2013-14 Baldrige Criteria Released

2013-14 Criteria for Performance Excellence Released—Validated Best Practices to Improve Your Organization

December, 2012

For 25 years, the Baldrige Criteria have empowered organizations—no matter their size, sector, or industry—to reach their goals, improve results, and become more competitive. The 2013–2014 Criteria build on this tradition and feature a renewed focus on:

•  innovation management, intelligent risk, and strategic priorities;
• social media;
• operational effectiveness; and
• work systems and core competencies.

The Criteria change every two years by studying organizations that have high performance outcomes relative to relevant benchmarks, and figuring out what those organizations are doing (in terms of process) to achieve and sustain superior performance, and those become future years’ Criteria. As such, the Criteria have become a collection of validated best practices against which any organization can gauge their own performance.

The Criteria are a set of questions about critical aspects of managing and performing as an organization. These questions work together as a unique, integrated performance management framework. Typically, organizations use the Criteria to help diagnose their enterprise—to identify and prioritize improvement opportunities.

The Criteria become the basis of the Performance Excellence Network’s assessments—our comprehensive Performance Excellence Award (formerly MN Quality Award), the consultant-led assessment, and our self-assessment (the quickest, easiest of the three). They are also helpful when used internally by leaders to reflect on current process strengths and gaps.

To learn more about the Criteria, click here. There are three versions of Criteria: business/nonprofit are available now, and education and healthcare are still to come.

You may order your on-line PDF or hardcopy Criteria books directly from Baldrige. Or, you can order the hardcopies through the Performance Excellence Network and we receive a small percentage of the proceeds to support our mission. To do so, simply email mailto:brian.lassiter@performanceexcellencenetwork.orgwith your desired quantities of business/nonprofit, education, and/or healthcare.