“If you want to retain those who are present, be loyal to those who are absent.” -- Dr. Stephen Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

“Learning cannot be disassociated from action.” -- Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline

“The most important measures are both unknown and unknowable.” -- W. Edwards Deming, Out of the Crisis

Why Baldrige Works by Kevin McManus

I am a strong advocate of the Malcolm Baldrige Quality award and the criteria that support that process. You might think that this high degree of advocacy represents a bias that has developed during seven years of serving as an Examiner for the national award or one that is fostered by a relative ignorance of other forms of performance excellence recognition. While I don't think either of these arguments are valid, I would like to share with you the key reasons why I think this process is the best for assessing and guiding an organization's efforts to become one of the best.

The point structure – To win most awards, you have to accumulate a significant percentage of the total possible points. The Baldrige award is no different, even though winning the award is not as simple as being the high points leader. The strongest selling point about the points structure is this – results assessment makes up 45% of the total points. To garner a high percentage of the 450 possible results-based points, you have to (1) perform well in several areas, (2) exhibit sustained performance over time, (3) show how your results are best-in-class, and (4) accomplish these three goals in most areas of measurement importance.

The criteria mix – Results represent one of seven possible performance excellence categories. The other six focus on leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, information and analysis, human resources, and process management. While the number of possible points varies between these six categories, systematic, well-deployed approaches are needed in each area in order to be considered as a possible award recipient. Additionally, the areas of leadership and strategic planning naturally carry the largest percentage of possible points within these six categories.

The need for process refinement and learning – Baldrige finalists, let alone winners, must be able to show how their different processes are consistently improved over time. The focus on results helps stress this need, but applicants are also expected to be able to provide evidence of ‘cycles of refinement' over time. They also have to be able to demonstrate how they share best practices in a systematic manner across their organizations.

Three stages of application evaluation – A 50 page application is submitted to initiate the assessment process, but it serves as the foundation for assessment in only two of the three assessment stages. During the third and final stage, a team of examiners spends two to three days at the different physical locations of an applicant gauging the degree to which the application actually represents the way the organization is managed and operated on a day-to-day basis. These people talk to a high percentage of the applicant's people – you can't win without exhibiting a high degree of performance excellence deployment.

The winners themselves – Spend time talking to or visiting a Baldrige winner and see if you walk away with the same sense of satisfaction that I did. I have had the chance to do this at several of the annual Quest for Excellence conferences, and these experiences helped convince me that these people were both deserving of the award and would be great places to work. I have also had the chance to go on four site visits for the award, and while I can't say if I have visited a winner or not, I can say that performance excellence was a real, daily focus at each of these companies.

The people that run the award – The national quality award is administered by the Baldrige staff within the Department of Commerce. These people practice what they preach – their work systems improve over time, have a results focus, and exhibit as much alignment with the award criteria as those of an award finalist. In turn, the criteria, award process, and examiner training are continually improved over time. With each year, the process becomes an even better tool for guiding and assessing performance excellence.

Are you convinced? If so, I encourage you to learn more about the national process and the past award winners. The national quality award website ( www.quality.nist.gov ) contains a host of information about the criteria, the examination process, and previous award winners. There are also many state award processes out there which are modeled after the national process. If you still have questions, feel free to send me an e-mail. Keep improving!

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