facilitate individual and group leadership conversations using the coach approach
The attendees will be comprised of all people with management responsibilities at HI and HHH. We expect the size of the group to 20 to 30 people and the exact profile will be determined early 2013 as HI designs their new organization. As a result of managers of HI and HHH achieving the objectives above, we expect the following outcomes for the organizations:
- Increased effectiveness and timeliness in surfacing and addressing human resources issues
- Enhanced problem solving capability in a complex environment
- Optimized transition from emergency to development
Budget
For groups larger than 15 people, 2 trainers are required. The fee for the delivery of training includes trainer fees in addition to administrative fees i.e. project management, training materials, communication.
