The purpose behind creating the Government Skills Bank is to assist and empower federal entities to benefit from the professional knowledge and expertise of specialists in various fields and disciplines related to the Authority’s function, exploit their experience in developing the institutional work system in the Federal Government and establish a knowledge management culture.

Salwa Abdullah, Director of Projects and Programs at the Authority, said:  “More than 1,000 employees from various ministries and federal entities attended the nine virtual workshops during the past year and the first half of this year, all shedding light on the most important services offered by the Government Skills Bank Portal for Federal Government employees, which was launched by the Authority in 2019.

“All of these workshops were held via live broadcast technology, and included a review of the most prominent features of the to help the Government Skills Bank Portal: skillsbank.fahr.gov.ae, to Federal Government employees. It enables employees to communicate with specialized experts registered in the portal, to benefit from their experiences and knowledge in many vital issues, by asking them questions and inquiries, as well as providing opportunity for knowledge transfer, training and advise in different fields.”

She indicated that the number of specialized experts and professionals registered in the Government Skills Bank reached 470 working in various ministries and federal entities until the end of last May, and that the membership of the Government Skills Bank network witnessed a remarkable increase during the last period to reach nearly 2,400 members from all ministries and federal entities.

“The new portal is available exclusively to ministries, and other federal entities and employees. It displays data for all members of Government Skills Bank network, together with a summary of their biography, technical skills and experience, as well as a special corner to showcase the latest articles, studies and specialized researches in many fields and disciplines,”  Salwa Abdullah noted.

Criteria for selecting members of Government Skills Bank Network

Nada Abdullah, Projects Director, explained the criteria used in selecting   members of the Federal Government’s Skills Bank Network, which is subject to a set of criteria. They include the relevance of the member’s competencies to the needs of the entity and the Federal Government; practical experience in similar setting, achievements and recognition in the field of competence, dissemination and application of best practices, communication skills, guidance, knowledge transfer and professional volunteering.

She added: "A member of the Government Skills Bank Network, according to the guidelines set for the Government Skills Bank, launched by the Authority last year, is a person with high skills and knowledge and who continuously acquires new experiences through practice and available education opportunities."

She pointed out that the Government Skills Bank project has a number of benefits for individuals: it encourages generation of new knowledge and skills; strengthens institutional loyalty; and increases job satisfaction and workplace harmony.

Criteria for evaluating the Skills Bank Network members

With regard to evaluating members of Skills Bank network, the Authority adopted a set of criteria for the purpose, namely years of experience, number of training or guidance hours attended previously, relevant professional certificates, and number of conferences and seminars attended as a speaker in the field of specialization.