By: Anita Marx, founder of AIM Consulting LLC, Chair of Panel of Judges for EIMF
The Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence isn’t just about winning an Award; it’s about applying the Criteria to IMPROVE your organization.
Regardless of what business you are in or how many employees you have, you can improve sales, profits, customer loyalty, and employee engagement, using the basics of Baldrige. The Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence is recognized throughout the world as the gold standard for assessing and improving organizational performance. It’s a road map on how to compete in this fast paced, hyper-competitive, ever-changing world. It’s stood the test of time and works for all companies—both big and small.
No matter how familiar with the Baldrige Excellence Framework you are, chances are, if you have heard about it, you’ve probably heard one of many myths regarding how it works. It’s time to set the record straight.
Myth: Baldrige is all about winning an award.
First, you don’t “win” excellence, you “achieve” excellence. Baldrige is about continuous improvement and RESULTS! You don’t have to be a Baldrige recipient to see the improvements. Companies start seeing improving results almost immediately. Recognition is always nice, but the long-term goal is sustainability based on continuous improvement. A Baldrige Award recipient once said, “I know of no other process where you reach the highest level of recognition and you can’t wait for the feedback report that identifies how to get even better.”
Myth: Baldrige is only for big companies.
Companies of all sizes, industries, and sectors use the Baldrige framework for improvement. The smallest Baldrige recipient is about 50 employees. The ironic part is--small companies wonder how big companies do it, and big companies wonder how small companies do it. The Baldrige Excellence Framework is a one size fits all. Everyone can benefit.
Myth: The process is too hard, costs too much money and takes too long to see results.
Lessons learned from applicants reinforce there is never “a good time” to get started. The Baldrige Performance Excellence Program is a road map and once your employees understand how it applies to them and their job, they will begin the journey. The employees become energized, and the business quickly benefits. Submitting an application at the state or national level is a nominal charge for thousands of hours of examiner time. Learning and applying the Baldrige Criteria is an investment in your organization—and your people. The best part is there is a return on the investment.
Myth: We don't have time to "do Baldrige;" we need to get the work done.
The Baldrige criteria is HOW you lead the company, serve customers, develop employees, and generate results. It is every aspect of what high-performing companies do to be successful. If you have time to do it wrong and fix it, you have time to do it right and continuously improve. The Baldrige Performance Excellence Program is not a short term “project” or “someone else’s job”; the Baldrige process is everyone’s responsibility.
Myth: It doesn't work. I know companies that won the Baldrige Award and they are no longer in business.
It’s true that some Baldrige Award recipients stopped using the Criteria. They were bought out or just lost their edge. A good analogy is what happens after you quit dieting and exercising. When you lose the discipline, the diet doesn’t work. The same goes for Baldrige.
The reality is thousands of companies are improving performance using the Baldrige Criteria and you can too!
Contact EIMF to learn how your organization can begin the journey to continuous improvement with the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence.
Anita Marx is a highly accomplished performance specialist with a background in industrial engineering and extensive experience designing and implementing comprehensive consulting and training solutions. She is skilled in all aspects of performance improvement including Six Sigma, Lean, Balanced Scorecard, various problem solving methodologies including the AIMSM methodology, and the Malcolm Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. Anita is a recognized national expert on the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. With over fifteen years of experience at the state and national level, she has assessed approximately 50 companies to determine their strengths and prioritized opportunities for improvement to get them to the next level of performance. Ms. Marx has a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia and an MBA from St. Louis University. She completed Black Belt training in Six Sigma and is an ASQ Certified Manager of Performance Excellence.