Ghada Mohammed Al-Naimi spoke at the Health, Safety, Security conference held virtually on the 16 – 18 November in her capacity as Secretary General for the American Society for Quality in Saudi Arabia. In her far-reaching work in the kingdom, her primary focus is on helping organisations in the public and private sector, as well as NGOs, meet the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
She outlined the organisational excellence concept in her presentation as “providing products and services efficiently and effectively, in a manner that meets and exceeds the needs and expectations of customers and stakeholders”, adding that this is achieved through “deployment of methodologies and mechanisms that ensure continuous improvement in all aspects of performance.”
Organisational excellence models were outlined by Al-Naimi, including the Deming Prize Model, the Malcolm Baldridge Model, the EFQM 2020 Model and the King Abdulaziz Quality Award, for which she is a senior assessor in Saudi Arabia.
According to Al-Naimi, the SDGs do not always mention sustainability by name, but it is part of every goal, whether it is environmental, economic or social sustainability. She defined sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.”
For Saudi Arabia, the main challenges she faces when working with organisations to help them meet the SDGs include financing, gathering quality data and investing in capacity development.
“It is good and helpful to prioritise SDGs,” said Al-Naimi. “Education and raising awareness is important – that is a big initiative for us.”
Interview by Georgia Lewis Editorial Services
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