Dubai: Has your company decided to submit its application to compete for the Taqdeer Award? The latest cycle of Taqdeer Award, which recognises companies for excellent labour welfare practices, has been revamped, enabling companies not just from Dubai but from across the world to participate.
But what exactly happens once your company submits its application for the award? Here is a detailed breakdown of the assessment process that you can expect and how you can improve your company’s chances of winning a seven-star rating.
How are companies assessed?
Once a company submits its interest in participating for the Taqdeer Award, they are guided through the online application process. They need to fill out the necessary forms, provide documents and supporting evidence and expect on-site visits as part of the assessment process.
The new Taqdeer framework and criteria are designed and developed based on relevant national and international laws, resources, references, legislation, and best-in-class performance standards.
The Taqdeer Award framework covers three key criteria: Corporate systems and resources, culture and labour relations, and results and impact, with 12 sub-criteria and over 40 sub-criteria elements.
“The new Taqdeer framework and criteria are designed and developed based on relevant national and international laws, resources, references, legislation, and best-in-class performance standards. The Taqdeer Award framework consists of 1,000 points, spread over three main criteria, 12 sub-criteria, and over 40 criteria elements. It is a great blueprint for enhancing workforce productivity and employees’ quality of life and prosperity,” Major-General Obaid Muhair bin Suroor, Deputy Director-General of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai, Chairman of the Permanent Committee of Labour Affairs in Dubai, and Chairman of the Taqdeer Award, told Gulf News.
1.1 Workforce strategy and policies
1.2 Corporate facilities and resources
1.3 Occupational health, safety, and security
1.4 Recruitment and compensation
1.5 Training and career development
Criteria 2: Culture and labour relations – 350 points
2.1 Communication and transparency
2.2 Workforce relations
2.3 Engagement, diversity, and tolerance
2.4 Creativity and innovation
2.5 Work-life harmony and wellbeing
Criteria 3: Results and impact – 300 points:
3.1 Workforce engagement and happiness results
3.2 Corporate performance results
Once a company has submitted their Taqdeer Award application, it goes through a detailed assessment process, which includes a thorough review of the documents and supporting evidence submitted by the company, a desktop assessment, and site visits by the assessors. The site visits are conducted in three ways – physical site visit, virtual site visits and hybrid visits, where an assessor is logged in online, while another assessor is on-site to conduct the inspection.
Explaining in more detail what companies can expect during these site visits, Major-General Obaid Muhair bin Suroor said: “During the site visit, the assessment team may visit the company’s head office, work sites, and company accommodation. The assessors will meet the company management team, field supervisors, and staff from work sites. They will request and review relevant supporting evidence, conduct focus groups, and conduct interviews with randomly selected employees.”
1. Crisis
2. Survival
3. Accepted
4. Expected
5. Exceptional
6. Aspirational
How to increase your chances of success
As the Taqdeer Award assesses companies on different aspects of its operations, Major-General Obaid Muhair bin Suroor advised participants to follow a three-step approach to increase their chances of success with the Taqdeer Award:
1. Obtain leadership commitment and management support
2. Form a cross-functional Award submission team
3. Study the latest award framework, criteria, and requirements carefully.
When you do start your application process, you will also be offered online awareness sessions for each step of the submission, which can greatly help in understanding how your company will be assessed and what are the best practices that the assessors are looking for. With the submission system supported with Artificial Intelligence (AI), you will receive immediate feedback on how far along you are in your application process and any upcoming deadlines for the submission of documents or applications forms.
Once the assessment team completes the visits, they consolidate and submit the results to the assessment team leader. These results are then reviewed at different levels – from the Award’s technical advisor to a judging committee, which includes government officials at the ministerial level.
Once the results are finalised, the ratings are then announced by Taqdeer Award at the final ceremony at the end of the two-year cycle.
