EFQM Ambassadors

As a member of the EFQM Faculty of Trainers I regularly have the pleasure to train a group of people who have applied to become EFQM Assessors. Again I had this pleasure last week, when I worked together with my fellow faculty member Chris Hakes.

Being an assessor is a demanding task and it requires a specific set of skills and competencies to be successful. That is why the EFQM Assessor Training (EAT) is a pass or fail training. Prior to the training participants are asked to analyse a case study. Completion of this case study exercise is a pre-requisite for taking the training. The ‘open registry’ trainings are delivered in Brussels at the EFQM premises. The training takes three days and people who pass are qualified to participate in an international EFQM Excellence Award Assessment. 

The assessor training is an intense event. During the open EAT you will normally work together with a diverse group of people who you have not met before, as you would during an assessment. The training group last week was again wonderfully diverse. People came from all over Europe and from various types of organisations to receive their training in Brussels.

During the training we go through the steps in the assessment process supported by the completion of several practical individual and team exercises. Participants are explained how to use the EFQM Model and RADAR in the context of executing an effective assessment of an organisation.

Ultimately Chris and myself have again been able to deliver new additions to the EFQM pool of assessors. The participants left the training content. Now they understand more about the EFQM Model and the benefits of applying it, not only for assessment purposes, but also as a tool for management for running and improving their business.

But apart from that I feel the EAT might also have turned them into new EFQM Ambassadors, as it turned me into one several years ago!