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inclusion: Accommodating spouses/partners
:
Employing of a DG's spouse/partner
1 This is a critical issue, not only for Directors General currently in the CGIAR, but also for the CGIAR’s potential to recruit Directors General in the future. Many potential DG-candidates are likely to be married or in a partnership, and it is quite likely that their spouses/partners also have a prominent professional career.
2 It follows that, unless the spouse/partner can gain rewarding employment where the Center’s headquarters is located, many good candidates will be filtered out of the selection process. This is particularly significant for potential women candidates for Director General positions. Consequently, it is a strategic issue for the CGIAR as a whole, since women are seriously under-represented among the ranks of Directors General.
3 However, because of a Director General’s sweeping powers to approve appointments, consultancies, fellowships, salaries, rewards and other benefits, there are serious impediments to the employment of the Director General’s spouse/partner within the Director General’s own Center. These impediments essentially relate to perceptions of fair treatment (or otherwise). Nevertheless, they remain a problem for management (i.e. Director General and Board) because, unless managed sensitively, they have the potential to undermine the Director General’s credibility with her/his staff.
OPTIONS FOR EMPLOYING THE SPOUSE/PARTNER OF A DIRECTOR GENERAL
4 These options are essentially the same as for any spouse/partner, i.e.
external appointment, direct appointment, consultancy, fellowship,
etc. In all options, the same basic principle is applied: the Director
General does not become directly involved in any aspect of her/his
spouse’s/partner’s employment.
5 These options exist in a clear sequence of preference, as follows.
Highest preference: appointing the spouse/partner to another organization
6 The most desirable solution is for the spouse/partner to find employment
with an organization other than the one that is recruiting the Director
General, prior to the Director General taking up her/his appointment.
7 In some cases this employment could be with an organization external to the CGIAR. Alternatively it could be at another CGIAR Center with the spouse/partner perhaps located in the same city (or, possibly, the same site) as the Director General.
8 Both these options require the (Director General) selection committee (or its agent such as a recruitment consultant) to liaise with the spouse/partner of each short-listed candidate as early as possible in the recruitment process, and certainly no later than immediately prior to interviews. The selection committee needs to find out the spouse’s/partner’s employment aspirations and investigate the options for meeting those aspirations at the Center headquarters location.
9 Whichever employer option/s for the spouse/partner seem most suitable, the initiative lies with the (Director General) selection committee to approach that organization and to facilitate the appointment of the spouse/partner. This step might need to be taken before the Director General designate’s appointment can be finalized. That is, the satisfactory accommodation of the spouse/partner may be a critical issue in the candidate’s decision whether or not to accept the Director General position.
Second preference: appointing the spouse/partner within the same Center
10 The next most desirable solution is for a joint appointment, i.e.
for the spouse/partner to be found employment within the same Center
where the Director General is being recruited. Again, this should be
arranged prior to the Director General designate accepting her/his
appointment. In this context, “joint appointment” could
include an ongoing appointment of the spouse/partner, or the award
of an appropriate consultancy or fellowship.
11 As with the previous option, the initiative lies with the (Director General) selection committee to identify a suitable employment option for the appointment of the spouse/partner, and to arrange all approvals without involving the Director General designate. With this option, the Board Chair would be required to approve the appointment of the spouse/partner, including all salary and conditions issues.
Using these options as a recruiting tool
12 If a Center is prepared to offer the options described above, it makes
sense to mention this in the position announcement for the Director
General position. First, it makes the position more attractive to many
candidates. Second, this transparency minimizes the possibility of
later criticism that the Director General appointee and her/his spouse/partner
received privileged treatment.
Other options
13 In some cases it may not be possible to
arrange suitable employment prior to the Director General taking up her/his
appointment. This then requires approving options for after the Director
General takes up her/his appointment.
14 The full range of “direct” options exists: direct appointment, consultancy or fellowship. However the Director General should be kept out of the chain of approval. Comprehensive documentation relevant to the type of appointment should be compiled by the section head for whom the spouse/partner would be working, in collaboration with the head of HR. This documentation should include all details relating to compensation and conditions, and the section head should sign the recommendation for the spouse’s/partner’s appointment.
15 This recommendation, together with all normal supporting documentation, should then be sent directly to the Board Chair for approval or otherwise.
16 If the Director General’s spouse/partner applies for an advertised vacancy, her/his application shall be treated solely on its merits – the extent to which she/he meets the competency requirements for the vacancy and whether her/his merits exceed other candidates. The spouse/partner shall go through the same selection process as all other candidates. However:
- if the spouse/partner is not recommended for appointment, the sections of the selection report dealing with her/his candidature shall be held on a separate, confidential file; and
- if the spouse/partner is recommended for appointment, the selection report (together with all normal selection documentation) shall proceed straight from the chair of the selection panel/head of HR to the Board Chair for decision.
Other management issues affecting the spouse/partner
17 Over time, it would be expected that the
spouse/partner would be eligible for consideration of action such as
promotion, financial and other rewards, eligibility to attend conferences
or other professional development activities. As a general principle
for dealing with these issues:
- the Director General would abstain from any review committee discussion of these issues, and
- where the review committee endorsed a particular benefit (e.g. promotion, performance reward, etc.) the recommendation would be forwarded directly to the Board Chair for decision, together with details of the committee’s assessment of the merits of the recommendation.
18 If the Center’s decision processes did not involve a review committee, but followed a unilateral recommendation from a supervisor, the supervisor’s recommendation would be forwarded directly to the Board Chair for decision. In such circumstances, the head of HR might need to brief the Board Chair on relevant issues to enable the Board Chair to make an informed decision.
19 This approach provides reassurance to the Center at large that:
- the Director General cannot influence decisions to the benefit of her/his spouse;
- the Director General is not involved in the final decision-making process; and
- any performance/development benefits received by the spouse/partner have been decided on their merits.
implications of a Director General marrying a staff member
20 If a Director General marries a staff
member (or forms an equivalent partnership), the following initiatives
should be taken:
- if the spouse/partner was previously responsible to the Director General in a direct line relationship, alternative arrangements should be introduced for supervising the spouse/partner. Because of the scope of the Director General’s administrative powers, this is one case where we recommend that the arbitrary rule of spouses not working for one another should apply; and
- the provisions described in “Other Management Issues Affecting the Spouse/Partner” should be implemented.
© CGIAR Gender & Diversity
Program 2006