EFQM and Baldrige are the two best in the world Performance Excellence Models.
This is the second part in the series of three articles focused on Performance Excellence Models. We are comparing the Baldrige Performance Excellence Framework and the European Framework for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model and we show a higher level paradigm of similar best practices and approaches.
In Part I we covered the Fundamental Concepts of Excellence (EFQM) / Core Values and Concepts (Baldrige).
In this article, Part II, we cover the Enablers (EFQM) / Criteria Categories (Baldrige).
Both Baldrige and EFQM frameworks have three important components:
- Fundamental Concepts of Excellence (EFQM) / Core Values and Concepts (Baldrige)
EFQM: Adding Value for Customers, Creating a Sustainable Future, Developing Organizational Capability, Harnessing Creativity & Innovation, Leading with Vision, Inspiration & Integrity, Managing with Agility, Succeeding through the Talent of People, Sustaining Outstanding Results
Baldrige: Organizational and Personal Learning, Valuing Workforce Members and Partners, Agility, Focus on the Future, Managing for Innovation, Management by Fact, Social Responsibility, Focus on Results and Creating Value, Systems Perspective
- Enablers (EFQM) / Criteria Categories (Baldrige)
EFQM: Leadership, Strategy, People, Partnership & Resources, Processes, Products & Services
Baldrige: Leadership, Strategic Planning, Customer Focus, Measurements, Analysis and Knowledge Management, Workforce Focus, Operations Focus
- Results – both EFQM and Baldrige
EFQM: Customer Results, People Results, Society Results, Business Results
Baldrige: Product and Process Outcomes, Customer-Focused Outcomes, Workforce-Focused Outcomes, Leadership and Governance Outcomes
As we look at the important components of Baldrige and EFQM excellence models, we notice similarities and a higher level paradigm of best practices. To help identify the “meta-themes” in the excellence models, let’s see their components side by side:
Fundamental Concepts of Excellence / Core Values and Concepts are covered in Part I
Enablers / Criteria Categories
| EFQM: Enablers | Baldrige: Categories |
| Leadership | Leadership |
| Strategy | Strategic Planning |
| People | Workforce Focus |
| Processes, Products & Services | Operations Focus |
| Partnership & Resources | Customer Focus |
| Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management |
Themes in Enablers / Categories:
Leadership has a key role in ensuring and increasing the chances for an organization to attain and sustain performance excellence. Both frameworks discuss best leadership practices including:
- Develop the mission, vision, values and ethics
- Act as role modes
- Create a sustainable organization, foster innovation and organizational learning
- Define and continuously improve the organization’s management system and performance
- Engage with external stakeholders
- Reinforce a culture of excellence with organization’s people sustaining strong engagement and development of future leaders
- Ensure that the organization is flexible and manages changes effectively
- Maintain open and transparent communications throughout the organization
The leaders also are responsible for the overall governance, the legal and ethical aspects and the societal responsibilities of the organization.
Strategic Planning takes into account:
- Understanding the needs and expectations of both stakeholders and the external environment
- Understanding internal performance and capabilities
- Periodic reviews of the strategies and policies to keep them up to date
- Implementation of strategies and their supporting policies, monitoring them and having strong communication processes in place
- Clear translation of the strategic plan into action plans, including resource allocation and performance measures
- Establishing and implementing modifications to the action plans if circumstances require a shift in plans and rapid execution of new plan
People / Workforce
Excellence organizations establish, maintain and improve a culture of mutually beneficial achievement of organization and personal goals. Best practices include:
- People plans support the organization’s strategy
- Development of people’s knowledge and capabilities
- Ensure people’s alignment with the organizational goals, involvement and empowerment
- Ensure effective and transparent communication; sustain seamless flow of information and easy access to it.
- Recognition, rewards and benefits
- Having established processes in place to deal with capacity and demand, workforce engagement, learning and development
- Performance measurements and management of workforce processes
Operations / Processes
Designing, managing and improving processes, products and services to generate increasing value for customers is pre-requisite for performance excellence. Organizations may consider:
- Designing and managing its processes to optimize stakeholder and customer value
- Approaches to determine processes requirements
- Approaches to best implement and manage processes
- Approaches to best implement and manage the value delivery along the supply-chain to enhance performance and customer satisfaction
- Risk Management at all levels in the organization, including emergency readiness
- Continuous improvement
The following enablers / criteria categories do not map 1-1, but they are covered throughout the others.
Customer Focus (Baldrige)
Performance excellence best practices related to customers include:
- Customer listening
- Determination of Customer Satisfaction and Engagement
- Product Offerings and Customer Support and
- Building Customer Relationships
As we know, organizations exist because of their customers. When we recognize, define, implement and manage the processes associated with customer listening and engagement, we ensure that we have in place another key ingredient of excellence. Although EFQM doesn’t have a Customer Focus Enabler (it has Customer Focus Results), the customer best practices aspects described above are mostly included in the: Processes, Products & Services Enabler.
Partnership & Resources
EFQM has an Enabler for Partnership & Resources that describes best practices in managing external partnerships, suppliers and internal resources in support of strategy. They also include effectively mange environmental and societal impact. Specifically they are:
- Partners and suppliers are managed for sustainable benefit
- Finances are managed to secure sustained success
- Buildings, equipment, materials and natural resources are managed in a sustainable way
- Technology is managed to support the delivery of strategy
- Information and knowledge are managed to support effective decision making and to build the organization’s capability
All these aspects are also part of the Baldrige criteria, but included in: Operations Focus; Leadership; Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge Management
Measurements / Knowledge Management
Baldrige has a Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge Management criteria that is a summary of organization’s data and information related processes in support of data driven decision making and sound process management. It also covers the Information Technology best practices. Details are as follows:
- Performance Measurement (including measures, comparative data, customer data, measurement agility)
- Performance Analysis and Review
- Performance Improvement
- Data, Information, and Knowledge Management
- Management of Information Resources and Technology
In EFQM, these are covered mostly in the Results sections; they are also included in the Partnership & Resources.
As we can see, best practices in performance excellence criteria have the “meta-themes” that describe the “puzzle” of an excellent organization. The beauty of using performance excellence frameworks (validated over many years by best in the world organizations), the leaders can rely on a blueprint ensuring excellence completeness. You don’t have to re-invent the wheel: the focus can be on mapping these non prescriptive best practices in Leadership, Strategic Planning, People, Operations, Customer, Partners & Resources and Measurements to what is most appropriate for your organization. Doing this, will place your organization on the excellence journey with confidence and trust that you have the tools and support you need.
In the next article we’ll continue the comparison of the other component: Results.
References:
- Baldrige: http://www.nist.gov/baldrige/index.cfm
- EFQM: http://www.efqm.org/en/Home/tabid/36/Default.aspx
Biography:
Adina Suciu CSSBB, CMQ/OE, is principal consultant at Adav, LLC a Seattle based company focused on helping people and organizations to attain and sustain agility. She is also a Baldrige examiner and assessor for the European Framework for Quality Management. She can be reached at adina@adavconsulting.com and at 206.234.8014.