Coaching For Excellence Brings Rewards

November 26, 2001

New Zealand organisations are embracing business excellence as they seek to compete on the international stage, resulting in an upsurge in the number of clients seeking assistance from performance excellence experts like Pin Point Solutions Ltd.

Pin Point Solutions coached two of the six companies recognised with Progress Awards at the recent 2001 New Zealand Business Excellence Awards, and consultant Graeme Russell says the firm has been inundated with calls from businesses interested in the excellence process.

“There is a growing realisation that performance excellence has a direct relationship with business success, and New Zealand companies are looking at ways of improving their performance to become world class organisations,” he says.

“With our geographic isolation and size, New Zealand companies need to make their mark internationally by setting themselves apart from the competition. One way of doing this is by adopting Best Process Technology® and aligning themselves with globally-recognised business excellence systems,” he adds.

Pin Point Solutions are acknowledged as New Zealand¹s leading experts in systems based on the Malcolm Baldrige Awards, the leading business excellence awards in the United States.

Set up by business excellence consultants who have long-standing experience with applying the business excellence framework in Australian and New Zealand, Pin Point Solutions¹ aim is to take the cream of New Zealand¹s business sector to world-class standards. The company has bases in Christchurch and Wellington and is also providing services in Australia.

Two of the company¹s clients, Synergy International Ltd and Degussa, received Progress Awards at the recently-announced 2001 Business Excellence Awards, facilitated by the New Zealand Business Excellence Foundation.

Graeme Russell, who is also a member of the foundation¹s national evaluation team, says the Progress Award indicates that both organisations are well on their way towards world-class systems. “The Progress Award basically says that a company is twice as good as the average New Zealand organisation,” he says.

Synergy International chief executive David Irving says the Best Process Technology® introduced to his company by Pin Point Solutions has given the company a framework and infrastructure to “accelerate our journey to world class performance”.

His comments are echoed by Degussa managing director Tom Barratt. “Best Process Technology® is a great tool for understanding the content and intent of business excellence. Using Pin Point Solution¹ approach enabled Degussa Peroxide to fast-track to a competent (award) submission.”

The steps taken by companies like Degussa, Synergy International and 1998 award winners Royal & Sun Alliance are being followed by more and more New Zealand businesses, as senior management recognise the massive benefits to be gained.

“An organisation which is performing to its potential will maximise profits, increase efficiency and will be a strong competitor in the marketplace.

“Statistics show that organisations which use a globally recognised framework, such as the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program, to self-assess and move towards performance excellence outperform the competition ­ in terms of results ­ by five to one. That¹s something today¹s business leaders simply cannot afford to ignore,” Graeme Russell adds.

Research recently completed by the New Zealand Business Excellence Foundation reveals some 68% of New Zealand organisations have implemented a business improvement programme in the past three years, with more than half of these occurring in the past year.

“The research showed that the around half of New Zealand organisations believe leadership and planning are the keys to long-term benefits for their business,” Graeme Russell says. “This fits with the Baldrige criteria, which says leadership, strategy and planning are the key drivers for world-class performance.

“What the research reveals is that a growing number of New Zealand businesses are aware of the need to strive for world class performance, and many of them have already started the process.”

The principle consultants of Pin Point Solutions all have extensive experience in the field of business excellence, and believe the Malcolm Baldrige framework provides a workable solution for New Zealand organisations of all sizes and from all business sectors.

“While there are some components of any organisation which are industry-specific, around 80 per cent of business systems and management is transferable between industry sectors. This means the framework for excellence is flexible enough to be applied to any organisation while being robust enough to withstand world-class scrutiny.”

For more information, contact:
Graeme Russell
Pin Point Solutions
Ph 03 384 9887
info@pinpointsolutions.co.nz

© Scoop Media