FAO Town Hall Meeting: Director-General QU Dongyu highlights extraordinary results of Employee Satisfaction Survey and declares 2023 the Year of Excellence

Rome - Propelled by markedly improved employee job satisfaction and deep-going changes to improve efficiency and results at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Director-General QU Dongyu looked forward to a year of excellence in 2023 as he addressed staff in a Town Hall Meeting.
Around 1,200 employees joined the virtual gathering, which was the fifth Town Hall since the Director-General took office 40 months ago in August 2019. Noting that creating an inclusive and positive work environment and listening to employees continued to be a top priority of his administration, Qu cited “significant improvements in several organizational areas including communication, leadership and direction, ethical behaviour, the management of misconduct and opportunities for growth and development.”
Today’s FAO is an organization which employees identify with and feel pride in. The latest survey finalized earlier this year shows that 78% recommend FAO as a good place to work, and 89% are proud to work at FAO, and feel valued and respected. “These are good changes,” but there is ”more and better” work to be done,” Qu said.
Many opportunities created
These positive feelings are buoyed by the many opportunities that have been created for employees to accelerate their career development with new training courses to develop skills; coaching; and online resources such as a Career Support Portal and a Career Management Guide. A high number of internal candidates have been selected for other positions in the Organization, many of which resulted in promotions.
There have also been many changes to the way of working amid the pandemic and other challenges, Qu said. After two years of COVID-19, teleworking guidelines were piloted earlier this year to support the return to office in a hybrid workplace.
These have taken the form of a year-long pilot, which will finish in March, 2023, at which time, based on lessons learned, we must adapt to the new normal with more deliverables, the Director-General said.
On gender parity, FAO has achieved a score of 94% for indicators met or exceeded on the UN System-wide Action Plan on Gender Equality (UN SWAP).
The health and well-being of all employees is a crucial focus, with important steps taken this year including COVID-19 protection measures in the office and the field; mental health services available to all, both individually, and in group sessions; revised travel health advisories and updated FAO travel preparation guidelines; and health awareness campaigns.
These measures have paid dividends in the low overall number of COVID-19 cases, safe working places, effective response to emergencies in the field, and successful adoption of preventive approach, Qu said.
COVID-19 has of course not been the only challenge the organization faced. FAO’s efficient and effective Critical Incident Response Team dealt with 11 critical incidents in the last 12 months.
Sacrifices on the frontlines
“I wish to recall and recognize the sacrifices made by FAO personnel delivering on the frontlines in challenging environments and the FAO lives that have been lost in 2022 in the line of duty.” In total FAO lost 3 staff members and 1 dependent in Somalia, with 1 staff member seriously injured in South Sudan.
Deep-going changes have been afoot in the structures through which FAO delivers its services throughout the world. Qu recalled that in February 2022 he approved the new structures of the five FAO Regional Offices (Santiago, Budapest, Accra, Cairo and Bangkok) following the new headquarters’ model and requested Regional Representatives to proceed with the restructuring of Sub-regional Offices.
After this important raft of changes, FAO plans to move further towards the transformation of the business model of Country Offices. “We know that Country Offices still face many constraints in view of the great demand from countries for FAO’s expertise and services, and having to deliver with often insufficient resources,“Qu said. “There is still a lot to be done, and we are committed to do more and better, together.” While recent years have been marked by significant improvements in efficiency, Qu said: “I declare that 2023 will be a year of excellence.”