UW-Stout earned the Baldrige Award in 2001. Ten years later it remains passionate about the value of integrating Baldrige. According to Sorenson and Furst-Bowe, “The most important change brought about by our Baldrige experience, which is now part of our culture, was the establishment of an inclusive planning process to ensure that, in Baldrige speak, ‘all arrows are pointing in the same direction,’ and not at cross-purposes.”

Having worked with five Baldrige Award winners, I can attest to the value of aligning processes and people with the goals, strategies, and objectives of the organization. Whether you are in business, healthcare, or education, the ability to focus all activities on shared goals dramatically improves performance and is a major reason Baldrige Award winners achieve world-class results.

Sorenson and Furst-Bowe also state that “the Baldrige model…also led to a number of important innovations, including our e-Scholar or student laptop program, our designation as Wisconsin’s polytechnic university, and our Discovery Center for applied research and economic development outreach.”

Most organizations embrace Baldrige because they want to improve quality and performance and reduce waste. Few think about being more innovative, but “managing for innovation” is a core value of the Baldrige model. As organizations understand and improve their key processes, they build a learning culture that values innovation. “Innovation should be integrated into daily work and should be supported by your performance improvement system,” according to the Baldrige Criteria. “Systematic processes for innovation should reach across your entire organization.”

UW-Stout continues to benefit from its process of integrating Baldrige that began more than a decade ago. Your organization can achieve the same success. Click on the articles below to learn more about the Baldrige model and how it can help your organization excel:

• What Is Baldrige?
• The Baldrige Criteria
• Baldrige Core Values
• How to Integrate Baldrige
• Baldrige Gets Results

How long does it take to win the Baldrige Award?

The Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation started using Baldrige in 1993 through the Tennessee Quality Award program. It was awarded the Tennessee Quality Excellence Award in 1999 and received the Baldrige Award in 2003. According to its Web site, it planned to apply for the Baldrige Award again this year as a worldwide organization.

You could say it took Cat Financial ten years to win the Baldrige Award. I know other organizations–granted, not many–who have done it in two.

So how long does it take to win the Baldrige Award? It depends.

It depends on your starting point. If you’re a 250-point organization (which is pretty common for first-time Baldrige assessments), it’s probably at least five years. If you’re a 500-point company, maybe a couple years if everything goes right.

It depends on senior executive commitment. If your CEO will move mountains to close the gaps in your management system, it will take less time than if senior leaders stand on the sidelines and delegate the improvement process.

It depends on how serious the gaps are. If you don’t have a strategic planning process or a performance measurement system or some other key process, it’s going to take a few years to design, deploy, and refine one.

The truth is, no matter how long it takes, the journey is what matters. Just ask Cat Financial. Building a better management system will mean more to your organization than winning an award.

Not that winning is bad: Receiving a Baldrige Award validates your journey and recognizes your efforts to create a world-class organization.

To learn more about integrating Baldrige, click on these articles:

• If You Are New to Baldrige…
• Leading the Integration of Baldrige
• 5 Baldrige Application Mistakes
• 5 Added Values of the Baldrige Process
• Tracking Your Baldrige Journey
• How to Integrate Baldrige