Dubai: A total of 136 Dubai Government centres are being evaluated for their services by the The Emirates Programme for Excellence in Government Services.
The programme, the first of its kind in the world, conducts the evaluation according to the Global Star Rating System for Services.
A neutral and independent committee conducts the evaluation once every two years. This process covers 136 customer services centres that report to 20 different government bodies in Dubai.
Centres that meet the system’s stringent criteria receive a certificate and a “classification plate”, which carries anywhere from two to seven stars, as well as an evaluation report. The centre’s performance is then continuously monitored using such methods as mystery shoppers and customer satisfaction surveys.
The UAE is the first country in the world to implement the System, which was launched by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to raise the efficiency of government services to seven stars.
This comes after a series of workshops where representatives from the Dubai government were trained to adapt to the programme.
Hessa Essa Buhumaid, Assistant to the Director-General for Government Services and Leadership at the Prime Minister’s Office in the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs and the Future, said that working in partnership with the Dubai Government further promotes the programme as an innovative tool to upgrade services across all government departments — local and federal — as well as the private sector, which eventually results in an integrated classification system for performance and services.
“Cooperation across various public and private organisations is consistent with the UAE leadership’s vision to establish a culture of innovation and customer-centric practices,” Buhumaid said.
The programme has organised training workshops in which 150 employees from the Dubai Government participated. The workshops were organised by Salem Belyouha, Director of Star Rating Department at the Prime Minister’s Office in the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs and the Future.
The workshops sought to introduce the programme’s objectives, criteria, and successive stages of evaluation, as well as the initiatives put forth to develop services in tandem with the UAE Vision 2021.
The programme revealed plans to cooperate with Dubai’s Department of Economic Development (DED), to implement the Global Star Rating System for Services to commercial enterprises across the emirate, from individual shops to large shopping centres.
The system focuses primarily on the client and works to improve the government’s performance and reinvent the way it provides services. This, in turn, raises its efficiency to match that of banks, hotels, and airlines in an effort to ensure an exceptional customer experience. This initiative complements the government’s efforts to build a model for future governments that reflects the objectives and vision of the UAE Vision 2021.
