UAE Ministry of Economy organizes 1st Excellence Forum
Al Mansouri: Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Program builds institutional capabilities; Alshihhi: patriotism drives MoE commitment to excellence
The UAE Ministry of Economy recently held its 1st Excellence Forum under the patronage and presence of H.E. Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy. The Ministry’s Undersecretary, Assistant Undersecretaries, department heads, and staff also attended the event.
H.E. Al Mansouri emphasized in a speech delivered during the Forum, which was organized under the slogan “Together we make the difference”, that the Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Program is integral to the development of the institutional capabilities of the Ministry.
“This program is the main motivation of the institutional development process towards administrative modernization, building a culture of excellence and adopting a continuous improvement philosophy throughout work systems and methodologies that apply the best global practices, so as to achieve excellence in the Ministry's performance and satisfaction of customers and staff,” noted H.E. Al Mansouri.
“Under the guidance of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the government will strive to be a leader in initiatives, performance, and services, and a symbol of excellence, creativity and development, thus achieving a “Government of Excellence.” It will aim to provide a conducive investment environment, contribute to sustainable development and prosperity, and strengthen the role of the state as an emerging regional hub within the global economy, in line with the vision of H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan,” he added.
H.E. Al Mansouri also noted that in order to achieve this aim, the government will continue to perform many integrated initiatives, including promoting decentralization and a culture of performance measurement; evaluating and managing institutional performance; modernizing processes; simplifying administrative procedures; realising the e-government initiative; developing human resources; and upgrading the civil service system. He also pointed out that to ensure effective, simultaneous and balanced implementation of these initiatives, the government has approved the establishment of the Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Program as a general, practical and tested model and a national program which includes within its global standards objective means to assess and measure the results of performance goals.
H.E. Al Mansouri urged staff to apply the standards of the Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Program throughout the ministry through collaboration with the excellence team and resulting task forces and participation in improvement projects recommended by the program.
For his part, H.E. Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz Alshihhi, Undersecretary of UAE Ministry of Economy, emphasized in a speech also delivered during the event that the Forum confirms the Ministry’s commitment to adopting a culture of excellence in the performance of its members so as to ensure the acquisition of knowledge and skills in a conducive work environment and thus attain higher levels of distinction and productivity. He also referred to the Forum as an expression of the Ministry’s keenness in expediting the adoption of standards set by the Sheikh Khalifa excellence program so as to enhance the Ministry’s performance and services in keeping with the national strategy towards development and excellence.
“The Ministry of Economy's commitment to excellence stems from a sense of patriotism, founded on the intellectual and creative requirements for enhanced administrative work, as excellence is the right and effective track to preserving our national achievements and the best way to develop thinking and innovation,” said H.E. Alshihhi.
H.E. Alshihhi further explained that excellence requires a focus on the human element, since human resources are the cornerstone in building and developing both institutions and individuals; these resources are the real and actual investment of nations, and the success of various institutions is measured in terms of their interest in training and qualifying human resources.
He added that the UAE Ministry of Economy pays great attention to the human element and thus prioritizes training, qualification, career performance standards, and high levels of efficiency and quality in its existing and future strategies and plans. He also emphasised that the Ministry will not hesitate to support exceptional employees and provide them with the proper environment for their contributions and dedication.
“The path to excellence is not impossible; what one needs is determination to resolve difficulties, face the challenges, break the barriers of frustration and broaden the base of knowledge and science so as to make excellence an inherent culture. The distinctive employee creates a motivational atmosphere and adopts creativity and initiative as part of his daily work routine,” said H.E. Alshihhi.
H.E. Alshihhi encouraged staff to exert extra effort to promote excellence, creativity, communication and continuous cooperation with the Ministry's excellence team to expand their knowledge base and experience, disseminating a culture of excellence and achieving the Ministry's objectives and strategies in various fields. He thanked H.E. Al Mansouri for sponsoring and attending the forum, and for his ongoing quest to achieve excellence and leadership among the Ministry's employees in order to attain institutional and governmental excellence and to achieve the vision of the Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Program. H.E. Alshihhi expressed his appreciation for the efforts exerted by the Ministry's excellence and quality team, which succeeded in developing many excellence programs for the Ministry, including a team-building program within the Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Program’s framework of institutional development.
The Ministry also launched various excellence projects for its employees during the Forum, covering the integrated management system, operations management, the excellence program for performance and leadership, career leadership, and the Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Program.
Mr. Ali Al Marzouqi, Director of Enterprise Development, delivered a detailed presentation on the plan and strategy of the Ministry of Economy regarding excellence and strengthening the elements of quality, pointing out that the Ministry has launched a series of development initiatives aimed at consolidating its policy of excellence through upgrading the standards of career performance and creating an ideal work environment that meets the requirements of the next stage of the Ministry's strategy.
Al Marzouqi emphasized the eagerness of the Ministry to create an atmosphere of competition and creativity among staff and the workplace in general, in order to achieve its goals within the government's strategy and contribute to comprehensive national development.
He also explained that the thrust towards change and excellence have been influenced by the changing times, inadequate quality in local and global competition, and information technology, pointing out that the government sector has been absorbing responsibilities and concerns that were previously exclusive to the private sector, such as competition and justifying presence. Al Marzouqi commented that the leadership orientation and commitment to continued excellence, in addition to the expectations and demands of customers and technology, are important local variables for the drivers of change.
“The basic principles of excellence focus on results, implementers, leadership, vision, knowing the facts, managing and training the human resources, continuing education, developing partnerships, and committing to the community. Studies show that 93 per cent of institutions in the UK government sector are witnessing significant development in performance levels, as they use the European model of excellence,” said Al Marzouqi.
Al Marzouqi stated that the vision of the Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Program is to empower the government sector to adopt excellence in its systems, performance, services and human resources through the application of a universal model of excellence and the implementation of various initiatives and continuous development, so as to enhance the culture of creativity, loyalty and excellence among all public sector employees.
He added that participating in the program is an important step, as organizational success is reflected in employees, who spend most of their time at work, making the workplace an interesting environment to stay and gain more experience as employees expand their knowledge and expertise.
