DIFC launches The Governor's Awards in Association with the Dubai Quality Group

Under the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid

DIFC launches The Governor's Awards in Association with the Dubai Quality Group

Awards aim to recognize employees, departments and projects that show exceptional commitment towards excellence

In line with the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), in association with the Dubai Quality Group (DQG), today announced the launch of The Governor’s Awards, a programme that aims to recognize and reward employees, departments and projects that demonstrate exceptional commitment to excellence.

To be evaluated on the basis of the European Foundation for Quality Management’s (EFQM), Excellence Model, one of the world’s most highly regarded frameworks for assessing excellence levels, the Awards consist of four categories: The Distinguished Employee, The Distinguished Department, The Distinguished Project and The Distinguished New Employee.

The Governor’s Awards invite submissions from employees and departments in all independent entities under DIFC; The Dubai International Financial Centre Authority (DIFC Authority), the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA), the DIFC Courts and DIFC Investments. The submissions will be assessed on the basis of nine criteria, five of which are based on “enablers” that promote excellence and four focused on the “results” that demonstrate excellence.

The Awards are part of DIFC’s efforts to enhance organizational performance by strengthening service standards and practices and anchoring the culture of excellence among employees at all levels.

HE Dr. Omar Bin Sulaiman, Governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre said: “Launching these awards is in line with the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid to work constantly towards raising quality in Dubai’s government organizations. The initiative also reflects DIFC’s commitment to raising excellence. There is no doubt that having an award dedicated to excellence provides a strong impetus for raising employee performance and urges employees to think creatively about enhancing both individual and collective performance.”

He added: “At a time when the global economic crisis has posed several challenges, it is important to motivate employees to raise their performance and encourage them to think out of the box to add more value to the business. People constitute our most important resource and these awards are aimed at rewarding employees who demonstrate exceptional competencies and capabilities. We are confident that working with the Dubai Quality Group will ensure that we maintain the highest standards of transparency and integrity in choosing the winners.”

Dr. Wafi Dawood, Chairman of the Dubai Quality Group said: “This new initiative reflects DIFC’s commitment to establishing a strong culture of excellence across the organization. The Dubai Quality Group is delighted to support DIFC in ensuring transparency, fairness and integrity in the process of assessing the submissions for the awards. I’m sure that the awards will have a positive impact on the performance of all departments and employees within DIFC and contribute to DIFC’s efforts in enhancing service levels.”

Submissions for the Awards will be rigorously evaluated by a panel of assessors to be appointed by DQG. To ensure complete fairness in the selection process, all submissions will be reviewed by a panel of external assessors that will include experts in quality management. The eventual winners will be honored at a ceremony held at the Dubai International Financial Centre.

Apart from The Governor’s Awards, DQG has helped in organizing and evaluating many excellence awards in the UAE including the Emirates Energy Award and the Emirates Business Women Award. The DQG is always keen on exchanging ideas, information and experiences with individuals and institutions to spread the culture of organizational excellence in the UAE.