INTEGRATED COMPANY REPORT 2014 - GIZ. Solutions that work.

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Staff dialogue | Lunch with the Management Board? Going
straight to the top to find out more about corporate deci-
sions, ask questions and share ideas? That’s exactly what
happens at ‘A word with ...’ Several times a year one of the
managing directors invites up to ten members of staff to
take part. This highly personal form of in-house communi-
cation is not GIZ’s only instrument for dialogue between
employees and the Management Board. In Eschborn, Bonn
and Berlin, regular events are held for discussion with the
managing directors, and video podcasts provide the work-
force with information on the latest meetings. To make sure
that employees in partner countries also have an opportu-
nity to take part in exchanges with the Management Board,
live video streams are held on certain occasions. This gives
staff members around the world an opportunity to ask any
questions they may have and to make comments.
Providing feedback to managers also strengthens the
dialogue between employees and their line managers. All
managers in Germany and abroad are obliged to organise
this feedback process once a year. Good corporate gover-
nance within GIZ includes more than just the rapid and
direct transfer of information. Whether or not employees
agree with the direction taken by the company also depends
on how they participate. As well as the corporate bodies for
participation, a policy is also in place which stipulates that
a staff representation must be elected in each country –
even in countries where GIZ is not legally obliged to do so.
In cases of conflict, this body can be called in, and com-
municate suggestions and proposals to the country director.
GIZ also conducts a company-wide staff survey at
regular intervals. Other staff surveys are conducted on spe-
cific issues. Based on the results, possible areas for action
are then defined and fed back to countries and units.
Finally, the GIZ intranet provides our staff with a forum for
rapid and direct internal communication and exchange that
includes options for adding comments. Our intranet platform
has won several awards as a result – the most recent
being the German Prize for Online Communication in
2013. //
// Worldwide
Dialogue with commissioning parties | How satisfied are our commissioning parties with
our services? How highly do they rate our effectiveness and efficiency? In October 2014 GIZ
completed its third dialogue with commissioning parties. For the first time we also extended
the dialogue to include clients that were not German federal ministries. As part of GIZ’s
quality management measures, this dialogue increases our client focus. Positive aspects
that were emphasised included GIZ’s responsiveness to partners and the broad range
of expertise within the workforce. //
// Worldwide
In dialogue with
commissioning parties
‘A word with ...’
Intercultural dialogue | No one should be surprised that
indigenous peoples wish to have a say in the granting of con-
cessions for the extraction of oil, copper and gold in the areas
where they live. In Peru they have been able to do so since
2011. That year the government passed a law on the consul-
tation of indigenous peoples. The Office of the Public
Defender of Peru, which co-drafted the law, must now also
oversee its implementation. On behalf of Germany’s Federal
Foreign Office, GIZ has been supporting the Office of the
Public Defender of Peru in this since 2012. The indigenous
population are being made aware of their rights, and public
agencies are being monitored in their application of the law.
Twenty-three consultations have been launched, and agree-
ments have already been successfully achieved in nine cases,
for example on the creation of nature conservation zones
and the granting of oil concessions. Furthermore, over 500
representatives of indigenous groups and a similar number
of public officials have received training on the new consul-
tation law. A monitoring system that will enable the Office of
the Public Defender to monitor compliance with the agree-
ments reached will soon be introduced. Since mid-2014 GIZ
has also been advising the Vice Ministry of Interculturality,
under whose auspices the dialogue processes are taking place. //
// Peru
Transforming
conflict through
dialogue
Contact:
Public finance | There is no magic cure for corruption and
ineffective financial management. But there is a means to
ensure greater transparency – an effective supreme audit insti-
tution. In order to improve the monitoring of the use of tax
and development funds, the National Audit Office of Tanza-
nia (NAOT) asked for assistance. Since 2013, GIZ, with the
support of Germany’s supreme audit institution (the Bundes-
rechnungshof), has been advising this Tanzanian institution
on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic
Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The aim is to raise the
quality and extend the scope of audits, thus contributing to
the greater overall transparency of public budgets. To achieve
this, the project is advising NAOT on various types of audit,
such as economic efficiency audits and accounting audits.
Furthermore, NAOT’s auditors are receiving intensive train-
ing on specific issues such as public contract management and
debt management. NAOT is also developing its in-house
management system so that it can continuously monitor,
assess and improve its own work. Since shortcomings that are
brought to light only have consequences when the supreme
audit institution and parliamentary oversight work in concert,
GIZ is also promoting political dialogue. //
// Tanzania
Preventing corruption and Waste
Contact:
GIZ Integrated Company Report 2014 42 43 Promoting good governance