Diverse, equitable and inclusive work culture at GIZ Pakistan
GIZ Pakistan is fully committed to fostering diversity, promoting gender equality, and establishing an inclusive working environment. For us, it starts with the recruitment process. We train our hiring managers on inclusive recruitment and selection practices to ensure fairness and prevent discrimination based on factors such as class, cultural background, sex, or gender identities. We actively work to avoid perpetuating gender stereotypes during recruitment, ensuring equal opportunities for all candidates.
Through our ‘Internship Programme’, we support young qualified Pakistani women by offering career development opportunities and helping them getting hands-on working experience and ideas for the career development.
We recognise the importance of empowering our workforce, particularly women. We offer a ‘Mentoring Programme’ to build the skills and competencies of our female employees, facilitating them to excel in their professional careers. This is a strong factor that helps us in building inclusive and diverse teams, which is a crucial element for successful organisations.
For us, maintaining a safe and respectful work environment is of utmost importance. We have a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of harassment or violence. We systematically strengthen our inclusive company culture by ensuring strict adherence to our ‘Anti-Sexual Harassment Policy at Workplace (ASH)’ by everyone. We regularly conduct trainings and awareness sessions to sensitise our staff on topics related to gender and diversity, as well as on our ASH Policy.
We take pride in being a family-friendly employer and support our employees who have young children and need to juggle between work and childcare responsibilities. We recognise the double burden, particularly on women, in terms of care work and childcare responsibilities. To support working mothers to resume their professional responsibilities after childbirth, we provide a childcare allowance to female staff who have young children of up to five years of age.
We also have Parent-Child facilities at our offices. The first six months after childbirth are crucial to develop bonding between parents and newborns. We aim to ensure that parents do not have to sacrifice this crucial time while working. Additionally, these facilities can be utilised in emergency cases when there are issues at home or with childcare arrangements, allowing parents to bring their children to work.
Our ‘Mobile Work and Flexible Working Policy’ allows our employees to work remotely and/or manage their working hours flexibly according to their operational and personal needs. We also offer part-time work options to our staff, so they find a better balance between their professional aspirations and the nurturing care their children require. We recognise the importance of family and acknowledge that a flexible work schedule can enhance productivity, job satisfaction, and overall employee happiness.
“I took a career break after the birth of my kids. When I resumed work, it became very difficult for me to manage my personal and professional responsibilities, so I opted for the part-time work option. I now have a good work-life balance and can look after my kids without compromising on my career”, says Fatima Malik, HR Assistant, GIZ Pakistan.
As a progressive and forward-thinking organisation, we support our staff in achieving professional success while fulfilling their parental responsibilities at the same time. By providing flexible part-time work options, fostering a supportive work culture, and offering opportunities for growth, we strive to create an environment where the staff can thrive both personally and professionally. We firmly believe that by empowering our employees, we strengthen GIZ Pakistan.