Collective Bargaining

COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT ON
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS
between
the International Labour Office
(hereinafter referred to as "the Office")
and the ILO Staff Union
(hereinafter referred to as "the Union")

Preamble

The purpose of this Collective Agreement (hereinafter referred to as "this Agreement") is to provide for the establishment of career and personal development plans for all staff members (hereinafter referred to as "Personal Development Plans/PDPs").

PDPs are designed to promote the fulfilment of individual development needs and aspirations within the general framework of the Office's human resources objectives and needs.

PDPs are an integral part of a career-development approach applying throughout the ILO, and will be conducted in accordance with due process, fair procedures and natural justice, having regard to relevant international law, labour standards and the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

The Office and the Union, (hereinafter "the Parties"), recognise that this Agreement aims to improve on existing structures and processes. All substantive entitlements of staff members shall remain intact, except where this Agreement states otherwise.

 

Article 1
Guiding principles

1.1 PDPs should:

• provide guidelines to assist staff members to formulate realistic and achievable development goals;
• facilitate discussions between staff members and their applicable line managers and the Human Resources Development Department (hereinafter "HRD") about ways and means to implement development goals, including through a personal development action plan;
• provide the framework within which the Office shall make available to staff members information about the Office's current and planned skills needs;
• provide inputs into the Office's training and development planning process;
• contribute to greater job satisfaction.

1.2 Staff members are encouraged to take the initiative and responsibility for the development of their careers by initiating a PDP.

1.3 PDPs will not in any way be used to the detriment of staff members.

Article 2
Definitions

2.1 For the purpose of this Agreement:

(a) A "Personal Development Plan" is a written document prepared by a staff member to express personal interests, capabilities, development goals and career aspirations, which may be discussed with the applicable line manager.

(b) The expression "competencies" means individual qualities, behaviours and motivations as defined in the Collective Agreement on a Procedure for Recruitment and Selection dated 6 October 2000.

(c) The expression "staff member" means any person in a paid relationship with the Office. This definition shall exclude bona fide external collaborators, daily contract workers and commercial service providers.

(d) The expression "applicable line manager" means either the staff member's immediate supervisor or any of the superiors of that supervisor. (e) The expression "Senior Director" means the relevant Executive Director, Regional Director or other manager of equivalent organizational level reporting directly to the Director-General.

Article 3
Eligibility

3.1 All staff members who have successfully completed their probationary period will be eligible to participate in the PDP process described in this Agreement.

3.2 For staff members who have not completed a probationary period, new forms of development plans will be implemented, to include an element of evaluation.

 

Article 4
The PDP form and supporting documentation

4.1 The Parties agree to a PDP form, attached as Annex I to this Agreement, to be used by staff members as the basis for the discussion with their applicable line managers about development goals and career aspirations.

4.2 The PDP form consists of three parts:

• the first part is the "Self-Assessment"component. "Self-assessment" will guide the staff member in identifying areas of work where s/he can do better, those that require further development and those reflecting his/her career aspirations;
• the second part entitled "PDP Summary" documents the outcome of the interview between the staff member and the applicable line manager, lists possible next steps and outlines a 12-month personal development action plan;
• the third part, the "PDP Progress Review", serves as an optional tracking tool for the staff member to monitor the achievement of objectives.

4.3 The Office will prepare a PDP manual which will provide guidelines to staff members and to managers on the conduct of the PDP interview, describe competencies, refer to career counselling options, provide examples of development activities and present information in the form of frequently asked questions. The manual shall be updated as needed.

4.4 The Parties agree that the PDP form, manual and other relevant documentation will be made available in both electronic and hard copy formats. The Parties further agree that the PDP Summary may be submitted in either format.

Article 5
Overall PDP Timeframe

5.1 HRD will inform managers and staff members, at least six months in advance, of the deadline for the Office-wide review of PDP Summaries. This deadline shall be established to coincide with the planning and budgetary cycles of the Office. All PDP interviews will be conducted during the overall PDP time-frame.

5.2 Senior Directors shall submit to HRD, by the due date, Sector/Department/and region-wide consolidated PDP Summaries and their proposals for training and other development activities.

Article 6
PDP Process and Follow-up

6.1 The PDP process is initiated when a staff member who so wishes requests an interview with his/her applicable line manager to discuss the PDP Summary. The line manager shall then co-operate with the staff member in the process.

6.2 To facilitate the interview, a staff member who so wishes may submit a draft PDP Summary to his/her applicable line manager. The interview to discuss the PDP Summary shall be conducted as soon as possible following the staff member's request.

6.3 The views of the staff member and the applicable line manager shall be reflected in the PDP Summary and agreement on the proposed training/development action is encouraged. Any difference of opinion shall also be recorded in the PDP Summary.

6.4 Before signing off on the PDP Summary, the staff member and/or the applicable line manager may also seek assistance from the next level applicable line manager or HRD.

6.5 The staff member may then submit the signed PDP Summary to the Senior Director.

6.6 The Senior Director will ensure that each staff member who has submitted a PDP Summary will receive a written response on the proposed training and/or development action upon completion of the Office-wide review.

Article 7
Establishment of a Joint Training Council

7.1 The Parties agree to the establishment of a Joint Training Council (JTC). The Council shall have an equal number of representatives, not exceeding six persons on each side, unless the Parties agree otherwise. Each Party shall have the right to be assisted by technical advisers of its choice in preparation for meetings. Technical advisers may be invited to meetings of the JTC by prior agreement of both Parties. Joint resource persons may also be invited to such meetings subject to prior agreement between the Parties.

7.2 The role of the JTC shall be to provide advice, on the basis of the Office-wide review of the PDP Summaries and Programme and Budget provisions, on the strategic direction of staff training and personal and career development in the Office.

7.3 The Office shall provide the JTC with appropriate statistics, analyses and relevant information, including budgetary allocations and associated expenditures. In addition, each Regional Office shall also provide an annual summary report on training and development achievements, needs and priorities, which contains the views of Regional Management and field Staff Union representatives.

7.4 The Office undertakes to arrange a meeting between the JTC and the Senior Management Team (SMT) once a year to allow a full discussion of training and career development issues in the Office. The JTC shall report to the Parties on the outcome of its work pursuant to that meeting.

Article 8
Confidentiality

8.1 The Parties agree that:

• the contents of the PDP Summary will only be used by the Office (HRD) and the Senior Director for the purposes identified in the Preamble and Article 1 of this Agreement;
• information related to PDPs shall remain confidential and will not be placed in a staff member's personnel file.

Article 9
Transitional measures

9.1 The Parties recognise that, in the implementation process, some transitional issues might arise. At the request of one of the Parties, solutions to such transitional issues shall be negotiated as a matter of urgency.

9.2 The Parties reaffirm their earlier decision to abolish the current performance appraisal system. The Parties agree to conclude negotiations, by the end of October 2001, on its replacement in the context of a new approach to performance management and reward, including the review and reform of probation arrangements, merit increments, personal promotions and titularization, as well as their separation from the old performance appraisal system.

10.1 This Agreement shall become effective on the date of signature, and shall be valid for two years. The Parties agree to review the operation of this Agreement at the end of that period. Thereafter, or in the absence of a review, the Agreement shall remain in force indefinitely.

10.2 No terms of this Agreement shall be suspended, modified, cancelled or otherwise amended excepted by means of a written agreement signed by the Parties. The Parties may re-negotiate any part of this Agreement.

10.3 The Office shall submit to the November 2001 session of the Governing Body any amendments to the Staff Regulations and other relevant texts necessary to give effect to this Agreement, in a manner which also preserves other substantive entitlements of staff members within the meaning of the Preamble to this Agreement. In any case of doubt between this Agreement and a relevant article of the Staff Regulations, the interpretation more favourable to the staff member(s) concerned shall take precedence and prevail.

10.4 A copy of this Agreement, related amendments to the Staff Regulations (if any) and other relevant texts shall be provided to each staff member. The Parties shall ensure that all staff members are aware of the existence of this Agreement.

SIGNED in Geneva, this Third day of August 2001, in two copies, in the English language, by the representatives of the Parties duly authorized to that effect.

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