'Dubai Excellence Programme has potential'

The Dubai Government Excellence Programme (DGEP) has had the biggest impact on improving organizational performance in government entities, according to an intensive survey conducted by the British Standards Institution (BSI).

While 88 per cent of those surveyed declared that the programme has helped their entities achieve higher levels of excellence on par with international norms, 93 per cent confirmed that the programme has improved the performance of government entities, leading to advanced and tangible outcome.

Over 89 per cent of the participants stated that the programme helped government entities achieve the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai.

More than 86 per cent of the survey participants from local government entities agreed that the programme helps them to meet the requirements of the Dubai Government’s Strategic Plan.

A team of highly specialised researchers from the British Standards Institution (BSI) conducted one-on-one interviews with a number of officials and civil servants from participating government entities at the Dubai Government Excellence Programme, gathering their views.

They also met with a number of international assessors in the different award categories, in addition to meeting numerous experts who had previous experience with this or other government excellence programmes around the world. BSI also conducted the survey among the quality and excellence officers in the government entities.

The survey has found DGEP one of the first and most comprehensive government excellence programmes in the world. It has also revealed that the steadily rising bar on excellence has contributed significantly to the positive change in the organizational culture, management processes and work systems in the government sector compared to similar government excellence programmes around the world.

The survey has established that DGEP is a major contributor in establishing and promoting the culture of quality and excellence while improving the performance of government entities in Dubai. With its real and tangible impact on the performance of government entities the programme has become one of the most efficient among all government initiatives in general. There has also been a noticeable transformation in the ease and efficiency of communication between government entities and the DGEP team, the survey has found.

The survey has found the programme has played a vital role in establishing an appropriate work environment to encourage knowledge sharing while pursuing action plans related to development and improvement of opportunities as well as the primary focus on field visits for assessment of organizational performance.

The survey has concluded throughout its 10-year tenure the DGEP has been a strong catalyst to achieve quality and excellence and continues to be the biggest contributor to the building and promoting of a sustainable culture of excellence within Dubai Government entities.

The survey results show positive impact of the programme on productivity, competency and efficiency of the employees, customer service, in addition to design, management and improvement of operations while steering leadership towards excellence. It has also helped in delivering services that will fulfil the needs and expectations of customers while contributing to continuous improvement of the policies and strategies.

The study has also made several recommendations in order to further develop the programme and enhance its role. These include: the need to assist government entities in evaluation and self development to help organizational performance, maintaining the continuation in implementing development and improvement opportunities stated in appraisal reports of assessors, addition of a new excellence category called ‘the best achievement’ based on grades and order, choosing and training of assessors with the aim of creating a group of qualified professionals, as well as relying on field visits in organizational assessments rather than on the applications of participation presented by government entities.

The recommendations also stressed the need for organizing seminars to showcase best practices in order to enhance knowledge exchange among government entities while ensuring everyone is updated on the latest developments in the field of quality and excellence.