Business Excellence

The Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence is a powerful business improvement tool.

1.  a general guide / check to ensure they are addressing the main elements identified as essential in high performing organisations.

2.  a structured approach to address a specific area of weakness.  This might be in any of the business excellence categories.

3.  a comprehensive approach to ongoing performance improvement.

Contact Keith to discus how the performance excellence approach can help you.  

See the Simplified Criteria for Performance Excellence below as a starting point on your journey to high performance

For articles relating to business excellence 

The Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence:

Organisational Profile

1.  Leadership

2.  Strategic Planning

3.  Customer and Market Focus

4.  Information and Analysis

5.  Human Resource Focus

6.  Process Management

7.  Results

Note: Seeking a framework to build a organisational scorecard?  Consider Category 7.

Useful links

For the Baldrige Quality Prize criteria www.quality.nist.gov

For the New Zealand Business Excellence Foundation www.nzbef.org.nz

Simplified Criteria for Performance Excellence

1.  Leadership

(12 points)

1. How do senior leaders provide direction in your organisation?

2. How do you ensure managers and staff behave properly, particularly with accountability for money?

3. How do you ensure the organisation is innovative and agile?

4. How do you ensure strong internal communication?

5. How do you ensure a focus on improving performance?

6. How do you ensure your organisation is a responsible member of the community?

2.  Planning

(9 points)

1. How do you plan?

2. How do you ensure your plans are implemented?

3. How do you check the changes made are delivering the expected improvements?

3.  Customers & Markets

(9 points)

1. How do you decide which customers you want to attract?

2. How do you build relationships with customers?

3. How do you find out how satisfied or dissatisfied customers are and how do you address customer issues?

4.  Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge Management

(9 points)

1. How do you measure how well you are doing daily and over the longer term?

2. How do you identify underlying causes to problems and trend performance?

3. How do you ensure information is accurate and readily available?

5.  Human Resource Focus

(9 points)

1. How do you organise jobs to ensure work is carried out properly?  How do staff know how well they are working and how they could improve?

2. How do you decide what staff training is required and how do you provide the training?

3. How do you ensure staff are safe, healthy, satisfied and motivated?

6.  Process Management

(9 points)

1. What are your key processes? (What are the critical things your organisation does?)

2. How do you ensure these processes are effective and efficient?

3. How do you improve these processes?

7.  Results

(40 points)

1. What are your current levels and trends in customer satisfaction?

2. What are your current levels and trends in product and service performance?

3. What are your current levels and trends in sales?

4. What are your current levels and trends in profitability / return on investment?

5. What are your current levels and trends in market share?

6. What are your current levels and trends in staff satisfaction?

7. What are your current levels and trends in the operational performance of key processes?

8. What are your current levels and trends in legal compliance, fiscal accountability and ethical behaviour?

Note: While this criteria is based on the Baldrige criteria this document has not been approved nor endorsed by the Baldrige National Quality Program and there is no attempt to pass off this tool as having any standing with the program.