TERMS OF REFERENCE Salary and Benefit Survey Consultancy for LINGO Forum

Background

The Liberia International NGO (LINGO) Forum is a network of International non-governmental organizations (INGOs) in Liberia. It was established in 1997 in Monrovia. Members of the LINGO Forum commit to the principles of Humanity; Impartiality; Neutrality; Independence; Do No Harm; Accountability; Building Local Capacities.

The Mission of the LINGO Forum is to support its members and improve coordination by facilitating communication and information sharing, advocacy, liaison activities and capacity building. It will actively and effectively liaise with entities outside the INGO community and enable members to speak with one voice.

In October 2019, the LINGO Forum members requested the Coordinating Committee and the LINGO Forum Coordinator to carry out a comprehensive benchmarking of national staff salaries and benefits. The LINGO Forum on behalf of its members, is seeking an external consultant to undertake a comprehensive salary and benefit survey.

Summary of Consultancy

The LINGO Forum will engage a consultant with prior experience in developing survey tools and with demonstrated experience in both quantitative and qualitative analysis, preferably with a solid background in Economics / Statistics and human resources benefits & analysis, to perform a Salary and Benefits Survey of the local staff employed by the member organizations. The survey results are intended for the use of the members of the LINGO Forum only and not for general or external distribution. Services envisioned include, but are not limited to, designing the survey tools to capture and aggregate salaries and benefits of Liberian staff employed by the member INGOs using a salary matrix based on duties and responsibilities rather than job titles, and designing a benefits / incentives matrix that would include but not be limited to, the types of contracts, working hours, policy on holidays, leave (vacation, parental, sick paid etc.), transportation, meals, lodging / accommodation, relocation, per diem, cost of living adjustments, phone / communication allowances, training allowances, fidelity allowances, insurance, bonuses, use of vehicles and / or fuel, performance – review appraisals, severance benefits etc. The consultant will introduce the feedback from the LINGO Forum members into the survey design, analyze the data and write the final report. The consultant is encouraged to make recommendations on additional services that the survey could potentially offer to the members. The LINGO Forum Coordinator (LC) will support the consultant in maintaining contact and gathering the feedback from the member INGOs.

Duration of Consultancy

The consultancy is scheduled for a total of 25 working days, at 8 hours a day, over a maximum period of 37 days, from February 10 – March 18, 2020. Actual days worked will be contingent on meeting the scheduled deliverables under the contract. Any modification will be agreed to between the LINGO Forum and the Consultant.

Specific Tasks

1. Pre-visit Activities (3 days)
2. With LINGO Forum LC and members of the salary/benefits working group form a core team to facilitate certain activities. An extended “team” will include key individuals identified by each

comparator organization to provide the salary and benefits information. b. Clarify outputs and processes, including benchmark position attributes, comparator organizations (est. at between 30 – 35 organizations), that shall participate in the survey and benchmark positions, estimated between 20-25, and identify date of last salary adjustment and percentages awarded for participating INGOs. c. Design Salary and Benefits Templates in conjunction with the LC and a committee of elected members of the LINGO Forum (Salary Survey Working Group), the consultant will design the survey tool(s), which may be separate tools for salaries and benefits or one integrated survey tool. d. Submit the draft survey tool(s) to the LINGO Forum for review and approval. Upon receipt of suggested additions/changes to the draft survey tool(s), the consultant must incorporate the feedback/input gathered from the LINGO Forum members into the final survey tool(s) design.

2. Survey Preparation (3 days)
3. Hold initial meeting with LC to present details of process and identify the support needed b. Conduct workshop with CDs to discuss survey design and implementation and for the

identification of key staff who can provide information on salary and benefit decisions c. Post-survey meeting with CDs to present results d. Conduct on-going meetings as needed with LC and key stakeholders

3. Data Collection (6 days)
4. Provide the LC with soft copies of data collection tables for distribution to comparator

organizations. b. Work with LC to collect completed tables from comparator organizations and maintain in separate

electronic file with back up. c. Contact key persons in comparator organizations for questions/clarifications.

4. Analysis (6 days)
5. Assess which jobs at comparator organizations are a reasonably close match to the benchmark job outlines agreed by the LINGO Forum Salary Survey Working Group and where appropriate, apply a percentage where the job is similar but the scale of activities or size of the budget or number of subordinate staff is either somewhat larger or smaller than the job at larger organizations. b. Identifying the criteria and value of various benefits and in-kind payments, such as leave days, gratuity payments, funeral benefits, international and local travel allowances, relocation, transport allowances, separation benefits (termination and resignation) and other benefits agreed to by the LINGO Forum Salary Survey Working Group.
6. Reporting (7 days)

The consultant shall construct a system for data entry and analysis of the survey results. The consultant will conduct a thorough analysis of the data and prepare a first draft of the final survey report based on this analysis. All of the raw data shall be annexed to the draft report. Analytical tools/models must be developed such that they can be used again in the future when the survey will be conducted again.

The consultant shall submit the draft final report to the LINGO Forum for review and approval. Upon receipt of suggested additions/changes to the draft final report, the consultant must incorporate the feedback/input gathered from the LINGO Forum members into the final survey report.

1. Providing a feedback report to each comparator INGO, showing the coded results for the organizations within the survey and general analysis of how they performed against other INGOs in US Dollar terms. b. Provide a report showing how the INGOs performed for certain financial and administrative positions against the private sector and how the INGOs performed in general against the UN and public sector.

` Deliverables

1. Salary and benefits survey tool(s) that can be reused in the future. 2. Comprehensible data analysis including analytical tools/models that can be used in future iterations of

the survey 3. Written instructions of how to use the model for future surveys. 4. Draft report 5. Final soft, hard and Web versions of the report.

Contract

The consultant will be expected to sign a contract for the LINGO Forum Salary and Benefits Survey Consultancy.

Communication: The consultant shall report to the LINGO Forum Coordinator (LC).

APPLICATIONS Interested candidates/firms for this consultancy should send an application letter via email to lingoliaison@gmail.com addressed to the LINGO Forum Coordinator or deliver hard copy in sealed envelope addressed to LINGO Forum Coordinator at Welthungerhilfe Office, Fish Market, Tubman Boulevard, Sinkor, Monrovia, Liberia or Apply through the system below. The letter should set out why the applicant feels that s/he or it is suited for the consultancy and should specify their fee, expressed as a daily rate. The consultant’s CV/profile, maximum 4 pages, should be attached to the letter. Sample of previous work done or list of agencies that you have done similar exercises for should accompany the application.

Eligibility – Individual or Firm / National or International.

The deadline for applications is Friday, 31st January 2020 at 2:30pm. Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted.