The importance of the EFQM Excellence Model in a sustainable society

Last week I mentioned that it is time for Third Generation Quality Management (3GQM). It is time for a method that makes a significant contribution to a more sustainable society. It is time for EFQM - The Next Level.

Buzzword

'Sustainability' is a buzzword that everyone has an opinion about. But what is sustainability anyway? Anyone who consults the Glossary of the EFQM Model 2013 brochure will be disappointed: sustainability is not even in there...

But is it really a problem if sustainability plays a limited role? That depends on your ambition. The vision of EFQM - 'A world striving for sustainable excellence' - indicates a clear desire to be recognized as a Global Role Model. This is supported by one of the core values: ‘We develop partnerships that generate mutual benefits for the community.’

Focus and vision

Sustainable excellence goes beyond the pursuit of business excellence. This requires more than an 'inside-out' perspective on the quality of the internal organization. Our global economy calls for a broad view on the world and to have a clear idea of the organization, however small, how to fulfil its role in it. In this context it is important for the EFQM Model 2016 that we have a discussion about:

• What is the role of the EFQM Excellence Model in a sustainable society?

• What is the ambition of the EFQM community? 

• What definitions will we use in this context?

Clear compass

Clear principles make the targets transparent. The four sustainability principles of The Natural Step Framework are useful guidelines towards a more sustainable way of thinking and doing, and thus towards a sustainable society. These scientifically based sustainability principles provide a compass which inspires more and more organizations.

Combining principles & criteria

The sustainability principles are easy to combine with the EFQM Excellence Model criteria. In first instance, of course, with the criterion Leadership and the Vision of the organization. The strength of the EFQM Excellence Model to help organizations achieve their strategy in combination with a vision in which the organization defines her role in a sustainable society brings Third Generation Quality Management very close to home! 

New website

Like the EFQM Model Improve4all continues to develop. Next week the new website will go live - including this blog. It is time for change. It's time for Improve4all - The Next Level. You have been warned!

Why we need enlightened leaders

It is a known fact: at some point the oil will run out. To continue to provide food and shelter to the growing population in the world, we produce continuously. And with that, we consume more and more energy and that inevitably will lead to problems. Fortunately, there are solutions.

Self-sufficiency
The first steps towards to provide sustainable energy have been taken, but this is not enough. At the current pace it will take a long time for sun, water and wind to become our main sources of energy. The speed must increase, and that is precisely the purpose of the Vision 2050: a roadmap towards a self-sustaining planet.

Illustration: Ivo va Leeuwen.

Changing the rules of the game
Businesses should also contribute to this, but that requires some ‘enlightened leadership’. According to Peter Bakker - President of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) - there are (far) too few business leaders with a sustainability vision. So, the rules of the game must change. Together with the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), the WBCSD drafted a framework for Integrated Reporting: a new way of reporting where not only financial data, but also the way value is created is playing a part. The main question: what are the social consequences - for humans, for animals and the environment - of the business activities?

Good example
It may sound complicated 'Integrated Reporting', but it is not too bad. The SAP Integrated Report 2012 is a good example of a report in which the non-financial results are clearly presented. Their rationale: ‘When products touch millions of people, safety and innovation go hand in hand.’

Leadership
Integrated Reporting is the result of ‘integrated’ management, which is the result of the 'integrated' strategy. At the core lies the 'integrated' vision. And who defines the vision of the organisation? Precisely: the leaders! As the EFQM Excellence Model 2013 under the criterion Leadership proclaims: ‘Leaders develop the mission, vision, values and ethics and act as role models’.

Sustainable future
For all organisations who do not know where to start: use the EFQM Excellence Model! Developed already 25 years ago, but still effective in providing organisations with a clear roadmap towards a sustainable - financial and non-financial - future.

Not using RADAR? Missed opportunity!

‘To measure is to know’, the saying goes. True words, because what is the point of setting up management systems if you do not know how effective they are? Which manager does not want to know how the organization is doing and where improvements are needed? Fortunately the EFQM Excellence Model provides us with this practical tool that every organization can use every day: RADAR!

Question your performance
RADAR stands for Results, Approach, Deployment, Assessment and Refinement. As part of the EFQM Excellence Model, RADAR is used by assessors as the scoring mechanism for the EFQM Excellence Award and other recognition or assessment schemes. However RADAR is a tool that can be used by everyone. The RADAR logic provides any organisation, not just the ones in pursuit of sustainable excellence, with a structured approach to question their performance and enable them to make a robust assessment of their ‘degree of excellence’. In other words: it helps organisations to identify possible improvement opportunities.

Illustratie: Ivo van Leeuwen.

Backbone
On high level RADAR states that an organisation needs to determine the results it is aiming to achieve as part of its strategy. It needs to plan and develop an integrated set of sound approaches to deliver the required results both now and in the future and deploy the approaches in a systematic way to ensure their implementation. And last but not least, based on the analyses of the results achieved and on-going learning activities organisations can assess and refine their approaches and deployment.

Opportunity
Any type of organization can integrate these components into their business management system in order to develop a culture of excellence, to create consistency in their management style, to identify good practices, to boost innovation and to improve business results. The advantages are obvious. Not to use RADAR = a missed opportunity!

Update EFQM Excellence Model

'Nothing lasts except change' (Heraclitus).

The world is changing, so the EFQM Excellence Model changes along. We are living in a world where changes happen in quick succession, so 2010's last update needed evaluation. Please meet the EFQM Excellence Model 2013.

Basic Principles

The EFQM Excellence Model is based on a set of European standards, originating from the European Convention on Human Rights (1953) and the European Social Charter (revised in 1996). Then 10 base standards were set in the European Global Compact, which are indicators of 'sustainable and socially responsible business' (2000). More than 30,000 organizations all over the world, so not just European institutions, embraced the EFQM Excellence Model through the years.

No Revolution

This update should be considered an adjustment of the existing model, and is therefore an evolution and not a revolution. The structure and terminology have been adjusted if necessary, but the foundation keeps standing. This base consists of 'Fundamental Concepts of Excellence', which describe the characteristics of a sustainable, excellent organization. The 'Model' is where these standards are converted to actions. Last but not least, it contains the 'RADAR', a management tool that shows the status of the organization: what changes (still) have to be implemented to achieve excellence?

 Adaptability

The new model pays more attention to, for one, the flexible and powerful response to changing conditions. These are dynamic days we are living in, and a company's adaptability becomes increasingly more important.

This update also pays more attention to the higher importance of social media. Research agency Millward Brown concluded that European managers consider social media a condition for expansion. It becomes more valuable every day, and this is actually a global phenomenon: social media also keeps developing in Asia, America and the Middle East, both on the quantitative as the qualitative area. 

 

Proactive

The EFQM Excellence Model 2013 is already available in different languages in EFQM's webshop. The new Model will be rolled out worldwide in November 2012. Be proactive and meet THE new standard for a more sustainable world. 

On our way to a sustainable earth

People, Planet, Profit… Practice?
It has become a true vogue word by now: sustainability. The press regularly publishes on our planet's vulnerability, increasing food prices and the scarcity of raw materials that is drawing near with rapid strides. An appealing story, because it relates to all of us. But are all these reports really effective? What, for example, are our ladies and gentlemen of the cabinet actually doing? 'Sustainability' is even a scarcely used term during election time...

Work to be done
Also in the Ltd. The People, Planet & Profit triangle made its entry into the Netherlands, but how about the Practice? More and more small-scale concrete, useful initiatives take place, but to what extent is this relevant for companies with profit as their main target? Research performed by Deloitte proved that only a handful of multinationals 'succeeded developing and preserving a sustainable company strategy'. So there's work to be done...

The sun's power

Heads up for the small group of people that do succeed. An inspiring example is Bertrand Piccard, he set up a unique project with Solar Impulse; an aeroplane driven by solar energy. Plane constructors didn't see the point of it - 'it is impossible' - but a man like Piccard doesn't really care. So he was the first to make an intercontinental journey with a 'solar plane'. The videos say more than a thousand words.


Hearts and minds
It's no surprise for those who follow my blog; I've been engaged in management improvement by means of the EFQM Excellence Model for years now, and - as a result - sustainability. Because only when the internal management is settled, we control the effect of our actions on our environment to the max. That is important, because the cliché really is true; sustainability has an effect on the future of us all.  So I keep fighting to get sustainability in the hearts and minds, both on the business and private area.

Surprises
The day I write this blog, it's ‘10/10’, or Sustainability Day. A perfect moment for a fresh start; I will use this weekly blog to report on current developments, special meetings and interesting events. From Veldhoven to Abu Dhabi, and from inspiring gurus to the greengrocer around the corner; the way to a sustainable planet is full of surprises. I would love to share my experiences with the world, to Improve4All. 

J2E gets you going!

The EFQM Model is not for wimps. One needs to persist and invest time and effort to improve the performance and the organisation in a sustainable way. It is great when things (and obviously the business results) start going your way! Finding the way to get started is sometimes a challenge … this is where the EFQM Journey to Excellence (J2E) training course will get you off to an even better start.

When it comes to successfully implementing the EFQM Model in an organisation everyone throughout the organisation needs to be involved and fully engaged. Line managers and process owners don’t need the same level of understanding of the EFQM Model as the excellence professionals in the organisation need to have. What these line managers and process owners need to understand is simply how to apply the Model in a practical and common sense way with simple tools and techniques. This is what will add value to the workplace. The J2E-course is specially designed for line managers and process owners who are going to support the organisation with implementing the Model. The J2E-course is a 3-day interactive training course created to help attendees understand where they are on their journey towards excellence, where they would like to be and how to get there. At the end of the course, they will be more motivated and will better appreciate what is required to set out on the journey, not just in terms of tools and techniques, but also in terms of cultural development.

Will you win?

Last October BBest launched the first Excellence Award program in the Benelux based on an evaluation with the EFQM Model. The Benelux Excellence Award is an official part of the EFQM Excellence Award program and as such the ideal ‘try out’ opportunity for organisations planning to go for the EFQM Excellence Award. The goal of the BEA-program is to identify organisations that have made considerable progress on their ‘Journey towards Excellence’ and recognise these organisations with an award, the Benelux Excellence Award.

Any company, organisation or operational unit in Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg can enter into the BEA-program regardless of their size and sector of activities (public, private or not-for-profit). Applicants will be requested to prepare a submission document as preparation for the assessment team. The actual performance of the applicant will be evaluated through a ‘Recognised for Excellence’ type of assessment with the EFQM Model. A small team of experts will execute this assessment. All applicants will receive an assessment feedback report detailing their strengths and areas for improvement. Also a score on the achieved level of Excellence at that time will be provided. However to have a ‘fighting chance’ to actually win the award please be aware of the fact that is it expected that applicants have a mature quality management system in place already for some time. The management system should either based on ISO or a sector specific quality system derived from the EFQM Model, or obviously directly based on the EFQM Model itself.

Candidate organisations for the Benelux Excellence Award 2011 can contact BBest directly to enrol into the program and need to keep in mind that they should also be able to have the EFQM-assessment done ultimately by September this year.

An award will be presented to the company or organisation that has been rated to be the best in his category:

Not-for-profit – small organisations

Not-for-profit – big organisations

Profit – small organisations

Profit – big organisations

In October 2011 during the next annual BBest conference the awards will be presented. Will we be handing this beautiful award to you maybe? Hope so!

Don’t miss my article in magazine Kwaliteit in Bedrijf, a renowned Dutch quality magazine. The magazine will publish my Business Excellence Award article in their March issue.

Let’s take a look in the mirror

Previously I talked about the use of the EFQM Model in the context of an EFQM-assessment. But the EFQM Model can also be used as a model for management to run their business. Through a process called Self-Assessment (SA) an organisation can get a comprehensive view on their overall fitness at a certain point in time. It is actually not much more than taking ‘a good look in the mirror’ called EFQM Model. What you see provides you with feedback on the effectiveness and efficiency of all the approaches the organisation. This feedback is invaluable when determining or refining the future strategic direction of the organisation and consequently identifying the necessary improvements to make it happen.

Depending on the method used for executing the SA the investment in resources will vary. Regardless of the method used the result of the process is a list of the organisation’s Strengths (Ss) and Areas For Improvement (AFIs). It is not uncommon for an organisation to identify more than 200 items, nor is it uncommon that several and/or the big ‘challenges’ on the list were already on the radar of the senior management team.

There are managers (and consultants) who are disappointed with this process, because they feel there is an imbalance between the input and the output of the process. The (sometimes big) investment in resources does not make up for creating this very long list of Ss and AFIs, many ‘they knew about anyway’… One can look upon this point in various ways, but let me bring up a few things I find important to mention on this point. 

Firstly I sincerely hope the identified Ss and AFIs do not come as a surprise to management, at least not the majority of them, otherwise they would have been quite out of touch with their own business. However I do agree that listing all these detailed Ss and AFIs, as this is a part of the process, is not the most exiting activity. EFQM has various support tools available, but a good help here is the solution Ricoh has offered to the EFQM Community recently. To support their SA-process Ricoh developed and implemented a SA-method and tool called the Business Excellence Matrix (BEM). Apart from identifying and creating the list of Ss and AFIs, the output of BEM-approach is also an Enabler Map.

Secondly, but maybe I should have mentioned this first, the creation of this comprehensive list of Ss and AFIs is not an aim in itself. This list is the basis from which the organisation selects the priority topics that will help to define or refine their strategy and make sure the organisation is progressing towards reaching its vision.

And thirdly when the SA-process is set up and executed the right way it creates an enormous buzz in the organisation. Involving people from various levels in the organisation creates a feeling of empowerment among employees. In my personal experience people that have been involved in a Self-Assessment do not need much encouragement to take ownership of any action or project agreed as a result of that process. This makes deployment quite a bit easier!

I can put more points forward, but I leave it up to you now to maybe surprise me with one or two interesting things about your own the Self-Assessment experiences. What surprised you when you took a good look in the EFQM Model mirror?