The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has been honoured with the “Recognised for Excellence - 3 Stars'' award by the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) for being an “Outstanding Organisation”.
An official press statement by the authority on Saturday said Ashghal is the "first governmental entity of the sort to achieve this recognition under the new, improved 'EFQM 2020' model in the region".
The award, the press statement noted, proves Ashghal’s ability to carry out project works and development under challenging circumstances. It is a prestigious award that has been given to a number of leading institutions internationally. The award also confirms Ashghal's journey of improvement while focusing on customers' and partners' satisfaction, improved quality of output, enhanced operational efficiency and effectiveness, cost-saving and overall performance improvement.
Ashghal earned the 'Recognised for Excellence - 3 Stars' award after a week-long assessment by a team of specially-trained and licensed assessors from EFQM. The assessment represents the outcome of efforts to adopt continuous improvement as a culture and business norm of Ashghal, serving and adding value to the projects and services provided.
Ashghal president Dr Saad bin Ahmed al-Muhannadi said the achievement is in line with the authority's motto, ‘Qatar deserves the best'. “It’s a step in Ashghal’s journey towards excellence and evidence of our sustained development and improvement in all aspects of the authority’s business. It also reflects Ashghal’s commitment to providing the best to its customers and the public of Qatar and its mandate to raise its operational efficiency,” Dr al-Muhannadi noted.
Jamal Sharida al-Kaabi, manager of the Planning and Quality Department at the authority, said this recognition strengthens Ashghal’s reputation for high operational standards which has been built over the years.
“In the last four years, Ashghal developed and improved over 300 operational processes and 22 corporate policies in addition to elevating its measuring, monitoring and evaluation approaches, which helped in the provision of factual evidence for superior performance that rises up to challenges,” al-Kaabi said.