VCQ NEWS
Baldrige for Breakfast
January 31 - 9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.
Join us at VCQ on January 31 for a free morning event! Starting at 9 am, join VCQ and other VCQ Members and their guests for a FREE breakfast and networking event. Learn about the new classes and products that VCQ has available to you and how we can help your organization. Stay for the next hour at 10 am to learn about the 2007 Criteria changes. Learn answers to your questions and how these updates will affect you and your organization in the coming year. Our 2007 Vermont Examiner Re-Certification will take place at 11 am. The Re-Certification is for those people who are interested in continuing to serve as a Vermont Performance Excellence Examiner for VCQ, as well as for your own organization.
Come for one, two or three timeslots – the choice is yours! Download your registration form to reserve your space. To get more information and directions to our offices, visit our website at www.VermontQuality.org.
2007 Criteria Update
January 31 - 10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.
2007 is the year that the Criteria changes significantly. Come and learn about these changes with other Vermont organizations. To review this changes now, look for our article under "National News" below.
This is a FREE event for all who attend. Please register today to reserve your space - all are welcome to attend. Seating is limited, so register early.
2007 Vermont Examiner Re-Certification
January 31 - 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
The re-certification training is for those interested in continuing to serve as a Vermont Performance Excellence Examiner. Other opportunities will be available in 2007 to assist other state programs who are in need of Performance Excellence Examiners. Join us to learn more.
- Pre-requisite: VT Examiner Training or equivalent experience/training
- Review examiner skills to be re-certified and serve on a Baldrige Site Visit Team
- Get updated on exciting new VCQ initiatives
- Examiners will be recognized at our 2006 Annual Recognition and Award Ceremony this Spring!
- All examiners are encouraged to participate in order to maintain certification as a Vermont Performance Excellence Examiner. Examiners who have received training in 2005 and 2006 are currently certified.
Register today for this FREE training. Join us earlier that day for Baldrige for Breakfast and the Criteria Update events.
2007 Business and Non-Profit Criteria Now Available
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released the 2007 version of the Criteria for Performance Excellence for Business and Nonprofit organizations. The Criteria for Healthcare and Education organizations will be released later this month. Click here to download a copy.
Every two years NIST updates the Criteria with significant changes. The most significant revisions to the 2007 Criteria address four areas of growing importance:
- Strategic Advantages and Core Competencies. Does your organization identify and develop its core competencies to sustain and grow that strategic advantage?
- Innovation. Does your organization consider innovation from the product and service, the operational, and the business model perspectives?
- Work Systems. How do you make critical work system decisions? Do they consider your core competencies and strategic advantages?
- Workforce. What do you do to engage your workforce for high performance? Do members of your workforce have the capabilities they need to do their jobs? Do you have the workforce capacity to staff for success and to accomplish your core competencies?
There are now 18 Criteria Items instead of 19. Categories 5 and 6 have been completely redesigned. Changes are highlighted below:
Preface: Organizational Profile
- Item P.1, Organizational Description, now includes a question related to the key requirements of your workforce. This addition helps set the context for your later Criteria Item responses.
- Item P.2, Organizational Challenges, now includes a specific request for strategic challenges and advantages, as well as opportunities for innovation.
Category 1: Leadership
- Item 1.1, Senior Leadership, now includes questions on performance measures that senior leaders regularly review and how they use the reviews for action.
Category 2: Strategic Planning
- Item 2.1, Strategy Development, has been modified to clearly address strategic challenges and advantages and how your strategic objectives address opportunities for product and service, operational, and business model innovation.
- Item 2.2, Strategy Deployment, has two added focus areas: ensuring adequate financial and other resources for accomplishment of action plans and ensuring that human resource plans address workforce capability and capacity needs.
Category 3: Customer and Market Focus
- Item 3.1, Customer and Market Knowledge, has an enhanced focus on capturing and using the voice of the customer to become more customer-focused.
Category 4: Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management
- Item 4.1, now Measurement, Analysis, and Improvement of Organizational Performance, has an added emphasis on the use of organizational performance reviews for systematic evaluation and improvement of key processes.
- Item 4.2, now Management of Information, Information Technology, and Knowledge, has two Areas to Address: (1) Management of Information Resources and (2) Data, Information, and Knowledge Management.
Category 5: Workforce Focus (revised title)
- This Category has been totally redesigned with two Items.
- Item 5.1, now Workforce Engagement, has three Areas to Address: (1) Workforce Enrichment, (2) Workforce and Leader Development, and (3) Assessment of Workforce Engagement.
- Item 5.2, now Workforce Environment, has two Areas to Address: (1) Workforce Capability and Capacity and (2) Workforce Climate.
Category 6: Process Management
- This Category has been totally redesigned with two Items.
- Item 6.1, now Work Systems Design has three Areas to Address: (1) Core Competencies, (2) Work Process Design, and (3) Emergency Readiness.
- Item 6.2, now Work Process Management and Improvement, has two Areas to Address: (1) Work Process Management and (2) Work Process Improvement.
Category 7: Results
- Item 7.3, Financial and Market Outcomes, has an added focus on measures of financial viability.
- Item 7.4, now Workforce-Focused Outcomes, aligns its measures with the redesigned Category 5.
- Item 7.5, now Process Effectiveness Outcomes, aligns its measures with the redesigned Category 6.
White River Junction VA Medical Center Wins VA Top Quality Award
(Press Release)
White River Junction VA Medical Center (VAMC) has been awarded the Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert W. Carey, Circle of Excellence Award for 2006; its second consecutive Circle of Excellence Award.
In a message to employees and stakeholders, Gary De Gasta, Director, White River Junction VA Medical Center noted: “As one of our employees recently told me, “The VA is all about Veterans” and this recognition is testimony to the loyalty, dedication and continued commitment of the White River Junction VA Medical Center to veterans”.
The Circle of Excellence Award was introduced in 2005 as a new award for which only previous Carey Trophy Award winners are eligible. White River Junction VA Medical Center was the first recipient of the award in 2005. In 2004, White River Junction VA Medical Center received the Carey Trophy Award, the VA’s highest award for quality and organizational excellence. In 2002 and 2003 White River Junction VA Medical Center was the recipient of this quality award at the Achievement Level. In 2003 the White River Junction VAMC received the Vermont Council for Quality's highest award from Governor James Douglas, the Governor’s Award for Performance Excellence. Both the Governor’s Award and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs Awards utilize the National Malcolm Baldrige Award Criteria for performance excellence. These criteria are used to help improve organizational performance practices and results and to facilitate communication and sharing of best practices information among U.S. organizations of all types.
The Circle of Excellence Award for 2006 was presented to the White River Junction VA Medical Center by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, James Nicholson, at the VA Performance Excellence symposium in Washington DC during the week of November 14 to 16, 2006.
The Vermont Council for Quality congratulates the VA Medical Center for their continued success on their performance excellence journey.
Welcome New and Renewing VCQ Members
Renewing Members are indicated with an asterisk*
Organizational Member:
Timberline Interactive
Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center
Individual Member:
*Michael Lane, Instrumentation and Technical Services, UVM
All of VCQ Members include: Anonymous Benefactor; National Council for Performance Excellence; BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont/The Vermont Health Plan; Rutland Regional Medical Center; Waitsfield and Champlain Valley Telecom; VA Hospital; Chroma Technology Corp.; NAMI-Vermont; North Country Hospital; Rhino Foods; Timberline Interactive; University of Vermont; Vermont Energy Investment Corporation; Vermont Manufacturing Extension Center; Vermont Office of Child Support; Michael Lane; Patty Launer; Rick Leete; and Sue Tatro.
As a VCQ member, you can take advantage of all the member benefits we offer – organizational assessments at a special member price, discounts on all of our education and training classes, advanced notice and reduced rates for all of our sponsored conferences and events, and much more!
Watch for more exciting benefits coming soon! For more information, visit our Membership section of our website.
Thank you to all for your support of the Vermont Program!
The 11 Core Values to Achieve Performance Excellence
This month's Core Value focus is on Organizational and Personal Learning
- Visionary Leadership
- Customer-Driven Excellence/Learning-Centered Education/Patient-Focused Excellence
- Organizational and Personal Learning
- Valuing Employees and Partners
- Agility
- Focus on the Future
- Manage for Innovation
- Management by Fact
- Public Responsibility and Citizenship
- Focus on Results and Creating Value
- Systems Perspective
Organizational and Personal Learning
(Excerpt from the 2007 Criteria for Performance Excellence book)
Achieving the highest levels of organizational performance requires a well-executed approach to organizational and personal learning. Organizational learning includes both continuous improvement of existing approaches and significant change, leading to new goals and approaches. Learning needs to be embedded in the way your organization operates. This means that learning (1) is a regular part of daily work; (2) is practiced at personal, work unit, and organizational levels; (3) results in solving problems at their source (“root cause”); (4) is focused on building and sharing knowledge throughout your organization; and (5) is driven by opportunities to effect significant, meaningful change. Sources for learning include employees’ and volunteers’ ideas, research and development (R&D), customers’ input, best practice sharing, and benchmarking.
Organizational learning can result in (1) enhancing value to customers through new and improved products and services; (2) developing new business opportunities; (3) reducing errors, defects, waste, and related costs; (4) improving responsiveness and cycle time performance; (5) increasing productivity and effectiveness in the use of all your resources; and (6) enhancing your organization’s performance in fulfilling its societal responsibilities and its service to your community.
Employees’ success depends increasingly on having opportunities for personal learning and on practicing new skills. In organizations that rely on volunteers, the volunteers’ personal learning also is important, and their learning and skill development should be considered with employees’. Organizations invest in employees’ personal learning through education, training, and other opportunities for continuing growth and development. Such opportunities might include job rotation and increased pay for demonstrated knowledge and skills. On-the-job training offers a cost-effective way to train and to better link training to your organizational needs and priorities. Education and training programs may benefit from advanced technologies, such as computer- and Internet-based learning and satellite broadcasts.
Personal learning can result in (1) more satisfied and versatile employees who stay with your organization, (2) organizational cross-functional learning, (3) the building of your organization’s knowledge assets, and (4) an improved environment for innovation.
Thus, learning is directed not only toward better products and services but also toward being more responsive, adaptive, innovative, and efficient—giving your organization marketplace sustainability and performance advantages and giving your employees satisfaction and motivation to excel.
