Dear colleagues,
When we launched the first edition of the BZ Operational Management Magazine during last year’s Ambassadors Conference, the response we received was very positive. We’re now very proud to present this second edition, which will bring you up to speed on the latest developments and the projects that BZ operational management staff have been working on over the past year.
Once again, the magazine offers a wonderful opportunity to get acquainted with staff in operational management and find out about the ongoing work being carried out to further professionalise our services. That’s something we’re doing together with the operational managers, who are the driving force behind operational management at the missions. Working with them, we’ve got behind Mission Sustainable and motivated our colleagues to put our sustainability policies into practice: to Walk our Talk. In this edition, staff at the embassy in Havana explain how they do this in Cuba.
Operational management is here. Supporting all staff, worldwide.
You can also read about the close cooperation between the ministry in The Hague and the missions, for example on maintenance and management of our real estate in Tokyo. And find out how we make management information orderly and accessible, safeguard our digital security and provide reliable financial administration. If you’re keen to work on your professional development, why not look at the learning pathways that the Academy for International Relations offers for a range of job groups? If you’re due to be posted abroad, read about the support that’s available for your partner both before and during the posting. And if you have any other questions about operational management, remember that the BZelf portal is available around the clock, wherever you are. It’s the search engine that helps all BZ staff find everything they need.
Working together on professional, future-proof operational management.
For people to be happy and comfortable at work a safe and supportive working environment is essential. It’s very important to me personally that we all work together to create an environment in which everyone feels at home and we can do our work with integrity. In this edition you can read how the Integrity Advice and Reporting Office helps identify and address inappropriate behaviour.
Improving and streamlining our services is an ongoing process. The impact that the Netherlands is able to make abroad depends in no small part on the efforts of our operational management staff. I’m grateful for their hard work over the past year and I appreciate our continuous cooperation on professional, future-proof operational management. I look forward to more of the same in 2024.
I hope you will enjoy reading this edition!
Carola van Rijnsoever
Deputy Secretary-General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Our mission
Operational management at BZ is a close-at-hand, global partner that enables BZ to work in a flexible, results-oriented and secure way.
