In line with the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE’s Vice-President and Prime Minister, Ruler of Dubai towards developing the government sector and boosting governmental performance in order to be able to keep pace with the constant and consecutive developments that take place, Dubai Customs organized a seminar entitled “ Job Satisfaction Standards”. Mr. Ahmed Al Nuseirat, Coordinator-General of Dubai government Excellence Program (DGEP), Major General Taresh Eid Al Mansoori, Director of General Department of HR at Dubai Police and Mrs. Nadia Abdullah, Director of Employee Relations at Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
At the beginning of the seminar, Mr. Yousif Al Sahlawi, Senior Executive Director of Corporate Affairs at Dubai Customs welcomed the participants and stressed that it constitutes an excellent opportunity for partnership and cooperation among government departments for the public benefit and boosting professional performance. He commended as well the major role DGEP plays in throughout the years in furthering the performance of the different government departments and authorities through applying its standards and best international practices.
In her opening speech, Mrs. Nadia Abdullah Kamali, Acting Executive Director of HR, Finance and Administration Division at Dubai Customs said that the seminar comes as part of the Department’s aspiration towards encouraging and motivating its staff to further develop their performance and excel at giving. She stressed that achieving and increasing career satisfaction is not a luxury anymore, rather a work requirement and a major part of the work priorities any government department seeks to maintain to generate excellence and multiply productivity as well as invest properly in the human resources. Something Dubai Customs endeavors to fulfill by providing a healthy work environment which encourages the employees in line with the wise directions of our leaders who gave much interest to increasing the employees’ satisfaction.
She added:" Dubai Customs makes use of every possible opportunity that helps foster healthy work conditions for the employees and this is always emphasized by H.E. Ahmed Butti Ahmed, Executive Chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, Dubai Customs Director General during the meetings held with the upper management team as well as the departments’ managers at the Department as he strongly believes in awarding the distinguished employees and recognize their valuable efforts so that their creativity and loyalty could grow even more. This helps achieve another equally important objective which is the introduction of quality service delivery standards which meet the clients’ expectations.” She pointed out as well that the Department seeks to attain this purpose by various initiatives, events, methodologies, business systems, training programs and workshops through supporting the staff regardless of their job grades, adding to that, the administrative practices which fulfills the criteria of DGEP.
Mrs. Kamali highlighted the Department’s ongoing efforts to develop the programs and initiatives which target the employees and are sponsored by the upper management at Customs to help increase job satisfaction and foster Dubai Customs presence as the leading customs government administration which enjoys a well-reputed status in the field of customs business locally, regionally and internationally.
Mr. Ahmed Al Nuseirat, DGEP Coordinator-General said that humans are the most valued fortune a nation could possess. From this springboard comes the necessity to develop all government departments. He highlighted: “ HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE’s Vice-President and Prime Minister, Ruler of Dubai embodies a living example of such keenness. He quoted some of HH sheikh Mohammed’s quotes:" Neither the machine nor money make prosperity, it is by human’s power we can succeed and look forward to the brighter future.” Mr. Nuseirat said that HH Sheikh Mohammed’s actions speak louder than words as he continues to award the successful and the creative at both sectors; private and government.
Al Nuseirat said that Dubai government was the first in the world to launch a unified and integrated system for measuring employees’ satisfaction. He also noted that Dubai Government as guided by the vision of HH Sheikh Mohammed was the first to launch a government system for measuring customer satisfaction which reflected positively on developing work culture at the government organizations and the employees’ competencies and the quality services provided. He further noted that this is not the end of the road, as he believes the government still has a lot in mind to accomplish and develop; however, in comparison with the past and other countries, Dubai stands on the top as he stressed that Dubai Government does not accept anything less than this.
“ People are the government’s first responsibility and priority; I highly recommend this investment to maintain the highly-qualified and competent individuals by providing a healthy and motivating work environment. And I know that sometimes it costs more to find a replacement who can do an excellent job.” Al Nuseirat said.
Al Nuseirat shed light on the factors which determine the employees’ satisfaction especially the management, work conditions, professional development and performance assessment, empowerment and delegating authorities, loyalty and participation and a well-defined career path.
He also shared a recent American statistics which stated that 30% of the on-the-job employees working there are practically useless and add only to woes and burden of work. Mr. Al Nuseirat gave another example of some international communities which valued human resources and became among the developed countries such as South Korea, Japan and Singapore beating other nations which used to outdo them.
Major General Taresh Eid Al Mansoori, Director of General Department of HR at Dubai Police demonstrated a study on employees’ satisfaction at Dubai Police and stressed that all the general departments and police stations there work together to achieve the highest rates of satisfaction. He quoted HH Sheikh Mohamed: “A job in the Government is not just a way of making a living, it is a means of contributing to your country. Government offices are for production, not for routine, reliance and indolence; they are places for creativity” which means that HR is the fundamental element to productivity in its broader sense. He added that this is something the Dubai Police opts to maintain.
Al Mansoori talked about the significance of job satisfaction for the employee and the business as a whole as it fosters the employees’ self-confidence and fulfills their psychological needs. It also boosts productivity and performance and multiply the value-added service of the organization which contributes to accomplishing its sought objectives and goals.
Mrs. Nadia Abdullah, Director of Employee Relations at Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry presented a study entitled; “How we excel at job satisfaction” pointing out all the achievements made by the Chamber through the previous courses for DGEP. She believes this success is due to the procedures and steps taken to cater for their HR at the Chamber and incorporate them in the development process, in addition to providing a healthy work environment and allowing the employees to take part in the delegations in order to expand their horizons and help them benefit from others’ experiences.
At the end of the seminar, Mr. Sahlawi thanked all the lecturers and handed them merit certificates in the presence of Mrs. Nadia Kamali. He also said that he hopes that the utmost benefit was achieved through these lectures.