​The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has bagged the Golden Award for Excellence in Public Relations for Customers for Existing Service from the International Public Relations Association (IPRA), for the Customer Service Excellence Program of Ashghal in existing services, making Qatar the only Arab country to win this award in 2021.

Mr. Jassem Ibrahim Fakhroo, the National Coordinator of International Public Relations Association in Qatar handed over the golden award to Mr. Abdulla Saad Al Saad, Public Relations and Communications Manager at Ashghal.
The International Public Relations Association (IPRA) announced that Ashghal has bagged this prestigious award among 93 winners from all over the world under several categories and winners in the same category include Romania, Britain, China and Hungary.

On this occasion, Mr. Abdulla Saad Al Saad, Public Relations and Communications Manager at Ashghal commented, “With huge increase in the number of our clients and partners over past years, our means of communication with public expanded through many channels and the customer can use these channels to apply for our services, communicate and provide comments or inquiries quickly and easily.
In order to reach the largest number of customers, Ashghal continues to enhance its presence on social media platforms, boosting interaction with customers including citizens and residents, and keep them informed about the latest developments of Ashghal’s projects and services, through most viewed social media channels including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube. This is in addition to hiring best developers to improve and develop Ashghal's official website and the services covered.

Mr. Abdulla Al Saad further explained that public can browse Ashghal website, which is updated daily, to serve individuals, companies or government entities through a unified customer service portal, and the visitor can register basic data and fill out electronic form linked with the databases of the concerned entities to facilitate delivery of service, and such requests can be raised from anywhere and at any time.
Regarding development of systems, Ms. Abeer Faleh Al Hajri, Information Systems Department Manager at Ashghal said, “we place customer satisfaction at the top of our priorities. We update all programs and systems that help us in facilitating communication with public, and we constantly strive towards developing the form and content of our electronic channels, introducing them to the public and achieving a better electronic experience.”

With the aim of monitoring all customer feedback and evaluating the performance of the team concerned, we have developed the integrated Customer Relation Management (CRM) system implemented in cooperation with Microsoft and it undergoes constant developments. Ashghal has launched Customer Service Excellence Program in 2013 to include implementation of many initiatives aimed at enhancing Experience, interact with customers and reduce response time for stakeholders.

Ashghal has implemented “Customer Service Excellence Program” before years to monitor all customer feedback and evaluate performance of the team concerned. This is an ongoing program designed to place Ashghal within the platform of the best customer service focused entity in Qatar and the region. It also aims to implement best practices in government service excellence, besides achieving enhanced customer satisfaction in applying Ashghal’s strategic value of "service oriented".

Mr. Jassem Ibrahim Fakhroo, the National Coordinator of International Public Relations Association in Qatar, expressed his pleasure for Ashghal winning the Golden Award for Excellence in the category of “Public Relations for Customers for existing service”, saying that this achievement raised Qatar’s name on the global map of public relations, where Ashghal is considered to be the first Qatari entity to win this award, which is held annually by IPRA with the wide participation of public relations institutions from different states across the world.
He explained that Ashghal was able to pass the stages of qualifying and evaluation of participants, meeting all conditions set to win, such as requirement to complete the public relations program before start date of the annual competition, where awards in 37 categories are awarded to outstanding institutions in this field, from the public and private sectors. This is implemented as per carefully developed international standards, and through a professional, independent and impartial jury.

The evaluation jury consists of judges from countries across the world like Austria, Bulgaria, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Philippines, the USA and UK.
“The participation of Qatari entities in this award enhances the spirit of competitiveness in search of excellence in public relations, and that the Awards uplift the standards of leadership in the public relations system, upgrading skills of its practitioners, and achieving sustainability in this field,” he added.

Jassem Fakhroo further explained that the participation came after several entities, firms and companies in Qatar were invited last April to participate in this award. The participation is opportunity to establish Qatar’s presence on the global map of public relations awards, especially since Qatar has distinguished companies and entities qualified to win due to their achievements in the public relations field.
Mr. Philip Sheppard, Secretary General of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) – Britain, commented that Ashghal has emerged through its outstanding contribution within an extremely competitive category, which is Consumer PR for an Internal Service. Ashghal has demonstrated creativity and inspiration in the way the customer service program is crafted, we have never had a Qatari winner in this category.”

The IPRA Golden World Awards initiative, established in 1990, recognizes excellence in public relations practice worldwide in a wide variety of categories. The Awards are celebrated annually for outstanding achievements of PR professionals and provide a platform for collective exchange and learning.