Managing aid personnel

The actions of aid agency personnel are critical to the success of projects these agencies undertake, but personnel management receives comparatively little attention in the aid and development literature. Applying ideas from public management, organizational economics, psychology, and other disciplines to the aid sector, this chapter provides a framework for analyzing how the organizational contexts and management practices of aid agencies impact the actions and identity of the agents on whom aid performance depends. We emphasize the contingent nature of personnel management practices, arguing that the utility of specific strategies depends on several factors, including the demand for adaptation in a given environment, the need for context-specific knowledge, and the motivations of personnel. We also provide evidence suggesting that the aid industry’s increasing focus on quantifiable results may be influencing personnel management practices in ways that reduce the talent pool from which traditional aid agencies can draw.