Service-oriented - Die Schweizerische Post

“ I’m often the only woman at
management meetings.”
Martina Zehnder
Head of Internal Auditing, Swiss Post, Berne
follow the in-house directives, act in compliance
with the law and, in case of
doubt, turn to the relevant internal staff
units. As part of the Corporate Governance
project launched during the year
under review, additional processes were
defined that ensure even more specifically
that employees do not violate the law.
In particular, monitoring and controlling
tools will be expanded in critical areas.
In 2006, the postal regulatory authority
checked the licensed postal companies’
compliance with industry-standard employment
conditions. As part of this review,
supervisory proceedings were initiated
against TNT Swiss Post AG, in which
Swiss Post holds a 50 percent stake, because
of excessively high weekly working
hours for drivers. TNT Swiss Post AG undertook
to gradually reduce the weekly
Annual Verantwortungsbewusst
Report | Exemplary
65
working hours to an industry-standard
level, enabling the proceedings to be concluded
without sanctions being imposed.
Cooperative interaction with
suppliers
The Swiss Federal Law on Public Procurement
(BoeB) and the Swiss Federal Ordinance
on Public Procurement (VoeB)
( 28, 29) form the basis for Swiss Post’s
purchasing policy. They oblige us to comply
with the specified tender procedure
( 30) and, wherever possible, to purchase
on a competitive basis and to treat all
bidders equally.
We consider our suppliers as partners in
a tough but fair competitive field. We
make active use of the opportunities offered
by the domestic and international
procurement markets and treat Swiss and
international providers equally. As we
consider suppliers to be our partners in
solving problems, we prefer to work with
innovative, reliable and efficient companies.
Corporate Purchasing aims to establish
long-term relationships with suppliers
for strategic purchasing activities. To
achieve the best possible purchasing conditions,
we also strive to form cooperative
relationships and partnerships. Corporate
Purchasing analyses and rates our suppliers
on a regular basis. As a key goal of
these processes is to improve quality and
performance, the results are discussed
with the individual suppliers. With strategically
important suppliers we aim for
complete integration into our procurement
chain. In the selection process we
ensure that all statutory requirements are
met correctly and in full. The Purchasing
unit acts in the interest of the Group as a
whole, while taking our economic, social
and ecological responsibilities into account.
( 31) Each supplier has been required
to sign and comply with our Code
of Ethics ( 13) since 2006. With international
suppliers this is tested and monitored
continuously in cooperation with
external auditors.
Up-to-date management and controls
As an independent Federal institution,
Swiss Post has a mandate from the legislators
for the countrywide universal provision
of postal and payment services. This