Why Apply for a Governor’s Quality Award?

The Governor’s Quality Award Program was developed to provide opportunities for all organizations in the state to measure their progress in the journey of performance excellence. The Award is used by all types of businesses—health care, schools, government agencies and all kind of organizations including for-profit, not-for-profit, small, large, growing, mature – any organization interested in improving its performance.

Click here to see past recipients of the Governor’s Award for Performance Excellence, the highest honor given by the Governor’s Quality Award.

The Baldrige Excellence Framework criteria is a set of questions that guide how to run any organization, no matter its sector or size. The questions cover all aspects of management: leadership; strategic planning; patients, measurement, analysis and knowledge management; the workforce; operations, and results. The Criteria contain core values and concepts that represent high-performing organizations.

Using the Baldrige framework, you can organize and integrate these approaches, improve productivity and effectiveness, and pursue performance excellence.

Improve Your Results

Regardless of what your business manufactures or the services it provides, the Baldrige Criteria are a valuable framework for measuring performance and planning in an uncertain environment. The Baldrige Criteria help businesses achieve and sustain the highest national levels of

  • Customer satisfaction and engagement
  • Product and service outcomes, and process efficiency
  • Workforce satisfaction and engagement
  • Revenue and market share
  • Social responsibility

The Governor’s Quality Award was developed to provide opportunities for all organizations in the state to measure their progress in the journey of performance excellence.

Write an Application for Award, Receive Recognition and Feedback

  • Training and coaching is provided  for applicants by the Governor’s Quality Award Program.
  • Applications are assessed by trained examiners. Applicants receive a feedback report with identified strengths and opportunities for improvement.
  • Awards are presented at an annual award presentation dinner.

Preparing An Application for a Governor’s Quality Award

  • There are four levels of application which are Challenge, Commitment, Achievement and Governor’s Award for Performance Excellence.
    • The Challenge Award requires attending Applicant Training I, completing a Key Business Factors (KBF) Worksheet and writing a five-page Organizational Profile.
    • The Commitment Award requires a KBF Worksheet, a five-Organizational Profile and a 15-page maximum application composed of specific questions from the Baldrige Excellence Framework criteria.
    • The Achievement and Governor’s Award both require a KBF Worksheet, a three to five-page Organizational profile and a 50-page maximum application responding to all 17 items in the Baldrige Excellence Framework criteria.  Applicants at the highest award level, the Governor’s Award for Performance Excellence, are organizations that can demonstrate through their practices and achievements the highest level of performance excellence through a maturity of processes and results.

See what the Governor’s Quality Award Program can do for your business. Contact Brandy Thomas at 501-372-2222 or bthomas@arkansasstatechamber.com for more information about the award calendar and applicant training.