Rewards Principles and Policies: Chapter Contents

In this chapter you will find information on:

• The History of MSF's staff rewards system (click to access)
• How MSF defines its reward system and the Rewards Review Project (below)
• MSF's HR key framing documents (click to access):

An HR system defined by strategic choices and MSF’s organisational model

MSF’s Human Resources principles, guidelines and policies must take into account and combine a variety of factors and establish the right balance between the needs of individual staff and the organisation: These include:

• Operational needs: MSF’s emergency response capacity is at the core of its social mission and HR policies must ensure that the right people are in the right place to respond to the needs of populations it serves, especially in insecure operational contexts.
• Contextual diversity: MSF employs staff in around 100 countries (check). Each of them have different labour markets, taxes, minimum wages, benefit norms and MSF’s policies and frameworks need to be adapted to the local rules – while respecting the organisation’s principles and protecting its workers.
• Workforce characteristics: MSF has very diverse staff from around 150 countries. They have different needs, different personal and cultural characteristics which need to be taken into account when designing rewards policies, but also balanced with the necessity to ensure similar jobs and functions across the organisation get similar rewards.
• Organisational model: MSF is made of many different legal entities, which all contract staff. All these entities need to agree, and then adopt HR policies that apply to all. Changing HR policies can take several years because of this complexity.

The Rewards Review

MSF’s leadership directed a Rewards Review to ensure MSF has the global workforce it needs to meet the humanitarian challenges of the future.  The  Rewards Review is developing rewards policies and tools that contribute toward a more equitable, transparent, and consistent approach to rewarding staff.

For more information on the Rewards Review, please visit:

www.msf.org/rewards-review