Standard 4: Staffing for quality (technically sound, timely and effective) project management.

• Primary responsible: Proposal human resources lead (for all external funding opportunities and proposals for discretionary funding with significant HR needs) or proposal coordinator (for discretionary-funded proposals with no human resources lead)
  • The proposal human resources lead coordinates the development of the project staffing structure.
  • If there is no human resources lead (e.g. for a smaller, discretionary-funded project), the proposal coordinator does so.

• Others involved: Proposal decision-makerThe proposal decision-maker is a senior staff (typically the country representative) with responsibility for making strategic decisions related to CRS’ response to a specific funding opportunity. This includes partnership/consortium-related negotiations and agreements; recruitment and selection of key personnel; definition of preliminary budget parameters (including any CRS cost-share); other critical budget decisions; and review and approval of final versions of proposal documents (including budgets). This is a critical, though not full-time, proposal development team role. ; senior management team (SMT); country program human resources (HR) staff; proposal development team, including proposal coordinator and technical lead; IDEA staff; partner senior leadership; technical advisors; finance manager (FM) and/or head of operations (HoOps)
  • The SMT along with the HR manager (if not the proposal human resources lead) and HoOps, FM, partner leadership, technical experts, and experienced program staff advise on the recommended number and type of staff.
  • For opportunities with centrally managed donors, IDEA staff advise on the donor’s staffing requirements and preferences; the proposal decision-maker approves the final staffing structure.

• Organize initial discussion during capture planningCapture planning is the process of identifying particular funding opportunities, assessing the environment, and implementing strategies for increasing the chances of winning a specific opportunity. Capture planning occurs before release of a funding opportunity. (as possible, for competitive opportunities) or the project design workshopFor competitive funding opportunities where CRS has decided to invest in capture panning, CRS would ideally hold an initial project design workshop as part of capture planning (see Standard 5, key action 2). This may be followed by a second design workshop after release of the donor call for proposals. .
• Refine plans as early as possible during post-design workshop planning and budgeting.

This key action contributes to the following ProPack I “standard of quality”:

• Project proposal management plans are feasible, realistic and based on rigorous analysis involving the country program's senior management team members.

Follow these steps to ensure the project staffing structure, position descriptions, and profiles for a project are appropriate, keeping in mind that there will be many adjustments during the process:

Identify initial staffing requirements during early project designThis includes during capture planning, as applicable.

1. The proposal human resources lead (or proposal coordinator, when there is no proposal human resources lead) works with the proposal decision-maker, proposal coordinator and technical lead, SMT and potentially IDEA staffFor funding opportunities with centrally-managed donors. to consider the contextual factors that may influence project staffing. Use ProPack I, Chapter VIII, pages 112-114, and the following questions as prompts for reflection on staffing and technical assistance requirements:

• Will the project include activities that are new for the country program and/or partners, and therefore require additional staffing and management support (including technical assistance)?
• Will the project collect and manage personally identifiable information (PII) of project participants and/or include complex or sensitive data collection and protection components?
• Are likely project target areas remote or otherwise challenging to access, requiring time-intensive travel?
• Will the project include intensive coordination with external stakeholdersFor example, private sector actors, government, coordination bodies, other implementing organizations, donor(s). ? Will the project team lead or support this coordination?
• What level of accompaniment will partners need from CRS, based on their existing programming and management capacities and anticipated roles in the project? (See Standard 1, key action 2 on partner selection and capacity considerations.)

Be sure to document the team’s analysis of the above and any other contextual issues. These are important inputs for developing and presenting the staffing plan, both internally and in the project proposal.

Special considerations for external funding opportunities: In addition to the above, review information about donor expectations and requirements for project staffing, along with other donor requirements and preferencesFor example, in addition to required (“key”) personnel, the donor may have particularly rigorous financial management, reporting, or project monitoring and oversight requirements that may necessitate additional CRS and/or partner level of effort. that may influence project staffing and management.

• If a call for proposals/request for applications (RFA) or draft RFA is available, review information on project staffing.
• If there is not yet a formal call for proposals (e.g., during capture planning), consult with IDEA staff and others knowledgeable about the donor and similar funding opportunities, to identify likely donor staffing requirements.
• See the guidance for Standard 5, key action 4 and specifically the  Donor Reality Check(list) for more information about assessing donor requirements and preferences and their implications for project design.

2. The proposal human resources lead (or proposal coordinator, with support from country program HR staff) uses this discussion to:

• Map out an initial list of project positions and profiles (skill sets and expertise), including likely banding for each position.
• Determine the likely budgetary implications of the preliminary list of required positions using CRS banding and compensation guidance.
• Identify next steps in the recruitment process for priority positions (e.g., anticipated or known key personnel “Key personnel” is a specific term used by the U.S. government. Many requests for applications (RFAs) require that the applicant identify key personnel for the project; some require that the applicant propose specific individuals for key personnel positions and submit CVs for key personnel candidates. Key personnel candidates must be approved by the donor and any changes to key personnel during project implementation require prior approval from the donor. /project leadership positions). See also Standard 4, key action 3 on early recruitment for key positions.

3. If steps 1 and 2 were completed as part of a pre-design workshop during capture planning for a competitive funding opportunity, the proposal human resources lead works with the proposal coordinator and technical lead to incorporate this information into post-solicitation project design workshop discussions about project staffing structure.

Refine initial staffing plans based on additional project design and management details

4. Using the project scale, scope and timing defined during the project design workshop, as well as follow-up proposal team and leadership discussions about budget implications, the proposal human resources lead works with the proposal coordinator, technical lead and project partners to further refine the number and kinds of project staff. Refer to ProPack I, Chapter VIII, pages 112-114 for guidance. In addition:

• Revisit the question of how much support the partner(s) will needPartners who are new to working with CRS and/or less experienced may require more support, therefore the project may need to plan for more staff time and specific capacity strengthening skill sets. , based on further detailing of partner responsibilities and decisions on the CRS-partner funding arrangement (e.g. sub-award or contract – see Standard 3, key action 4 for more guidance).
• Assess whether each proposed position is needed for the full life of the project, or whether some positions should be phased in later or phased out earlier, based on the project start-up, scale-up, and close-out requirements (see Standard 2, key action 3).
• Identify any temporary technical assistance (TA) needs at specific points in the project, including project start-up (see also Standard 4, key action 2, on making a project start-up staffing plan).

Plan technical assistance carefully: Strategic use of short-term technical assistance as part of an overall project staffing plan facilitates cross-learning and incorporation of agency best practices, and can help streamline the permanent staffing structure. However, technical assistance is most effective when it is part of an ongoing support relationship. Be sure to build in activities to engage the individual(s) providing technical assistance throughout the project, including before and after periods of in-country or dedicated remote support.

5. The proposal human resources lead, proposal coordinator, and key SMT members refine plans regarding the level and nature of support needed from finance and other operations staff, particularly CRS shared or “pooled” staff Shared staff, also referred to as "pooled” staff, are country program staff whose salaries cannot be assigned to specific projects, but whose efforts benefit the country program’s full array of projects. Salaries for these staff are distributed to all projects using one of the three cost allocation pools (Vehicle Expense Pool, Facility Cost Pool or Project Support Pool). Assignment of such staff to Cost Allocation Pools is defined in CRS’ Cost Allocation Process Procedure and is based on the type of position. . Refer to ProPack I, Chapter VIII, pages 113 and 116-118 for guidance. In addition:

• Review and discuss any new information from CRS finance and other operations staff about donor reporting and management requirements, as well as partners’ support needs (see Standard 1, key action 2).
• Discuss whether adjustments are needed in the level of CRS “pooled” staff” to meet project needs (in addition to any dedicated operations staffAs highlighted in ProPack I (page 117), except for very large grants, human resource and procurement functions are performed by the country program’s shared support staff. identified during earlier steps).

Finalize the project staffing structure and management plan

6. The proposal human resources lead, with support from the proposal coordinator and technical lead as needed, captures the staffing decisions from the steps above in a project management plan and organizational chart. Refer to ProPack I, Chapter VIII, pages 110 – 115 for guidance.

• Ensure the draft management plan reflects reasonable expectations for supervisors (e.g., no more than 5-6 direct reports).

7. The proposal human resources lead shares the plan with the proposal decision-maker and other members of the SMT as needed, and finalizes based on feedback.
8. The proposal human resources lead creates position descriptions and profiles for the staff using CRS standard job description templates. These position descriptions can be used in advertising the positions (see Standard 4, key action 3 for guidance on recruitment) and in the project proposal.

• Condense the job descriptions into short position descriptions of 1-2 paragraphs or brief text and bulletsFor position descriptions and profiles that will be incorporated in a proposal submitted to a donor, keep in mind any donor preferences on how to present this information, as well as proposal page limitations. . For external funding opportunities, tie these descriptions closely to the technical and management criteria in the RFA and the proposed project strategy.
• For profiles, create equally short descriptions of the qualifications required for each position. For external funding opportunities, if CRS has identified specific candidates, highlight how each candidate’s qualifications match the position requirements. Emphasize any previous experience the candidate has with that donor.

Approach the staffing structure planning process with flexibility and creativity. Planning the staffing structure will be a fluid process. During the proposal development process, the budget and activities will change, requiring changes in the staffing structure. Keep an eye on all these components to ensure project activities, staffing, and budget are clear and in alignment.