Foreword

Operational management is an integral and indispensable part of our work. It involves ensuring that things like payments for development cooperation projects are processed smoothly, that we can easily request products and services via the BZelf digital portal and official trips can be arranged quickly and efficiently. Our operational management staff are there for everyone and make sure everything keeps running smoothly. But we’re always looking at how things can be further improved. We’re streamlining processes and making sure our operational management is both customer friendly and efficient. This requires good interaction between all staff, so that everyone is aware of BZ’s objectives, understands the needs of BZ staff and knows what's happening at the Ministry in The Hague and the missions around the world. In addition, the 'green thread' running through all our activities is our mission to make the organisation more sustainable.

A more tailored approach is needed due to greater foreign policy challenges

In recent years, foreign policy has become more challenging due to an increasing number of crises and threats. This calls for a more tailored approach. That’s why we have automated standard processes and requests, which has freed up capacity for more personal support elsewhere where needed. One recent example was providing local employees in Afghanistan and their families with psychosocial assistance and help finding work after their evacuation to the Netherlands. Another was how we supported local employees in Kyiv when war broke out and maintained contact with them when they had to temporarily leave the country. We also helped staff posted to Russia, who were suddenly declared persona non grata and had to return to the Netherlands very quickly, sometimes with families.

Vision on Operational Management at BZ

Before I took up my current role, steps to make our processes more professional were already underway. The steps we are taking now go even further, and we’re very consciously placing the human aspect front and centre; meaning both the people we do our work for as well as each and every BZ colleague. In 2021, we set up the Operational Management Branch (HDBV) and set about creating a one-stop shop for operational management services. We’ve worked hard to ensure solid cooperation between the various departments that make up the Branch. At the end of 2022 we jointly drew up a Vision on Operational Management at BZ. I’m very pleased that we've managed to chart a course for the years ahead when it comes to operational management, information management, accommodation policy and information strategy (I-strategy). We want BZ's operational management to be as efficient as possible, thanks to standardised and predictable processes, taking a tailored approach and offering personalised services where necessary. 

Together with all our fantastic colleagues in The Hague and at the missions, we’re working for a better world, a better Netherlands and a better BZ. In this first edition of the BZ Operational Management Magazine, I’d like to invite to you discover how our operational management colleagues are contributing to those goals. Read about how we’re creating a new, sustainable workplace for Dutch civil servants in Brussels, how we’re working to improve security at the missions and how we’re welcoming new colleagues to our organisation. Discover how we can travel more sustainably and streamline our staff transfer processes, as well as how we're developing applications to manage the activity cycle.

BZ achieves its results thanks to the hard work by a great many people, and that starts with the support we receive from our operational management staff. I’d like to thank everyone for their incredible hard work and commitment over the past year!

Carola van Rijnsoever

Deputy Secretary-General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs