Category: Uncategorized

07/07/2014

The term ‘Benchmarking’ could be new for some people, though it is well known to those who work in the government sector, especially at entities that are qualified for excellence awards. It is a method for learning and quality improvement by means of learning from others’ successes and failures.

Benchmarking can be formal or informal depending on the preliminary arrangements taken and the processes associated with it. The informal benchmarking doesn’t require any pre-arrangements, and we all do this kind of benchmarking whenever we admire a practice or a behavior of an individual or an organization where we may fully or partially adopt it or develop it so as to suit us. On the other hand, formal benchmarking needs preliminary coordination with the benchmark partner.

Benchmarking can be divided into ‘process benchmarking’ and ‘performance benchmarking’. In the first type, the benchmarking initiator compares a specific process to the same process of another “best practice” firm. One of the most successful examples on this type is the comparisons which were done by a London-based children’s hospital with the Ferrari Factory. The process of moving the children from the operations theatre to their care units was compared to the process of changing the tyres during a race. This benchmarking process helped the hospital to reduce death cases and improve outcomes by 70 percent!

I personally had conducted comparisons between a national bank and a group of hotels which resulted in a great impact on performance improvement. Meanwhile, performance indicators benchmarking allows the initiator firm to assess their competitive position according to the international and local indexes within the same industry.

For a successful benchmarking, there are nine main tips: Obtain Commitment and support from the key stakeholders, be prepared and humble enough to listen and learn, put an action plan once the benchmarking has been completed and start execution, pick the right benchmark partner, select and train the right team, study and understand the firm’s processes before embarking on comparison so as to get overall meaningful results, don’t focus only on documentation and information aspects, always monitor the action plan implementation, and finally continue to do benchmarking on a periodic basis.

09/06/2014

If you are given a photo of a group of people including you; who is the first person you will look for in the photo? Definitely, you will look for yourself first and then those who you care for. Let’s recall the days of study: what was your feeling towards the teacher who remembered your name from the first lesson, called you always by name and praised you when you gave the right answer? How do you feel about your manager when he sends an e-mail to the employees or the department where he commends you for your efforts and success? It is undoubtedly a wonderful feeling that gives us a positive energy and encourages us to exert an extra effort.

Global specifications and standards, such as the “Investors in People” specification, as well as quality and excellence awards have dealt with an issue of utmost importance; namely, honoring and appreciation of efforts. Although it is important and easy to use, this issue has always been present yet absent in our organizations and personal life.  The fact that the various forms of “thank you” were mentioned 75 times in the Holy Quran demonstrates how important this issue is. I have worked with people who never missed an occasion to thank others and appreciate their efforts in word or deed. In contrast, I have dealt with people who know nothing about the thanking culture. One of these people is a colleague of mine whom I owe all respect but never heard him say “thank you” to anybody inside or outside the office. So, I told him: “Please, say thank you”.. But it seems that there are things that must come from the heart and cannot be learned at all.

Thanking and appreciating others’ efforts reflects a superior culture, self-respect and the environment in which man has grown up before it reflects appreciation of and respect for others. We all need to be stimulated and “recharged” from time to time because we are human beings. Many studies have proved that a bonus comes in the 6^th place while appreciation comes in the first place as the most important motivating factor for employees. So always say thank you and express your hearty appreciation and gratitude one way or another, but before that you should thank Allah for His countless boons and remember the verse “If you give thanks, I will give you more”. We pray to Allah to help us be grateful.

18/05/2014

‘Read’ is the first word that descended on the prophet of Islam Mohamed, Peace be upon Him. This is a clear indication of the importance of reading in human life so the nation of Islam gives it the attention it deserves. This is route that leads to knowledge and science.

No doubt that reading is the food for the mind and the soul. Through reading, we learn about the experience of others, the news of the past and the present and equip ourselves with the knowledge which is useful in our scientific, professional and personal lives.

It is regretful that many among the youth moved away from serious and intellectually enriching reading towards the trivial. They abandoned useful reading in favor of reading that only entertains and kills time.

Reading has always been the most significant fruit of the human mind. It is the largest source of knowledge and the widest means of intellectual nourishment and rejuvenation. It leads to human development and opens before the reader the path towards progress. If you ignore it, it leads to the decline of the mind and the darkness of ignorance. Moreover, it pushes human being backward at both the individual and social levels.

An important duty of any family is to encourage children to read and allocate time for it. In this munificent country, there are hundreds of libraries spread all over, offering an anchor for those who are greedy for knowledge.

To sum up, reading is the window through which you view the beauty of life. This is an invitation to you all to return to useful books, which are more often than not more beneficial than even friends as Mutanabbi rightly said: “The best companion in these times is the book.”

Let us read so we progress in knowledge.

07/05/2014

Deliberately or inadvertently, many people conflate between vanity and self-confidence, especially when they are unable to differentiate between the two.

Vanity is a pest, and a blameworthy conduct. It makes one feel superior and disdainful towards others, and to disparage them. It makes her feel she is better than all others and that one can resemble her or be like her. Self-confidence is a commendable and lovable trait that raises a person’s esteem, winning her the love of the people and giving her the ability to interact nicely with them, regardless of their material or social status. In the end, these qualities help her win love and respect from all.

I recently met a friend and asked her: “Do you have self-confidence?” She answered without any hesitation: “Of course! My self-confidence is limitless.” I told her: “How is that? It goes without saying that everything has limits.” She said: “I meant that my self-confidence is very strong.” I told her: “What is your evidence for that? And how could you determine the extent of your self-confidence is that high?” She replied: “I do not bow to the opinion of others. I trust my opinions, my capacities and my intelligence. I trust my ability to think and take decisions.”

I said: “What is the connection between your self-confidence and all that you said about your refusal of others and your lack of concern for others’ opinions?” She quipped: “Because my opinion is better than theirs.” I told her: “That is vanity and not confidence. There is a sea of difference between confidence and vanity.”

She asked: “How is that?” I said: “Self-confidence does not prevent one from seeking the opinion of others, especially if yours is less correct that that of the others. This does not mean you need to shake your self-confidence. It merely reflects your belief that my opinion, which I think is correct, may possibly be wrong. And what I consider to be the wrong opinion of others may probably be correct.”

Self-confidence does boost a person’s morale and pushes her towards positive deeds always. It helps her eschew lethargy in achieving her goals and attaining her hopes. It also helps her avoid chaos and marginalization. Vanity destroys a person and pushes her towards focussing on herself, thinking of herself as the best. It blocks her from success and progress. Many people fall prey to illusory vanity. Let us all make sure that we distinguish between self-confidence and vanity so we become successful in our life and keep failure away.

06/05/2014

No doubt we all – fathers and mothers – dream of the day our children graduate from the university and find their own way in life through a prestigious job worth their and our efforts. The role of universities is vital in supplementing the national economy with educated human resources that add value. In order for the universities to play this role, they have to keep pace with the new trends that we see in every sphere. There is an astounding boom in technology and communication in the media. From my experience in four universities earlier, I feel that the universities are far removed from keeping pace with the tremendous developments that we pass through. And what is the impact of this detachment on the ground?

The graduates that come out of the universities are not equipped for the job market. Companies do not want to employ them, not merely on account of lack of experience, but because they lack the basic skills, such as solving problems or even writing their own CVs. I have seen the CVs of many post graduates and Ph.D. holders, reflecting poorly on their capacities. As the saying goes, one who lost something cannot give the same. The universities cannot provide effective educational experience benefitting the graduates and the job market, since these universities themselves lack the basics of learning!

I see that there are many opportunities for improving the way the universities are run. They need to transform themselves to learning organizations, benefitting from the experiences of their employees and other. There is also a pressing need to develop the role of the authorities that grant licenses and academic accreditations, especially those dealing with private universities that focus only on profits without allocating real resources for scientific research. Concerned entities can benefit from the experiences of collaboration between universities and business houses. Similarly, more flexible legislations can be passed, allowing universities to be held by businesses. There are success stories in Finland and Scotland, both of which achieved universally acclaimed success. A country like Scotland with 19 universities is home to 28% of all start-up companies in Great Britain. Likewise, the quality of varsity graduates from Scottish universities has begun to attract foreign investment to Scotland, with the result that the contribution of universities toward the economy has reached more than 6%.

We need to learn from this kind of experiences so there is a mechanism to follow the work progress and measure advantages, instead of confining to mere visits and protocol-dictated memoranda of understanding. Not necessarily a ‘cut and paste’ job, but we can tailor these experiences to our culture and context in our environment. Let us follow our prophet, may Allah bless him and greet him, who said: “Whoever hits a road and seeks knowledge therein, Allah will make his road to heaven smooth.”

28/04/2014

The continued development of all the aspects of government performance, combined with the achievement of one accomplishment after the other and the provision of excellent and pioneering services are some features of the UAE smart government, which the Emirates Identity Authority was able to translate into reality through tireless efforts as embodied in its issuance of the smart ID card.

The Emirates ID was able to be a bridge that connected the various data by continuously developing the smart ID card as demonstrated by making it easily accessible and providing the best services to citizens and residents alike.

The ID card is one of the UAE’s most outstanding strategic projects and a mainstay of the project aimed at building the future government, shifting to the knowledge-based economy and strengthening the elements of security and global competitiveness.

Here lies the importance of holding the Open Government Data Forum under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hazza Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, National Security Advisor and Chairman of the Emirates Identity Authority, which is organized by the Emirates ID in co-operation with the United Nations Public Administration Network and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The forum, the first of its kind in the Middle East, is a unique opportunity to discuss the importance of open data for promoting the transparency and governance approach and support the process of achieving a balance between making data available and maintaining its privacy at the same time.

The UAE realized early the importance of making data and information available to those concerned at both the government and private sectors in such a manner that would support the involvement of the society in the process of development and help the government understand the needs of the society and meet the demands of global competitiveness. To this effect, the UAE implemented several information and service-related initiatives in the areas of knowledge and dissemination of statistics and data.

In this connection, Dr. Ali Mohamed Al Khouri, Emirates ID Director General, underlined the importance of the role of open data in enhancing creativity in the interest of the society and markets in general and its effective contribution to promoting the success of decisions in the economic and social fields by providing the information necessary for establishing investments and taking decisions on the horizontal and vertical expansion of individuals, companies and organizations.

The UAE approach is one of the basic guarantees that support its aspiration to be one of the best countries in the world through government action which is based on clear guiding principles that put citizens at the top of government priorities and are characterized by responsibility, flexibility and innovation.

Based on this, all those who contributed to presenting a bright image of the UAE should be thanked, not only at the level of the Middle East but at the global level as well.

The UAE’s efforts to support and launch initiatives related to open data contribute to supporting the performance of government entities and their contribution to identifying innovative methods and strategies that enable governments to give added value to customers.

government entities are currently seeking to accelerate the pace of work to link their databases with that of the Emirates ID’s population register in an effort to improve the quality of operations and public services in the government sector, expand the scope of use of the ID card and its advanced applications in all sectors and activate the ID card to become an essential source of identification in direct or digital dealings.

21/04/2014

An international award is granted only to those who deserve it and fulfill its main requirements in terms of application and implementation of work strategies and excellence in activating the performance indicators based on creative thinking.

I am talking about the Richard Goodman Award for Strategic Planning, which is granted by the American Society of Strategic Planning to government organizations known for their excellent strategic planning and organizational performance. The award has been granted to one of our federal authorities, the Emirates Identity Authority, which is an extraordinary authority in the full sense of the word, thanks to its positive energy, which is aimed for excellence and stimulates innovation, creativity and quality work, and its performance, which gains the satisfaction, admiration and appreciation of those who are inside and outside the UAE.

The world-class award is a new achievement by the Emirates Identity Authority, which has creative thinking skills and is changeable in terms of planning and implementing national action strategies, which serve the future vision of the UAE as far as goals and anticipation of the future are concerned. This milestone should be added to the Emirates Identity Authority’s list of creative achievements, while the Emirates Identity Authority is making its way towards excellence and creativity, excelling global government organizations, which were established some decades before the Emirates Identity Authority but failed to have the honor of winning such world-class awards.

Words about the Emirates Identity Authority as well as its achievements, which have contributed to the great reputation of the UAE, and its projects, initiatives and programs remain inadequate to give it due credit and fall short to describe its sincere effort to upgrade government work, serve the national economy and keep pace with the objectives of the UAE Vision 2021.

The Emirates Identity Authority, which has won many awards for its excellence, mastery of work and high-quality performance at the local, regional and global levels, is distinguished for its flowing positive energy, teamwork and commitment to trust-based corporate values and integrity and responsibility principles. It adopts a systematic and scientific approach for planning and implementing its strategic plans as per the standards of excellence, which help gain awards at home and abroad.

The Emirates Identity Authority, which is achieving one dazzling success after another, is also distinguished for its bid not to stop at this point but to seek the highest levels of excellence and the highest peak in its projects, which it launches and carries out for serving the UAE and its praiseworthy security, economy and sustainable development trends and visions. Undoubtedly, such authorities which do so will reap awards and will be distinguished, appreciated and honored.

21/04/2014

In the previous article, which had the same title without a number, I wrote that the words that a human being utters and the way they deal with others are evidence on how far they are cultivated, elegant and intellectually developed. This is because it is such standards as cultivation, elegance and intellectual development that measure the human speech and behavior rather than the number of books a human being reads or the types of degrees they are awarded, though these two elements are highly important.

Now that more than 40 days have elapsed since the first article was published, there are still a lot of ideas going on in my mind about what everyone of us should do to achieve self-development and improve positive thinking. I want to present these ideas before the readers of this section, including my fellow employees of the Emirates Identity Authority, customers and the public, as they might constitute an incentive and an encouraging element for the exchange of ideas that contribute to refining our knowledge and exploring the reservoirs of our creativity for the ultimate goal of serving our personal interests as well as those of our work and our esteemed authority.

Here, I would like to say that failure and the fear of failure are the most formidable obstacle to one’s success. So, carry on, my brothers and my colleagues, and do not be afraid because success has a wonderful taste and life is beautiful if you live day by day and moment by moment. Make the most of your life, time, health and leisure and enjoy your days and moments, because other people are so sick and upset that they can hardly sleep.

Walking towards success is an endless journey. Therefore, develop yourself and keep going because success is not easy and requires you to  be perseverant in order to reach excellence. You have to develop your personal skills to achieve your future goals.

Do not think much about the future in order not to be obsessed by anxiety, nor about the past in order not to be possessed by depression. Think in a balanced way in that the present is meant for achievement, the past for experiences and the future for planning. Be always confident that “the only person I always try to be better than him is yesterday’s me.”

Moreover, you should always put your trust in those who can see five things in you: the sadness behind your smile, goodwill behind your action, kindness behind your anger, strength when crying and logic behind your silence.

I know that a successful and efficient human being in this life is not only a one who produces or accomplishes things but a one who achieves the desired results in the time available.

You should make others feel how valuable they are in your life and not only how valuable you are in their lives if you want to seek a place in their hearts. Remember that the way you deal with people is not forgotten; hence, do not regret moments in which you made someone happy even if he/she did not deserve. It is enough to be something beautiful in the lives of those who know you because Allah Almighty will reward us in the same way.

21/04/2014

* Our time is no longer our own but belongs to the others and everyone is competing for your time to take a slice of it.

If you are currently reading a book on time management or intend to attend a course in this field, I suggest that you wait for a little bit. As we all know, life, no matter how long it is, is short and we have a great hope. Most of us always seek to be better and improve constantly but we do not have plenty of time; we always have pressures and there are always urgent things that have never been planned. Our time is no longer our own but belongs to the others and everyone including your boss, subordinates, colleagues, family members, friends and relatives is competing for your time to take a slice of it. This is apart from the time you waste in waiting, whether waiting on the phone, or queuing for a service or stopping at traffic lights.

In addition, a large part of our time is wasted in many things such as checking e-mails or deleting unimportant messages, not knowing that time is the most precious element we have and that all of us are equal in this respect, given that each one of us has got 168 hours per week. Based on this, it is difficult and impractical to manage time because demands are increasing and time is limited.

Most writers and leadership scholars like Peter Drucker, Tom Peters and Marc Fritz agreed on the importance of focusing on what we do and what we should do by asking ourselves whether what we are doing now is consistent with the goals we aspire to achieve.

We must always focus on our goals and not forget the purpose we are working for. Based on this, it is a matter of focus management rather than time management. Focus only on significant issues and watch how time is spent and where your time goes. If argument rages in a meeting, is the purpose to prove your point of view or to fulfill a task? Focus on how to fulfill the task. If something goes wrong, it is not as much important who caused the error as how to avoid it, learn from it and move to the next step. Do not begin your meetings or day with a list of tasks but with how much time is left. It is preferred at the end of the day to record where you spent your time during the day, where most of your time goes and whether your time is spent on your major goals or is wasted without added value.

Learn to delegate some tasks to others as long as they can accomplish them on your behalf. Do only what others cannot do for you. If you can seek the assistance of a driver or use public transport, do not waste your time driving, particularly if you are driving long distances, spare the burden of looking for a car-park and make use of the time needed to do so.  Use smart services instead of physically go to where the service is provided. Finally, do not forget your family’s share; you must allocate part of your time budget to your family members, provided that it should be time of high quality and concentration, i.e. do not sit with them with the phone in your hand and do not allow them to do so either. You must allocate high-quality time for your family; it is focus management rather than time management.

13/04/2014

We used in the past to remember beautiful, meaningful phrases by heart. These phrases had a direct and indirect effect on us, were firmly established in our minds and often motivated and encouraged us to defy the odds and overcome obstacles in order to be able to achieve our aspirations and surmount all difficulties whatsoever.

Phrases like “As you sow, so will you reap” and “No pain, no gain” etc. tell us that everything in life has a price and that achieving success requires you to show diligence and perseverance, to exert as much effort as necessary to reach it and not to be submissive and dependent and wait for miracles because “If wishes were horses, beggars might ride.”

One of the reasons behind success as commonly known by mankind is work. This is because success in any job is not achieved through wishes but through proper, error-free planning. It is obvious that too much work generates a lot of pressures, which need hardworking and perseverance to be confronted and overcome.

It is also natural for those who work to face pressures that vary according to the nature of work as well as its place and time. A hardworking person, whether a man or a woman, who tries hard to excel in his study, will be subject to huge psychological pressures but, thanks to his/her intellectual uniqueness, he/she can convert these pressures into positive effects that urge him/her to work hard until he/she achieves his/her objectives, build a presence and gain prestige. In contrast, a person who crumbles after facing a few pressures believes that this is the end of the road and that the right decision is to quit work and look for another job where there are no pressures, imagining that success is easily achieved without challenges or obstacles.