21st Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Award begins assessment, field visits


ABU DHABI: The 21st edition of the Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Award (SKEA), under the auspices of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ADCCI), has entered its second phase, which includes planned field visits by accredited assessors of SKEA.

Assessors will evaluate teams from participating companies in the UAE and abroad.

The current edition of the award has attracted more than 60 new assessors, bringing the total number to 300. Furthermore, assessment leaders from previous editions of the award have actively participated in specialised training programmes to explore learnings from their previous experiences.

Several training programmes were also conducted to introduce the participants to SKEA’s assessment mechanisms, which align with the best international practices. It is based on understanding challenges and the strategic core values of participating companies, as well as assessing their success rate in applying SKEA’s standards and achieving remarkable and sustainable outcomes.

The SKEA Offi
ce has successfully concluded its activities, orientation workshops, and training programmes, which began since the announcement of the initiation of the 21st edition of the award. It has conducted more than 30 training courses for participants to familiarise them with the Award and its general framework. The training also introduced participants to SKEA’s pivotal role in increasing the competitive capabilities of businesses in the UAE and Abu Dhabi. The courses explained the award’s standards, self-assessment mechanisms, improvement priorities, and guidelines for preparing submission documents.

The training courses also highlighted the Award mode. It guided participants on how to document the meaning of corporate excellence from the perspective of all stakeholders. The sessions also provided comprehensive insights into the fundamentals and methodologies used by assessors and the judging panel to gauge performance effectively.

Saeed Abdul Jalil Al Fahim, Chairman of the Higher Committee of Sheikh Khalifa Ex
cellence Award (SKEA), highlighted the role of the Award in the overall development and its contribution to the comprehensive development as well as increasing the competitive capabilities of businesses, especially that the Award has witnessed a considerable 55 percent increase in the number of participants compared to the previous editions. He also noted that there were participants from Kuwait for the first time. He pointed out that the number of participants from the UAE and Saudi Arabia has also increased.

Al Fahim noted that the 21st edition of SKEA will introduce new honorary categories, including Best Company in Corporate Excellence, Best Company in Digital Transformation, and Best Company in Sustainability Management and Green Economy. New categories are expected to elevate the competition significantly.
Source: Emirates News Agency