Its policies are geared towards raising professional standards, developing the particular skills required for humanitarian work and promoting and supporting management of staff through its professional hierarchy. The Department strives to promote internal cohesion within the ICRC by encouraging staff to identify with the organization’s visions and objectives. The ICRC is an equal opportunity employer.

The Human Resources Department recruits staff, plans their assignments and supervises their management and career development. In 2006, an average of 10,174 delegation employees (daily workers not included) and 1,509 expatriates were working in the field.

In response to staff expectations and the demands placed on the organization by an increasingly complex and unpredictable environment, the ICRC continued to implement RH2006, an ambitious programme launched in 2004 to restructure human resource management and improve the development of staff skills and the management of assignments.

The career assessment commissions that provide career guidance to middle and senior managers gave 95 managers feedback in 2006. Furthermore, owing to the existence of a pool of personnel, no more than one or two per cent of field posts were ever vacant at any one time.

Another aim of RH2006 is to improve the management of delegation employees, who represent 80% of ICRC personnel, by providing them with greater opportunities to develop their skills. In 2006 the Department adjusted its management policy and began work on putting it into practice.

The project launched by the Department in 2005 to replace its 12-year-old IT tool made steady progress. All human resource management processes were assessed in depth with a view to adapting the new IT system selected in 2005 to the specific needs of the ICRC. The new system will be deployed in 2007.

In 2006 the ICRC remained a very attractive employer. The number of job applicants increased to more than 6,000. The need for first mission delegates fell slightly, however, and the number of newly hired staff therefore decreased accordingly (280 in 2006 as opposed to 300 in 2005).As was the case the previous year, priority was given to applicants with knowledge of Arabic.

In keeping with the ICRC’s policy of enhancing the international character of its expatriate staff, 76% of newly recruited delegates came from countries other than Switzerland. Overall, 59% of expatriates were non-Swiss.

Fifty-seven per cent of the delegates recruited in 2005 were women. However, women were still underrepresented among senior field staff, although the proportion increased to 20%, up from 5% in 1995. The Directorate adopted a policy on gender equality, setting clear targets for the promotion of women to senior positions. Efforts were made through the career assessment commissions and other means to identify and encourage women with the potential totake up such positions.

In 2006, the Department’s senior managers validated a new reference framework for ICRC training. Major innovations include the establishment of a steering group and a board of trainers to improve the coherence of all training activities within the organization.

Final preparations took place for the launch of the management course entitled “People Leadership in Management”. A group of senior managers will attend the first session in January 2007. Over the coming four years, more than 600 middle and senior managers will take part, including all ICRC directors.

The ICRC continued to reassess its introductory training course – the “integration course” – to adapt it to changes in the organization’s operational environment. In 2006, 500 people – all newly recruited expatriates and a number of delegation employees – attended a session of the course either at headquarters or at one of the decentralized training units in Amman, Colombo, Dakar and Nairobi.

In addition, 469 managers attended various in-house training courses covering such diverse topics as leadership, security and stress management, train-the-trainer methods, communication and presentation techniques.

See ICRC Annual Report 2006.