Two Gold Awards in performance excellence awards

Two Gold Awards in New Zealand’s toughest and most prestigious performance excellence awards

The New Zealand Business Excellence Foundation will present two New Zealand Business Excellence “Gold” awards at their annual gala luncheon on Friday 29 November.

The awards, which are administered by the Foundation, are the only awards in New Zealand which are fully aligned to the internationally respected US Baldrige criteria. Foundation CEO, Mike Watson, says “Being awarded Gold puts the winner in very elite company. These awards are unique in that they are based on an international benchmark criteria, scoring system and a rigorous four-stage assessment process”.

In receiving this award, Spectrum Care Trust becomes the first New Zealand healthcare organisation to win Gold and Western Bay of Plenty District Council becomes only the second Territorial Local Authority in New Zealand to win at Gold level since the NZ Business Excellence Awards commenced in 1993. These awards place Spectrum Care Trust and Western Bay of Plenty District Council as benchmark performers in their respective sectors.

“From the moment we first encountered the world of Business Excellence, it became apparent we could never again be satisfied with ‘good enough’.” says Chris Harris Chief Executive of Spectrum Care Trust.

“We’ve long believed that we hold ourselves to a higher standard, to loftier ideals and a more holistic world view, due first and foremost to our person-centred Vision and Values, and our capacity to support people with disabilities to live great lives.

“We’ve also sought to move beyond the minimum standards that define the quality monitoring context of the health and disability sector, and the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence has allowed us to take this important step – refocusing on an aspirational journey which embraces excellence and best practice.

“However, validating ourselves against a world-class set of business criteria has exposed every aspect of our organisation and operations to incisive, critical review.

“Despite being at times daunted by this commitment to excellence, the rewards have been incalculable. Not only have we become better able to fulfil our Vision of ‘People with disabilities living great lives’, but we’ve significantly grown our workforce capacities, process capabilities, strategic vision, quality and sustainability.

“Why do we do this? Above all, our Business Excellence journey is an expression of our organisational commitment to making a difference for the people we support. We seek to support people with disabilities to live great lives.
“Not only do we want to be the best that we can be, but we want families to know that we deserve their trust as an effective and innovative provider, that funders can have confidence in our systems and processes, and that staff can have justifiable pride in being part of a successful organisation that supports positive outcomes for people with disabilities.

“There are milestones, achievements and, in some instances, awards, but it’s the Business Excellence journey itself that sets it apart – in our experience, it’s a way of life. For while the process of collating a Business Excellence award application is an extraordinarily challenging task in and of itself, the daily reality of being on this journey provides extraordinary rewards.

“Each step on the Business Excellence journey, no matter how hard, brings us closer to realising our organisational potential and builds a better, brighter future for the people we support.”

Council chief executive Glenn Snelgrove says a lot of work had gone into moving Western Bay of Plenty District Council from the Silver it received in 2009 to Gold award status.

“Our mission is all about implementing sound planning and cost effective core local government services to take the Western Bay forward.

“Every member of the council team has put in a huge effort over the last four years and we’ve achieved some really solid results along the way, particularly in the area of integrated planning and customer service.

“Our mayor, councillors and staff are absolutely thrilled to be recognised as leaders in the Local Authority sector.”

In 2013 two other organisations are also being recognised, Waipa District Council in its first application has been awarded the NZ Business Excellence Award “Silver” level, only the third Local Authority in NZ to achieve at this level.

Chief Executive, Garry Dyet says,“To have achieved a business excellence Silver award is a strong indication that we’re doing the right things by the district and its people. We have joined a great network of other organisations to achieve world-rated best practice.

“We started the journey because our residents deserve the best that we can deliver for their rating dollars, and our staff deserve a work place where we offer a professional, flexible and challenging environment, where they can grow and develop and where their contributions are recognised.

“To win a silver award for a first attempt is very pleasing and now, with the benefit of the feedback we’ve received through the awards process, we have some good pointers towards the things that we can do to make Waipa an even better place to live work and play.”

Also in a first for the NZ Health sector, the Bay of Plenty District Health Board achieved a NZ Business Excellence “Bronze” level Award, the first NZ DHB to enter and win an award in these internationally calibrated benchmark awards.

“This award for the Bay of Plenty District Health Board has been the culmination of a journey which started some years ago, when we took the decision that the organisation would follow a continuous quality improvement path” says Chief Executive Officer Phil Cammish.

“The efforts of the staff over the intervening years have led us to this success in the NZBEF Awards. And, whilst a great achievement in itself, it is but another step in our quality improvement journey.

“I am proud of the work our DHB has undertaken to achieve this award and have confidence that, as a result, we are delivering safer and higher quality healthcare for Bay of Plenty residents than if we had not embarked on the journey.”

Presented alongside the Business Excellence Awards will be the New Zealand Business Achievement Awards. These are an abridged version of the Business Excellence Awards evaluated on the same rigorous basis. Recognised in this category is the Clinical Trials Unit of Bay of Plenty District Health Board.

Head of Bay of Plenty Clinical School, Associate Professor, Dr Peter Gilling said:

“The significant increase in growth the Bay of Plenty Clinical School’s Trials Unit has experienced over the past four years can be attributed to the reputation of the unit’s staff and the quality of research being undertaken here. It has been very beneficial to the community and the District Health Board to have clinical trials being undertaken locally.
“The application for an Achievement Award was submitted so that we could benchmark ourselves against reputable and internationally recognised criteria. This will help us to continually develop, by acknowledging our strengths and areas for improvement.”

The 2013 New Zealand Business Excellence Awards Gala Luncheon takes place at Coopers Function Centre, Mystery Creek, Hamilton, 11.45 – 4pm on Friday 29 November 2013.

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