Podcast | Unlocking Insights with David Bearfield, UNDP: Human Resources Impact in the International Public Sector
by
Merlijn Angad Gaur
Director, Talent Solutions
It has been a while since the last episode, but Impactpool is back with a new series of podcasts.
To kick off our new season we have invited David Bearfield as our first guest. David is the Director of Human Resources at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
David grew up in a small village in the UK and he was the first ever in his wider family that study at university; while at university he got involved in student politics that, as David says … "opened my eyes to a lot of stuff and gave me some great experience of actually leading organizations at a very young age”.
He worked for the European Commission for 25 years in various roles, including in the European Personnel Selection Office (EPSO), before joining the UNDP.
In this episode, amongst others, we discuss David’s strong belief in the positive impact that Human Resources Management can make in the international public sector and its contribution to society more broadly. David means that organizations, especially in the public and international sectors, are fundamentally about people. The intelligence, skills, commitment, passion, and courage of the individuals working for these organizations are their most significant assets.
We speak about the UN grading system and its fit for purpose in this day and age, about diversity and inclusion, and what it takes to really try and make an impactful difference in this domain.
“I couldn't afford another few years of university. And so I got a job. Has the master's prevented me from having the career I've had? No. And so that's an obvious way, I think, where we can exclude fewer people and enable people to come with a bachelor's and maybe a couple of years more experience rather than saying, if you haven't got a master's, you can't come in here”, says David.
And, of course, we speak about what the UNDP Peoples Strategy’s implementation means for people who want to apply at the UNDP, not to mention David’s drive to do the work that he does!