DED set to honour organisations leading excellence at Business Excellence Awards ceremony

Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, the Department of Economic Development (DED) in Dubai will honour the winners of the 2012 cycle of the Dubai Quality Award (DQA), Dubai Human Development Award (DHDA) and the Dubai Service Excellence Scheme (DSES), at the 18^th Business Excellence Awards ceremony to be held on the 29^th of April 2013, at the Sheikh Saeed Hall of the Dubai World Trade Centre. 

The initiative is part of DED’s efforts to establish the concept of quality and excellence as a catalyst for stronger business growth and further consolidate Dubai’s status as a preferred destination for foreign investment. 

"The Business Excellence Awards represent the strongest testimonial on how well organisations and enterprises are aligned to Dubai’s competitiveness goal as well as the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to make the emirate a modern business hub driven by the best international practices,” said His Excellency Sami Al Qamzi, Director General of DED. 

“With growing participation from the private sector the Department of Economic Development has been able to evolve the Business Excellence Awards into a comprehensive statement and benchmark on quality across products and services available in Dubai,” Al Qamzi added. 

Mohammed Bushanain, Executive Director, Corporate Quality & Management Excellence, DED, said: “The assessment and shortlisting processes of the Business Excellence Awards is becoming more and more challenging nowadays as there is growing awareness on the advantages of being part of the process. Individuals and organisations enrolling in the awards, as assessors or applicants, stand to benefit in the near to longer term in such fields as training, knowledge sharing, capability development and improved productivity.” 

As part of the efforts to cover all channels of service delivery and levels of excellence, the Business Excellence Awards has introduced a new category for ‘Outstanding Business’ in the ‘Best Service Performance Brand’ awards under DSES this year. Brands that have shown consistent results and sustained improvements over the past three years and more will be honoured with the new award. 

“A key focus of the Business Excellence Awards is on recognising sustained excellence in upholding quality. We have also decided to honour all participants with an Appreciation Award comprising a trophy and a certificate in place of the earlier Appreciation Certificate. For the very first time, we will also announce the scores of all the winners so that all participants know where they stand in the race for excellence and how to close gaps,” Bushanain added. 

Since its launch in 1994, the DQA has enjoyed the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who has been instrumental in driving the quality movement across the private and public sectors in the emirate. The DQA is the single most valuable framework for companies to implement a quality strategy to improve their effectiveness by involving all employees to meet objectives and achieve customer satisfaction at optimal costs. 

Over 1,325 companies have been trained and registered under DQA to date and among them over 500 have applied for the award with 230 being named winners. The Dubai Quality Award winners are honoured in three categories – the Dubai Quality Gold Award (DQGA), Dubai Quality Award (DQA), and the Dubai Quality Appreciation Award (DQAA). The awards cover key sectors - manufacturing, finance, professional, tourism, services, trade, construction, higher education and healthcare. 

The Dubai Human Development Award recognises the long-term commitment of the private sector to the development of UAE nationals. DHDA is given in three categories – the Dubai Human Development Gold Award (DHDGA), Dubai Human Development Award (DHDA) and the Dubai Human Development Appreciation Award (DHDAA). The award covers the trade, manufacturing, construction, professional, services, tourism, healthcare, higher education, financial services and government sectors. 

More than 290 companies have enrolled under DHDA so far while over 90 of them applied for the award and 35 went on to win the recognition. 

The Dubai Service Excellence Scheme is a one-of-a-kind initiative that aims to gain customer confidence and to make the experience of shopping in Dubai a pleasure. The scheme encourages, recognises and rewards businesses that keep Dubai at the cutting edge of best business practice. Over 1,500 retailers have registered for the award since its inception and 95 have won. 

The Dubai Service Excellence Scheme serves as a model for businesses to excel in their commitment towards customers. DED honours the winners of Dubai Service Excellence Scheme award in two categories - best service performing outlets and brands. 

The latest EFQM 2013 Excellence Model serves as the bedrock for BED and every year, more than 150 people are trained to assess the applicants and their eligibility. Over the past 17 years more than 1,500 assessors have been trained and considerable emphasis is given to bring in more Emiratis as assessors. A recent survey showed that over 80 per cent of the assessors were also applicants earlier and had used the EFQM model for improvement in their respective organisations.