EFQM: The Next Level

Next to customer results and employee results society results are an equally important factor in the EFQM Excellence Model. However looking at the average scores EFQM Excellence Award (EEA) applicants have received for society results the past years this is not evident. What does this mean? And how can we change that?

Looking out for society
In the EFQM Model 2013 the Fundamental Concept Creating a Sustainable Future (CSF) is defined as: ‘Excellent organizations have a positive impact on the world around them by enhancing their performance whilst simultaneously advancing the economic, environmental and social conditions within the communities they touch.'
How does this wonderful definition connect to reality? Do excellent organizations really have a positive impact on the world around them?

Relative versus reality
To answer these questions the feedback reports of 19 EFQM Excellence Award assessments (from 2010 to 2012) were reviewed. These reports were selected because of their 'high scores’ on society results (EFQM criteria 8). ‘High’ defined as scoring at least 60 points (of 100). Relatively speaking this is a lot as over the years society results on average have scored 'low' with only 45 points, where all the other criteria averaged scores between 58 and 62 points!

Role models
From the analysis of these 19 feedback reports only three really good examples regarding ‘society results’ could be identified: Red Eléctrica de España (Spain), Coca-Cola Ýçecek (Turkey) and Umicore Precious Metals Refining (Belgium). These role model organizations all have certified ISO9001, ISO14001 en OHSAS18001 management systems in place, but more importantly they survey the perceptions of society, have integrated sustainability into their strategy and publish a sustainability report.
But this also means that scoring relatively high on society results does not yet tell us much about how 'focused' the organization towards ‘society’ really is.

Attention
The purpose of implementing the EFQM Model is to achieve balanced results, because we believe that this the basis for continued organizational success. Although societal / sustainability issues are in the news every day these days, even the EEA-applicants to date do not seems to be able to attain the same level of results for society as for the other results criteria. A point of attention!

EFQM: The Next Level
This year the EFQM Model celebrates its 25th anniversary. Through the years the EFQM Model has been updated. Valuable and necessary updates have been done, but no structural changes were made. Maybe it is time for EFQM – The Next Level. Curious about that? More next week!

New winners, new books, new challenges

Nothing lasts forever. Projects are started and completed. New insights lead to new publications and new role models. And be warned, because the EFQM Excellence Award assessment teams are on the move again…

Who will be the 2013 EFQM Excellence Award Winner?
As every year in January and February EFQM put the EEA-assessment teams together. After an individual preparation period, in March all teams met up in Brussels for the 'briefing event’. During a relaxing and inspiring get-together the groundwork for the EFQM Excellence Award assessments in May / June was completed. The big question is always which organizations will receive the honours this year. In October at the EFQM Forum in beautiful Vienna the EEA 2013 winners will be announced!

Briefing event EFQM assessment teams.

Book Launch
The role and responsibilities of companies are under discussion. The central question is: how can organizations simultaneously serve multiple stakeholders, both inside and outside the organization? The goal: a balanced use of the four forms of capital, being social, human, environmental and financial.
The new Dutch book Derde Generatie Kwaliteitsmanagement (third generation quality management) describes the search for existing and new insights in the field of quality management. As Improve4all I contributed to this book with a chapter on the role and importance of social results in the EFQM Excellence Model.
The book will be presented on 30th of May, during the 17th National Quality Congress in the Netherlands. As Improve4all I will provide a workshop on the EFQM-chapter in the book.

Sustainability Report 2012 for ASML 
Sustainability is not a one trick pony, but a continuous process. Similarly, neither was the creation of the 2012 Sustainability Report for the Dutch chip machine manufacturer ASML. The report was completed over a period of six months, a time in which many aha-moments were experienced providing a nice base to build upon.

Every beginning has an ending...
After more than two years the challenging interim management assignment at ASML as come to an end. As Corporate Sustainability Manager I have enjoyed the pleasant cooperation with people on all levels in the organisation. ASML is a vibrant company with innovation at the core of its being.
I will continue as sustainability professional looking for new challenges in the context of creating a more sustainable world. And for me too innovation, in the way we think and act, is at the top of my priority list!

Sustainable soft drinks giant?

Sustainability is not just about the fate of the planet, but also about the well-being of the people on it. And then we should not just regard shareholders and employees, but also think about consumers. This raises an interesting question: can a producer of unhealthy products be called a sustainable company? Coca-Cola for example.

Obesity
One of the most powerful brands in the world is Coca-Cola. The range is huge and its consumption too. But this consumption isalso controversial: 100 ml Coca-Cola contains 42 kilo calories and 10.6 grams of sugar.
We live in a world where obesity is a growing problem. In this context, companies like Coca-Cola – where the business model is based on sugar – have come under intense scrutiny. Coca-Cola has responded with making smaller cans, providing better information and producing new, less unhealthy, product varieties (Light, Zero). "We are committed to bring people together to help fight obesity", said Stuart Kronauge, the General Manager for Coke's North America Sparkling Beverages division. But is that enough?

Quality management
Individual offices of Coca-Cola implement their own quality management systems. Like the Coca-Cola Ýçecek factory in Ankara, the fifth largest plant of Coca-Cola in Turkey. It was built in 1973 as the first large-scale production facility in Turkey. The factory has a good reputation in the field of quality management: it is continuously strives to improve. Over the yearsmany quality tools have been implemented, such as Lean 6 Sigma, Maintenance Excellence and Kobetsu Kaizen. The factory,equippedwith a number of ISO certificates, has received several prizes ánd won the Turkish National Quality Award. The implementation of the EFQM Excellence Model in the plant attributed to winning this National Quality Award.

More than efficiency & effectiveness
In 2012, the trophy cabinet of the Coca-Cola plant in Ankara filled up further with winning the EFQM prize for Taking Responsibility for a Sustainable Future.* However the fact that a plant of Coca-Cola would receive this particular prize of EFQM I find odd. The expectation of this fundamental concept is that an organization has a positive impact on the world around them, in economic, environmental and social terms. But facilitating obesity does not fit this description for me.

* In the 2010 version of the EFQM Excellence Model the Fundamental Concept (FC) was called Taking Responsibility for a Sustainable Future, but meanwhile, in the current model, the EFQM Model 2013, the FC is called Creating a Sustainable Future.