Dubai - MENA Herald: The Business Excellence Department (BED) in the Department of Economic Development (DED) launched a campaign in connection with the Retail Employees’ Day (RED) this year, encouraging retail outlets to celebrate the day and share stories of such celebrations under the hashtag #BEDforRED. The campaign was part of promoting happiness and service quality in Dubai, particularly in the retail sector, in line with the strategic objective of BED.
The Retail Employees’ Day is celebrated on the 12th of December every year to applaud the efforts of retail employees and their role in driving customer satisfaction and happiness in the critical industry. The Business Excellence Department promoted the celebrations in Dubai this year in partnership with the Trust for Retailers and Retail Associates of India (TRRAIN).
“Dubai’s economic development and its international acclaim as a destination owe largely to the emirate’s flagship retail sector. The overall ambience and quality of service provided by employees in retail outlets in the city are key advantages in the efforts to achieve overall happiness and service excellence,” commented Shaikha Ahmad Al Bishri, Director, Business Excellence Department in DED.
“Retail contributes a major share to Dubai’s GDP and has consistently remained a leading employer in the emirate. Studies also show that Dubai is the world’s second most important retail hub in relation to the presence of leading brands. Retail sector employees who propelled Dubai into such heights also hold a promise for the city in its efforts to be the happiest and most competitive in the world, and they need to be celebrated,” added Al Bishri.
Individual outlets celebrated RED with various programmes such as red-carpet welcome and photo sessions, cake-cutting, ‘Thank You’ messages and memorabilia. The objective of RED is to create the pride of belonging among retail sector employees by recognising their efforts through public appreciation.
The Business Excellence Department had sent messages to nearly 2,000 retailers who are members in the Dubai Service Excellence Scheme (DSES) of DED, urging them to celebrate the day and build a culture of appreciating the efforts of their employees through the year to make it a global phenomenon.
“We in the Department of Economic Development believe that celebrating Retail Employees’ Day and motivating our retail associates will go a long way in creating and building service excellence in the UAE. We will also bring out a joint supplement with TRRAIN where RED stories from the UAE, India and Turkey will be published,” said Al Bishri.
BS Nagesh, founder, TRRAIN, added: “TRRAIN is extremely pleased to partner with the Business Excellence Department in the Dubai Department of Economic Development in celebrating the Retail Employees' Day on the 12th of December 2016 with 35 nationalities participating in creating excellence in retail. This is a great step towards building the UAE as a global retail destination. TRRAIN will continue to work along with the UAE to make the celebration bigger and better year on year.”
Till last year, RED was celebrated by over four million people across India and Turkey, and the UAE joining the celebrations adds over 35 nationalities to the initiative. A TRRAIN study shows that RED is one of the top three calendar events today for employee engagement and the organisations aims to expand the celebrations worldwide. The study also showed RED has a definite impact on employee morale and engagement as well as on building relations and creating better work environments.
