Strengthening the Organization

Our Values, People, and Places

We ensure that our values are reflected in our support for staff, our engagement with clients and partners, and our offices and facilities. We strive to become a more sustainable and responsible workplace by safeguarding staff health and well-being, reducing our environmental footprint, engaging communities, and finding ways to work more efficiently. Our Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Index and Sustainability Review present further details on the sustainability considerations of our operations and corporate practices; they can be accessed online through the Annual Report website.

Our Values

We have designated impact, integrity, respect, teamwork, and innovation as the Bank Group’s core values. In fiscal 2021, we adopted a new Code of Ethics to further embed these values into our culture and operations. It is a set of principles to guide staff to do the right thing when confronted with ethical dilemmas. The Staff Rules continue to define the regulations and policies that guard against misconduct.           

To increase awareness and understanding of these issues in the workplace, in fiscal 2021 we launched a new mandatory virtual training for staff on our core values and Code of Ethics, as well as trainings that aim to prevent and address sexual and other harassment at the World Bank Group.

Our People

At the end of fiscal 2021, the World Bank had 12,528  full-time staff, of whom 45 percent were based outside our headquarters in Washington, D.C.; 759 new staff joined the institution during the fiscal year. Despite the challenges arising from COVID-19, the Bank remains committed to expanding our global footprint. We expect that 55 percent of staff will be based outside the United States by the mid-2020s. This means having more staff closer to our clients—particularly in countries affected by fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV)—and empowering teams who work on the front lines. By the end of fiscal 2021, 1,043 staff were located in countries affected by FCV, up from 906 in the previous year.

Driving organizational performance and effectiveness. During fiscal 2021, we stepped up efforts to strengthen performance management, talent development, career enrichment, managerial effectiveness, and staff well-being. We encouraged more frequent conversations and real-time feedback as part of a renewed approach to performance management, especially within the virtual work environment. We also launched a cloud-based system to support managers with staff review and development. In May, we held the first virtual career week, with the participation of over 7,300 staff. There was also a significant increase in the use of career services, with more than twice as many people attending career seminars compared to the previous fiscal year and a 53 percent increase in the number of career coaching sessions.

Stepping up the Bank Group's engagement in FCV settings. We launched an enhanced career development and mobility framework that allows staff to gain depth and breadth of experience more systematically through planned rotations and assignments. This aligns with our global footprint agenda to move resources and expertise closer to where they are most needed, especially in IDA and FCV settings. As more staff take on field assignments, they will be able to learn, grow, and build the necessary global experience to better serve the Bank’s mission. We also launched a new integrated FCV learning and career curriculum and piloted an FCV mentoring program in Africa and the Middle East.

Promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion among staff. In fiscal 2021, the Bank continued to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, including on gender, race, identity, sexual orientation, and disability. The overall diversity index remained at 0.89, while the overall gender balance shifted slightly, with the total percentage of women increasing from 53.2 percent of all staff to 53.3 percent.

Addressing racism and racial discrimination. Amid protests worldwide following the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, President Malpass made a commitment to address racism and racial discrimination at the World Bank Group.  He established a Task Force with a mandate to deliver recommendations to senior management, with more than 50 staff members drawn from across the Bank Group and a Sounding Board to provide guidance. Drawing on inputs from other forums around the organization, the Task Force delivered 80 recommendations across a range of themes during its first phase, which focused on internal issues. These include conflict resolution, culture, training, managerial accountability, career management, and recruitment. The recommendations seek to raise awareness, strengthen knowledge, and mitigate instances of racism and racial discrimination, while providing safe spaces for staff to flag issues, help level the playing field for career opportunities, and foster an inclusive workplace composition and culture. As of June 2021, the first 10 recommendations, which are foundational in nature, were under implementation; the remaining 70 recommendations are under review or slated for implementation. The second phase, which begins in fiscal 2022, has an external focus, looking at the Bank Group’s operations, clients, and community engagement. To help inform its work, in early fiscal 2021, the Task Force carried out the first-ever World Bank Group Survey on Race. About 70 percent of staff participated and offered over 6,000 comments.

Promoting staff health and safety. The Bank Group provides an array of programs and services to promote and protect the health and safety of staff by focusing on personal health, prevention, wellness, occupational health and safety, and mental health and well-being. In fiscal 2021, these efforts were tailored to address the needs and concerns of staff as they continued to work remotely amid the COVID-19 pandemic (see box below).

Supporting continuous learning and developing skills for career management and mobility. With the Bank Group’s Open Learning Campus (OLC), staff at headquarters and in country offices can learn continuously by using a broad range of learning resources, including online courses, peer-to-peer conversations, and on-the-job learning. At the onset of the pandemic, we fully adapted staff development, career services, seminars, and leadership development offerings for blended and virtual learning; this effort grew in fiscal 2021 with new offerings to equip staff with skills and behaviors for working remotely. We also updated manager dashboards to offer more accessible staff learning indicators, better evaluations for mentoring and on-the-job activities, and a personalized experience, with curated Learning Maps. During the fiscal year, the OLC delivered more than 4,500 virtual trainings for staff as they transitioned to home-based work, while maintaining high overall quality ratings, reflecting growing demand from staff and managers in country offices, FCV settings, and headquarters.

Facilitating a safe place for staff to address concerns and conflicts. The World Bank Group’s Ethics and Business Conduct Department is a trusted resource for staff in preventing and addressing misconduct. The department’s Anti-Harassment Coordinator addresses allegations of sexual harassment as well as other forms of harassment and inappropriate behaviors. In fiscal 2021, the coordinator reviewed 128 cases. The department reviewed 141 allegations of misconduct and delivered ethics training and outreach to more than 9,000 staff in fiscal 2021. Through its advisory services, the department responds to staff requests for ethics advice on potential conflicts of interest or other compliance issues, on average in less than eight working hours. In fiscal 2021, over 1,300 staff sought advice. To strengthen safeguards and inform remediation processes, the department conducted root cause analyses for non-compliance, inappropriate behavior, and misconduct.

Through our Internal Justice Services, staff also have confidential channels to seek advice, guidance, and resources to resolve conflicts, including Ombuds Services, the Respectful Workplace Advisors program, Mediation Services, Peer Review Services, and Performance Management Review. These services facilitate a respectful, values-driven, and ethics-based workplace culture.

Representing staff voice. The World Bank Group Staff Association represents the rights and interests of staff and consultants to senior management and the Board. In fiscal 2021, it relayed concerns about organizational changes and policies, challenges posed by the amended compensation methodology, alarm over the current global environment regarding racism and discrimination, and COVID-19. The association partnered with Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Bank’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion to develop the Staff Wellness Project, which conducted research on staff well-being through a holistic questionnaire. Questions focused on staff’s financial, social, and mental health and the impacts of the pandemic. The association also continued to provide health insurance coverage for short-term temporaries and consultants based at headquarters and facilitate various working groups, including on staff disability and environmental sustainability. To strengthen its country office network, the association created a special website focusing on country office staff and workplace-related issues, reaching over 90 different countries.

Supporting staff during the COVID-19 pandemic

Throughout the pandemic and the transition to home-based work, the Bank Group has been working to support our staff, with a focus on personal health and safety, work-life balance, mental health, and resilience. These efforts, alongside our significant presence in the field, have enabled staff to continue delivering results during the largest crisis response in the Bank Group’s history, despite the challenges presented by working remotely. To protect staff’s health and well-being, we implemented:

• An online staff hub with guidance on the pandemic and vaccines, as well as resources on health, mental health, and remote work.
• Continually updated health and safety information, with more than 100 live online conversations—including leadership town halls and staff briefings—to keep staff engaged and up-to-date on developments.
• Support for confirmed cases, contact tracing assistance, and an off-site testing location for headquarters staff who have symptoms.
• Help in accessing care, with financial support for staff and consultants seeking treatment, including advance payments and an emergency loan program for staff.
• Ongoing support for staff and consultants on general medical and safety issues.
• Psychosocial support, including webinars, counseling, and support groups, to help staff cope with stress and anxiety.
• Access to medical evacuation, as needed, including through a dedicated UN evacuation program.
• Monitoring of scenarios that could result in domestic violence, with resources to address unsafe situations for staff or their families.
• Remote support for staff to set up an ergonomic home office and webinars tailored to home-based work challenges.
• Enhanced cleaning and precautions at Bank Group facilities, including plexiglass, personal protective equipment, air filters, and air quality testing per CDC guidelines, as well as retrofitting of Bank Group facilities to support health, safety, and distancing measures.
• Virtual services, including child care and access to free online physical fitness programs.
• Access to the UN system’s COVID-19 vaccine administration in country office locations.

To facilitate a smooth transition to home-based work and reinforce our values, we provided:

• Expanded ethics training for staff and accessible virtual resources with guidance on appropriate conduct, as well as a new onboarding program for vice presidents and directors, and ongoing review of allegations of misconduct using virtual and forensic resources.
• A new internal site with tools and learning resources to support staff in working remotely.
• More than 60 business applications and solutions to help staff and the Board process emergency projects while working remotely.
• Secure, flexible, and mobile-friendly collaboration solutions and support for more than 3 million virtual meetings and simultaneous interpretation services.
• Expanded capacity of the Bank Group’s remote access infrastructure and introduction of new virtual private network (VPN) solutions, as well as remote management of over 58,000 devices.
• New security controls, enhanced security monitoring, and an awareness campaign, with more than 26,000 people completing a cybersecurity e-learning course.
• Support for the first-ever virtual Annual and Spring Meetings, with over 60 events across platforms.
• Access to institutional meetings and events through virtual reality platforms and support for missions to countries using 360-degree cameras.

We updated preparedness plans and risk management guidance for our offices and processes, including for safe reopening, as well as a health indicators dashboard to guide decision making. The Staff Association also provided a special relief grant for members in need, organized a fundraiser for vendors affected by pandemic-related policies, and partnered with the Bank Group’s Family Network to create a website for parents dealing with related issues.

We assessed the impact of the transition on staff, the use of resources, and commuting and travel. Drawing on these assessments, we developed recommendations to reduce the Bank Group’s environmental footprint and enhance staff well-being and productivity. We continue to work toward the safe and gradual return to the workplace, taking into account local conditions and guidelines, ensuring appropriate health measures and safeguards, and recognizing the individual circumstances of staff. We are also exploring hybrid working models that will allow a mix of home-based and in-person work.

World Bank (IBRD/IDA) Staff Data, Fiscal 2019–21

Our Places

The World Bank manages the environmental, social, and economic impacts of its internal business operations by striving for net positive impacts on the ecosystems, communities, and economies where we have offices.

Reducing emissions. The World Bank measures, reduces, offsets, and reports on greenhouse gas emissions from its facilities, major meetings, and corporate air travel, all of which have been significantly impacted by the global pandemic. At headquarters, facilities were limited to critical access beginning in mid-March 2020, resulting in a small number of staff and contractors working from the office. Major meetings, including the Spring Meetings, were moved online, reducing emissions related to travel, food, and waste. From March to June 2020, travel decreased by 99 percent, resulting in an estimated 37 percent decrease in emissions from fiscal 2019 to fiscal 2020. We have evaluated lessons learned about alternatives to travel, such as remote missions and supervision as well as virtual conferences and professional development events. As part of our annual effort to offset carbon emissions not curtailed, the Bank retired carbon credits totaling 159,007 metric tons CO2 equivalent, covering 100 percent of building-related carbon emissions and all corporate air travel for fiscal 2020. We also purchased 62,267 renewable energy credits (RECs) equivalent to 100 percent of our electricity use at headquarters, at a cost of $233,000. RECs were purchased from and retired on our behalf by Direct Energy Business (DEB), a retail energy provider that also provides the Bank’s electricity. RECs represent the environmental impact of one megawatt-hour (MWh) of renewable energy generation that is added to the electricity grid.

Offset projects are chosen based on rigorous World Bank Group guidelines and specific to IBRD and IDA countries. In fiscal 2020, the Bank worked with DEB to choose the renewable energy technology type, project, and region for purchased RECs. One example of a recently supported offset project is a wind farm in South Gobi, Mongolia. Unless the offset standard includes a registry to ensure proper retirement and avoid multiple sales, projects are required to (i) number or mark each offset with an appropriate unique identification code and (ii) show evidence of the registration of the offsets in the Bank Group’s name on their website. We then retire the credits on a public registry.

Designing sustainable sites. We remain committed to reducing our facilities-related emissions by 28 percent by 2026. We have identified potential improvements for when our staff return to offices; these include energy upgrades, new renewable energy projects, and water efficiency measures. One-third of the facilities owned by the World Bank worldwide meet a green-building certification standard, such as LEED. All new buildings are designed to meet ambitious standards, and we seek to continually improve the performance of existing buildings. Following an audit of the Bank’s main complex in Washington, we upgraded the cooling tower for water management, which could save up to 1 million liters of water per year when the building fully reopens. We also undertook a lighting control retro-commissioning for the five headquarters buildings in Washington, allowing us to repair, replace, or upgrade over 1,500 sensors. We are developing two office-space design pilots for headquarters to introduce universal space standards and modernize the office environment, with a focus on environmentally sustainable materials, more efficient fixtures, better ergonomics, staff health and well-being, and access to natural light.

Selected World Bank Environmental Impacts, Fiscal 2019–20

Our Supply Chain

Ensuring a sustainable supply chain. In fiscal 2021, we continued to implement the Bank Group’s Sustainable Procurement Framework for greater social and environmental impact. We integrated sustainability requirements into our Vendor Code of Conduct to ensure that vendors are held to the same high standards that we expect of ourselves and our clients. We continued to make progress toward the goal of doubling our corporate procurement spend from woman-owned businesses to 7 percent by 2023, with 4.8 percent of our total procurement coming from woman-owned businesses in fiscal 2021. We also set a goal to reach 8 percent of our U.S.-based procurement from minority-owned businesses by 2025; in fiscal 2021, this figure was 4.7 percent. As part of efforts to tackle emissions from our supply chain, we established a preliminary baseline for carbon emissions attributed to our purchased goods and services. As a CDP supply chain member, we will request more accurate and actionable data from our top suppliers to further refine this baseline and strategically reduce emissions. For more details, see the Sustainability Review and GRI Index.

Read More >