Hermien van Triest, Director of the Human Resources Department at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Sheila Karwal, Head of their Organisation and Advice Division spoke to us for the June issue of Global Connection Magazine. These quotes are extracts from the full interview, which you can read in the June edition of the magazine.
“Out of the 3,000 people employed by the Ministry, around 1,000 are currently stationed abroad. In addition, with regard to the number of accompanying family members, the ratio is 1 to 2.5. What that means is that we advise and support around 2,500 partners and children of stationed diplomats through our Family Office.”
“There are still plenty of people who want to go abroad, but in the long run that’s going to get more difficult. We’re also increasingly dealing with dual career households, with partners who don’t want to give up their careers.”
“We think Global Connection is very important. It’s something we’ve been very involved with from the very beginning. Our partners have benefited tremendously from the network, as well as the information Global Connection provides. We’re looking into the possibility of increasing the extent to which we work together with others in the Global Connection network, for example, by sharing job openings.”
“The main issue as far as I’m concerned is the partner’s general well-being. In my experience, it’s not primarily about having a job, but the issues behind that: feeling good living abroad, personal development, living a fulfilling life, identity, professionalism. There are a number of ways you can approach these issues. We want to help partners do that by providing good, realistic preparation, support and guidance.”
