Nine craftsmen, five professions
The United Nations Office at Geneva with some
2,800 offices and 36 meeting rooms hosts about
600 conferences and 28,000 delegates a year. The
daily life of that diplomatic hive of activity creates
many repairs, all the more so since the
Palais des Nations dates from the 1930s and its "new building" from the 1970s. Whether it is a
question of lost keys, jammed locks, broken windows,
faulty blinds, automatic closing devices to
regulate, a table or a cupboard to repair, Michel
Baronian, Chief of the Craftsmen Sub-unit, coordinates
these many works with his team of nine
craftsmen divided up into five units: woodwork,
metalwork, paintwork, masonry and upholstery.
Both project manger and customer
Michel Baronian, a civil engineering graduate of
the High Engineering School of Geneva, worked
for fourteen years in the private sector before
joining the UN in 2000. As works foreman in the
transformation-renovation sector in a construction
enterprise of Geneva, he supervised several
building sites in Geneva and renovation projects
in the Palais des Nations, such as the Press
Room no.1, the Cafeteria and the Dépendance la
Pelouse. His experience in building sites supervision
before working at the UN Offices takes
him naturally to planning and organizing maintenance
works of the Palais des Nations infrastructures,
such as waterproofing
the B-building or treating the Ebuilding
underground parking
ramp.
Michel Baronian is both "Works
Supervisor", or "Project Manager",
in the manner of a general enterprise,
and customer, since he
works for the Office. This is an
advantage for the UN since he can
see both sides from the view point
of the customer that he is now
and the builder that he used to be.
Rigorous planning
Michel Baronian begins his day’s
work at 7 am, as he used to do on
building sites with his previous
employer. He devotes the first two
hours to administrative tasks and
organizing within his five units
the work requests sent by
intranet, about 2,000 a year. For
the more important renovation
work he shares their planning
and progress with Anis Chibli,
architect and Chief of the Buildings
Unit in UNOG. In addition
to the follow-up of the work done
by the craftsmen and the renovation
work, Michel Baronian also
manages the everyday maintenance
work done by external
enterprises. This busy timetable
requires rigorous planning
of his work.
An enriching environment
Michel Baronian particularly
appreciates within
the UN the variety of
tasks, the multicultural
environment and the possibilities for innovation.
And if the UN represents for him above all a
discussion forum which is universally recognized
in a disrupted world, victim of conflicts
and natural disasters, the Office at Geneva is in
other respects an important employer, offering
career opportunities in a variety of areas other
than diplomacy.
English version revised by Maria Dweggah.
