The 21st Cycle of Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Award (SKEA) Enters Assessment & Field Visits Stage

The 21^st cycle of the Sheikh Khalifa Excellence Award (SKEA), under the auspicious 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, both inside the UAE and abroad.

The current cycle of the award has attracted more than 60 new assessors, bringing the total number of assessors to 300. Furthermore, assessment leaders from previous cycles of the award have actively participated in specialized training programs to explore learnings from their previous experiences. Several training programs were also conducted to introduce the participants with SKEA’s assessment mechanisms, which are in alignment with the best international practices.  Based on an understanding of 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 Office has successfully concluded its series of activities, orientation workshops and training programs, which began since the announcement of the initiation of the 21^st cycle of the award. It has conducted more than 30 training courses for participants that aimed at familiarizing them with the Award and its general framework. The trainings also introduced participants to SKEA’s pivotal role in increasing the competitive capabilities of businesses in the UAE in general and Abu Dhabi in particular. The courses covered topics revolving around explaining the award’s standards, self-assessment mechanisms, improvement priorities, and guidelines on 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.

New Categories

His Excellency Saeed Abdul Jalil Al Fahim, Chairman of the Higher Committee of Sheikh Khalifa Excellence 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% increase in the number of participants compared to the previous cycles. He also noted that for the first time, there were participants from Kuwait. He pointed out that the number of participants from the UAE and Saudi Arabia have increased as well.

H.E. Al Fahim noted that the 21^st cycle 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.

Comprehensive Program

“SKEA is one of the biggest international awards which aims to build human capital, which falls within its strategy of supporting businesses by offering them with the opportunities and incentives to excel based on the best international standards and practices,” H.E. Al Fahim said.

“The model of the award was constructed based on the latest international models while focusing on supporting innovation and adopting constructive approach that tailored to the evolving stages and changes in the economic landscape. This necessitates the continuous evolution of diverse work patterns and methodologies aligned with the visions of our wise leadership in establishing an approach rooted in quality, excellence and innovation, which reinforces the objectives of the Award, ensures relevance to the requirements of the present, and proactively anticipates the future.”

“Today, the Award has become a comprehensive program for supporting and enhancing the quality of products and services of businesses. It increases their efficiency while contributing to the success of the plans and continuity of their businesses to achieve the best results in all sectors and to be key in the comprehensive economic and social development process,” he concluded.

In previous meetings, the SKEA Higher Committee engaged in discussions concerning the new initiatives of the Award in benchmarking and the competition on best practices, which includes several new categories and programs about the new model of the Award.