Talent management & RISE agency

RISE agency
support package

Targeting international equal partnership for development with evidence based impact

Agency is here defined as the capacity of individuals to have the power and resources to fulfil their potential in a given environment.
RISEagency is here defined as the capacity of individuals to have the power and resources to fulfil their potential in research, innovation and social enterprising at locations with fragile infrastructure.

The purpose with implementing a RISEagency programme  (January 2023) is to overcome the challenges related to that our operations are implemented at locations where the infrastructure is fragile.

HR&S is developing a unique support package. We use the ROPE management strategy, and thus the RISEagency support package is composed of inputs to activities addressing outcome challenges that have been identified to hinder the ambition RISEagency.

The outcome challenges are identified through literature reviews as well as in though our own TestE surveys with interviews and questionnaires.

Benefiting from the ROPE management strategy also enables us to continuously improve and strengthen the RISEagency support package, as we learn lessons and take informed decisions.

Components

TRACK

The RISEagency includes procedures for transparency, accountability and informed decisions.

“The opportunity makes the thief”

“The opportunity makes the thief”.
It is the responsibility of HR&S to not enable opportunities for theft.

The risk-success/return ratio

Our operations are two-fold, we address operational impact, thus implementing social good, and we address financial impact, thus ensuring a sustainable economy. Prior to involving ourself in a new project we assess the risk-success ratio, the potential sustainable impact with the perceived risks of low impact, and we compare the risk-return ratio, the risk of losing funds instead of generating funds. HR&S operates by turning unfavourable risk-return ratios to favourable ones.

As the institutional capacity often is fragile in the countries where we operate the risks are high when we establish new partnerships. Even if we do not give out donations, but sell our services and offer business loans, the price we can ask for is low and the business loans we provide are not always paid back. Moreover, the time invested in support can be wasted if the risk for low impact is high. The business loans are not paid back, the price we can ask for is low, and the effort invested may be not matched, as most institutions have an aid mindset, expecting financial donations as well as products and services for free. Moreover, the exchange rate is unfavourable for HR&S Sweden. We are also challenged by operating in a fragile rule-of-law environment. We work with risk management and risk reduction by coaching institutions and enterprises to establish their own efficiency, transparency and accountability agency. Risk reduction has been found to require several years to achieve, if at all. HR&S is willing to take risks, as we have found that mistakes made that is affecting a team, is an excellent pilot project for the team to work with, together with HR&S, in order to install procedures for this not to happen again. We seek locally developed procedures to avoid mismanagement of funds and corrective measures if it happens and benefit from the general facts such as “the opportunity makes the thief”, “the aid expectations mind-set”, “learning from failure makes us stronger”, “fragile rule-of-law”, and “solid community awareness”. Eventually, we have a team of efficient, self-motivated development stakeholders with a long-term vision and institutional operational and financial capacity.

 

As we risk losing effort (work-hours) and funds during the first few years of a collaboration with a new partner and as we always work with new partners, we depend on financial donation as means to build operational and financial stable institutions and partnerships with favourable risk-return ratios, and thereby be able to sustainable impact on development. Donation can be restricted if need be.  It can target for example topping up coaching services provided to institutions that cannot afford the actual cost.

Recruiting Branch & RISEmembers with mind-sets in-line with the HR&S mission.

We acknowledge the difference between different stakeholder’s mind-set. Some are already in operations with social impact for the country, whereas the others are asking for help with everything. If we partner with a social entrepreneur who already have impact. we will help this person to scale impact, but if we partner with those asking for help to start something, the risk is actually big that we may not have a measurable impact at all. It is all in the mind-set of the stakeholders we bring to our team. Some are in line with the HR&S mission, and some are not (very likely they are in line with the aid industry). It is key to success that both Branch team and RISE members  very well understand the difference and that they agree with the HR&S mission and not the aid mentality.
Testimony “In fact, there are a lot of young people who want to fight for the best. they create businesses that may or may not have a social impact. We can manage to take into account the social aspect at any time. they are receptive as long as they are respected. In fact they do not have the mentality of assistance or help. they need advice, guidance and support. Personally, I don’t work with those who haven’t initiated anything. It is first necessary to note a beginning before accompanying someone.”

 

Risk reward ratio for investors

The risk reward ratio is calculated by dividing the risk by the reward and is a tool for investors to use to compare the potential profits and losses of an investment. It is the profit that can be expect on an investment per amount invested worth of risk involved in a trade.

Return on investment (RoI), collaboration & innovation

It is generally agreed that the private sector has an important role to play in driving the  development in the world, in parallel with the politicians. As companies continue to invest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives they must combine improving the state of the world, with improving the state of the business. This impacts how they define and measure success, as well as how they approach various challenges. And a good first step toward alignment is to gain a mutual understanding of some common terms. Terms may not be universally understood take on new meaning when used in a i) business setting by the CSR company, ii) social impact setting by the CSR companies, and iii) social impact setting by the local stakeholders. The underlying mindset may be required to overcome challenges in cross-sector collaboration, starting with clarity in communication. With sincere intentions and a lot of patience, communication, and transparency, even the most money-driven companies can become serious forces for good.

Return on Investment (ROI)

The intent behind the words “return” and “investment” must be agreed on exhaustively as a group, for a positive outcome and strong relationship.

CSR businesses: i) How much money will this cost, how much money will this make, and how much time will we recoup after the initial investment, as well as
ii) how will this improve our brand in terms of satisfaction among staff, customers, suppliers etc.?
CSR professionals within the business: i) input/output, amount of funds,time and capacity invested; ii) outcomes, number of people served and how well they were able to reach their goals; and, iii), sustainable impact, the duration of outcome and firmness of implemented procedures over time.
Implementation businesses for social good (CSR software, international and local development stakeholders): i) amount of funds, time and capacity invested, ii) how much money will this make, iii) level of outcome and sustainable impact.
Local targeted stakeholders: i) How much effort must we invest, ii) how will we benefit and how soon?

Collaboration

With unlimited access to people and information, the idea of connecting and combining resources fosters infinite hope for success and impact. But collaboration has its blind spots. Often when two people enter a collaborative relationship, they focus on “how” and “when” they will accomplish their objective. They often skip the “who” and “why.” And by that, we mean who is sitting at this table right now, and why are they here? Once you get those answers, you develop not just understanding, but empathy, which is critical to any relationship that unites people from vastly different backgrounds. This empathy leads to consistent understanding of the other’s approach and methodology, which will lead to smoother collaboration over the long-term relationship. Constantly reminding one of the perspective of others’ desired outcomes gives the partnership a better chance of success. 

Business: We will combine skills and background and make us look amazing and deliver a win for the company.
CSR professionals: This is the beginning of a strong, long-lasting partnership. Together we can change the world!

Innovation

Innovation can be very exciting. It represents the opportunity to turn our imaginations into reality. But with innovation comes change, and change is hard. It requires clearly discussing what transformations will occur and how they will impact all parties involved, including the community. 

Business: An exciting execution of ideas, technology, and intelligence.
CSR professionals: A process that could potentially increase operational cost or affect the donor base.  With philanthropic engagements, the key is to focus on the end game and the means to achieve it rather than the innovation itself. If everyone has a clear picture of the goals, they can accept some of the disruption required to reach those goals. However, when it comes to social responsibility, it’s important to remember that the decisions you make can – and likely will – affect communities in great need of help. Thus, it’s important to keep people and community service programs at the center of discussions. That’s not to say that innovation cannot thrive in the social responsibility space; but it may look a little different than what businesspeople are used to. Indeed, some of the most effective impact changes have come from not creating new technology but by thinking of problems differently and using existing technology. 

The ultimate Development equation by HR&S

Background

HR&S has already developed all the tools and management strategies that we need to address development, and we are ready to implement at new locations and with new partners, to support the empowerment of institutional capacities.

Any serious development plan must consider that we have four levels of key stake holders, all of which must be respected fully; the target partners in lower income countries and the investors, as well as the international and the national implementing partners. The development plan must respect:
i) what are all four key stakeholders willing to contribute with,
ii) what do they expect in return and the accepted time until return, and what
iii) are the risks and how much risk are the stakeholders willing to take.

From the point of view of the Target Partner we build the collaboration
programme on the ambition of our partner, on their their challenges and
on their network and understanding of the local situation. We aim to  be a trust-worthy and capable partner.
From the point of view of the investors, investors must know that the funds and effort they contributed with is well managed so that money is not lost and sustainable impact is reached. Thus, HR&S works cautiously with risk mitigation and has also developed evidence based tools for both impact and risk assessment. We always seek contact with new potential investors partners.
HR&S itself offers the service of both the international and national implementing partners. HR&S Sweden operates as the international implementing partner and HR&S Country branches operates as the national implementing partners.

We empower every key stakeholder within our partnerships; our target partners in lower income countries, our investors, and our national implementing partners.

Ambition

  1. All partners understand and respect each other.
  2. The finances balance.
  3. The progress markers score above the accepted level.
  4. The risk is below the accepted level.

Return on Investment (ROI)

To calculate ROI, the benefit (or return) of an investment is divided by the cost of the investment. The result is expressed as a percentage or a ratio; the net profit/the investment cost.
Important also is the expected time until return.

For example, suppose the investor invested $1,000 in a project and received $1,200 one year later. To calculate the return on this investment, divide the net profits ($1,200 – $1,000 = $200) by the investment cost ($1,000), for an ROI of $200/$1,000, or 20%.

Time until return

If it takes 6 months, one year or two matters as we can have four 6 months project during one two years project.

 

What Is the Risk/Reward Ratio?

The risk/reward ratio marks the prospective reward an investor can earn for every dollar they risk on an investment. Many investors use risk/reward ratios to compare the expected returns of an investment with the amount of risk they must undertake to earn these returns. A lower risk/return ratio is often preferable as it signals less risk for an equivalent potential gain.

Consider the following example: an investment with a risk-reward ratio of 1:7 suggests that an investor is willing to risk $1, for the prospect of earning $7 (14%). Willing to risk EURO 1 to earn 0,1 (same as 10%interest) is 90%!!!

Equation Units

We use funds as unit for the financial aspect and we use
Progress Markers* scoring for the social aspect.
– Funds (Euro).
– Progress marker scoring (1-5).

* Progress Markers are parameters within the ROPE management strategy, and Real-time Outcome Planning and Evaluation, ROPE, is a development management strategy developed by HR&S.

The four levels of actors

The investor

The investor contributes with

  • Funds
  • Work hours & Knowledge (a senior person’s time is more costly than a junior’s)
  • Material: Meeting venue, visibility (social media etc)
The investor expect in return
  • Profit, 10% annual, no risk.
  • Sometimes also sustainable development/social impact as a contribution to branding. If impact is also expected the accepted risk can sometimes be high (90%) and/or the expected profit low (0-5% annual).

The investor wants to know

  • The risk
  • Risk mitigation measures
  • How much money will this cost in total
  • How much money will this make
  • How much time it will take until funds are paid back with profit after the initial investment
  • How many work hours at the side of the investor this will cost and at what level
  • How will this improve the brand in terms of satisfaction among staff, customers, suppliers etc.
  • Which development impact will this have
    • Outcomes, number of people served and how well they were able to reach their goals
    • Sustainable impact, the duration of outcome and firmness of implemented procedures over time.

The international implementing partners
HR&S and Action10

The implementation partners contribute with

  • ActionInvest funds
  • Work hours
  • Tools
  • Innovations for successful implementation
  • Innovation of how the investor will benefit
  • Network
  • Knowledge
  • Risk mitigation measures
  • Impact surveys
The international implementing partners expect in return:
  • Income that covers costs.
    • Action10 5% of donations.
    • HR&S consultancy fee. Costs include salaries.
  • Sustainable evidence base impact, as Action10 is a development organisation and HR&S is a social enterprise.
The implementing partner wants to know
  • The risk
  • Accepted consultancy fee
  • How many work hours and other resources this will require, and at what level.
  • How will this improve the brand in terms of satisfaction among staff, customers, policy makers, development stakeholders, other investors.
  • Which development impact will this have (as above).

Local implementing partners
HR&S Country branches

Targeted  stakeholders contribute with

  • Work hours
  • Ideas and innovations
  • Local network
  • Local knowledge
  • Risk mitigation measures
  • The type of guarantee required
  • The type of corrective measures if need be
  • Business plan
  • Accounting

The local implementing partners expect in return

  • Income that covers costs, including team-member reimbursement.
    • Interest
    • RISE centre fees
    • Training fees
    • Other business ideas
  • Sustainable evidence base impact, as HR&S is a social enterprise.
The local implementing partners want to know
  • The risk
  • The size of the investment transfers and when it can be delivered
  • The interest rate and duration of loan
  • The level of access to support; products and services
    • Training, coaching, expert advice, tools and equipment

Target partners & other stakeholders

The target stakeholders contribute with

  • Work hours
  • Ideas and innovations
  • Local network
  • Local knowledge
  • Business plan
  • Accounting
  • Risk mitigation measures

The target partners expect in return

  • Income that covers costs, including salaries, preferably profit.
  • The implementation of their ideas and innovations.
  • A scaled stable sustainable business.

The targeted stakeholders want to know

  • The risks
  • The size of the investment and when it can be delivered
  • The level of access to support; products and services
  • The interest rate and duration of loan
  • The type of guarantee required
  • The type of corrective measures if need be.
 

Risk mitigation

With the RISEagency support package we mitigate risks. We i) collect testimonies from local stakeholders and we ii) learn lessons and take informed decisions.

We have found that

  1. Written agreements, signatures and witnesses does not matter much where the rule-of-law is fragile, as well as the professional support that can be expected from the police, justice and lawyers. Written agreements do serve a purpose to clarify roles and exactions when designing and running a collaboration, but usually has little value if things go wrong.
  2. Collateral/guarantees for loans has the same weakness as a written agreement, one party can decide to disobey and just disappear. This is also true if the agreement has been co-signed by a third party. Changed phone-number and location can arranged in order to avoid a discussion.
  3. A guarantee through a third party can be a possibility. For example, if an agreement has been made with an employer and the paying pack of a loan with interest, goes directly from the loan-takers salary.
  4. The strongest risk-mitigation is created if a community has joint interest in that, for example, a loan is paid back with interest. For example, i) a loan can be given to a group and the group members must cover for each other concerning the paying back, and ii) all loans and interest must be paid back before an agreed on second larger loan is given out to the group.
  5. We must usually sacrifice the first loan, before we are in a honest discussion about risk mitigation with a loan-taker. Experience by HR&S has shown that failing to pay back a first loan can be expected, but can obviously not be argued around, until it happens. Therefore, the first loan cannot be larger than what we can afford to loose. At the same time we have to be very cautious with our reputation, if a loan is not paid back we follow up, until it is, in a professional manner. Also, the benefit with a second loan, or the social pressure, must be enough for the loan-taker to agree to remain and help create local procedures that prevent any further loss of investment. The social impact from the first loan must still be high, thus a failed to pay back loan is comparative to a traditional aid for development donation.
  6. In this process (above) we build a HR&S network with a new understanding about international equal win-win partnership, and how this has long term benefits, and that equal win-win partnership do reduce poverty in a sustainable manner. This is the only way forward according to HR&S.
  7. As a consequence the HR&S Country Branches are registered private companies in the countries that we operate in, and we pay tax to the government with the purpose of being role-models for a healthy relation between the people and its governments.

Equation design

Measurement

  • Funds (EURO) (f)
  • Programme progress marker scoring (pm)

Investment

  • Investor for development
    (philanthrope, private sector CRM or institution in Africa served)
    • Funds, procures consultancy services from HR&S HQ         IPf
    • Funds, core funding to HR&S                                                     ICf
  • HR&S Sweden HQ
    • Funds ActionInvest                                                                     AIf
      with annual interest 10%, and reward per transfer 10%           
    • Work hours, project management
    • Work hours, Progress Marker scoring
    • Innovations & tools
  • HR&S Country Branches
    • Work hours, project management
    • Work hours, Progress Marker scoring
    • Local knowledge, innovations and tools
  • RISEmember
    • ActionInvest annual interest                                                 AIf x 0,1
    • RISEfees                                                                                   RMf
    • Annual Work hours 
    • Business plan, local knowledge

Expected Return

  • Investor
    • pm from projects paid consultancy services for                Ipm
    • services paid for                                                                      Iserv
  • HR&S Sweden HQ
    • Consultancy services fees                                                      HSf
    • PM from projects invested in through ActionInvest           AIpm
  • HR&S Country Branches
    • Work hour Reimbursment                                                        BRf
    • Enabling own sales, RISEmembers fees                               RMFf
    • Enabling own sales, RISE services                                         RSf
  • RISEmember
    • Loan                                                                                             AIf
    • Training
    • Profit                                                                                           RMPf
    • Sustainable business                                                               Bpm
     

Risk accepted

  • Investor
    •  0 % of investment (consultancy fees)
    • PM scoring 2 after one year if scoring 4 after three years.
  • HR&S Sweden HQ
    • 1st loan if followed by lesson learned and informed decision.
    • 0 % of reimbursement
    • PM scoring 1-2 after one year if scoring 4-5 after 3-5 years.
  • HR&S Country Branches
    • 0 % of reimbursement
  • RISEmember
    • Profit if profit is generated after 3-5 years.
    • 0% balance
     

Balances

External investor & HR&S
IPf + ICf = HSf + Ipm + Iserv + AIpm

ActionInvest investor & HR&S
AIf =  AIpm

Local HR&S Branch
AIf x 0,1 + AIf reward per transfer + RMFf + RSf = BRf + AIpm

Local RISEmember
AIf x 0,1 + RMf = RMPf + Bpm

Background

Dec 2022: Since the start of Action10/HR&S in 2009, have we experienced serious challenges with

  • loan pay back by RISEmembers, and also
  • a few serious challenges with lack of accountability among Team-Leaders. We have also experienced
  • serious problems with communication and the delivery on milestones by some Country Branch Team members. 

Lessons learned & Informed decisions

RISEagency is framed by

  1. Ensuring capacity
    HR&S has to ensure that our partners have the capacity required to reach their ambitions.  It can for example concern the scientific method, GLP in the laboratory, business management, branding, marketing and customer care, accounting or any specific matter. We achieve this by providing formal training, coaching and expert advice on topics requested for by our partners.
  2. Knowledge sharing
    Knowledge sharing among team members about previous experiences, solutions and any other matter empowers our partners to improve the understanding about the context where we operate.
  3. Togetherness & community awareness
    Trough deep togetherness and community awareness in wide teams can we create a solid platform where our target partners can rest, be guided and feel comfortable. The team builds a family where each team-member wants to be appreciated and respected. If someone starts to go in a wrong direction, this person shall be kindly but firmly redirected in order to honour quality values.
  4. Quality value platform
    The team ensures a high quality value platform. This is done through continuous reasoning, empowerment and guidance about what is the right thing to do and say, in different situations that occur. The advice also includes comparing the short-term versus the long-term benefits from appreciating quality values. We include truth, trust, harmony, equity and resilience in our quality values as well as transparency and accountability in fiance and in governance.

Support packages, ideas

Pillar One: Business Capital
Individuals running micro businesses are faced with lots of challenges in their operation and a lack or inadequate access to finance is a major constraint. They are perceived as high risk, lack track record and collateral.
The centre currently offers small loans to micro businesses as working capital to increase their stock volumes.   The service offering of investment capital in the form of unsecured loans facilitates social enterprising start-up and scale-up. SIER members who benefit from the loans will be individuals who are not in an economic position to secure funding from traditional financial institutions like banks and microfinance institutions. Unsecured loans are a great funding option for micro businesses that have no assets, or do not want to put up any collateral, or are growing quickly and need money instantly. These loans are based on factors such ability to pay, income levels, profession and personal guarantees. There is high demand for unsecured loans because of the lack of necessity of collateral requirements and short-term loan application due to low income levels, rapid lending & approval processes. Loan uptake will increase because technology offers various advantages in terms of managing, assessing and disbursing electronic loans.  It assures faster loan approval and repayment, lowers service costs, and regulatory enforcement. Hence, the Centre intends this pillar to be the anchor of the RISE programmes, as the other pillars support the enterprise development.

Pillar Two:   Mentoring Programs
Currently the Centre has not yet effected this pillar. SIER intends to offer some mentorship to its members. Mentoring programs create a natural environment of learning and can hence produce incredible learning outcomes. With mentoring programs in place, members can learn as they work on projects with their mentors. All in all, the learning engagement in their business will be much higher. Would-be successful business owners need assistance from others who have an intimate knowledge of how business works.

Pillar Three:   Training Programs
In today’s competitive business environment, the capabilities and skills of SMEs are fundamental requirements for continuous productivity, innovation and success in small and medium enterprises (SMEs). It is understandable that when budding entrepreneurs follow their dreams of starting a business, they get swept along with excitement of it all and are consumed by the amount of work that is needed just to get the business up and running. They do not have the resources to recruit experienced personnel to cover key business operations and therefore, take everything onboard themselves, learning as they go along. The main purpose of training is to upskill an individual and provides a raft of generic advantages and transferable skills.

  1. Outcome challenge
    Team members may mix private money with company money. Using company money for private purposes.
  2. Lessons learned and informed decisions
    1. Any transaction should be send only to the Branch account that has at least 3 signatories with all the other people involved being informed
    2. If the loans that we gave out, was not paid back, then the issue is often that the Country team did not pay attention to the challenges of the loan-takers, which was their key assignment regarding ActionInvest.
      Meetings are sometime held where the loan-takers were reminded of the paying back, but this does not help if the money is not available.
    3. The problem is not lack of procedures, if the team actually do not believe in the HR&S business idea.
      If a team member claims she has been working hard with out being paid.
      Paid by which money….?
      Working hard means generating income while delivering social good, so that there is money available to be paid from.
      People in Sweden and elsewhere are willing to contribute to the loan capital, that makes sense to them, but not to pay salaries, especially if we do not see social impact.
      So it is about the mind set, accepting that HR&S is a social business, and believing in this concept.
    4. Justus BARASA MAENDE: If we work hard and generate income, many disadvantaged people will have been uplifted and there will still be some money to benefit from in the long run. Believing in the HR&S vision and business model is the main thing.
    5. Key would then be to only assign team-members that understands, believes in, and are willing to sacrifice for the HR&S business idea, until income is generated. How do we identify the type of team members that we depend on in actual practice?
      1. Kevin WERUNGA: By looking at their track record, if they share same vision with HR&S
      2. a questionnaire with very smart questions
      3. signing a Terms of Reference of agreement
      4. a Code of Conduct (Kelvin’s proposal) that is always referred to.
      5. It also refers to institutional capacity with effectiveness and efficiency
    6. Kevin WERUNGA: Generation of the income and supporting the social entrepreneurs is the key point here
    7. Justus BARASA MAENDE: I believe after registration, we will also make a lot of money from the short loans.
    8. Justus BARASA MAENDE: In future, we may need to interview people first before we admit. To be honest Prof. @Cecilia ÖMAN Volunteering is not a common concept in Africa and particularly Kenya. But professionals who have their own job and income, can easily manage it.
    9. Maybe we must be very cautious with the word “volunteering”, it brings us back to the wrong-doings in the Aid Industry. 🤔
    10. Justus BARASA MAENDE:If a professional comes with a payment mentality, he/she may not cope especially when she gets below her expectation.
      We do expect salary, somehow.
    11. The payment mentality is a key word here.
      It is the payment mentality that destroys the success of the business.
      If the capital is used for salary, then there is no money to give out for loans, and no opportunity for income.
    12. For example, if someone doesn’t have a stable job, it maybe difficult to buy bundles, travel to attend physical meetings, follow up rise members, etc. Sacrifice is always painful but it pays off at long last. Unless someone has the sacrificial spirit, may not persevere to the end. It becomes hard.
    13. When we do sacrifice, the energy of cultivating prosperity gets rejuvenate. Of course, currently, you will need to be boosted when stuck but you don’t refer to being boosted whenever you are stuck, again and again.


We need to put procedures in place that secures the funds that we have.
We do have work descriptions and we have signed agreements, but this does not help if the persons decides to steal the money.
1.  I believe that the first issue is the mind-set. The report needs to address what went through the mind-set of Ramses and Lionel when they agreed to take the money and destroy the programme. Why did the decide to sacrifice a long-term opportunity that would serve both them and others in Liberia.
2.  Second is the security, the report must address what can be done to prevent the theft, even if the mind-set is stealing.
We have learned that signed agreements means nothing as the rule-of-law is weak. What means something is the group, the community, the togetherness. The report must address how we shall organise the group so that the good mission of the team is stronger than wrong doings of individuals.

ROPE

Lesson learned & informed decision

If a loan is not paid back, it is time for the HR&S (Sweden & Country Branch) to go back to ROPE for that RISEmember and identify the Outcome Challenges, Activities and Progress Markers, and also compile lessons learned and take informed decisions. These activities must be implemented (RISEmember and HR&S together) and outcome reached, prior to accepting a new loan. The informed decision is added to the Country management strategy to ensure Sustainable impact.

HR&S is unique in the sense that we are not a bank but an equal partner to our RISE members, our partners’ challenges are also our challenges. We sort out Outcome Challenges together, through the Activities that we agree on and implement HR&S and RISEmembers together. Thereby we can have Sustainable Impact.

HR&S assesses why these businesses are not performing or rather why they are not repaying their loans as expected. There are many factors that affect business non performance. Even the business skills of the owner, customer care, quality of products, etc. Therefore we do market research prior to giving out loans, we interview previous, new and potential RISEmembers and maybe a few sampled clients, when need be.

The HR&S loan process for small businesses is important, because there is a serious need given the state of the many country economies. Small businesses don’t have the capacity to access loan from national government and other international NGOS because of the processes involved. Thus we seek amazing social entrepreneurs in all our countries.

Quote by Darius  KORLUBAH,  Team HR&S Liberia, March 2023.
“One thing that I want you to remember is that failure makes you stronger though no body wants to fail in life, but when it happens we look at our mistake and progress from there.”
Darius says ” I developed this quote from my own life style coming up as a boy in Liberia and looking at the challenges people normally face in Liberia and the only way to overcome and become better is when you look at the mistakes and think about how you can progress from there the next time you are given that opportunity it means  there will be progress at your next level or encounter.”

Action-Talks Feb 2023

Background

Action10 / Human Rights and Science (HR&S) has been in operation since 2009. We have, during this time, built solid management strategies and a network of stakeholders that has the capacity to significantly contribute to our mission. Still, we have not been as successful as expected, and we have identified one outcome challenge that we will specifically target during 2023.

Lessons learned since the start in 2009 is that there are good projects running and people benefiting from these projects. The problem is the lack of institutional capacity and sustainable impact. Project managers, the social entrepreneurs, received loans but do not pay back the loans and interest on time, or they do not pay back the loans at all.

Thus, there is a need for an equal win-win partnership and  “to work hand in hand “ to be able to open the road for entrepreneurs to seriously benefit from a collaboration with HR&S/Action10.

Ambition

We have named the ambition RISEagency. RISEagency is defined by HR&S as “the capacity of individuals to have the power and resources to fulfil their potential in research, innovation and social enterprising at locations with fragile infrastructure.” The HR&S aim is to build a “support package” that addresses RISEagency.

One RISEagency Ambition is that all loan-takers pay back their loans and interest in time, as agreed.

Outcome challenges

  1. Lack of motivation to pay back.
    People are willing to make a positive contribution to their community, but they lack funds and still have the mindset to get the fund and use it without the need to reimburse it.
  2. Lack of business capacity
    to generate the necessary income to be able to pay back.
  3. People do not like to work together.
    It is a challenge when there is distrust and unwillingness to collaborate with others.

Activities

  1. Have a holistic dialogue
    to inform and explain the benefits with the loan for the entrepreneur, their community, and the country, since the interest is low (10% per year) and the loan-giver embraces equal partnership.
    1. Develop a pamphlet.
  2. Eligibility
    The first criterion to receive a loan is to have previous business experience and thus an already registered business.
  3. Timely address challenges
    Country Branches must timely address the challenges presented by the loan-taker.
  4. Implement and maintain RISEtalks.
    RISEtalks is a platform for training and reflection that targets the requests by the RISEmembers. The RISEmembers choose the topic of training, it can f ex be  marketing, on-line marketing, and business planning, and the Country branches timely provide the training requested for. In addition, RISEmembers supports each other by sharing knowledge and give advice on for ex  addressing the local challenges. It is an opportunity to encourage team building and partnership among the different members for them to empower each other. During the RISEtalks the aspect of the loans are discussed, the RISEmembers shares the amount available through ActionInvest, and depend on each other to pay back so that the capital is not reduced.
  5. Develop and sign agreements together
    Both loan-takers and loan-givers must be involved with the development of each agreement.

Input

  1. ActionTalks
    We shall bring this topic to several ActionTalks
  2. HR&S monthly meetings
  3. Surveys
    We shall perform several surveys to fine-tune and strengthen the RISEagency support package.

Milestones

  1. Arrange for frequent Actiontalks addressing RISEagency.
  2. Add RISEagency to Country Branches ROPE Trello boards.
  3. Run frequent surveys to compile information.
  4. Ensure RISEtalks
  5. Ensure that agreements are developed the loan-taker and loan-giver together, as we are an equal partner and not a bank.

TestE survey questions

  1. If you are a business person, what is your view on taking a business loan?
  2. If you took a loan, would you pay back?
    1. If no, why not?
  3. What are the challenges with running a business in your country?
  4. Did you receive development aid money before?
  5. What is your view on development aid?
  6. Does development aid bring sustainable development to your country?
  7. If you are running a business and interested in taking a business loan, would you be willing to attend RISEtalks?
  8. Do you like to work in teams?
    1. If yes, why?
    2. If no, why not?

Context _ local
“Help-me” mind-set in aid prone areas

Outcome challenges

  • Some persons may target receiving donations rather than establishing their own long term solid income, and thereby become aid dependent and donor driven.
    • People have developed something we at HR&S call the “traditional aid mind-set”.
  • Governments tends to target receiving donations rather than ensuring social security for the population of the country they have been put in charge to serve. Therefore the “social contract” between people and governments is not established, when the people pay tax and the governments use this tax to establish social security systems. The governments become aid dependent and donor driven.
    • People are not positive to paying tax.

Activities

  • Empower scientific research, innovation and social enterprises to, among other things, create independence from aid support.
    • We develop adapted management strategies, coach on the same, offer soft business loans, expert advice and links to trusted suppliers.
  • Operate as tax paying social enterprises, thus being role-models.
  • Empower win-win equal partnership type of collaboration for development.
    • Initiatives to implement locally must be user and needs driven by local stake-holders.
    • The mode of collaboration between management partners must ensure shared responsibility, work-load, contribution of resources and benefits.

Input

  • Work with the mind-set, create awareness.
    Exemplify the benefit with long-term planning and independence.
  • Do stakeholder analysis to identify individuals who has agency for change.
  • ActionTalks

TestE survey questions

Traditional aid

  1. What is your personal view on traditional aid?
  2. Do you consider aid to be helpful for sustainable development?
    If so, how?
  3. Are you personally dependent on aid to generate income or develop your career?
  4. Is your association or business dependent on aid to generate income?
  5. If dependent on aid, would you like to become independent?
    If so, how?

The social contract between the government and the population. Being a role-model.

  1. Do you consider tax to be a necessary component of a healthy society?
    Why / why not?
  2. How do the leaders of a country develop a social contract with (ensure social security for) the people of the country, and the people a social contract with the country leaders?

International equal partnership collaboration

  1. Do you believe that international collaboration other than aid/donations can empower your country/your business / your career?
  2. If so, how?
  3. How do you per-sieve an equal partnership between you personally and an internation actor?
    Is it a win-win, if so how?
  4. How do you per-sieve an equal partnership between your association / business  and an internation actor?
    Is it a win-win, if so how?
  5. Do you believe in a mode of collaboration between management partners where responsibility, work-load, contribution of resources and benefits and share equally.
  6. If so, how would this look like?
  7. If so, how would we ensure this to happen?

Planning

  1. Do you develop long-term plans for how to generate your own income/develop a career, without depending on aid?
  2. If not, why?
  3. If yes, how?

Context _ Local
Transparency, accountability, truth & trust

 Outcome challenge

  • Corruption as a social norm and fragile rule of law.
  • In aid prone areas where corruption is a social norm, truth and trust tend to be fragile.
  • Lack of motivation to develop a social contract between the government and the population, as aid is more easy to attract, thus only very small tax is paid and the little tax income to the government is not used to develop social security for the population.
  • Transparency and accountability have been found to be an outcome challenge for all levels of partners; Branches, Programme managers, Target partners, and Customers.

Activity

  • Ensuring motivated and accountable stakeholders through People Analytics.
  • Country Branches
    Very strict regulations and frequent follow ups by Action10 on accounting and auditing.
    • Professional accounting, professional auditing, security procedures around procurement.
    • Three signatories for the bank account, persons who are not family or close friends from before.
    • If funds are removed from the bank account without permission it must be retrieved, but how?
    • Do not give loans to members of the Branch team of operations.
  • Programme managers, Target partners & Customers
    • RISEtalks.
    • Ensuring income so that loans and interest can be paid back on time.

Input

  • Monthly Sweden & Country Branch on-line meetings.
    Topic: ROPE and reporting on milestones. Empowered by Trello boards. The meetings shall be scheduled in advance to always happen at the same time in the month, and the reminder invitation together with the agenda for the meeting shall be sent by the local team-leaders, not later than one week prior to the meeting. The invitees must respond where they will attend or not attend, and if they will not attend they shall inform the local-team leader about what the would have presented at the meeting.
  • RISEtalks Empowered by Trello Boards
  • Strict written accounting and auditing procedures that is followed up on every month, targeting Branch and RISEmembers.

Sustainable impact

  •  Management strategies ensuring transparency and accountability in ethics and in governance.

TestE survey questions

Transparency & accountability

  1. Is corruption a social norm in your country?
  2. If so, how can corruption as a social norm be avoided within our programme?
  3. Is truth & trust a social norm in your country?
  4. If not, how can truth and trust be ensured within our programme?

Context _ Foreign interaction
short-term support by Aid institutions

 Outcome challenges

  • Traditional aid institutions tend to make aid receivers aid dependent, rather than financially and operationally sustainable.
  • Traditional aid institutions tend to violate the HR&S Ten Actions, including; needs & user-driven implementations, sustainable economy, institutional capacity, equal partnership and real-time evaluation planning with evidence based impact.
  • Foreign aid high administration has made potential partners mistrust the aid institutions, in a way that aid institutions uses/benefits from the partners work to finance themselves.
  • Foreign aid volatile financial support has made partners mistrust the long-term relations. Thus, why perform if the aid is not sustainable anyway?

Activity

  • Ensure the Ten Actions in every operation, including; needs & user-driven implementations, sustainable economy, institutional capacity, equal partnership and real-time evaluation planning with evidence based impact.

Input

  • Awareness raising around the Ten Actions.
  • Implement ROPE

TestE survey questions

ROPE

  • Are you aware of the management strategy ROPE (Real-time Outcome Planning & Evaluation)?
    If yes, do you know it well?
  • Have you been involved with using ROPE?
  • If yes, what are the strengths and what are the weaknesses with ROPE?
  • If yes, do you have a comment on one or more of the ROPE parameters?

Context _ Foreign interaction
Aid is political, left wing

 Outcome challenges

  • Swedish support for liberation movements in Africa began in the 1960s and continued for several decades. In total, many billions of Swedish kroner were transferred. The support was largely handled by Sida and Foreign Ministry officials, many of whom had pronounced left-wing sympathies (Nilsson 2017).
  • Tradition aid institutions tend to implement socialistic political values rather than being non-political.
  • Left-wing political values tend to not support the empowerment of social enterprises, but tend to instead favour non-profit associations. Non-profit associations tend to lack a sustainable economy and a sustainable economy strategy.
  • Political left-wing solidarity tend to benefit from portraying local partners as weak.

Nilsson, B. G. (2017).  I tyst samförstånd – Sverige och Sovjet i kalla krigets Afrika (in Swedish), Ethno Press.

Activity

  • Ensure a non-political approach, benefiting any opportunity and partner, independent of political direction.

Input

  • Awareness raising around sustainable economy and institutional capacity.
  • Work with registered companies rather than associations.

TestE survey questions

Institutional capacity

  • Does your institution have the capacity to ensure RISEagency among its staff and the RISEmembers?
  • Do you have enough finances, time and professional skills ro run a profitable business?

Ambition & Sustainable impact

Ambition

RISEagency

Hypothesis

Through using the method People Analytics will we achieve RISE agency in out team.

Sustainable impact

  • Creating enabling environments.
    The enabling environments are restricted in size so that the intervention is well defined, then that enabling environment can be scaled and/or copied.
  • Independent and sustainable institutions (not aid dependent nor donor driven)

TestE survey manual

Survey manual. Send questionnaires to Branches Team of operation members and to RISEmembers.

Example April 2023 Kenya

Team-leader’s  debt
LESSONS LEARNT & INFORMED DECISIONS
By Justus Barasa, with revisions by Cecilia Öman

1.0 Background

Madam is the immediate former Team Leader (TL) of HR&S Branch, Kenya. While in office, there was an agreement that money belonging to the branch be sent to an idle company account of which she had access. Further, it was agreed that once a HR&S Kenya company account is opened, she would transfer the cash to it. All HR&S Branch financial transactions were conducted solely by the TL for a period of over two years. At the same time, it is the TL that prepared financial reports. As this went on, there were discussions on the need to open a joint account. However, there was some reluctance among the HR&S branch Kenya members. Early this year (2023), a joint bank account was opened. By then, the financial report indicated that there was a balance of KSh. 81,965. At this time, Madam TL had opted out of the team to pursue other interests. When she was informed that a joint bank account had been opened and it was time to transfer the cash from the other company account that she had used to the joint account, she kept on promising of transferring the money every other day.

 

2.0 Lessons Learnt

According to the Global fund (2017), implementers of institutional funds should ensure that the financial management systems in place are capable of supporting effective programme implementation and providing timely and accurate financial information for accountability purposes. In this scenario, the financial management system then, lacked capacity to effectively support programme implementation. It clearly shows that the TL did not have the cash at hand all the time. She either used the cash or invested it with the hope that it would earn interest then she refunds. Kenya has had a fluid market that cannot assure any business success. This is due to the unpredictable socio-economic and political situation compounded with the effect of Covid-19, making the situation direr. If this theory is true, then the TL went against the ideals of prudent financial management because of the following reasons:

  1. Putting money in separate company account linked to one team-member only, before the Country Branch has been able to ensure a stable income to the team-members was not right because it would be tempting even to the ‘most holy man on earth;’
  2. Opening a joint account from the word go was the best option;
  3. The TL refused to involve the accountant but instead generated the financial reports herself. That was for the director in-charge of finance and then countersigned by the TL. This was a clear conflict of interest;
  4. Failure to share bank statements with the country team as well as with HR&S Sweden, for the said separate company account for the entire period was a clear lack of accountability;
  5. The accountant did raise alarm especially on the lack of disclosure of the bank account information. This was the right thing to do, due to the fact that a team leader is ‘just but one among equals’, then the TL created stories, and ignored the alarm;
  6. Lack of either internal or external auditor who could address the raised alarm is another gap;
  7. Lack of team work when it comes to financial decisions is another gap. It seems like the TL was the chief of most decisions if not all;
  8. Excess trust that the HR&S Sweden had to the TL led to taking long to question why the HR&S Country Company with a connected bank account was not accessible; and
  9. It is possible that other team members were not as committed as the TL and thus used the opportunity with good intentions of wishing HR&S to grow but due to financial constraints found herself in this rather unfortunate situation.

Now, how does HR&S get its money back? This is the most difficult question to answer. This company is not in exception. Many companies and groups have been in such situations. Some get their money back, others lose it all. According to Gautam, Rastogi and Rawal (2022), security of institutional funds remains a major concern for many organizations in India. The former TL has been giving blind promises. It is possible that she does not have the money and the promises are due to pressure from HR&S. There is also a possibility that she is wondering why she is being followed over this cash and sees it as she really worked hard for the company as a volunteer. But then she did to make an effort, or was not interested in, understanding which type of opportunity HR&S is.  One members was assigned as accountant to become co-director and co-signatory of the bank account.
The TL, the accountant and other team-members joining from the start, were paid EUR 450 directly by HR&S Sweden to cover a period i 1,5 years. A period that was to be used for establishing small income for the company.
We work for free at HR&S Sweden and at the different HR&S Country Branches, not as volunteers per see, not as employees of HR&S Sweden, but as members of a start-up company, where HR&S Sweden offers opportunities to earn money also at the country level.  All this has been made very clear to the TL, the accountant, and also previous team-members.

There is need to put mechanisms in place to enhance security of the
funds, and one such mechanism is enhanced transparency and
accountability.

 

3.0 Conclusion

It is evident that the TL did not employ prudent management practices and utilized the ‘big man syndrome’ together with the trust that HR&S HQ in Sweden had for her to misuse her powers. There are three elements of prudent financial management that are learnt from this scenario. They include transparency, accountability and security. There is need to enhance these three going forward.

4.0 Way Forward

To enhance transparency, accountability and security of financial resources in HR&S, there is need to do the following:

  1. In the absence of official HR&S bank account due to delay in registration of the Company, all monies MUST be banked in a joint account with at least three of the signatories allowed to sign for any transaction to be done. Country companies must be registered with three Directors, and after registration of HR&S Country Company Ltd as per the Country Laws, the, a bank account, with three signatories, MUST be opened in the name of the Company. Thereafter, cash in the joint account is transferred to the company bank account within a month and all transactions made therein;
  2. Periodic financial reports (quarterly) with bank account statements, must be generated by the Director in-charge of Finance and perused by all Directors led by the TL as well as the HR&S HQ in Sweden;
  3. The quarterly financial reports should be discussed in company meetings, meeting notes be taken, shared and filed;
  4. Internal auditor should audit financial reports after every 6 months and generate an audit report for the same;
  5. If need be, an external auditor may be hired to audit the financial books at the end of every financial year. This is done at a fee depending on the hired auditor;
  6. All decisions touching on finances (loans to RISE members, short loans or facilitations) should be discussed and agreed on by all directors either on WhatsApp, emails or in meetings with meeting notes. Decisions that involve EUR 500 or more should only be resolved in a meeting and resolutions recorded in minutes;’
  7. Minutes of all meetings should be kept future references;
  8. All directors should work as a team and be free to share ideas. It is important to have consultation with HR&S CEO as either individuals or as a team. However, secrete side chats in the name of representing the official position of the Company should be discouraged unless the consultation concerns specific dockets held by that specific director;
  9. The HR&S CEO should be weary of personalities that may act to please her with the hidden intention of looking for a way of cash being sent directly to them. Such actions should be exposed in the open to be discussed because official concerns of the Company should be presented by the TL; and
  10. There is need for full commitment by all directors so that they are aware of the happenings in the company. Maybe in future, it may grow into a giant company and directors plus other workers may be able to get some stipends that may prevent negative temptations.

References

  1. The Global Fund. (2017). Financial Management, Handbook for Grant Implementers. Geneva, Switzerland: The Global Fund.
  2. Gautam, R.S., Rastogi, S. and Rawal, A. (2022). Study of Financial Literacy and its Impact on Rural Development in India: Evidence using Panel Data Analysis. IRE Journals Volume 5, Issue 9, 483 – 492. https://www.researchgate.net/.

People Analytics

People analytics or talent analytics (or HR analytics) is a deeply data-driven and goal-focused method of studying all people processes, functions, challenges, and opportunities at work to elevate these systems and achieve sustainable business /programme success.

Gathering and assessing people analytics leads to better decision-making through the application of statistics and other data interpretation techniques. Smarter, more strategic, and data-backed talent decisions are thus closer at hand, and this is applicable throughout the employee lifecycle – from making better hiring decisions and more effective performance management to better retention.People analytics i predictive and organisations can now be better prepared to face the dynamism of their operational environment and be proactive rather than reactive, benefiting from sophisticated data science, interactive data visualization, and machine learning.

https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/how-to-be-great-at-people-analytics

TMRA Questions

  1. Can we accurately forecast our workforce needs in the future?

  2. What percent of our workforce is customer-facing or revenue-generating? What is the trend?

  3. Can we model our workforce to optimize cost, profit and productivity?

  4. What is our workforce productivity? Is it higher than peers?

  5. What is the marginal return of one dollar invested in workforce?

  6. Is the ROI on Human Capital higher than other investments?

  7. Is workforce productivity increasing, decreasing or static? How are we performing versus peers?

  8. What is the average time-to-full-productivity for new hires? For new hires in critical roles?

  9. What are predictive indicators of turnover? What percentage of employees are at risk?

  10. Are leaders effectively managing human capital? Do leaders correlate to employee engagement, retention and performance?

  11. What business areas/positions/managers have the highest voluntary turnover? How do we compare to peers?

  12. Where does our best talent come from? Which managers are the best talent scouts and coaches?

  13. What is the cost of turnover to our business?

  14. Are we losing the right people (low performers) or the wrong people(high performers or critical roles/skills)?

  15. Do we know the leading drivers of employee turnover? Do we know the leading drivers of retention?

  16. What is our quality of new hires? Can we measure it?

  17. What recruiting source yields the most high performers? What recruiting source yields the best cultural fits?

  18. Is there a link between employee performance and total rewards? If so, do we know the optimal pay/performance mix?

  19. What is the total pay/rewards differential between high performers and average employees?

  20. Could we offer compensation and benefits that both cost less and engage/retain employees better?

  21. What is our Total Cost of Workforce as a percent of revenue?  As a percent of expenses? How do we compare to peers?

  22. What is the ROI of training to the firm?  Where could training investments improve productivity and profitability?

  23. Is internal mobility a source of value or turnover and cost? What percent of the workforce moves internally each year?

  24. What percent of the workforce has a defined career path?

  25. What is the link between employee engagement, customer satisfaction, revenue and profits? What are the drivers?

Step 1: Collect data that matters; review the progress markers.
Step 2: Choose the most suitable people analytics tool. Multiple offerings include data mining, data transformation, and data visualization techniques, all merged into a user-friendly self-service interface.
Step 3: Develop an action plan. Applying big data and predictive analytics to talent management, leadership development, and organisational capabilities often helps in fine-tuning the action plan. Moreover, having a well-defined plan of action enables a better understanding of why certain changes may be taking place and where the organization is headed and can thus help garner more stakeholder support.
Step 4: Avoid legal loopholes. Ensuring that legal compliance is maintained in the collection of all data is crucial. Before you start on the analytics project, have a legal team validate the data sourcing techniques and processes. Once the raw data has been gathered and treated, the results gleaned need to be approved as well before they can be applied or published. In our digital ecosystem, with data protection and privacy laws still evolving, it is prudent to keep abreast of the changes and double-check on legal compliance.
Step 5: Create leaner systems. Irrespective of the complexity of the project at hand, the broader strategy that the processes must adhere to needs to be simple and lean. The basic process of data analysis and interpretation should allow for easy application, updating, and readability. For example, create the basic outline simplified as intake and design (data collection and the design of the analysis), data cleaning (removing irrelevant or unreliable data), data analysis (quantitative and qualitative exploration), and sharing insights (interpretation and presentation of the data).  The idea is to find the right balance between the limited moving parts (people and the dynamism of the environment) and fluid, customizable systems and processes of people analytics. When we have the right team with the relevant skill set in place, it is easier to streamline the whole process and apply quality controls.
Step 6: Build a fact-based, measurable HR business strategy. A realistic HR business strategy avoids functional silos and can align talent to business seamlessly. Having clear KPIs and ROI expectations from people analytics endeavors ensures that the impact is measured often and with transparency. A winning strategy needs to be backed by data and an effective plan of action.
Step 7: Take tech support. Technology is interspersed with every aspect of life today and more so with processes like people analytics, where often a bulk of analytical data is to be treated with little or no room for error. New-age HR tech tools make real-time data easily accessible. And this is an opportunity that needs to be milked because today, agility and real-time intelligence can truly set you apart from the competition.

Talent management is defined as the methodically organized, strategic process of getting the right talent onboard and helping them grow to their optimal capabilities keeping organizational objectives in mind.

The process thus involves identifying talent gaps and vacant positions, sourcing for and onboarding the suitable candidates, growing them within the system and developing needed skills, training for expertise with a future-focus and effectively engaging, retaining and motivating them to achieve long-term business goals. The definition brings to light the overarching nature of talent management – how it permeates all aspects pertaining to the human resources at work while ensuring that the organization attains its objectives. It is thus the process of getting the right people onboard and enabling them to enable the business at large.

Under the umbrella of talent management, there are a string of elements and sub-processes that need to work in unison to ensure the success of the organization. For example, analyzing the right talent gaps for the present and the future, identifying the right talent pools and best-fit candidates, getting them to join and then optimizing their existing skills and strengths while helping them grow are touch-points that are all equally important. They support each other and the whole structure would crumble even if one sub-process fell out of sync.

Reflections by team Kenya and HR&S CEO, March 2023

Team meeting March 2023
The social entrepreneurs had failed to repay their first loans as per the agreement signed by them and HR&S RISE KENYA. This was evident by their unavailability to attend any RISEtalks nor accepting to have a physical meeting with
Direcctors/coaches.

Challenges Identified by the Team
 Lack of faith by the social entrepreneurs
 Lack of honesty when submitting their business
proposals.
 Avoiding hierarchy of leadership when addressing
their issues.

Cecilia: It can be noted that Dolas had paid the interest for one year and Veema had paid the RISEmember fee, Amani did not pay back anything and claims they were not aware that the funds were not a donation but a loan.

When a loan is not paid back, it is time for the HR&S Branch to go back to ROPE for that RISEmember and identify the outcome challenges and the activities, and also compile lessons learned and take informed decisions. These activities must be implemented and outcome reached, prior to accepting a new loan. For Dolas and Veema they lack enough customers to be able to generate an income. Dolas identifies as an activity on-line sales and marketing, whereas Virginia who is already reaching out well through Facebook, identifies a market survey as activity. Concerning Amani, the lesson learned is that the HR&S CEO at the time of handing out the loan, was not aware of the effort required around ensuring loan-takers to pay back, and did not at that time set up the required management strategies.

Financial & Institutional capacity  / Sustainable impact