There is deep dissatisfaction among the staff at one of the world’s premier financial institutions, the World Bank, according to a letter released by the organisation’s staff association. Workers have staged brief work stoppages and gathered in impromptu assemblies to protest the deficiencies in management.
The association claims that the management had promised an overhaul of processes which included more resources for frontline work, more empowerment for frontline staff, a reduction in the lack of coordination between departments and most importantly, a greater focus on the client.
There has, however, been no implementation of key promises and the staff alleges that decision-making is becoming increasingly centralised.
“The message from the past week is simple: something is wrong and must be fixed. We are passionate and what we want more than anything is to fight poverty and boost shared prosperity. The issue of bonuses was just the tipping point. Staff frustration has been building for two years over this mismanaged change. There is a long list of problems that needs to be resolved,” said the Executive Committee of the World Bank Group Staff Association.
Hoping to address their grievances, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim held an emergency town hall this week, drawing a combined attendance, in person and online, of more than 8,000 staff members.
The staff association has made many recommendations to improve the functioning at the World Bank including directing budget expenditure to the appropriate heads to improve delivery of projects, boosting incentives for working across teams and having more inclusive conversations with workers to understand the challenges on the ground. The association also fears thousands of layoffs following an expenditure review that is currently in process at the organisation and has urged the management to work with the staff through all the decisions.