The inaugural committee meeting of the 3rd edition of the (Taqyeem) was chaired by Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) Chief Executive, Mohammed Ali Al Qaed. Discussions covered preparations for the new edition, in light of the full return by government employees to their workplaces and the reopening of service centers for visitors.
Al Qaed welcomed new Civil Service Bureau representative, Sh. Muath bin Duaij Al Khalifa, who recently joined the committee following the appointment of Jamal Abdulaziz Al Alawi as Labor Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA) CEO. He praised Mr. Al Alawi’s efforts during his tenure with the committee, and his active contributions to the evaluation process in previous editions.
Al Qaed thanked the members for their hard work since 2017 when the committee was established with the aim of launching the Taqyeem program to enhance the efficiency of government service centers, promote competitiveness, and motivate employees to be more creative and innovative when offering services. These plans were designed to be in line with Bahrain Economic Vision 2030 and the UN Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs).
The meeting’s agenda covered the importance of incorporating the national guidelines for combatting the Coronavirus (COVID-19) into the requirements of the program’s third edition. These guidelines are essential for protecting the health and safety of beneficiaries and employees at service centers, considering the levels of personal contact expected when the country is at the Green Alert Level, where masks must be worn and glass partitions installed to prevent infections. The quality of communication must also be assessed as part of the program’s criteria.
The Committee discussed the plan and timeframe for implementing the upcoming evaluation, reviewing the program’s existing guidelines with a view to update it to better reflect the post-pandemic situation.
The Committee highlighted the efforts of various government entities during the pandemic, which provided their services via online channels, while maintaining high levels of responsiveness to comments, enquiries, and suggestions. This ensured that government services continued uninterrupted, resulting in improved customer satisfaction as per the feedback received by the Committee from its social media channels and reports issued during the pandemic.
The meeting also discussed the possibility of reducing the number of centers being reviewed during the current edition due to the advanced levels of digital transformation at many of them, and their embrace of online channels as an alternative to face-to-face services. This resulted in a reduced need for in-person visits outside of extraordinary circumstances.
The Committee concluded the meeting by calling for further cooperation between government entities, reaffirming its commitment to Taqyeem’s evaluation standards, which aim to increase the number of government service centers capable of receiving ‘golden shields’ in the coming evaluation through greater awareness over the four years since the Taqyeem guide was issued.