Dubai Customs’ award-winning Suggestions System has crowned its well-established record of decorations over the past years with 10 more awards and certifications received from regional and international organizations involved in creative ideas and suggestions during 2013. By securing the highest level of international recognition, the system has consolidated its robust reputation accumulated over the course of its many successes since its launch in 2002.
Through this system, Dubai Customs managed to develop its ability to benefit from offered performance improvement suggestions, as the proceeds generated from the implementation of staff suggestions raised significantly in 2013, hitting AED 6.2 million, compared to AED 2.4 million in 2012. While the overall proceeds earned from the application of the Suggestions System over the period of 9 years from 2005 to 2013 was around AED 118 million, calculated on the basis of the proceeds yielded from each suggestion in the first year of implementation. Whereas, the total suggestions’ proceeds for the same period upon calculating the recurring proceeds of each suggestion over the years of application goes up to AED 923 million.
Moreover, the total number of suggestions received during 2013 from Dubai Customs’ staff was 2346 suggestions, compared to 2162 suggestions in 2012, achieving a growth rate of 9%, so the total employees’ suggestions per-capita is 4.4 suggestions, up from 3.9 suggestions. In the same context, the time frame needed to classify and direct employee suggestions to the concerned departments has been reduced to one working day only, which is considered a record time, when compared against the target period set in the Annual Plan, which allows 3 working days as the time frame for suggestions’ categorizing and directing.
By winning the Dubai Government Excellence Program (DGEP) Awards, including the Creative Employee award for its Suggestions System - Dubai Customs is well-positioned on the track of success, where it received a decoration from the Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. Additionally, Dubai Customs was honored at the Ideas Arabia 8th International Conference 2013, which was hosted in Dubai last April.
Furthermore, and for the fifth year in a row, Dubai Customs participated at the Ideas Arabia 9th International Conference, where 3 of Dubai Customs’ creative ideas in different categories were nominated for the award. Dubai Customs has always been a forerunner in sponsoring the Ideas Arabia Conference in Dubai, by fostering and nurturing talented and creative individuals, and through its continuous efforts to motivate and encourage creativity across the emirate.
Recently, Dubai Customs has won many awards at the 17 edition of Dubai Government Excellence Program (DGEP) 2013–2014. All the awarded projects in the different categories of the Program had practically originated from suggestions and initiatives by staff, most notably Al Kashif Vehicle, Creative Employee, Distinguished Employee - Administration / Finance and the Unknown Soldier category.
Commenting on the Suggestions System, the Senior Director of Strategy and Corporate Excellence at Dubai Customs Ahmed Abdul Salam Kazim said: “The achievements made by our Suggestions System reflect Dubai Customs’ commitment to promoting it, proceeding from the vision of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum; Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, which stresses the importance of fostering staff innovative ideas to improve government performance.” He continued: “The Suggestions System receives full support from Dubai Customs top management, so as to attain optimal results and transfer the experience to other organizations.”
Mr. Kazim added “Our experience has proven that such suggestions contribute significantly to yielding a direct and considerable proceeds, not to mention their effective role in improving the quality of service delivered.”
The Senior Director of Strategy and Corporate Excellence noted that Dubai Customs ranked first and was awarded the Ideas UK Platinum Category for the fourth consecutive year, with a full score of 100%. Thus it is the first government entity worldwide to receive this accreditation in 01/10/2013. In addition, Dubai Customs was nominated to Ideas UK 2013 awards for the Best Sustainability Idea and Best Idea for Attaining Financial Return from Investment categories.
Mr. Kazim further pointed that the Platinum Category is the highest level of accreditation awarded by this association, which specializes in the evaluation of employee involvement programmes in government and private organizations around the world.
This high accreditation is considered a remarkable achievement for the Dubai Government's Unified Suggestions System, launched by HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council, in May 2011.
The Platinum Accreditation Certificate was awarded to Dubai Customs during the Ideas UK 27th Conference 2013, held in Cardiff, UK from 12 – 14 November 2013.
Moreover, Dubai Customs’ Suggestion System won the Ideas Germany 2013 award for the Best Suggestions System, thus establishing its position on the map of international competition between creative ideas upon which significant improvement suggestions are based. In addition, the system received five awards from Ideas America 2013 for the categories of: Best Executive Leadership Award, Best Suggestion Program Director Award, Suggestion Program Communication Excellence Award, Security Idea of the Year Award and Innovation Advocate Award.