EPSS HR Team Competency Assessment Invite

The Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Supply Service (EPSS) is a federal government institution under the Ministry of Health which is responsible for supply chain management of public health commodities in Ethiopia. EPSS is dedicated to ensuring the uninterrupted supply of pharmaceuticals, laboratory reagents, medical equipment, and supplies to the Ethiopian people. EPSS has 19 branch warehouses that serve more than 3,800 health facilities that in turn serve 105 million people in nine regional states and two administrative states.

The American International Health Alliance (AIHA), with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), leverages its experience in strengthening the capacity of EPSS's Human Resources. AIHA is responsible for overall project management, financial, contractual, and administrative management and provide technical support in stakeholder relations, including the Government of Ethiopia and the donor BMGF.

EPSS is looking for a consultancy firm to conduct the competency assessment of its Human Resource Administration and Development workforce. This assessment will evaluate the capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses of EPSSs HR workforce in relation to the demands and challenges of the human resources administration and development. In addition, it will assess skill gaps, evaluate that the workforce is well-versed in regulatory requirements and compliance standards, assess the proficiency of the HR workforce in utilizing and adapting to modern technologies, identify areas where improvements in quality control and documentation management are needed, assess the HR staff's ability to identify, evaluate, and mitigate risks, assess talent development and succession planning management, assess the HR staff's ability to drive continuous improvement initiatives and access overall HR staff competencies to align with the strategic goals and objectives of EPSS.

The consultancy firm is expected to conduct the following list of activities:

• Prepare a detailed work plan for the assessment and submit it to the EPSS HRD and AIHA for follow-up
• Prepare a detailed proposal to conduct the competency assessment, including a detailed methodology
• Collect and catalog all the relevant documents from the HRD
• Conduct a desk review of all the relevant documents
• Interview the appropriate EPSS HR personnel
• Conduct a gap assessment through various methods at the head office and selected hubs of the HR process unit and their competency area levels (skill, attitude, knowledge) to identify a problematic situation or find the cause, including but not limited to:
• Human resource practices and functions
• Customer management
• Inter and intra-communication skills
• Customer Relationship Management
• Development of organizational structure
• Manage employee performance process and other HR-related soft skills
• Conduct skill gap assessment on EPSS HR competency to make recruitment and selection policies, training, performance management system, career planning, compensation, disciplinary rules, employee wellbeing, etc.

Deliverables include:

• Prepare documented information or a report based on the collected identified gaps with value-adding comments and solutions and present it to EPSS management, relevant stakeholders, and AIHA
• Formulate a strategic plan to bridge the identified HR gaps
• Develop a comprehensive workplan to address the identified gaps, including a detailed methodology, report format, and revised timeline for intervention
• Prepare and timely submit assessment progress reports on a biweekly basis
• Develop HRM maturity model for EPSS

Duration of the Consultancy: The period for this competency assessment should take four months.

Required competencies, experience and skills:

• The consulting firm must have a management and related consulting service license, VAT, and TIN certificate
• The firm should have five-plus years of consultancy experience in management-related services, specifically HRM competency and capacity-building assessment
• The consulting firm should have demonstrated experience planning and executing similar competency assessment
• The firm should preferably have relevant experience in supply chain, logistics management and other related service-rendering sectors in Ethiopia and other countries
• Must be able to put up a team of key experts to execute this assignment. The consultant should carefully review the scope of work and propose a team of well-organized, competent staff, adequately equipped with the necessary skills/facilities to execute the assignment
• The firm should offer or have consultants who have a second degree and above in Management, HRM, Business Administration, Supply Logistics Management, Economics, and other related fields
• Experience in Organizational Development, Leadership, and Change management
• Familiarity with methods and tools for participatory self-assessment
• Skills in communication, facilitation, and reporting
• Good speaking and writing skills in Amharic and English