DUBAI 16 April 2017: The UAE has one of the highest number of quality and excellence assessors in the world, according to the Dubai Quality Group (DQG). The body uses independent assessors for its myriad programmes.
And, to further spread the culture of quality, innovation and excellence DQG has offered to help non-members who wish to upgrade themselves.
“We are ready to help all – even non-members – to be part of the business growth and excellence in this region,” Salman Viralipurath, DQG Deputy Managing Director told Emirates News 24|7.
“We want to engage people and boost knowledge exchange. There is a vast community out there who can take advantage of our organization,” he added.
DQG was started in 1994 by the Dubai Department of Economic Development under the patronage of Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Department of Civil Aviation and Emirates airline group.
Now fully self-dependent, DQG has a business club of 350 members in three categories – investor partner [large institutions], affiliates [more than 25 staff] and corporates [less than 25 staff].
“We have 55 investor partners. For members, we conduct some 50 trainings a year. We also host conferences, consultancy, benchmarking, CEO dinners, quality reviews, workshops and seminars. In fact, we conduct some 30 seminars a year free for our members,” said Viralipurath.
DQG implements systematic suggestion schemes in institutions where employees are rewarded for innovation, as well as continual improvement symposiums.
Awards & Conferences
Apart from this, the DQG also organizes major conferences such as Ideas Arabia – and to empower women – the Emirates Women Award.
We organize about 5 big conferences a year. A new one will be the Change Management Conference from 25-27 April 2017, in which we have partnered with Canada. It will be followed by Ideas Arabia conference on 10-11 May 2017 and the Emirates Women Award on 17 May 2017, said Viralipurath.
Responding to the emphasis on innovation in the UAE, the DQG has announced the UAE Innovation Award for the private sector. It was announced in February – the Month of Innovation in the UAE, and will be presented after Ramadan.
“We instituted the award because we felt even though government entities were going big on innovation, the private sector was lagging behind. The award is to catalyze innovation in the private sector,” said Viralipurath.
For the first time in Middle East and North Africa (Mena), DQG will bring the Brussels-based European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Forum. It will be held towards the end of the year.
“There are 16 awards based on EFQM criteria, so we thought it was time to bring them to Mena,” said Viralipurath.
DQG has tie-ups with several global quality management institutions such as ASQ, GBN, Ideas America, UK and Germany and the Institute of Directors India, which is bringing 150 top businessmen from India for a conference on 18-20 April.
Empowering Women
One of the major focus area for DQG is the empowerment of women in the business field.
It has instituted the highly successful Emirates Women Award (EWA), which recognizes and rewards innovation and excellence in women.
“The government has been very supportive of women in the workforce. All my success has been in the UAE,” says Smita Prabhakar, owner of a raft of companies and twice winner of the EWA in 2014 and 2016.
Smita came to the UAE with no job. She started working and now runs businesses associated with trade and media and will soon open a holistic centre.
Vandana Gandhi, Founder and CEO of British Orchard Nursery and 2013 overall winner of EWA echoes Smita.
“Winning the EWA is very special. I was honoured at being the first Indian to have won the overall business category. I was happily surprised. UAE has given so much to expatriates – and especially to women. The leadership of UAE is visionary. EWA is a great platform as it acknowledges and motivates us women to showcase the innovation and contribution to the community and the country” says Vandana.
Her advice to women: Be creative and innovative.
By Eudore R Chand