During its participation in a global conference on change management held (May 1-4, 2011) in Orlando – Florida USA, Dubai Customs shared its experiences and thoughts in the discipline.
Dubai Customs’ participation in the event came as a response to an invitation from the Association of Professionals Change Management (ACMP)- the conference organizer. The event is held for the third time with the presence of more than 700 representatives from private and government corporations worldwide. Dubai Customs’ experience was the only one showcased from outside USA following a request by the organizers.
in the inaugural session, Dubai Customs delegation led by Eman Saleh Bin Khatem, Senior Manager of Organizational Development and Amna Humood ALSuwaidi, Senior Manager of Talent Management gave a general historical background about United Arab Emirates and Dubai and spoke about Dubai Customs strategic ambitious goals along with the local, regional and international role that it leads to play in facilitating movement of goods and passengers. The speakers also introduced Dubai Customs methodology of (Change Management) which is considered one of the most vital methodologies adopted by the Human Resources Department at Dubai Customs for the last two years and proved its success on entire Dubai Customs corporate performance and programs
One key area of ‘Change Management’ is to overcome challenges and changes that emerge from new programs and project development to meet the needs of clients. Meantime, the change management team analyzes the internal and external factors which drive changes, defines reactions to changes and accordingly identifies ways out to minimize effects on Dubai Customs’ people and then helps employees understand the importance and objectives of these changes to cope with the ongoing changes by coaching them how to develop skills and get adapted to the new environment
Dubai Customs thoughts and experience got much praise from the participants and some of them expressed their interest in having communications and networking and exchanging experiences with Dubai Customs in this area of specialization
Nadia Abdulla Kamali, the acting Executive Director of Human Resources and Finance Administration said: the success of change management methodology at Dubai customs is attributed to well- established scientific base and best global practices thanks to the support of top management in adopting the methodology which helped in overcoming the challenges and successful 97% implementation in 2010. Human Resources Department organized 130 workshops attended by 1500 employees with aim of increasing employee awareness on the ongoing changes and development at the Department this year”.
Nadia Kamali also added that Dubai Customs was the first government department in Dubai which added a specialized team within its HR organizational structure and the set idea was then followed by the rest of federal government departments which got feedback by Dubai Customs in many occasions, meetings and conferences, e.g. the Internal Best Practices Forum which was organized under theme of ‘Change Management’ in 2010 at Dubai Municipality, Middle East Change Management Best Practices Conference, held in Abu Dhabi September 2010 and the program forum on ‘Excellent Experience’ in Ras Alkhaima December 2010.