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The Baldrige Criteria

The Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence are available one online at the Baldrige program’s Web site. Three versions are available: Criteria for business, nonprofits, and government agencies, Healthcare, and Education.

Here’s why you need to know what’s in the booklet if you want to learn about Baldrige: The Criteria are the basis for organizational self-assessments, for giving Awards, and for providing feedback to applicants. As the Criteria booklet states, the Criteria are designed to help provide organizations with an integrated approach to organizational performance management that results in the delivery of ever-improving value to patients/customers/students, the improvement of overall organizational effectiveness and capabilities, and organizational and personal learning

The Criteria are built upon a set of core values and concepts. These core values are embedded in the seven Baldrige Categories:

  1. Leadership
  2. Strategic Planning
  3. Customer Focus
  4. Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management
  5. Workforce Focus
  6. Process Management
  7. Results

Each of these Categories is divided into Items and Areas to Address. The first six Categories each have two Items, while Results has six.

To do a self-assessment or produce a Baldrige or state award application, organizations answer the questions posed in the Areas to Address under each Item.Here’s an Area to Address in the 2009-2010 Criteria for Performance Excellence:

1 Leadership (the first of seven Categories)

1.1 Senior Leadership: How do your senior leaders lead? (the first of two Leadership Items)

1.1a. Vision, Values, and Mission (the first of two Areas to Address in this Item)

1.1a (1) How do senior leaders set organizational vision and values? How do senior leaders deploy your organization’s vision and values throughout your leadership system, to the workforce, to key suppliers and partners, and to customers and other stakeholders, as appropriate? How do senior leaders’ personal actions reflect a commitment to the organization’s values? (the first of three sets of questions in this Area to Address)

To evaluate your management system, you respond to each of the questions in the Criteria as completely, accurately, and concisely as possible. Skilled examiners review your responses to identify strengths and opportunities for improvement. You use their feedback to prioritize your areas to improve and initiate actions to close the gaps.

You must also respond to questions in the Organizational Profile that precedes the seven Categories. The Profile asks for a snapshot of your organization’s products, culture, workforce, organizational structure, customers, suppliers and partners, competitive environment, strategic challenges and advantages, and performance improvement system.

To find out more about the Baldrige process, click on the following articles:

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