All Posts Tagged With: "examiners"
Experts Tell You What to Fix
People ask why an organization should apply for the Baldrige Award or a state award based on Baldrige. There are three very good reasons:
- Answering the Criteria questions will give you a new and deeper understanding of how your organization works—or doesn’t work.
- Getting feedback from the Baldrige or state program will help you identify strengths you can build upon and opportunities for improvement.
- Acting on what you learn during #1 and #2 will make you a better organization.
I described the application process in an earlier article. In this article, I want to discuss the feedback you receive when you submit an application.
First, a quick overview of what happens to a Baldrige application after you submit it. (State programs follow a similar process.) Trained examiners are assigned to evaluate and comment on the application. A team of examiners then reviews the application and observations by conference call to reach consensus on your strengths, opportunities for improvement, and scores. If the Panel of Judges does not select your organization for a site visit, one of the examiners on the consensus team produces your feedback report. If you do receive a site visit, the site visit team leader finalizes your feedback report after the judges…
12Nov2009 | Steve George | 0 comments | Continued10 Steps to World Class
What are the characteristics of a high-performing organization? What do they do or how do they act to distinguish themselves? What can your organization do to join their ranks?
The Baldrige model has identified the beliefs and behaviors of high-performing organizations. These 11 core values and concepts, embedded in the Baldrige Criteria and in Baldrige Award recipients, are essential to achieving performance excellence. You can find the complete list here and an explanation of each in the Criteria booklets here.
So how do you get your organization from where it is today to world-class status? Twenty years of Baldrige reveal the steps you can take to create a high-performing organization:
- Lead the transformation. It won’t happen without leaders committed to excellence, and it won’t happen without recognizing that the steps you take will transform your organization. Plan the journey, communicate the plan, measure progress, and facilitate change.
♦To learn more, read Is Baldrige Right for Your Organization, 10 Critical Questions: Senior Leadership, and An Achievable Mission and Vision; - Develop management system experts. You will need these experts to help focus resources and attention on what must happen along your journey. Take a few existing or rising stars and ask them to be Baldrige or state award examiners for…
The Value of Baldrige Expertise
The focus of Baldrige is on organizational performance excellence. What is rarely discussed is the career boost that can accompany such achievement.
Here’s a recent example.
The superintendent of Iredell-Statesville Schools, which received the Baldrige Award in 2008, was named North Carolina’s Superintendent of the Year last year. This year, he was one of 300 applicants for the job of education commissioner for Kentucky.
He got the job.
I know many leaders of Baldrige Award winners who have advanced their careers because new employers coveted their Baldrige success. I know Baldrige examiners who have gotten better jobs because of their Baldrige expertise.
I think this is why: People who truly understand the key elements in their management systems and how they work together and how they can work better are rare. This systems perspective is rare. And it’s valuable. Baldrige people have it. They get it by working with the Baldrige model as a leader, manager, and/or examiner.
Over time, that work generates a profound knowledge of how organizations do what they do.
It’s no wonder Baldrige expertise is in high demand.
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