Highlights of 2024

Prepared for the future

BZ is continually working to enhance the organisation’s learning capacity. The Academy for International Relations supports all BZ staff and other central government civil servants in international roles in developing their personal and diplomatic skills and specialist knowledge. This will prepare them for the future, worldwide.

Focus on learning and personal development

You can only do your job well if you have the right qualities and can rely on working with colleagues and teams who are also well equipped for the job at hand. That means staying up to date in your field, encouraging each other to grow, spotting talent in other people, actively seeking out different perspectives and sharing your knowledge – at every stage of your career. So that you not only know what to do today, but are also prepared for the world of tomorrow and the more distant future.

The Academy encourages a strong focus on learning and development at BZ. For example, by posting essential learning activities such as digital resilience on the home screen of the new learning portal, providing individual language-training packages and inviting new colleagues for onboarding. The Academy provides clarity on the minimum requirements that staff must meet.

To find out more about the Academy’s work in 2024, read the interview with learning and development coordinator Loes Vonk.

Online welcome meeting for the missions

The first online welcome meeting for new local staff at the missions was held in June 2024. Similar to onboarding for new staff in The Hague, these meetings are informative group events to welcome new staff at the missions, offer guidance, help them find their way in the organisation and build a greater bond with BZ in The Hague. The online welcome meeting is an important step towards a central onboarding programme aimed at strengthening the connections among staff worldwide, and is a valuable addition to the physical welcome days in The Hague. For more details, read the interview with onboarding coordinator Henny Schippers.

Pilot for Language+ roles at BZ

Besides proficiency in foreign languages such as French, German, Spanish, Russian, Arabic and Chinese, knowledge of the local culture is crucial for BZ staff to be able to work effectively during their posting abroad. In 2024 the Academy launched a Language+ pilot for selected roles. It consists of a tailormade programme to prepare staff as well as possible for their new role abroad. In this article, Natasja Nikolić explains how and why the pilot project works.

A new look for the learning portal

The Academy’s new Learning Management System (LMS) was launched on 15 January 2024. The new learning portal helps staff and managers quickly find relevant learning activities that meet their learning needs. The system also provides the information the organisation requires for a data-driven learning and development experience. Frederik Birnie tells you all about the advantages and opportunities that the new learning portal provides.

Linking diplomacy with the world of knowledge

Marije Balt was appointed Dean of the Academy for International Relations in September 2024. She acts as a sounding board for strategy development and is working to strengthen the ties between diplomacy and academia. As Dean, she is also committed to supporting staff, including diplomats, in keeping up with the fast pace of developments, through adaptability and agility.

Expanding the e-learning curriculum

The Academy has expanded its range of e-learning activities so more staff, including those at the missions, can stay up to date about current topics and learn wherever and whenever it suits them. In 2024, Jan Willem Naphegyi-Schouw (our senior learning adviser) and Jantinus Smallenbroek (former policy officer at the Inclusive Green Growth Department) jointly developed the e-learning course on climate change for all central government staff in international roles. Read more about how the e-learning curriculum was created.

Current curriculum

In 2024 the Academy offered many diverse and topical learning activities, including in-person and online gatherings focused on knowledge exchange and strengthening networks.

Online lectures

Besides learning activities, the Academy organised a wide and varied range of lectures by in-house and external experts for all BZ staff worldwide. In 2024 a total of 24 lectures were held, on themes including climate change, intercultural issues, diversity and inclusion, religion and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Current affairs were reflected in the lecture series on NATO in connection with its 75th anniversary, a lecture on Ukraine two years after the start of the war, and the elections in the United States.

Learning on the job

Ongoing personal and professional development is vital for all staff in order to keep up with the constantly changing conditions and developments in their work at BZ. We believe that learning is about much more than taking a course. You also learn by discovering a new area of interest, by hearing about colleagues’ experiences or by attending meetings. And of course, through giving and receiving feedback and taking part in evaluations. In 2024, we published accounts of how colleagues used their own work situation as a learning environment. We offer an extensive range of opportunities to grow, learn something new or solve problems in a world where we need to constantly adapt in order to deliver tangible results for the Netherlands, worldwide. For inspiration, read about how colleagues learn on the job (in Dutch).

Mentoring programme

Mentoring is a form of peer support. At BZ, we want new colleagues to settle in well and one of the ways we do this is by linking up newcomers to a more experienced BZ colleague. Within BZ there are various staff networks where staff can find a mentor.

Leadership & management learning pathways

BZ invests in managers’ professional development by offering tailored learning pathways for managers at senior, middle management and operational level. These learning pathways tie in with current themes, such as a safe and supportive working environment and integrity. The Academy also offers training courses to strengthen personal leadership and management skills by creating awareness. BZ also aims to provide individual coaching to all ‘first-timers’ (managers in their first management role – in which they bear primary responsibility for a work process).

Diversity & inclusion

BZ strives to be an organisation in which everyone feels free to be who they are and which makes optimum use of the power of diversity. The Inclusion Plaza (on 247Plaza) gives an overview of learning activities that focus on Diversity and Inclusion (D&I), a safe and supportive working environment and integrity. It also has information on e-learning courses, central government-wide information and tools. Most learning activities are available in Dutch and English.

In 2024 BZ began work on an inclusive recruitment and selection process for selection committee members, in line with the government-wide measures to ensure broad and objective recruitment. With an objective job application process, BZ ensures that all candidates have equal opportunities and that they are assessed only on criteria relevant to the job. This is how it achieves the best match between job and candidate.

Career and talent development

BZ has career and talent development advisers who, together with the Academy, can offer managers extra support and advice for specific career-related and support issues in the context of staff development.