By Ion Anghel, Head of the Ombuds Department of OMV Petrom, Romania

Over the last decade, I have been involved in the life of this department on a constant basis, first from the outside (as an advisor to its activities) and then from its core, as Director of this function. Looking back over time, I can say that the Ombuds’ mission here in OMV Petrom was never an easy one. This statement may surely be confirmed by all international Ombuds colleagues who have had the difficult task of launching an Ombudsman program in a company (or even more, a country) with little or no experience on this topic.

Moreover, the last years have been particularly challenging, as we have seen the whole world deal with the effects of the Covid pandemic. I think that in this new era, the importance of having somebody to talk to and address your concerns has proven to be so much more significant than before. For this reason, we have tried to stay in contact with the people in our organization even when physical presence became scarcer than before, to prevent the feeling of isolation and help build the necessary bridges to move forward. At the same time, we have had to re-invent ourselves on both a personal and professional level, as probably many of you have been required to.

On this note, we have thought about the challenges that both iniduals and the organization are facing and tried to come up with projects that best serve their interests and help them adapt to the pace of this ever-changing world. Especially since providing recognition and finding motivation has become harder during the whole context of the pandemic. I am proud of these projects, as they carry the soul of each of my team members and I am humbled and grateful towards all the colleagues and managers in my organization that helped make them possible.

Since pictures speak more than words, I would like to share our projects through a short movie that summarizes our work in 2021. Hope you enjoy our movie and looking forward to your feedback! Maybe you can also tell us what you have done in your organizations during this last year.

Please note that captions are available by selecting the CC button at the bottom of the video screen.