The forum was attended by HE Dr. Abdulrahman Al Awar, Director General of FAHR, HE Marwan Sawaleh, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, HE Misbah Al Suwaidi, Assistant Undersecretary for Support Services in the Ministry of Finance, HE Aisha Al Suwaidi, Executive Director of Human Resources Policies at FAHR, and HE Laila Al Suwaidi, Acting Executive Director of Programs & HR Planning, Director of Strategic Planning and organizational Excellence at FAHR, in addition to dozens of HR Club members.

The Club hosted as guest speaker, HE Abdullah bin Touq, Executive Director of Excellence & Pioneership Sector, at the Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Cabinet Affairs, and General Coordinator of Sheikh Khalifa Government Excellence Program, who made a presentation highlighting the fourth generation of government excellence system launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Vice-President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai recently as the first system of its kind in the world to be designed to develop government performance in a result-oriented manner.

Abdullah bin Touq stressed that the government excellence system is the culmination of a series of successful efforts in the race to excellence in the UAE, to mark the new era of excellence based on results.

He reviewed the objectives of government excellence system which is focused on improving the work of government services based on innovative criteria and standards, to encourage the government agencies to improve their work and offer quality services to customers and bring them the highest levels of satisfaction and happiness.

He said: "The government excellence system is about providing a stimulating environment for innovation to unleash employee potential. A special award has been introduced for the happiest work environment as part of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award categories, to the most outstanding government entity in this regard”.

The presentation focused on the concept of happiness as perceived by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. HH said: “Our goal is to bring about happiness for our people. Happiness is something that cannot be delayed, and constitutes the core function of governments”

He pointed out that the fourth generation of government excellence system has been designed for the development of government performance, in order to enhance government work based on innovation and results. It focuses on three key areas: achieving the vision, innovation and enablers, to reflect positively on the quality of services provided to customers, thus leading to people’s satisfaction and happiness.

According to bin Touq, the system takes into account the differences and privacy in the nature of work actors, and focus on results achieved by the party in accordance with the tasks assigned to them and their role in achieving the national agenda, and stimulated to look to the future and keep abreast of developments, and the development of business systems on a permanent basis, to fit with the future government requirements, ensuring the achievement of a competitive advantage for the state and the party that applied, emphasizing that it makes the system model is applicable to any level of government.

The speaker explained that the system takes into account the differences in the nature of work between entities, and focuses on results achieved by each in accordance with the tasks and roles assigned to them regarding the national agenda, and encourage them to look to the future and keep abreast of developments, to ensure the achievement of a competitive advantage for the government and the entities applying the system. “By so doing, we can make the system a model that is applicable to any government.”, he added

He revealed that Sheikh Khalifa Government Excellence Program had held a set of orientation seminars on the government excellence system, attended by senior official of ministries and government agencies, followed by training courses targeting coordinators and director of excellence in government agencies to raise awareness about the system, and to highlight its aspects in detail.

He said that applying to Mohammed bin Rashid Government Excellence Award has become more simplified as the whole process can be done online, and the applications are also referred electronically to specialized moderators who conduct field visits to all participating entities to benchmark the work systems with international best practices, and make sure that new innovative practices are in place.

The seventh key criteria of Government Excellence Program focuses on human capital, he added, and the development of necessary plans to achieve individual and corporate goals. It also stresses the importance of investing in human capital, and upgrading its efficiency and productivity, as well as rewarding, motivating, and empowering employees to pursue creativity and innovation, with a special emphasis on attracting and retaining national talent and the need to result-oriented approach.

Happiness leads to creativity and innovation

Abdullah bin Touq pointed out that the pursuit of global institutions to create a happy work environment for employees has several benefits, including increased levels of innovation, employee loyalty, and productivity, in addition to lower turnover rate, and reduced sick leaves, work stress.

He stressed the need to achieve harmony in the work environment, which would contribute to creating innovation, positive attitudes to work,  a competitive work environment, as well as increased employee productivity, and job satisfaction. He added that the harmony in the work environment is measured through contribution of the employees in achieving the entity’s goals and vision, how far they are empowered and motivated to perform their tasks, and the relationship between employees and line managers.

HR Club

The Human Resources Club, is one of these major initiatives, launched in 2010, with the objective of developing and empowering human capital, and to provide a platform that brings together human resource professionals and practitioners in the public and private sectors under one umbrella, to exchange knowledge, ideas, experiences and solutions that would enhance the employee competencies and promote the role of human resource departments in order to bring about the desired change.

The Club aims to create an intellectual and cognitive communication between human resources professionals and public administration officials in the UAE, and to exchange views and discuss the challenges and solutions relating to issues of public administration and institutional services at various work sites.  In addition, it seeks to transfer experiences and best practices among managers, specialists, experts, researchers and those interested in the development of human capital, locally, regionally and internationally.

The HR Club offers its membership, which has grown to over 10 thousand, an  ideal opportunity to learn about the best practices, experiences and success stories of many individuals and institutions, as well as meeting with specialists and actors in the field of institutional work.

It is noteworthy that the door to membership is open free of charge for those interested in human resources, public administration institutional support and other relevant fields. The Club is keen to communicate with its affiliates through website, e-mail, and various social networking channels. Those interested can apply for membership through: the website of the Authority: www.fahr.gov.ae, or the Club e-mail: HRClub@fahr.gov.ae