Description

Terms of Reference (ToR) for short-term consultancy for the documentation of the business process across the Heifer Africa Region

 Contents

1. Introduction.
2. Project Background, Purpose, and Objectives.
3. Project Scope.
4. Project Deliverables/ Work Products.
5. Project Duration. 5
6. Expected Roles and Responsibilities of Heifer International
7. Expected Roles and Responsibilities of the Consultant
8. Application process [Consultant submission requirements]

8.1 General information.

8.2 Technical information.

8.3 Financial Proposal

1. Timeline for Application and Contracting.
2. Payments.

1.    Introduction

Heifer International (www.heifer.org) is a development organisation working to end hunger and poverty and care for the Earth by using sustainable practices and engaging smallholder farmers in agricultural development.  Heifer was founded on the simple belief that ending hunger begins with giving people the means to feed themselves, generate income and achieve sustainable livelihoods. With this strong foundation, Heifer focuses her pro-poor work by creating wealth through viable value chains that harness the social capital of communities to drive market development.   

Heifer works in about 21 countries across the World, and these countries are managed under the 3 Regions of Asia, the Americas, and Africa. The Africa Regional office was fully established in January 2021 to deepen access and harness the inherent opportunities across the continent.

2.    Project Background, Purpose, and Objectives

This is the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the required technical support towards the documentation of the work processes across Heifer Africa - Heifer Africa Standard Operating Procedure Manual also known as (aka) Heifer Africa Process Documentation.

The creation of the Africa Regional office was a strategic step towards the decentralisation of Heifer International, to effectively deploy resources to execute the vision of helping an additional 10 million families earn Sustainable Living Income by 2030; of which Africa is to deliver about 60% of this target.

The purpose of this project is to document efficient business processes in the Heifer Africa Regional Office, by designing the “as-is” core business processes to help accomplish Heifer Regional Office Mandate.

The objectives to be achieved in the project are aligned with the current operational structure. As a result, there’s a need to ensure all processes and activities across the Region are properly documented to achieve the following objectives:

• Create a repository of all activities within the Region
• Ensure that processes are built to deliver the desired outcome(s)
• Provide visibility to the nuances and process improvement opportunities
• Raise the business efficiency and effectiveness at the Regional level
• Optimize the business operating system/ structure of the Region
• Capture the linkages/ interfaces/ interdependencies between the Country offices, Regional office and Global office (HQ)

The expected results/benefits of process documentation include amongst others, the following:

• Enhance consistency: Repeatable processes don’t have to be redesigned each time, and can always be created using the same logic
• Provides clarity: Reduces operational ambiguity by specifying the exact tasks required to complete a process, who is responsible, and how to perform the task
• Repository of knowledge: Most often, the exit of an employee creates a knowledge vacuum within the team. Process documentation means everyone has access to this important information, to maintain the institutional memory.
• Training (Knowledge repository) Process documentation can act as a best practice guide, so is a great educational tool for new employees.
• Facilitate process improvement: Examining the details within process documents can highlight bottlenecks and areas that could be made more efficient.
• Detailed “as-is” analysis: In collaboration with the respective process owners, business processes are properly mapped; with comparative analysis of select and corresponding processes across the organisation, to demonstrate interdependencies for efficiency and effectiveness.
• Thorough “to-be” analysis: Results-focused (KPI-driven) end-to-end business processes are designed, following the visibility to the “as-is” state, supported by detailed recommendations on business improvement practices; with a focus on increased integration or inter-departmental harmonization, improved effectiveness, greater efficiency, and a measurable reduction in time and or cost.

As a first step, the Regional Departments have captured all core and sub-processes in a Process Catalogue. This document features all the current activities being performed, and a brief description. This will form at a minimum, the scope of this engagement.

3.    Project Scope

An external consultant is being engaged to provide technical assistance to the attainment of the project work and objectives. The project scope of work will include but not be limited to the following:

Stakeholder engagement sessions

• Participate/ organize meetings with the Africa Region leadership, user departments and process owners during the project.

As-is study

• Review, map, and analyze current business processes submitted in the process catalogue, including the roles and responsibilities of the respective departments i.e., vertically at the administrative level and horizontally across the various departments (interfaces).

Process documentation & management

• Engage user departments, process owners and document the business processes, step by step.
• Design all process flow charts, forms and approval matrix to visualize the work processes of the respective departments.
• Consolidate the processes into a single document – Heifer Africa Standard Operating Procedure Manual (Heifer Africa SOP).
• Identify and support the implementation of the document repository platform to be adopted.
• Design the templates and guidelines for updates to the Heifer Africa SOP (document/ version control).

Progress monitoring/ Status updates (frequency to be agreed)

• Share progressive updates on project execution, including any challenges and limitations.

To-be study: Gap analysis & Business process redesign

• Work with process owners to analyze the efficiency and effectiveness of their current process and identify process improvement opportunities.
• Identify and agree possible changes, and related impact across the Region (other departments).
• Map and document the redesign process using appropriate tools/ methods/ techniques/ visuals/ notations.

Communication & Change management (including Project Reporting)

• Create and implement change management and awareness/ communication plan to support the successful delivery of the project.
• Capture and circulate notes from all workshop/ engagement sessions and share status updates on ongoing work.

Post project event (Project Closure)

• Organize the final wrap-up event to present the results of the project and underline the impact of the business process redesign to the Heifer Africa Regional Office.
• Highlight findings, challenges, limitations, future work directions, lessons learned, and next steps.

The Heifer Africa Business Transformation (BT) team would work closely with the consultant to deliver the project. 

4.    Project Deliverables/ Work Products

All deliverables such as reports, plans, and other artifacts, should be delivered to the Heifer Africa Business Transformation Team as at when agreed. These will be made available in both physical and electronic copies (Html, Pdf, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.).

Project Inception Report

This consists of detailed work plans to execute the assignment, the project team, timelines, and identified list of key stakeholders. During the inception stage, the ToR could be refined to ensure delivery of the expected outcomes.

As-is study report

This is a detailed report on the current state of the business processes across the Region. The report should provide references to the process catalogues.

Heifer Africa Process SOP

This is the detailed documentation of the current state of the business processes across the region, including the process diagrams.

To-be study report

The report shall capture the identified gaps and threats to the smooth operations of the Regional Office, possibilities for improvement (recommendations on process redesign), the impact(s) of the process redesign, and the new business processes.

Communication & Change Management plan

This is the detailed change management and awareness/ communication plan to support the successful delivery of the project.

Periodic progress monitoring/ update reports

These are status reports to provide regular updates on the ongoing work. This will include workshop-related reports, Focus Group Discussions (FGD) reports, minutes, a record of discussions, analyzed data captured from the Monitoring and Reporting framework, and other documentation that form part of the assignment.

Project Closeout report

The final project report should cover the following areas amongst others:

• Project summary
• Introduction
• Purpose and objectives statement
• Methods and resources
• Project results (quantitative and qualitative results, with appropriate visualizations)
• Conclusions and discussions (findings, challenges, limitations, future work directions, lessons learned, and next steps)
• References
• Addenda/ Appendices (project-related materials and resources)

5.    Project Duration

The duration of the consultancy engagement is estimated at 6 – 8 weeks from the date of the signature of the contract.

6.    Expected Roles and Responsibilities of Heifer International

The following are expected roles and responsibilities of Heifer International.

• Design and sign the contract with the consultant.
• Supervise the consultant.
• Review and validate all the deliverables.
• Provide available documents as required for the project.
• Ensure active participation of the process owners during the time of executing the project.
• Facilitate prompt feedback on required information or documentation from the consultant.
• Provide required logistics as indicated in the contract to facilitate the execution of the project.
• Cover all logistics and associated costs related to engaging process owners, as will be agreed.
• Facilitate any training sessions to be conducted by the consultant.
• Ensure that all payments are made as stated in the contract.

7.    Expected Roles and Responsibilities of the Consultant

The following are the expected roles and responsibilities of the Consultant

• Sign and execute the contract.
• Respect the terms of the contract and deliver within time, scope, and schedule.
• Provide a detailed work plan which captures (at minimum): the different work phases, scope of work, related activities, expected deliverables of each work phase and associated timelines
• Cover staff costs - travel, fees, accommodation, internet costs, etc. as stated in the contract.
• Prepare and submit all required reports.

8.    Application process [Consultant submission requirements]

All interested consultants/firms will submit a proposal or an inception report of not more than 10 pages with the following information:

8.1 General information

• Organisation overview (including website information)
• Capacity statement - including past experiences and activities related to the project.
• Reference information – At least three references of other clients for which similar assignments were undertaken (preferably in the “non-profit sector”), with contact information for each. Reference information must include the location, contract awards, and brief description of the work performed.

• Profile of the lead consultant
• List and profile of the executive management team or other team members
• Project personnel – indicating role (resumes should be provided)

8.3 Financial Proposal

• Itemized budget
• Narrative explanations of line item 

Interested local or international firms legally eligible to implement this assignment are requested to submit a proposal. Please include the name and contact information (telephone number, fax number, physical address and email address) of the company representative who will be involved in negotiating the contract.

All documents can be submitted by email. Submissions must be in English with a complete set of appendices/attachments as applicable. All pages must be numbered and include the ToR reference number on the cover page, and the name of the organisation at the bottom of each page.

The successful consulting firm will be required to produce the following documents before entering into Independent Contractor Agreement (ICA) with Heifer:

• Certificate of Incorporation or Business Registration Certificate
• A Partnership Deed if you are running a partnership business
• Audited financial statements for the last 3 years.
• Valid CR12 Certificate
• KRA online PIN Certificate
• Tax Compliance Certificate
• Physical location including town, building, room number, and postal address
• Directors’ / Partners’ personal guarantee
• Trade reference and clientele list including their respective contacts

The consultant will be paid professional fees as compensation for the technical/professional expertise and time invested in the delivery of the expected outputs. The payment tranches and amounts will be discussed and agreed upon amicably for a win-win for both the consultant and Heifer International.