About MFI HR
MFI HR is a Resource Center aimed at building Organizational Capacity and People Capability. MFI HR provides resources, information, tools and ready-to-use content in HR Systems and Processes, Training, Benchmarking, Community Development and Surveys. Key features of the Resource Center are:
- Online, dynamic repository.
- “Live” content that is contemporary, addresses current needs and constantly replenished. Supported by a strong Offline team of Experts.
- Built for the MFI Industry.
MFI HR has been created to address a critical area of opportunity in the MFI sector – Systems, Processes, Tools and Resources to hire, train, retain and grow the most critical pivot of the organization, the People.
In a recent study conducted by Microfinance Insights on ‘Human Resource Challenges and Solutions in Microfinance’ (2008), Human capital issues emerged as the most challenging (see figure below)
The front-runners in terms of priority areas for addressal were: recruiting qualified staff, Training and capacity building and Preventing turnover. Together, these three issues accounted for an overwhelming 80% of the challenges.
Our own consulting work with MFIs for over 6 years points to the following dimensions as being critical in terms of requiring attention:
- Senior teams: Hiring the right people, moving from a single-founder model to a professional management team, synergization amongst the top team, strategic focus.
- Culture: Driving a customer-focused culture in the organization, focus on systems and processes (to ensure stable, standardized work systems despite geographic dispersion), driving innovation.
- Recruitment and Selection: hiring the right people, leveraging / exploring innovative sourcing avenues, ensuring role and organization fit, driving standardization in assessment.
- Capability Building: Rightskilling and upskilling members at all levels of the organization in terms of relevant technical, domain and behavioral / soft skills.
- People-related Systems and Processes: Leveraging best practices from other sectors to quickly bring basic people processes up to speed, Standardization and consistency in application of these systems and processes.
The MFI HR Advantage
Micro Finance as an industry is relatively younger vis-à-vis more mature industries such as Manufacturing, Pharma and Finance and Insurance. While IT and ITES sectors are also young, they have scaled their people processes very adeptly. We bring to the table over 150 person years of experience in HR. This team has, over the past 10 years, done extensive consulting work with small, medium and large organizations across MFIs and all the domains listed previously, in the areas of Growth, Transformation, HR Systems and Processes, Talent Management and Capability Building. [CoCoon Consulting]
It is our firm belief that the MFI sector can greatly leverage best practices from other domains and industries in order to quickly jumpstart their own growth and progress in the HR and Capacity Building realms and that is exactly what we aim to do through MFI HR. We will leverage our continually growing repository of consulting work and best practices across domains and adapt, modify and create to meet the specific needs of MFIs and the unique factors in this industry. Our goal is to create an Online Resource Center that can be leveraged in a plug and play manner by MFIs across the globe.
MFI HR Vision
To provide online, readily usable leading edge tools and knowledge, leveraging best practices from other domains, to enable MFI organizations across the world to attract, manage, develop and retain the most important leverage point in the organization – The People.
Who is MFI HR for
MFI HR provides user-friendly, ready and easy to use tools and resources that are aimed at three key audiences: Leadership and Managers of Teams, HR Teams and Other Service Providers (Training & Consulting firms). The content has been suitably aligned to the needs of these various audiences. For instance, we bring to you the Brown Bag series (vLearn modules) of Capability Building Modules. These are specifically designed to be run as mini, one-hour modules by Line Managers. This is because research as well as our own experience have proven that capability building and knowledge sharing, when done by one’s Manager, is far more impactful and sustained. This series also aids Line Managers in fulfilling a key role responsibility – that of coaching and developing their people.
Making MFI HR work for you
Resources on MFI HR have been custom-created for MFIs. They have been designed with the end-user (i.e. Managers and HR in MFIs) in mind. Therefore, the content has been presented in a ready-to-use, plug-and-play mode. There is a strong backend team of Cross-Domain experts who will respond to specific queries (“Ask the Expert” section) and if necessary, provide customization / consulting support. Additionally, Capability Building Programs will be held at regular intervals to enable HR as well as Line Managers within MFIs to leverage the resources maximally. Do look out for notifications regarding these programs on MFI HR.