Baldrige Criteria and Framework Implementation

Challenge 

Are you caught up in a “flavor of the month” improvement initiative – ISO, Six Sigma, Lean, CQI?  Are your associates as confused as you?  Is there one Mantra that can integrate all improvement initiatives and work for all parts of the organization? 

Every year there seems to be a new improvement initiative – an alphabet soup of tools, methodologies and strategies – claiming to be the best and most effective approach, the last one you’ll ever need.  Some champion in the organization will no doubt like what they hear and bring the “new” program in house.  No wonder organizations are confused.  

The fact is that all these approaches are good for their intended purposes.  Six Sigma is a powerful improvement tool. Lean is great for reducing process complexity and eliminating waste.  ISO is an effective set of quality standards.  Problems arise when the passion for a particular approach is blown out of proportion causing an organization to declare it to be the only way to run a business.  These approaches lack a framework for improvement that is non-prescriptive, addresses all the factors that define the organization, its operations and results, and focuses on common requirements rather than procedures, tools, or techniques.  In short, a leading edge, holistic business model that can be applied to any organization.   

Solution 

The Baldrige Criteria and Framework for Performance Excellence provide a systems perspective for managing an organization and its key processes to achieve results – performance excellence.  We encourage organizations that would like to have one encompassing improvement strategy to adopt these Criteria as the umbrella under which all other initiatives can fall. Our consultants are experts in the Baldrige Criteria and will help organizations interpret them and use the Framework as a business model to manage the organization.   

Approach 

Our consultants can help your leadership team and key associates become familiar with the Baldrige Criteria and Framework.  This can be done though one-on-one coaching sessions, briefings to small groups, or via formal training sessions. The Criteria are non prescriptive, allowing for all approaches to be evaluated and used.  

There is no better way of learning the Criteria than conducting a self-assessment.  Our consultants can facilitate this session – either an “arm chair” assessment with your management team, or an assessment conducted with small teams, each responsible for a specific Category of the Criteria. We also can provide training for internal assessors to build organizational capability.  

Using our Management Action Planning process ensures that improvement projects will be developed from the assessment findings.  Our consultants will facilitate the development of these MAPs and can assist the improvement teams with their action plans using one our improvement methodologies. 

The cycle of assessment, planning, and improvement will be repeated every 12 to 18 months until the management system becomes second nature.  

See Related Case Study

Results 

The primary benefit of adopting the Baldrige Criteria and Framework is the development of a systems perspective for running your business. This prospective allows your senior leaders to focus on strategic directions and your customers.  It means that they will monitor, respond to, and manage performance based on your business results. A systems perspective includes using measures, indicators and organizational knowledge to build strategies.  It means linking these strategies with key processes and aligning resources to improve overall performance and satisfy customers.  The Baldrige framework provides a means for managing your whole organization, as well as its components, to achieve success.

“The capabilities of continued and sustained leading edge knowledge in Process Excellence and the ability to      transfer it have been  hallmarks of DeBaylo Associates. Participation as a partner with sincerity, honesty and   integrity, whether in helping to deliver training, or consulting on our process,  has demonstrated to us we have made the right choice.”                             Jules Parrella - Director of Quality, Johnson & Johnson Quality Management