The value of experience and expertise of institutions, or why we are developing the Management Club

Thinking about the development of the capacity of institutions, somewhere at the back of our mind we automatically come to a need to introduce certain foreign models and principles into the work of institutions. While respecting and determining the value of attracting external expertise, we often underestimate, and, in some cases, devalue the existing institutional experience — it is possible and important to work with it. That is why JustGroup has initiated and will continue to develop platforms and tools that allow for effective use of growth areas sewn up in the interior of the criminal justice system of Ukraine, as well as based on this experience to add critical thinking or a fresh perspective from experts, and consultants.

“If you think in terms of how you can work with institutional experience, with what tools, the first thing is the analysis of lessons learned. Not with the aim of negative consequences, which often arise in the imagination of civil servants when we talk about an after-action review, but with those elements that can lead to growth. For me, this is such a crucial cultural shift that should happen. Another tool is the analysis of individual cases of the work of institutions, and we did it within the framework of the Management Club around the NABU case”, says JustGroup team leader Vasylyna Yavorska.

Thus, an analysis and discussion of the Detective Evaluation System of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine took place in the Management Club on March 21. The event was attended by graduates of the first Criminal Justice Leadership Program, as well as middle and high-level managers of the prosecutor’s office, the Security Service of Ukraine, representatives of the legal community, and, in fact, NABU.

Denys Gyulmagomedov, Deputy Director of NABU for Digital Development and Digital Transformations, spoke about the goals of creating such a system. He noted that the task of creating such a system arose a long time ago, and was determined by both internal and external requests. The corresponding order was approved at the end of November 2023.

“The evaluation system is not a panacea or a driver of the organization that should solve all problems on its own. This is just an assessment of detectives. This is a good management tool that helps to focus on priority tasks, to identify best practices and people who perform tasks better, as well as those who show worse results, and therefore to fight the causes of low performance”, Denys Gulmagomedov emphasized.

The evaluation is carried out twice a year, but the evaluation period is 2 years. This is because a detective can reveal his potential in no less than two years. This is the average time for complex case development. The main units of measurement are the complexity of tasks, the amount of time spent, and the intensity of work. Currently, 16 performance indicators are used, such as detection and seizure of assets; collection of sufficient evidence for prosecution; compensation for losses, confiscation of assets; elimination of the causes and conditions that contribute to the commission of a crime, etc.

“The system for evaluating the effectiveness of the detectives’ official activity performs the role of a provider of additional management information; in particular, it allows analyzing the potential and competencies of teams; to understand how many resources are spent on investigating the proceedings or achieving a particular result. Such information enables the manager to make better decisions”, Denys concluded.

During the discussion, Olga Prokhorenko, HR mentor, researcher, and consultant, emphasized two important factors that will allow more effective implementation of the evaluation system:

• introducing the practice of personal meetings of department heads with employees, which enables the development of leadership; builds human contact; gives people the opportunity to appeal not through the procedure, but through communication; the possibility of developing a culture of communication, maturity, etc.;
• conducting evaluation exercises, and seminars to receive constant feedback regarding the development of this system.

Expert in management and human capital, Doctor of Economics, associate professor, Olha Shcherbyna noted that there are currently two opposing ideas in management. Proponents of the first one believe that you need as much data, analytics, and digitalization as possible — you only manage what can be calculated. Proponents of the second one claim that it is important not to lose people and what happens in the processes behind the numbers. The truth, as always, lies somewhere in the middle — a balance must be sought between these two approaches. Olha focused on the importance of involving detectives in the implementation of the evaluation system because the detectives themselves must understand exactly how, according to what criteria, why, and what the evaluation affects.

“The evaluation system should work for the development of detectives and the organization, not for statistics. It is also important to remember that all data collected reflect what has already happened. Therefore, it is important to use the data of the detectives’ evaluations not only to ascertain the facts but to “change the future”, the expert concluded.

At the end of the meeting, the participants came to the conclusions that:

• it is worth deciding whether the efficiency or the result is evaluated;
• those who are most obstinate against this innovation should be involved in the development of the system too;
• it is important to conduct training, and meetings regarding the implementation of the evaluation system to receive feedback and improve it;
• it is important to practice personal meetings with employees to evaluate their work;
• consider the feasibility of moving from KPI (Key Performance Indicators) to OKR (Objectives and Key Results), because OKRs require defining the goal and metrics that will help you stay on the way, while KPIs focus only on tracking your progress; or consider a combination of these approaches.