CAPACITY BUILDING IN AN ORGANIZATION

Capacity building can be defined as Human resource development, which involves the process of equipping individuals with the understanding, skills and access to information, knowledge and training that enables them to perform effectively.

Whose capacity are we trying to build?

This entails the target people whose capacity is to be built. It depends on the company or organization but mostly the staff of company.

Capacity to do what and why? This means building the right capacity for the right purpose. The focus should be on critical functions, which if performed effectively would allow the organization to survive and hopefully, overcome their main challenges and constraint.

TYPES OF CAPACITIES:

Functional capacities are “crosscutting” capacities that are relevant across various levels and are not associated with one particular sector or theme. They are the management capacities needed to formulate, implement, and review strategies, programs, and projects. Since they focus on “getting things done,” they are of key importance for any successful capacity development.

Technical capacities: are those associated with particular areas of expertise and practice in specific thematic areas or sectors. Technical capacities tend to be acquired through more formalized instruction, study, and practical training. Because this tends to be a more specialized set of skills, the target audience is generally much narrower.

Behavioral capacities: This has to do with cultural shifts and changes in attitude. An important component of capacity building, especially in a multi-stakeholder context, is raising awareness in order to affect changes in the attitudes, practices, and behaviors of individuals, groups, and organizations.

Why do we need to build capacity?

·         An opportunity for long-term, bigger, lasting change:

·         An opportunity to do something organizations usually cannot

·         An opportunity to apply organizational resources in a unique way by making use of skilled members and knowledgeable staff and faculty.

How to Improve Capacity?

1.) The organization knows best: The leaders of the organization are in the position to best understand the existing abilities and future needs of the organization itself. Thus the organization does not need to be “told what to do”, and the capacity builder should not assume superiority. 

2.) Build the investee relationship: Capacity building has been a two-way street that requires frequent, open, and honest communication. There needs to be a relationship that shows the capacity builder and the organization both has a shared stake in the organization’s success. Trust needs to be present on both sides, and the capacity builder and organization staff needs to communicate on equal footing.

3.) One size does not fit all: There is no one approach to capacity building that will work in every organization. Rather, each organization has different situations and different needs that need to be specifically addressed and uniquely met.

4.) Start and end in self-assessment: Organizations need to start by assessing themselves to know where they are struggling, so they can have adequate knowledge of their needs and work towards focusing on them. After capacity is built, additional assessment needs to be done in order to understand if the capacity building is actually working and to identify new problems. Without this assessment, things may be working, but it could be hard or impossible to tell.

5.) Know your limitations and choose your battles: As a capacity builder, it can be tempting to assume you are more skilled or knowledgeable than you really are. However, if the end goal is to maximize one’s value-added, this requires being honest about one’s own abilities. One also needs to focus on finding good matches where the organization needs line up with the skills one is able to actually help with in an effective and competent manner.

StreSERT Services Limited delivers unique and well researched training programmes for both the public and private sectors, offering organisations distinctive services to fulfill all their training objectives. Programmes developed are in relation to job requirements, and focused on initiatives meant to develop employees for their current jobs and future roles and responsibilities.

Our training services cover the following:

·         Management and leadership skills

·         Supervisory skills

·         Performance management

·         Negotiation skills

·         Personal Effectiveness

·         Professional office management

·         Presentation skills

·         Marketing and sales skills

·         Team building

·         Communication skills

·         Customer service

·         Several other training subjects

In-company and customized learning solutions

We can deliver our open programmes to single company audiences (i.e. in-company) when an organization is seeking to create impact and improvement through lifting the performance of groups or teams within the organization. These can be lightly tailored or heavily customized depending on the precise nature of the client’s need(s)

Customized learning solutions

Our customized learning solutions are designed with you to match precisely your needs. Working with you from the earliest possible consideration of both the need and the solution design, we ensure your objectives are met in full and that the outcome has a sustained impact on the workplace.