What Does a Baldrige Award-Winning Company Look Like?

In 2015, four organizations received the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for their commitment to performance excellence. The winners were from four different categories, including small business, education, health care, and nonprofit. See below for some highlights on these organizations’ achievements:

MidwayUSA: This outdoor and recreational sport equipment firm improved its employee satisfaction and engagement rate from 76 percent in 2004 to 83 percent in 2015. By integrating customer satisfaction data into their performance improvement system, MidwayUSA’s customer approval ratings have topped 90 percent since 2006. This is the second time this company received the Baldrige award (also in 2009.)

The Charter School of San Diego (CSSD): Students who are at risk of never receiving a high school diploma enter CSSD, and the school has maintained student and parent satisfaction levels of close to 100%. Up to 98% have graduated or returned to a traditional high school, and the school has retained between 80–90% of its instructional staff for the past six years.

Charleston Area Medical Center Health System: This organization has been ranked in the top 5 percent for quality inpatient service, in the top 10 percent for outpatient satisfaction, and in the top 10 percent for patient safety. It is the biggest provider of uncompensated care in West Virginia, and has consistently lowered its re-admissions since 2011.

Mid-America Transplant Services: This organization built the nation’s first standalone organ recovery facility. It has been ranked as a national leader in number of transplanted donated organs and outperforms the national industry benchmark for missed organ referrals. Since 2012, they have reduced the cost per donor for in house cases from $7,000 to under $4,000 (when performed in a hospital, the service can cost around $20,000.)

All Baldrige Award winners exemplify what it means to be dedicated to their employees and their customers. These four organizations above know what it means to continuously seek improvement and provide the best quality service possible. Read more about the recipients, and for more details about the criteria for the Baldrige award, see their official webpage. The updated Baldrige criteria will also be covered in the next edition of Juran’s Quality Handbook, which will be released later this year. If your company is interested in applying for the Baldrige award and isn’t sure where to begin, take a look at our Organization Health Check and contact us today.