Volunteer - BDS Quality Control & Client Relationship Management

SCOPE OF WORK

BDS Quality Control & Client Relationship Management Expert Volunteer

**This is being posted on behalf of the Mennonite Economic Development Associates**

Location of Assignment:   Mbeya, Iringa, Morogoro, Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Proposed Level of Effort: 6 weeks

Anticipated Start Date:    August 2017

Objectives of the Assignment
Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) are recruiting a Quality Control and Client Relationship Expert Volunteer to work with service providers on internal customer management best-practices for the Tanzania Feed the Future Enabling Growth through Investment and Enterprise (ENGINE) Program. The main objective of this assignment is to assist BDSPs in Morogoro, Iringa, Mbeya and Zanzibar to enhance the quality of their products and services by learning from their small and medium enterprise (SME) clients’ feedback.

Background

The Tanzania Enabling Growth through Investment and Enterprise Program (ENGINE) is a four-year USAID-funded Feed the Future activity awarded through the Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance (VEGA) contractual mechanism, that aims to streamline and enhance many of the regulatory, informational and financial channels that encourage domestic and foreign investment in the southern mainland agricultural regions of Mbeya, Morogoro, and Iringa, and in Zanzibar.

ENGINE works at the district level, using a broad-based approach to engage with district Local Government Authorities (LGAs), private sector associations, business development service providers (BDSPs), financial institutions and SMEs. The program’s activities are divided into three main components:

Implement policies for growth. Build the capacity of the private sector to effectively dialogue with the government to set the business policy agenda and improve the capacity of the public sector to implement business policies.

Equip businesses for growth. Strengthen SME capacity and foster the growth and capacity of a sustainable market for business development services (BDS) in Tanzania.
Access to finance for growth. Broaden access to finance for SMEs, especially women and youth entrepreneurs and those working within agricultural value chains, to facilitate increased investment and growth.

Led by International Executive Service Corps (IESC), the ENGINE team includes partners MEDA, Diligent Consulting, and the International City Managers Association (ICMA). MEDA supports the development of the program’s BDS component and the crosscutting themes of Gender and Youth. Activities under this volunteer assignment will be coordinated through MEDA Home Office and the project Field Office.

Problem Statement
The quality of BDS and their attractiveness to SMEs depends on the degree to which services are responsive to needs.  The majority of BDSPs in the ENGINE Program’s four target regions don’t have the ability or systems to conduct follow-up monitoring of their services once they’ve been delivered to SMEs to determine their usefulness. Many of the BDSPs who ENGINE has assessed do not maintain a data base of their clients. For SMEs to appreciate the need for and to contract for Business Development Service provision, it is important that BDSPs have the technical skills, tools and systems that assist them to maintain a continuous relationship with their clients and to improve their products and services based on clients’ feedback.

Tasks
The Expert Volunteer will complete the following tasks:

Attend an orientation meeting with ENGINE Program staff in Dar es Salaam;
Accompanied by relevant ENGINE staff, facilitate group training for BDSPs in Morogoro, Iringa, Mbeya and Zanzibar, covering the following topics:
Tools and systems for BDS monitoring, learning and follow-up;
Development of an online information tracking system for training and consulting services;
BDS client satisfaction surveys and other feedback mechanisms;
BDS client data base design and management (disaggregated by client sex and age).
Assess additional technical assistance needs of selected BDSPs (up to 10 in each of the four regions) concerning quality control and client relationship management;
Assist the BDS Coordinator in each region to develop a follow-up plan with selected 10 BDSPs for additional technical assistance, including coaching and mentoring in the above subjects;
Write a Final Report summarizing findings, conclusions and recommendations related to the assignment, as well as a discussion of challenges and recommended solutions;
Provide an exit debriefing to relevant program staff, including an overview of assignment challenges and proposed solutions.

Deliverables

The Expert Volunteer will submit the following deliverables:

Training materials (slides, handouts, tip sheets, etc.)
Minutes/notes of the meetings/training/assessments described in Tasks B and C.
Documents developed with regional BDS Coordinators (Task C above), as well as:
Follow-up technical assistance plans for selected BDSPs (up to 10 in each of the four regions) (Task D above). This could include further training, coaching or mentoring in the subjects covered above.

The Expert V olunteer will submit a Final Trip Report to the ENGINE Program that includes the following sections:

A.    Introduction;
B.    Methodology;
C.    Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations related to BDSP group training in the four regions;
Discussion of assignment objectives and how they were met or why they were not met.

Additionally, the Expert Volunteer will provide an exit debriefing (Task F above), complete MEDA’s VVRS survey, and take part in an exit interview with MEDA Home Office.

Expert Volunteer Qualifications
The ideal Quality Control and Client Relations Expert Volunteer will have the following skills and qualifications:

5+ years of experience working with businesses, BDSPs or service providers. Knowledge and experience of business needs for businesses in developing countries, experience in sub-Saharan Africa is strongly preferred.
A proven track record in training, coaching or mentoring businesses or Service providers.
Experience in stakeholder engagement, consultation, and facilitation;
Well-developed writing skills in English and the ability to express one’s self clearly and concisely;
University degree in entrepreneurship, business administration or another relevant field;
Training skills, including participatory training in group settings. Training and consultation experience utilizing a translator or interpreter is an added plus;
Self-motivated, proactive, detail-oriented, mature, professional team player, who is a strong people person and communicator, with good inter-personal skills;
Ability to address issues, challenges, questions, and concerns in a professional, respectful, logical, and timely manner;
Knowledge and work experience in identifying and addressing gender and or women and youth in development issues is an added advantage
Works well in a multi-cultural setting;

Good computer skills in MS Office.

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