The Question

This question was posted on behalf of Aloui Nejmeddine, an ACE user from Tunisia

What is the most suitable administrative structure of a training department in an independent electoral administration?

What is the best way to control the training actions?

Summary of responses
A number of experts are of the view that the most suitable location for a training section is within an operations or procedures division that deals with electoral issues. The advantage with this structure is that “it ensures that training issues are central in operational planning and implementation.” This is the case in Palestine where the training division is located within the Electoral Procedures department.  For practical reasons, many EMBs adopt a training methodology that cascades training from top to bottom.

In the above structure, it is suggested that any non-electoral training could be outsourced.

Another reply, however, advocates having a training unit within the human resources division. The advantages given for this structure are a degree of independence over the training and being able to view it holistically. A potential disadvantage may be a lack of election experience. The suitability of this structure largely depends on the type of training that is to be delivered, i.e. institutional or electoral?

In New Zealand, the EMB manages its training in two distinct ways: professional development for permanent staff is generally outsourced, while electoral field training for temporary staff is located within an operational ‘Electoral Events’ team and is cascaded.

For training of all types to be effective, it is also noted that it needs support from the top of the EMB and accompanying budgetary commitments.

Examples of related ACE Articles and Resources
Encyclopaedia:
• Electoral management: Staff training and development
• Internal training of EMB staff 
• External training of EMB staff 

Names of contributors
1. Adrian Morrice
2. Pamela Mapondera
3. Reza Zaghmi
4. Hisham Kuhail
5. Asi Shawkat
6. Idriss Kamara
7. Robert Marsh
8. Idi Boina

A good question, for which there are possibly as many answers as there EMBs. We were looking at this the other day with an EMB where the training unit is in the general admin department, alongside budget and finance, and within the human resources division. As a service provider for the whole EMB it made sense for them to take training out of all other departments so that it wasn't 'owned' by one department, at the expense of another. Inside the HR division they could then look holistically at: the overall qualifications to recruit staff at different levels; the skills all staff in the EMB needed to be a good generalist election administrator; and then the more specific skills for the job staff specialized in, and; what competencies staff might need to be promoted, etc. 

This then runs up against the challenge that hidden in a general admin department the unit may not be seen as a 'strategic enabler' for the whole EMB. They might recruit admin or 'trainer' staff without election experience. A big question can be whether you want the unit to be the 'trainers,' 'curriculum developers,' or to 'train the trainers.' An electoral operations department might not give it a role to help district/province staff design training for thousands of voter registration and polling staff.

A related question could be whether the training objectives for the unit relate to running an institution (how to operate a computer, how to develop a budget), or whether they relate to an institution that runs elections (training on the voter registration system, on the electoral law). Is the training strategy part of an overall strategy to move the EMB in one direction or another, and how might that affect where the unit sits in the overall structure? This then depends on the EMB leadership and their vision for both the EMB's strategic direction (to improve / professionalize one or more aspects of election administration), and for staff development (improvement and motivation of permanent staff over time). 

Three possible remedies for being hidden somewhere in another division could be (i) for the EMB leadership to nominate excellent trainers in each department to be training 'focal points', responsible back to the training unit for curriculum development in that area of work, (ii) at budget time see that in addition to an EMB-wide training budget, there is also a budget for training in the budget of every department, and (iii) in a permanent EMB another trick could be separating election event training from core staff development training. Hope this is helpful

Having a training department within an EMB might not be ideal unless you are referring to a section within a given department. In this case if an EMB has an Operations Division or a Department responsible for polling which then deals with electoral issues then it would be more ideal to have the training section there rather than in a department which deals with general administration or HR or IT issues. Any other general or specific staff development training could be outsourced .

I hope that could be helful.

Pamela Mapondera (Mrs.)

Formation et développement du personnel :

La formation et le développement adéquats du personnel essentiel permanent au

sein de l’OGE (le cas échéant), du personnel temporaire de gestion nommé pour certaines

élections et des multiples agents de terrain éventuellement recrutés pour des événements de grande envergure, tels que des élections, des référendums ou l’inscription des électeurs de type recensement de la population, constituent l’un des piliers du professionnalisme de la gestion électorale.

Les principes de bonne pratique électorale tels que l’impartialité, la transparence, le secret du vote, l’égalité d’accès, la responsabilité et l’efficience, forment la base de la formation de tout le personnel de l’OGE. La formation et le développement du personnel sont des activités permanentes. Compte tenu des modifications apportées aux procédures électorales, des avancées technologiques ainsi que de l’intervalle entre deux élections, même les personnes les plus expérimentées ne peuvent se contenter de leur expérience pour « maîtriser » leurs tâches actuelles.

La formation et le développement du personnel ne sont pas aussi concrets que les urnes, l’éducation des électeurs et les documents d’information.

En conséquence, il est parfois difficile de convaincre les gouvernements d’approuver les budgets des OGE prévoyant des fonds suffisants pour mener ces tâches à bien. Il faut aussi que la gestion de la formation et du développement du personnel occupe une position suffisamment élevée dans la structure organisationnelle de l’OGE pour exercer une influence forte sur les priorités de l’organisme, notamment sur l’établissement du budget interne.

Comme l’a observé le directeur général des élections du Canada, les électeurs s’attendent à ce que chacun de ses 190 000 agents, qu’il s’agisse d’officiers électoraux professionnels employés à long terme ou de personnel temporaire n’ayant suivi que deux heures de formation, fournissent des services de grande qualité.

The training divisionin the Palestinian experience is within the Electoral Procedures Department. One main reason behing that is the fact that training electoral staff is very much linked to the department responsible for setting-up registration, nomination, polling procedures. The electoral department has also the electoral awarness division which again rely on the these procedures to convey the right message to voters.

In addition, the training on off-election periods, offer traininig on electoral subjects to electoral stakeholders within a continuous capacity buildy programs to the Palestinian community.

Hisham Kuhail

CEO Central Elections commission, Palestine  

During the previous elections the training division place has been changed  in several departments and sections ,but the successful elections there was a way to involve all departments in the process of planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

The way to involve sections in the process must be integrated with the structure,

I think there is no ideal organizational structure. However, there are completion of the case of perfect integration and harmony between the structure and methods of decision-making of the plans, implementation, and review of the results. With the need for the independence of the review process from the participants in the design of procedures and training

Training within an independent EMB usually placed as a unit under the department of operations or operations department. It is also combined with procedures, hence  known as "Training and Procedures" unit. The advantage of structuring it this way is that it ensures that training issues are central in operational planning and implementation. Training is also vital in drawing up electoral procedures and guidelines. 

Given the number of personnel or staff to be trained on electoral procedures for elections, most EMBs adopt cascaded methodology, starting with the training of top officials in the EMB to training of trainers who in turn train officials at lower levels of the EMB structure. The advantage of this methodology is that it ensures a large number of staff be trained at a minimum timeframe. Thus it is less expensive and less time consuming. The drawback, however, is that it can result to ineffective training of lower level staff if not properly planned and monitored by supervisors at all levels.

In New Zealand we have a small permanent national EMB and take on short-term field staff from regional and district management levels down, for each electoral event.

Professional development for permanent staff is managed through our performance appraisal process, involving personal development plans agreed between staff and line managers.  It generally involves external training and conference attendance.  We have very little in the way of formal professional development training in-house.  In-house training tends to be project- and event-specific.   The key exception is that national office and field subject matter experts are trained in-house to train field staff (rather than engaging specialist trainers).

Training for temporary field staff is cascaded.  Field training is located within our operational "Electoral Events" team alongside those working on processes.  National office and returning experienced field staff train district managers and regional training specialists centrally.  They in turn train district trainers who train field workers.

Being a small country we are able to bring our district managers (in two tranches) together for a what amounts to a national training convention, which provides networking and informal peer-to-peer learning opportunities which we find valuable, as well as the formal training content.

However, what works for us may not be effective in larger EMBs, those with permanent field structures, or those without a permanent central body. 

La question est très importante,mais toute structure  à mettre en place  nécessite en premier prévoir son budget de fonctionnement et tenir compte de sa capacité technique. identifier les moyens humains et les matériels de travail adéquats . La mise en place d'un sécréterait permanent au sein de la structure chargé de la formation, contribuera à la bonne marche de l'organisation dans le cadre de la planification,de la mise en oeuvre et du suivi des projets liées au renforcement des capacités des membres. Par conséquent, les membres auront les atouts techniques et les capacités intellectuelles pour la bonne marche de leur mission et faciliter les condition de travail  pour le développement de l'institution et répondre au besoin de la mission assignée.