#World Bank moves to quell staff revolt By Shawn Donnan in Washington The World Bank’s chief financial officer has agreed to forego a $94,500 annual bonus in order to quell a staff revolt hitting the bank as the world’s finance ministers and central bank governors gather in Washington for its annual meeting. Jim Kim, the World Bank president, has been facing criticism from staff ever since he announced plans to radically reorganise the bank’s structure as part of a plan to make $400m in savings (ft/cms/s/0/012f15d6-b8fa-11e3-98c5-00144feabdc0.html?siteedition=uk). But employees have been expressing growing annoyance with the changes since they were implemented in July. That staff revolt flared again last week after it emerged that Bertand Badre (accent aigu on the e), who joined the bank from Societe Generale in March 2013, was being awarded an annual “scarce kills premium” on top of his $379,000 annual salary. At a hastily called meeting on Tuesday that was witnessed by an FT reporter, Mr Kim told staff members that Mr Badre (accent aigu on the e) would be giving up his bonus. But that didn’t stop the president from facing a tirade of questions from concerned staff who complained of sinking morale, increasing layers of management and a culture of penny pinching as a result of the restructuring. “You can agree on everything you want at the annual meeting but if we are not here to implement whatever you deccide nothing is going to happoen,” one staff member told Mr Kim. “This thing (restructuring) is affecting everything,” she said. “We can’t do business. We don’t have the budget. It’s a mess, the management.” Another staff member complained that “nickel and diming” on travel budgets was causing travelling staff to miss breakfasts. “It’s really small beer,” she said. “Has anyone ever thought about the impact of these changes on staff morale?” Mr Kim defended what he said were needed changes to the bank’s structure, including reorienting its operations around global specialist groups rather than regional offices. But he also expressed his own frustration with what has become the protracted restructuring. “I am just as tired of the change process as all of you are,” Mr Kim told staff members. “And I would agree now that we have to bring it to an end. The key thing is to bring it to an end that will make sense given all that we have done.” Although many of the changes to the bank’s structure were introduced July 1 only about half the $400m in savings planned have actually been made, according to bank officials. That has raised the prospect of staff cuts and other changes that have created more anxiety among staff members. “We are implementing fundamental changes to our development delivery model to become fit for purpose to meet today’s most pressing challenges,” said David Theis, a spokesman for the World Bank. “Of course staff unease is natural and understandable in any large organization undergoing such a large-scale realignment. We believe we will come out of this process as a stronger, more unified organization, better positioned to achieve our mission.” Mr Kim, a public health expert and former president of Dartmouth College, was nominated for the bank job by US President Barack Obama and began a five-year term in July 2012. The restructuring process began in early 2013, with Mr Kim bringing in a parade of management gurus and other luminaries including former British prime minister Tony Blair to discuss how to proceed. He also hired McKinsey, the consultants, the conduct an “organisational health assessment” and hired consultancies Deloitte and Booz Allen to examine the bank’s finances at a total cost of $12.5m. World Bank’s chief financial officer has agreed to forgo a $94,500 annual bonus in order to quell a staff revolt hitting the bank as the world’s finance ministers and central bank governors gather in Washington for its annual meeting. Jim Yong Kim, the World Bank president, has been facing criticism from staff over his plans implemented over the summer to reorganise the bank’s structure. That staff revolt flared again last week after it emerged that Bertrand Badré, who joined the bank from Société Générale in March 2013, was being awarded an annual “scarce skills premium” on top of his $379,000 annual salary. At a hastily called meeting on Tuesday, Mr Kim told staff members that Mr Badré would be giving up his bonus. But that did not stop the president from facing a tirade of questions from concerned staff who complained of sinking morale and penny pinching at the bank. “You can agree on everything you want at the annual meeting but if we are not here to implement whatever you decide nothing is going to happen,” one staff member told Mr Kim. “I am just as tired of the change process as all of you are,” Mr Kim said in response. “And I would agree now that we have to bring it to an end. The key thing is to bring it to an end that will make sense given all that we have done.” The reorganisation of the bank was begun in part to make some $400m in savings. About half those savings have been identified but more cuts still need to be made, according to bank officials, and that has created anxiety among staff members. “We are implementing fundamental changes to our development delivery model to become fit for purpose to meet today’s most pressing challenges,” said David Theis, a spokesman for the World Bank. “Of course staff unease is natural and understandable in any large organisation undergoing such a large-scale realignment. We believe we will come out of this process as a stronger, more unified organisation, better positioned to achieve our mission,” he added.
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 00:24:44 +0000