United Nations Public Service Awards Case Studies

On the UAE's Sheikh Zayed’s death in 2004, HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, his eldest son, was appointed President of the UAE and HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan named Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. Both were keen to continue the legacy of their father in providing services for a rapidly growing population.

Key to this continuation, it was believed, would be a new Civil Service able to lead the transformation by demonstrating best practice in human resource policy, changing the underlying mindsets and capturing the energy of the emirate population in government.

Law 15 of 2005 specified that a new Civil Service would be assigned the following powers:

 To set and develop civil service related human resource strategies in the emirate of Abu Dhabi
 To set and develop human resource systems and procedures to be effective in all human resources divisions in Abu Dhabi local departments
 To support the local departments to implement those systems and procedures
 To evaluate the local departments’ performance in respect to human resource affairs

It was suggested that the new team not try to change the existing department called ‘Organisation and Management Development’ (OMD) but create a new parallel structure outside the system – a genuine, internationally recognised ‘Department of Civil Service’ based on new updated statutes.

When the new Civil Service law, Law No. 1 of 2006, came into force it heralded a radical change in all areas relating to government: the announcement of a new Civil Service Council, the Department of Civil Service and a Human Resources Committee; procedures of appointment; obligatory appraisal reports; policies for promotions, salaries, increments, transfer, deputation and secondment; procedures for working hours and leave; obligations and prohibitions; disciplinary procedures and policies relating to termination.

In April 2007 the first major change was put into effect – the ‘Clean Wage’ System, a system on which the team had been working for the past year and which was to transform the public sector fundamentally.

Understanding that the right calibre of people were not being attracted to government and that Sheikh Mohammed's objective to become a top five government could not be realised without such people, the team worked on a comprehensive review of the compensation system for government employees. The existing system, which dated back to 1975 had fourteen grades, was relatively competitive in its time but was not based on job descriptions and evaluations - only on length of service. In fact, to circumvent the system, some forty-two allowances had been invented rewarding special circumstances and rare skills up to the point where they were misused and abused.

In the words of the Undersecretary: “The situation had created an inverted pyramid with many people who had served for long periods at the higher grades acting as a ceiling for up and coming talent and preventing new talent from entering the system or receiving well-deserved promotion. And because there were no job descriptions, no job evaluation and a very small range from minimum to maximum, people had resorted to inventing supplementary allowances to compensate for the uncompetitive basic salary. You had allowances for accountants and IT, allowances for laboratory technicians, hardship posts, even for being on committees. And with 70,000 people in government and 80% in non-core services, we had to re-invent the system”.

What is the initiative about? (the solution)
Competitive salaries for those in government were announced, whereby the full amount was paid to the government employee, reducing the need for allowances to be processed and paid to third parties. In the words of the Undersecretary: “Those who remained in government were delighted. Their pay increased to be competitive with the market and all the cash was paid directly to them. Now they could choose where they wanted to spend their money. And women, regardless of whether married or not, were entitled to the same pay. It was, quite simply, a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s job. The Crown Prince had insisted that we needed a compensation system that was competitive, fair and transparent and embedded systems to train, develop and build careers for our future leaders. What we didn’t expect, and what took us by surprise, was such an adverse reaction to what was clearly in the country’s interest”. The private sector, the area that had the most to lose if talented individuals now considered government as a career alternative, were incensed. Arguments ranging from the danger of aggravating inflation to destroying the fabric of society were levelled at the Department. Petitions were presented and economic models constructed to persuade the leadership to revoke the new system. The Executive Council members stood firm. In the words of the Chairman, “What kept us going was the strength of our team and the trust of the Executive Council. If you can trust and rely on your colleagues to support you, then that is all you need. And then, one day, it just passed and everyone wanted to associate themselves with what we had done. We even had requests from organisations to help in aligning themselves to the new government salaries. When we received the requests we insisted on organisational charts, job descriptions and evaluations as foundations of best practice. We began to become known as experts in governance procedures”.

Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
The Civil Service team was: Chairman: HE Rashid Mubarak Al Hajeri Undersecretary: HE Ali Al Ketbi Executive Director: HE Omar Bamadhaf The work to devise 'clean wage proposals' was conducetd with the help of Booz & Co. All departments were consulted, as were Chambers of Commerce.

Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
a. What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
The overall strategy of Civil Service government re-invention were: 1. All non-core activities would be reviewed and, if necessary, outsourced 2. Government would be reduced from 70,000 to 12,000 in two years 3. Competitive packages would be introduced with the cost more than offset by the reduction in manpower 4. Training and development programmes for core government employees would be introduced 5. High quality career development would be mapped for each individual These were established by the Executive Council and the team.

b. What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
The 'Clean Wage System' was the start of the process of 'cleaning up' government. A next initiative was even more ambitious. With the numbers in the government reduced through the policy of outsourcing, the best retained and adequately remunerated, the Civil Service was tasked in 2007 with beginning the process of assessment of 700 deemed future potential leaders in government, encompassing Undersecretary to First Grade. The Department of Civil Service’s new ‘Centre of Excellence’ was announced in September, 2007 by the President of the UAE, HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Its main goals were to:  Assess all individuals serving in leadership capacity from Grade 1 through to Undersecretary using best practice assessment tools, normed and valid for the UAE population  Develop leaders through partnerships with world-class public administration and educational institutions This assessment was followed by participation in a purpose built assessment centre where leadership potential candidates would be evaluated on their ability to lead, work in teams and resolve problems with reference to the competencies. The first assessment centre took place in September 2007 in Ras Al Khaima attended by twenty-six Undersecretaries and Assistant Undersecretaries. This was followed by ‘Personal Development Plan’ at Oxford University’s dedicated Executive Education Centre, at the beginning of January 2008. The ‘Personal Development Plans’ were also part of the preparation for the development of a supportive ‘coaching culture’ within government and a network of peer support By July 2008, almost half of the 505 men and women who had passed through the assessment centre had also formulated Personal Development Plans, the venue of which was Jebel Hafit in Al Ain.

c. What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
The formal process of ‘National Leadership Development’ received a great deal of press coverage – and, unsurprisingly, caused a great deal of debate given its pioneering approach for the entire region and the evaluative nature of its constituent elements. The first assessment centre took place in September 2007 in Ras Al Khaima attended by twenty-six Undersecretaries and Assistant Undersecretaries. Ali Al Ketbi, Undersecretary of the Department of Civil Service, was one of the first to attend with his peers. He comments: “I knew my colleagues had a lot of doubts, suspicions and concerns. It was even considered demeaning to be appraised. But I also knew that I, as Undersecretary of the Department of Civil Service, had no choice. I had to be an example and we as a team would lose credibility if I weren’t one of the first. As it turned out, many of my colleagues thrived on the experience, saw the real value of it, and word began to spread that this was constructive and the door to a proper programme of development, something they had never had before”. The leaders of the Civil Service overcame obstacles by leading from the front.

d. What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
The department that has operated up to 2005 had had a minimal budget - and acted as a human resource administrator. The new Civil Service team, in creating a professional HR service to government increased budget from £0.5m to £30m over two years - and created a dedicated HR function of approximately 60 people. This has been organic but very much built on the teamwork of the three leadership individuals.

Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
A new Civil Service College is being developed to continue the training programmes that the DCS has pioneered. The principles of HR excellence are also now being devolved to all the other departments and HE Rashid Mubarak Al Hajeri has taken Chairmanship of the Municipalities to facilitate this.

What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
I have mentioned courage and determination by the three key players in the DCS, but perhaps the final words should rest with the DCS Chairman regarding the uniqueness and widespread nature of this governmental transformation: “Before our changes there were many ways to exploit and go round the system. We simply simplified it. We see morale going up. People now have trust in the government. They see us as a benchmark. We have become a first class employer of choice. I’m proud to be part of this team because we’re making history. The public sector is leading the private sector. This team and all those in the Department of Civil Service are setting up a well documented system with benchmarked transparent and fair best practice, comprehensive training programmes with world-class providers to develop talented people regardless of background, a system on which we can continue to build. We’ve passed the tipping point to becoming a government fit for the leadership challenges of the 21st century.”


Institution Name:		Dep[artment of Civil Service
Institution Type:		Government Department
Contact Person:		Omar Bamadhaf
Title:		Executive Director
Telephone/ Fax:		+971506118411
Institution's / Project's Website:
E-mail:		obamadhaf@dcs.abudhabi.ae
Address:		Abu Dhabi Department of Civil Service
Postal Code:
City:		Abu Dhabi
State/Province:		Abu Dhabi
Country:		United Arab Emirates

The Problem

Solution and Key Benefits

Actors and Stakeholders

(a) Strategies

(b) Implementation

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

(d) Use of Resources

Sustainability and Transferability

Lessons Learned

Contact Information