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WATER COOPERATION, SUSTAINABILITY AND POVERTY ERADICATIONImage: Suez Environnement, Krista BoggsSuez Environnement has played a key role in helping to improve the quality of water in AlgiersSuez Environnement committed to four main operational objectives:to establish quality water distribution, 24/7; to improve theoperation of the sanitation systems and contribute to improvingbathing and coastal water quality in Algiers; to retrofit and managethe water and wastewater assets in a sustainable manner; and toput in place a modern and efficient customer management systemto improve customer satisfaction levels. The other main objectivewas for Suez Environnement to share its expertise with the localSEAAL teams.A major axis of this public-private partnership also consistedof supporting growth in performance. The authorities constantlyfollow the perfomance of services through monthly detailed reporting,a management tool monitoring contractual indicators sharedby the partners and management bodies. The aim is to analyseevery service from the customer’s point of view and ensure it meetstheir expectations.A contract creating local expertiseEnhancing the business and managerial skills of the SEAAL staff is akey criterion in Suez Environnement’s contract. By sharing its expertisewith SEAAL workers, Suez Environnement is helping to empowerthe public entity and ensure the project is a long-term success.In Algiers, Suez Environnement has developed a global methodologycalled Water International Knowledge Transfer Initiative(WIKTI) to help transfer its knowledge of the management of waterand wastewater services to the local workers. This initiative is thefirst of its kind that is taking place on such a large scale.Using WIKTI, Suez Environnement experts started off by conductingan initial analysis and diagnosis of each of the water services.Then, working with Algerian stakeholders, they quantified theperformance targets of services, and defined mid-termstrategic action plans for each activity.Suez Environnement has provided daily support toSEAAL staff on the ground, supplying 27 full-time expertsand offering focused technical assistance, to improve operationalpractices and modernize all management tools.In addition to WIKTI, the Optimizing Personal Talentsmethodology was developed in 2011 to assess managerialperformance. This methodology uses a frameworkthat focuses on managerial and personal skills (theSEAAL Managers Charter), using international standardsand adapted to the Algerian socio-cultural context.Each manager has to commit to an individual five-yearroadmap, which involves both practical and personalizedmanagerial actions that they need to master. Eachmanager can progress and master these managerial skillson a step-by-step basis, prioritising the areas they mostwant to work on first. The aim is to enhance managerialskills and maximize the potential of Algerian managers.Ultimately, this approach helps to build leadershipperformance and create transferable best practices thatcan be adopted throughout the entire company.The managerial maturity should allow local teams toguarantee the continuity and the quality of the publicservice in accordance with international standards, afterthe departure of Suez Environnement.Visible results for the inhabitants of AlgiersSince this public-private partnership was forged sevenyears ago, noticeable and measurable improvements[ 235 ]