Congratulations, you have taken the first step to organizational excellence! Your desire to improve and to challenge the assumption that the way we have always done things is the best way, is perhaps the most difficult step. SPQA provides a systematic Pathways to Excellence to help you on your improvement journey.

Training

Learning about the Baldrige Excellence Framework and Criteria. The framework is packed with questions to help you reflect on how well your organization functions and a rubric to help you analyze the quality of your responses to the questions. SPQA provides a variety of training opportunities which can be tailored to your specific needs. Learn more…

Pathways to Excellence
  1. Interest Level – Apply the Baldrige Excellence Framework including concepts, the Criteria and the Organizational Profile to your organization through facilitation with a SPQA Mentor Examiner. Completion of an Organizational Profile. Learn more…
  2. Commitment Level – Gain a better understanding of your organization by completing an organizational self-assessment responding to the Baldrige Excellence Criteria. Self-evaluation is facilitated by a SPQA Mentor Examiner and includes completion of the “Are we Making Progress?” survey and the Baldrige Excellence Builder. Learn more…
  3. Discovery Level – In Discovery you provide a written response to the most important questions in the framework and a team of experienced SPQA Award Examiners provide you with a written report on how well your organization aligns with the framework. We will also provide a Mentor Examiner to help guide you through the process. Learn more…
  4. Award Level – The most comprehensive step of Pathways is completing an Award application. You provide a written response to all of the questions in the framework. A team of experienced Award Examiners will both review your written response and visit your organization to deepen their understanding of your processes. The team will provide a detailed feedback report and a panel of judges will determine your recognition level. Learn more…
Case Study
The Alliance for Performance Excellence produces a case study for training purposes. SPQA uses the case study in training of examiners annually. For those organizations considering the Pathways to Excellence journey, the study provides guidance on the extent of information and documentation required. For those considering Pathways, it is highly recommended that some in the organization participate as an Award Examiner. This will give you even greater insight into the organization excellence process.