Excellence Awards
Business and organisational awards abound now in the UK, from local awards up to national and even then on to international ones. Many include the word 'Excellence' in the title or description, but we believe it is awards based on the EFQM Excellence Model* that really test the fullest extent of business or organisational excellence.
Our own focus is on awards based on the Excellence Model. If your organisation has been successful in a local award, why not think about taking another step forward by using an Excellence Model based award?
Benefits of EFQM Excellence Model based awards
We believe that business/organisational Excellence Awards based on the Model usually have more advantages for applicants than many other awards. A key characteristic of Excellence Model-based awards is that they exist to help organisations improve further - they are not just about giving recognition and marketing opportunities, although that applies as well.
Typical benefits of Excellence Model-based Awards include:
- all applicants receive a feedback report outlining key strengths and potential areas for improvement for the organisation; so even if you do not win you get a benefit
- the assessment is against a world class management framework - the EFQM Excellence Model - which is applicable to any type or size of organisation and which research has shown can deliver benefits through to the bottom line
- the assessment process is carried out by teams of trained assessors, usually practising managers, who use a transparent process that is known by the applicant
- organisations can use the EFQM Excellence Model themselves - outside of any award process - to identify where they are strong and where they need to improve.
A common comment about such awards is that they are not about 'winners and losers'. All entrants gain from entering, so a better description would be that they are about 'winners and bigger winners'!
Relationship between Excellence Model awards
There is an informal 'hierarchy' of such awards, ranging from regional up to European level. There are no formal linkages, so the following outline is our own view of the position in England, not a defined framework.
At the pinnacle is the EFQM Excellence Award, and below that is the UK Excellence Award organised by the British Quality Foundation. Then come three Regional Awards, the Southern England, the Midlands and the North of England Excellence Awards. All of these are assessed against the full Excellence Model.
There are also London Excellence Awards, where the entry categories are the Fundamental Concepts of Excellence, and assessment is based on the relevant topics from the Criteria of the Excellence Model. So whilst based on the Excellence Model, an applicant enters on only part of the Model, not the whole framework. These can typically serve as 'entry level' awards for organisations wanting to 'put a toe in the water'.
Because these awards are not in a formal framework, organisations do not have to start at the lower rung and work upwards, they can generally enter at a suitable level. Some organisations may start at Regional awards, others - if they meet the entry requirements - can go direct to the UK Award.
Other recognition
As well as the formal Excellence Awards, other forms of external recognition exist, such as the Levels of Excellence. Brief details are given on Our Services Overview page.
*EFQM stands for The European Foundation for Quality Management. The Excellence Model is a registered trademark of the EFQM
