Amref Health Africa Logo

Formula for Success: Dictionary

Amref Health Africa Banner

We discovered the Amref Health Africa Formula for Success
We identified the top line enablers which we have to have
& the bottom line disablers which we can’t afford to have

We voted to find the most important principles
We came up with the ideas to create icons
We will score the icons regularly

We wrote this dictionary. This is what the icons mean
Learn them and Live them

Top Line (Numerator) Enablers we need to do more of to optimise our success

ADDRESSING REAL COMMUNITY NEEDS

Addressing real community needs

  • Working with the most vulnerable communities to promote good and better health to the poor
  • Commitment to bringing lasting change with focus on the most critical issues in healthcare
  • Sensitivity to the communities we work with to take the context of the communities into account
  • Partnering with the communities in the hard to reach and marginalized areas to solve health issues affecting them

COLLABORATION/ONE TEAM

Collaboration_One team

  • A global team – coordination among offices
  • Cooperation between teams through effective team work by focusing on what unites us
  • Integration and alignment, One Amref across all offices
  • The Ubuntu philosophy – the spirit of oneness; coming together to carry our duties as a team

COMMITTED, DEDICATED & MOTIVATED PEOPLE

Committed, dedicated & motivated people

  • Drive for excellence to make a change
  • Emotionally committed to the cause
  • Full participation and engagement of staff
  • Giving the best, not just enough
  • Willingness to go the extra mile

ATTRACT & RETAIN THE BEST EXPERTISE

Attract & retain the best expertise

  • Knowledgeable and experienced staff
  • Qualified expertise in different skills
  • Deep pool of diverse talent
  • Having the right people with the right skill sets in the right positions

QUALITY

Quality

  • International standards
  • Quality in everything we do, including our outputs
  • Quality service delivery
  • Results oriented organization with high performance

INNOVATION

Innovation

  • Accept challenges and always looking for new ideas
  • Creative solutions
  • Pioneering spirit
  • Thinking outside the box

BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS WITH KEY STAKEHOLDERS

Building partnerships with key stakeholders

  • Working closely with government partners and other organizations to make the working environment smooth in working areas
  • Alignment of strategies with the government policy/strategies and needs of the communities
  • Bridge gaps between communities, health systems and governments
  • Creating good relationships with other NGO’s and agencies in health development.
  • Strong collaboration with donors and country governments

CONDUCIVE WORKING ENVIRONMENT

Conducive working environment

  • Good rapport with the people
  • Good working environment
  • Friendly helpful nature of employees
  • Welcoming working environment
  • Safety and zero tolerance to harassment

ETHICAL & TRANSPARENT

Ethical & transparent

  • As clean as a whistle
  • Being open and honest
  • Open door policy
  • Uncompromising integrity
  • Zero tolerance to corruption

STRONG LEADERSHIP

Strong leadership

  • Visionary outlook
  • Well informed and visible
  • Supportive, approachable, servant leadership
  • New and transformational

TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT

Training & development

  • Committed to learning
  • Learning environment
  • Investing in our people
  • Experience sharing exchanges
50% viewed

Bottom Line (Denominator) Disablers we need to do less of to optimise our success

NON-COMPLIANCE (TO GOVERNANCE)

Non-compliance (to governance)

  • Non-compliance with the government law, and donors
  • Not completing work to agreed deadlines
  • Not working/adhering with international and national conventions and standards
  • Operating outside policies
  • Contravening legal requirements

FEAR & INTIMIDATION

Fear & intimidation

  • Bullying attitudes
  • Hesitant to speak out for fear of rocking the boat
  • Victimization
  • Uncooperative and domineering behaviour

BURNOUT

Burnout

  • Too many tasks to done within short time lines
  • Unrealistic workloads
  • Weak work-life balance
  • Distribution of workload creating additional stress

LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY

Lack of accountability & responsibility

  • Absence of sense of ownership
  • Finger pointing culture
  • Reluctance to take responsibility
  • Always looking for excuses

BUREAUCRACY

Bureaucracy

  • Working through too many approval levels
  • Lengthy, cumbersome processes
  • Unnecessary administration
  • Vertical hierarchy

NON-RESPONSIVE & SLOW TO ACT

Non-responsive & slow to act

  • Being slow in responding to opportunities
  • Delayed decisions
  • Lack of agility
  • Lack of speed and responsiveness
  • Too slow to implement changes

NEGATIVE ATTITUDES

Negative attitudes

  • Insubordination
  • Poor work attitude
  • Lassez faire kind of performance attitude
  • Complaining
  • Focusing on the problem instead of the solution

INEFFECTIVE SYSTEMS & PROCEDURES

Ineffective systems & procedures

  • Improper procedures
  • Delays in system and processes
  • Obstructive systems and procedures
  • Unstreamlined processes

POLITICS, BACKSTABBING & GOSSIP

Politics, backstabbing & gossip

  • Formation of cliques
  • Grapevine talk
  • Hypocrisy
  • Rumor mongering
  • Talking behind other people’s back

FAVOURITISM & DISCRIMINATION

Favouritism & discrimination

  • Bias to race, colour or tribe
  • Gender inequality
  • Lack of diversity
  • Unequal employment opportunities

POOR COMMUNICATION

Poor communication

  • Feedback takes long
  • No response to communication
  • Not prompt reply
  • Mixed messages
  • Kept in the dark
100% viewed