I recently had the privilege of presenting a webinar offered by the Baldrige Foundation Institute for Performance Excellence. The President and CEO of the Foundation, Al Faber, introduced and closed the webinar and moderated audience questions. My presentation, The Importance of Focusing on Employee Colleagues, Customers, and Community, drew from my own experiences at Northeast Delta Dental, a mid-size business, and my research of Walmart, a very large business, and Sazón, a Santa Fe restaurant and very small business. All three businesses apply the same Baldrige-based business principles, and our successes underscore that those principles apply to all types of organizations.
The Baldrige Foundation is a thought leader on performance excellence, leadership, and management. It undertakes research projects, hosts conferences, conducts executive-level and online professional development and skills training, makes resources available to enhance organizational performance, and publishes and distributes educational materials sharing best practices.
The disruptions across business and nonprofit sectors that the pandemic continues to produce strongly reinforces the value of Baldrige principles in preparing for this and other crises. How Northeast Delta Dental has been able not just to survive, but to thrive, using Baldrige principles during the pandemic is the subject of my book, Prepare for Crisis—Plan to Thrive: The Inside Story of How One Company Did It Right.
I’m possibly more passionate than I’ve ever been about the principles provided by the Baldrige Excellence Framework as I have seen how they’ve helped Northeast Delta Dental and other businesses and nonprofits throughout the nation to become more prosperous. I appreciate that my ongoing role as Board Chair of ExcellenceNorth Alliance gives me opportunities to help Northern New England organizations and communities achieve their goals and be strong and healthy in sustainable ways using the Baldrige framework.
If you are interested in learning more about The Baldrige Foundation Institute for Performance Excellence or wish to access my recorded webinar, please visit Baldrigefoundation.org.
