Excellence Programme has key role in inspiring public sector
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Directorate-General of Residency and Foreign Affairs and Dubai Municipality were awarded the best three entities in Customer Satisfaction Category of the Dubai Government Excellence Programme 2009.
In a ceremony held yesterday, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and the Ruler of Dubai, handed over the awards to the winners together with Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council and Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai.
Established in 1997 by the order of Sheikh Mohammed, the Excellence Programme aims to improve public sector performance in 19 institutional and individual categories through constructive competition, motivation and incentives.
Sheikh Hamdan in his speech said that the programme had significantly contributed in making excellence a distinctive feature of Dubai's government, its people, identity and culture. Thanking Sheikh Mohammed for establishing such a programme and his continuous support to the same, he said: "Excellence encompasses effort, benevolence, innovation and achievement. By adopting and applying this approach at every level of service, our government entities have become centres of knowledge, professional leadership and schools of advanced administrative thought and practice."
Sheikh Hamdan pointed out that achieving these awards is not an end, but rather a new beginning for the winners on the path to furthering excellence in government performance as a professional way of life.
Calling on all government entities in Dubai to be inspired by success of the winners and to spread the culture of initiative and innovation across all department and employees, Sheikh Hamdan said: "We promise to continue to promote the policy of leadership, innovation and excellence, because this, in turn, will bring further achievements for our nation, improve governmental services and organisational performance, and ensure efficient government spending and management of public funds."
Abdullah Al Shaibani, the Secretary-General of Dubai Executive Council and Chairman of the Dubai Government Excellence Program, said that Sheikh Mohammed's continuous care and attention is the driving force behind the success of the programme.
"This has been reflected in the momentum that characterised the nature and activities of the programme from the very beginning and establishing it as the magnet for excellence in the UAE and abroad," he said. Stressing that the programme will endeavour to maintain the highest standards of performance, he said: "Government Development is the founding pillar of Dubai Strategic Plan 2015 and this programme is one of the key instruments in the delivery of its targets. The interest and reception to the announcement of the results, reflects the status this programme has attained on the map of government action today, not only in the Dubai, but in the UAE as a whole."
Ahmed El Nuseirat, General Co-ordinator of the Dubai Government Excellence and Director of Government Excellence of the Executive Council of the Government of Dubai, said that the awards presented at the ceremony are incentives to continuously improve the performance of the public sector. Referring to Sheikh Mohammed's quote, "The race for excellence has no finish line", El Nuseirat assured that this notion has been reflected in including new categories almost every session of the awards.
New categories also reflect the programme's determination to remain abreast of the latest developments in the field of government administration at the global level.
El Nuseirat said the winners have been selected on the basis of pre-defined set of criteria and through a methodological evaluation process and with the highest levels of neutrality. Such high criteria would position the winners as role models for other employees to follow the suit on the path to excellence.
This year's award session included 19 categories covering administrative and employment excellence.
Held in Madinat Jumeirah, the ceremony was attended by a number of sheikhs, ministers, officials, dignitaries, directors of government departments and agencies, government employees and media representatives.
Nomination method
Sheikh Hamdan announced that a new nomination method will be applied for the Award's 2010 session. Nomination will not be through paper or paperless forms.
"All candidates will be interviewed without exception and a self-assessment system will be launched and applied. We will invest into the government capabilities in developing performance and achieving institutional distinction," he said.