The Glue

Performance Management Forum for State/Local Governments

For anyone in State/Local Government interested in Performance Management, there is a free breakfast forum taking place this Friday, August 8th in Philadelphia. This is also open to any non-profit organization wishing to learn about these topics.

The focus of the forum is "Sustaining Performance During the Good Times and the Bad" and will include an impressive line-up of panelists whom you'll be able to query about best practices and ideas for overcoming challenges, even as budgets are getting squeezed.

The panelists are:

• Jeff Friedman, Deputy Director of Performance Management, City of Philadelphia, PA
• Steve Marchand, Mayor, Portsmouth, NH
• Mark Freeman, Performance Management Coordinator, City of Columbus, OH
• Chris Heflin, formerly with the City of Coral Springs (2007 Baldrige Winner) and now heading up ActiveStrategy's Public Sector Consulting Practice

The event is taking place at the Sofitel Hotel in downtown Philly. It's just a few blocks from the 30th Street Train station. Breakfast is at 8:00 am and the forum will wrap up by 11:30.

See more about the event and the topics on the agenda at the Performance Institute website.

If you're within a short drive (or train ride) from Philadelphia and would like to attend, email ward@performanceweb.org to rsvp. Though the event is no charge for Government employees, you do need to rsvp.

Winning a State Baldrige Award - Six Keys That Helped One Organization Do It

Ever wonder what it takes to win a state-level Baldrige Award?

Here's a high-level overview of the key factors that helped Orange County Clerk of the Courts (OCCC) in Orlando win the Florida Governor's Sterling Award this year. The Sterling Award program is 15 years old, follows the same criteria, rules, and scoring as the National Baldrige Award, and is widely recognized as one of the best state programs.

There are six areas in which OCCC has dramatically improved in just a few years time and which, in my opinion, helped them win the Sterling Award. Those areas of strength are themes that cut across the seven Sterling categories of Leadership, Strategic Planning, Customer and Market Focus, Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge Management, Workforce Focus, Process Management, and Results.

Are Quality Awards Worth the Effort?

We've seen a recent rise in interest level among our clients in quality awards, both at the national level (Baldrige in the US and NQI in Canada), as well as at the state level.

Why would already busy companies pursue such demanding awards?

What do they really get out of winning?

To start with, studies have shown that organizations that use a quality award process perform consistently better over time. Here is a summary of one such study (from The Alliance for Performance Excellence website; data from Singhal and Hendricks Study):

Many organizations that use a quality award process as a basis for continuous improvement have achieved :            

• 59% Higher Stock Price
• 111% Higher Operating Income
• 116% Higher Sales
• 114% Higher Total Assets         

If that's not proof enough that these systematic processes are worth the effort, our award-winning clients, as well as those that have just begun their journeys toward performance excellence, all say the same thing: the journey is the prize. There are so many benefits that they derive along the way: