Determining the internal working relationships of the EMB entails the creation of an organisational structure chart (organigram) that provides for effective, integrated planning, service delivery, and management control.

The EMB may carry out this exercise itself if it has in-house expertise. Alternatively, the EMB could hire an expert consultant or organisation or another EMB to assist with the development of its organisational structure. It is important that an EMB or its agents consult broadly on the development of the EMB organisational chart so as to promote stakeholder involvement in the EMB’s operations. Stakeholder involvement can ensure that the EMB considers external service delivery expectations, rather than merely internal management needs, when developing or reviewing the organisational structure.

The number of staff positions to be created, their levels of seniority, and their management relationships will be determined by what is required to fulfil the EMB’s mandate effectively. Ideally, the structure will wholly reflect the EMB objectives and functions, rather than being tailored to the staff skills available, though this approach may be more difficult in EMBs reliant wholly on more inflexible frameworks of public service staffing.

The timing of EMB functions may be as important as the functions themselves in developing the organisational chart. There are basic administrative, review and evaluation, and electoral event planning and preparation tasks that require a base level of permanent staff. The EMB also needs to consider other tasks which may require ongoing implementation, such as voter registration, political party registration and oversight of funding, and voter education. Even if there are relatively few continuous tasks, the EMB may benefit from maintaining a strong and broadly-based permanent management team across all functions, so that peaks of activity can be effectively handled.

Creating too many positions on the EMB organisational chart is likely to prompt public criticism, especially during the period between elections when it is difficult for the public to visualise what, if anything, EMB staff are doing. Equally, maintaining too lean a structure may increase efficiency during periods of low activity but may undermine progress and continuity. Before implementing a ‘lean’ staffing plan, the potential availability of additional staff for peak workload periods and the in-house capacity to train new staff have to be carefully assessed. In this respect, Governmental and Mixed Model EMBs that have the ability to draw on additional public service resources to handle peak workloads may be better placed to operate continuously at peak efficiency.

How to develop an organisational chart

The task of developing an organisational chart requires the EMB to identify:

• the powers, functions, and tasks which the electoral legal framework gives to the EMB;
• the timing of implementation of those tasks;
• the number of permanent staff required to perform each function or task;
• the level of qualifications and experience required to perform each of the identified functions and tasks;
• the EMB’s management hierarchy - who is answerable to whom;
• the relationships among various EMB layers, including the need or otherwise to create permanent or temporary positions at regional locations, and the hierarchy and structure of accountability within and between EMB locations.

EMB structures have to be sufficiently robust to deal with real world conditions that may be disorganised or conflictual. Despite the multiplicity of possible organisational structures for an EMB, there are some general concepts worth considering when developing the secretariat’s structure:

• flatter organisational structures (fewer management levels) can deliver services faster, often more effectively, and reduce inefficient empire building;
• structures are most effective when clearly linked to the EMB’s strategic plan;
• outward-looking structures focused on service delivery to stakeholders are better than inward-looking ones focused on management or support functions;
• structures need to facilitate both vertical and horizontal communication within the EMB;
• clear work output expectations and accountability for services should be attached to each organisational unit;
• structures should promote support of operational areas by corporate service (for example finance and personnel) areas;
• an independent internal audit function, bypassing the secretariat structure and reporting directly to the head of the secretariat or EMB members, can assist in assuring integrity and probity.