Learn What Drives Organizational Excellence: Become a 2015 Performance Excellence Award Evaluator

Are you interested in learning more about what makes organizations successful?  Are you interested in helping other organizations — such as schools, hospitals, non-profits, and businesses — around the three-state region improve their performance?  Would you be interested in networking, learning, and sharing with others who feel the same way?

The Performance Excellence Network is seeking candidates for the 2015 Performance Excellence Award Board of Evaluators, serving Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota.  The second of three application deadlines for 2015 is July 1 (can be extended).

There are many benefits to becoming an Evaluator, such as:

1. The experience strengthens your understanding of what drives organizational excellence.  The Baldrige Framework represents a validated set of best practices for organizational excellence – practices that can help your organizations reach higher levels of performance.
2. Networking with other Evaluators can expand your contacts and form deep relationships with influential leaders and professionals from across the state.  Last year’s Board of Evaluators were about 100 professionals representing all sectors (manufacturing, service, healthcare, education, non-profit, and government), all levels of leadership and all organizational roles (CEOs, presidents, Superintendents, VPs and department/unit leaders, physicians and surgeons, RNs, school teachers, and many other practitioners).
3. The experience allows you to see “best practices” deployed within another organization – knowledge that you could use back at your organization and/or in your career.
4. Your contribution helps organizations throughout the region – many of them schools, healthcare providers, non-profits, public sector agencies, and certainly businesses – improve their performance…simply get better at what they do.  Your participation helps Minnesota, North and South Dakota improve its competitiveness and productivity, and helps create/sustain jobs.
5. You can develop or refine a set of other professional skills that may help you advance your career – skills such as consensus- and team-building, written communication, verbal communication and interpersonal skills, interviewing, analysis, and systems thinking.
6. You can earn three hours of undergrad or graduate-level credit through the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin-Stout, for those interested.
7. We expect an increase in the number of organizations seeking an assessment this year, so we are trying to grow the number of Evaluators in our program.  In other words, we need resources this year!
8. And we have greatly improved our process this year, eliminating significant time for our volunteer Evaluators.

Most Evaluators consider the experience to be among the most valuable of their careers.  In fact, many have claimed that the experience and knowledge gained from this process rivals getting an MBA or advanced business degree.

Applications for “cycle 2” are due July 1 (extended for those who need it).

Evaluators are required to attend Baldrige 101 (new Evaluators) and Baldrige 201 (all Evaluators), and new Evaluators are also required to attend a one-day orientation (early Aug, dates TBD).  Evaluators will then be placed on a team (cycle 2 teams will launch early Aug and Evaluators will attend consensus/training Sept 30-Oct 1).

We hope that you consider (re)joining the Board of Evaluators and/or encourage others to do so.  For more information on our Award process, benefits of becoming an Evaluator, or an Evaluator application, please visit http://performanceexcellencenetwork.org/who-we-are/evaluators/or email brian.lassiter@performanceexcellencenetwork.org.