Excellence in ActionNI Quality Awards 2007

In this Issue: Featuring the Best Practice of the Winners of the Northern Ireland Quality Award x Excellence in Action events x Call for Assessors x How focusing on Quality can help you improve and much more!

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Issue 7: Spring 2008

Welcome to our Spring Newsletter, Excellence in Action!

I would like to start by congratulating our Northern Ireland Quality Award winners that were recognised at our Gala Event in the Ramada Hotel on 31st January. This Newsletter gives you the opportunity to hear their stories and what their experience of the Quality Award process was and how focusing on Quality has helped their organisation to perform better.

We are very proud to have organised the thirteenth Awards Gala in association with Invest NI and extend our special thanks to the award sponsors: Ulster Bank, the Department of Finance & Personnel, Deloitte, Viridian, MLN, Belfast in the Community and Bombardier.

In the area of Quality Excellence, 2007 was a record year for Northern Ireland. Organisations from Northern Ireland won 50 % of the European awards and 100% of the UK awards. My sincere congratulations go to all the Excellence Award winners in 2007.

It is also noteworthy to mention that Northern Ireland companies that have applied the fundamental concepts of Excellence over the past ten years are still thriving and profitable in spite of global competition and international competitive pressures. The application of the European Excellence framework is not prescriptive, but it provides companies with a blue print or series of prompts to help leaders move their organisation forward in a sustainable and profitable way. Companies and economies operate in a multi-polar, interdependent world where speed of change through technology, 24-7 working, uncertainty and mobility sets a new context for Leadership. Northern Ireland’s award wining companies are role models in this respect. Leadership involves ‘Direction’ (purpose & goals), ‘Trust’ (integrity & reliability) and ‘Results’ (action & energy), all of which underpins the journey to excellence and international competitiveness.

We will be organising a number of ‘Excellence in Action’ events with organisations that went through the Northern Ireland Quality Award process in 2007. There is a great deal of benefit to be had by member organisations networking and sharing best practice. Never underestimate what can be learned from others; ideas are transferable across sectors and company sizes and new ideas that are not already in your sector can emerge through sharing.

Compete Spring 2008 // Centre for Competitiveness

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Bob Barbour Director & Chief Executive

CelebratingSuccess

NI Quality Awards winners for 2007

Announced at a dazzling Gala Ceremony in the Ramada Hotel on 31st January,

4 organisations achieved the highest accolade, the NI Quality Award, and 11 more achieved various other levels of recognition.

The NI Quality Award process represents the most rigorous assessment process of any awards in Northern Ireland. The fact that 4 organisations achieved the highest level of recognition, reaching over 500 points when scored against the EFQM - European Excellence Model, conveys the high calibre of our organisations in Northern Ireland and is certainly heartening when considering the future of our economy.

NI Quality Award EFQM Score Range 500+ points zx Clandeboye Lodge Hotelzx Springfarm Architectural Mouldingszx Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment zx North Eastern Education and Library Board

Prize Winner zx ICS Computing Ltdzx Triangle Housing Association Ltd

Mark of Excellence (All sectors) EFQM Score Range 401-500 points zx Munster Simms Engineering Ltdzx Enforcement of Judgments Office and Supreme Court Taxing Office

Steps to Excellence Award EFQM Score Range: Gold 351-400, Silver 301-350, Bronze 250-300 points

Gold Award zx Medical Physics Agencyzx Newtownabbey Borough Councilzx Ashton Groupzx Belfast Community Housing Association

Silver Awardzx Groundwork NI

Special Award for Corporate Social Responsibility Munster Simms Engineering Ltd.

Special Award for LeadershipPim Dalm, Clandeboye Lodge

With Thanks

We would like to extend a very sincere thank you to the Judging Panel and Assessors who contributed to the NI Quality Awards process in 2007. The credibility of the process is largely dependent on the excellent work carried out by our Judges and Assessors - and all on a voluntary basis !

Judging Panelzx Kieran Harding -

Business in the Communityzx Stephen Mathews - Cedar Foundationzx Gerry O’Neill - OFMDFMzx Mark Beattie -

George Best Belfast City Airportzx Irwin Turbitt - I.T. Associateszx Victor Jordan - Invest NI zx Marie Lindsay - St Mary’s College

Senior AssessorsAdrian Gundy • Carol Johnston • Christine CaseyDes Lyness • Gina Lyttle • John McCluneJoy McAleer • Peter McElhinney • Stephen CrossTony Wilson • Vicky Kell • Sharon Cox Donna O’Connor

AssessorsElizabeth Clark • Billy Burrows • Emily WilsonFrank McWilliams • Simon Quinn • Paula McCabeJoy Taylor • Patrick Ward • Joanne RamseyAnthony Cunningham • Aidan McMichaelDawson Bratty • Michael Riddell • Mark DonnellyCathy Lavery • Mark Alexander • George DempseyJean Pimley • Hugh Wilson • Pauline MartinCaroline Arnott • Paul Burns • Louise Claire BoydStephanie McCormack • Lynn McCourt • Liz TorransBrenda McMeekin • Mervyn Simpson Edna Dunbar • Teresa Connolly

SAMSpringfarm Architectural Mouldings Limited (SAM) is an established construction mouldings business engaged primarily in the supply of MDF architectural mouldings to the construction and home improvement industries. Over 92% of product is exported to UK and Ireland and the company is number one in its market, with a share of 27%. SAM meets the demand for a cost effective, top quality alternative to traditional timber mouldings. The range of mouldings includes skirting, architrave, dado rail, picture rail, windowboard and cornice, and the product’s versatility enables it to be used in all types of construction.

The organisation is a privately owned business. The company has a sales turnover of £16.1m (2007) with a workforce of 120 people

Key StrengthsPROCESSES - The business has very a strong approach to process management and Theory of Constraints has been very successfully adopted as a high-level management tool to manage bottlenecks and smooth production. It has also been effectively used to streamline financial processes

Results Orientation Evidence of consistent achievement of business results across all of the model results sections is strong. The business uses a Super ‘6’ reporting tool which tracks all Kpi’s / supporting business targets.

LeadershipSAM’ s Executive Team has clearly set out its Mission, Vision and Values and act as role models for the values and culture of the company. This has led to a ‘Corporate Family Culture & Ethos’. There is evidence of a united leadership team with the wider management team being actively involved in improvement activities (design and development of the CRM, Logistics Improvements, application of TOC to Finances, consideration of 5S, developing/modifying technologies to suit organisations needs).

BenefitsThe commitment to continuous improvement is significant and is core to the business philosophy. zx Winner Northern Ireland Quality

Award 1998

zx Winner UK Quality Award 2000

zx Winner European Quality Award 2002

zx Winner UK Quality Award 2006

zx Winner Northern Ireland Quality Award 2007

In addition to EFQM achievements, SAM success is reflected in a wide range of accreditations and external validations for example IiP (Champion status achieved in 2004), ISO, OHSAS, Golden Apple Award, Integrated Quality Management (2007).

CelebratingSuccess

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Clandeboye Lodge Hotel

Clandeboye Lodge Hotel (CLH) have experienced a significant degree of success since opening in recent years. They have performed well relative to key industry parameters and have achieved success in terms of rebranding. Following a shift in business emphasis - closing the nightclub, significant refurbishment of bedrooms and restaurant - the Hotel has now achieved 4 Star status. The degree of maturity for a ‘small company’ is pronounced, with clear setting of objective levels and appropriate measures of performance established.

Key StrengthsCUSTOMER FOCUS - Customer satisfaction is paramount at CLH. Positive feedback is displayed on notice boards and individual members of staff are thanked. AA assessments are conducted without notification and categorise CLH as a 4 star hotel. The Criteria against which the hotel is assessed is stringent and CLH has demonstrated improvement in scoring year on year.

PlanningCLH uses the Balanced Scorecard to develop and communicate strategies. Key performance indicators are captured by managers. Performance is measured against targets, and variance reported against targets and previous period results. The information is clearly used

to influence decisions and to drive improvement activities and corrective actions.

Continuous Learning, Improvement and Innovation

It is clear that CLH is committed to continuous improvement, and improving the business and people. The General Manager is committed to investment in CLH to enhance service offered. This creates projects that are driven by senior managers to improve quality and customer satisfaction. A culture of improvement is prevalent.

BenefitsThere has been a review of the appropriateness and scope of results relative to key stakeholders. Key financial and operational performance has been positive over time:

zx Overall improving trend for sales and operating profit year on year since 2002

zx Increased % room occupancy since 2002

zx Increased room rate since 2002

zx Increased REVPAR performance

zx Sales for key areas show a positive performance in recent years (Room sales, Food sales, Conference Sales. Total sales and Profit show trend improvement since 2002).

Private

Bob Barbour presents Pim Dalm of Clandeboye Lodge with his Northern Ireland Quality Award trophy

SAM won the UK Excellence Award in London in October 2007.

North Eastern Education and Library Board (NEELB)

The NEELB is responsible for the funding and delivery of local education, youth and library services to 406,000 people and 73,000 pupils in it’s geographical area which covers Moyle to Antrim, Magherafelt to Carrickfergus.

With a budget of £320 million, NEELB is one of the largest Local Education Authorities in the UK.

In the current challenging environment of the Review of Public Administration, the Board has maintained a strategic focus on organisational improvement.

Key Strengthszx The Commitment to the application of a wide range

of quality initiatives is very evident. The Board have been exemplary in their achievement of Charter Mark, Investors in People ,Steps to Excellence and ISO 9002.

zx The leadership of the Board has demonstrated their commitment to continuous improvement through their values, strategies, structure and investment. Key business processes have been identified and mapped, and work has been carried out on the development of specific related performance indicators.

zx The Board is clearly committed to the training and development of its staff, even within existing budgetary constraints. There is significant evidence

within the organisation of staff being encouraged to generate and implement ideas to improve individual and team performance. Staff in the Board clearly feel involved and empowered.

zx The partnership approach for the development and delivery of the Library IT Service is considered to be ‘role model’. The North Eastern Education & Library Board is the lead on behalf of all ELB’s. The approach taken to the governance, ongoing review and the delivery of results has been highlighted as best practice through the Gateway Review process and through feedback from the NI Audit Office.

zx The approach to managing and supporting ‘Manual Staff’ is also considered to be ‘role model’. The board have developed a number of innovative approaches to ensure Drivers, Grounds, Catering and other staff are supported through effective communication and learning and development.

Benefitszx The Board has shown predominantly high levels

of customer satisfaction throughout its range of services and generally positive performance against the targets set and benchmarks selected.

zxDrawing on comparisons with the other Education and Library Boards the North Eastern Board, for the past 7 years, outperformed the other boards for the lowest percentage of pupils leaving school without any GCSE figures.

zx Through effective financial control the Board has achieved an increase in the Age Weighted Pupil Unit Value (AWPU) representative of the resources available to pupils across particular educational strands.

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Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment

The Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) is a unique educational body in the United Kingdom that brings together the areas of curriculum, assessment and examinations. CCEA employs approximately 340 permanent staff along with approximately 3000 practicing teachers as examiners, moderators and markers and approximately 1000 examination invigilators.

Their strategic improvement journey, initiated some 7 years ago, has resulted in the organisation not just achieving excellent performance, but also being recognised as the foremost Examinations Accreditation body in the UK.

Key StrengthsPEOPLE MANAGEMENT - The number of benefits available to staff is extensive and staff are appreciative of what is on offer. The link can be made between benefits offered and low levels of absence rates which are well below the UK public sector average and in line with best practice public sector performance.

Customer ServiceCCEA has a clear customer service ethos. It demonstrates excellent relationship

management with clear involvement of customers in the development of products and services and customers are involved at key stages of development. There is consistent evaluation of products and services to include customer feedback which informs the development and improvement of these products and services.

CCEA has been awarded Charter Mark with 10 elements of the standard identified as areas of best practice.

Process Management CCEA has a clear process management system which is comprehensively applied throughout the organisation.

CCEA has to manage a number of critical, high profile processes such as the examinations process which would have the potential to adversely affect the future of young people sitting the examinations if anything went wrong. Their processes and procedures therefore have to be and are very tightly controlled with well developed contingency plans.

Benefitszx CCEA are growing their market share outside

Northern Ireland as evidenced by data on income gained outside NI, GCE Market Share and centres taking CCEA examinations.

zx Customer measurements show excellent trends and general satisfaction levels remain very high and show favourably against most competitors benchmarked.

zx CCEA demonstrate a clear culture of commitment to excellence. There have been a number of external validations of what they have been doing for example Charter Mark, IIP, ISO 9001, ISO 14001and ISO18001. There is clear evidence of the understanding by the senior management team of CCEA ’s investment in continuous improvement and how a mature learning organisation works.

Public

The North Eastern Board Curriculum Advisory and Support staff receive their Aspect certificates.

Emma Dougal and Roger Trigg of CCEA discuss the revision of GCE and GCSE specifications.

THANK YOU!

We at the Centre for Competitiveness would like to thank all of our sponsors for their continued support of the Northern Ireland Quality Award Process.

With their assistance we have made the Northern Ireland Quality Award the premier Business Excellence Award on the island of Ireland.

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Since 2003 the Northern Ireland Levels of Recognition have been fully aligned with those of EFQM. Any organisation scoring over 300 points will also receive formal EFQM recognition.

These levels of recognition are:

EFQM Committed to ExcellenceThis pan-European recognition system is designed for organisations at the beginning of their Journey to Excellence and focuses on helping them to understand their current performance level and establish improvement priorities. Key elements:zx Conduct EFQM assessment

zx Prioritise improvement areas and develop an improvement plan.

zx Progress against improvement will be validated at a site visit.

STEPS to Excellence This scheme was designed by CforC in association with the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister in 2000.The purpose of Steps to Excellence is to promote the use of the EFQM Excellence Model and recognise organisations at various stages of the Journey to Excellence.

SCORING PROFILE: BRONZE - 250-300 Points SILVER - 301-350 Points GOLD - 351-400 Points

STEPS Silver and Gold are equivalent to EFQM 3-Star recognition.

Mark of ExcellenceAn all-Ireland scheme that recognises organisations that are progressing towards role model status. To achieve the Mark of Excellence, organisations need to demonstrate that they have;zx Well managed processes

zx Well established approaches with reasonable evidence of roll out

zx Consistency of deployment

zx Evidence of gathering results data

SCORING PROFILE: 401-500 Points

The Mark of Excellence is equivalent to EFQM 4-Star recognition.

Northern Ireland Quality Award™The Northern Ireland Quality Award is the key stimulator of excellence for role model organisations in Northern Ireland that have developed a mature approach to continuous improvement.The Award is aligned with the UK and European Quality Awards thus providing a route map for companies to follow their achievement confirmed at Regional, National and European levels.

NI Award Winners will demonstrate the following characteristics:zx Likely to have introduced an

organisational wide improvement programme.

zx Previous independent feedback.

zx A process for incorporating feedback into their business planning.

zx Use of external benchmarks and comparisons as the basis for target setting.

zx Understanding of the impact of approaches on results.

SCORING PROFILE: 500+ Points

The Northern Ireland Quality Award is equivalent to EFQM 5-Star recognition.

For further information on EFQM and/or the Northern Ireland Quality Awards please contact George Wilson on Tel: 028 9073 7950 or Email: george.wilson@cforc.org.

Sponsors

European Quality Award 750+

N.I. Quality Award EFQM 5-Star Recognition (All sectors 500+)

Mark of Excellence EFQM 4-Star Recognition (All sectors 401-500)

STEPS to Excellence Gold 351-400 Silver 301-350Bronze 250-300

EFQM Committed to Excellence (All Sectors)

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

EFQM ExcellenceRecognition Scoring Structure

NI Quality AwardsLevels of Recognition

NI QUALITY AWARDS & RECOGNITION PROCESS 2008

TIMETABLE OF EVENTS

How to prepare a Submission Document ½ day Seminar for Applicants 13 March 2008

Recruitment of Assessors April 2008

Closing dates for submissions 29 August 2008

ASSESSOR TRAININGNewcomers3 days 3-5 September 2008

Returns2 days 4-5 September 2008

Assessors receive submissions September 2008

How to prepare for a site visit ½ day Seminar for Applicants 25 September 2008

Preliminary site visit (1/2 day) W /c 6 October 2008

Consensus MeetingsOctober 2008

Site Visits W/c 8 November 2008

Final Judges Meeting 11 December 2008

Gala Ceremony January 2009

EFQM 3-Star Recognition

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Compete Spring 2008 // Centre for Competitiveness

Call for Assessors 2008

Each year, the Centre for Competitiveness needs to create teams of high calibre assessors capable of evaluating applicants for the NI Quality Awards process. As applications come from a wide range of organisations from all parts of Northern Ireland, sector coverage and balance are important considerations in the selection of assessors. Assessors need to possess a high level of expertise and experience in business improvement, together with a balanced approach and a reputation for integrity.

If you are interested in becoming an Assessor please contact George Wilson for further information and an Application Form.

Benefits of being an Assessor

1 Opportunity to experience best practice and leading ideas in other organisations.

2 Enhancement of development skills e.g. leadership, teamwork and communication.

3 Strategic skills such as identifying improvement opportunities and benchmarking.

CEO Bob Barbour

Quality Excellence George Wilson

Innovation & Creativity Adrian Gundy & Derek Johnston

Productivity Improvement Michael O’Neill

Business Development Michael Smith

Marketing Kerry Quinn

Events Pauline Pollock

Finance Alan Harvey & Lorraine Branagh

Support Patricia Williamson

Contact Details

Centre for CompetitivenessThe Innovation CentreNI Science Park Queens Road Belfast BT3 9DTT: 028 9073 7950 F: 028 9073 7951 E: compete@cforc.org W: www.cforc.org

Your Team

Your Events

Upcoming Network Events

15th February: Triangle Housing Association - Excellence in Action

March: Clandeboye Lodge Hotel - Excellence in Action

April: Collaborative Networking

Training Diary 6 Feb: Six Sigma Taster

12 Feb: Practical Project Management

18 Feb: Six Sigma, Greenbelt

19 Feb: 8D Problem Solving

27 Feb: Quality Basics

04 March: Creative Problem Solving in the Public Sector

13 March: Balanced Scorecard

19 March: New Product Development Certification

More events and further details are publicised on www.cforc.org/events To register your interest contact Pauline Pollock Tel: 028 9073 7950 Email: pauline.pollock@cforc.org

Committed to helping you improveCentre for Competitiveness is not for profit, independent and member based

The Centre for Competitiveness is committed to helping organisations on their journey to Excellence and has developed a series of recognition stages to assess and reward organisations on their progress.

The different levels of recognition are based on the world class EFQM Excellence Model that offers organisations the benefits of a structured approach to managing improvement.

The NI Quality Awards process has been fully aligned with the EFQM Recognition Scheme in that the Assessment process is the same and NI levels of recognition are compatible with those in Europe.

How you are assessed

To enter you need to:zx Compile a submission document

based on the Excellence model

zx Meet with the Assessors to scope the Site visit

zx Host a Site Visit in November

A team of trained Assessors will assess your organisation and provide in-depth written feedback on your organisation as well as face-to-face input on the key findings of the assessment.

Who Should Apply

The NI Quality awards process is open to all organisations in any sector :zx Those who are beginning their

improvement journey and are looking for input to direct their efforts

zx Those who wish to validate progress made and receive recognition for their progress to date

zx Those who wish to compare their achievements against UK and European “good practice”

Benefits of Applyingzx The chance to find out “how good

your organisation is” by being measured against Europe’s most widely used management framework

zx Independent feedback from practicing managers from different sectors who participate in the process on a voluntary basis

zx The opportunity to compare your score profile against European norms and high performing organisations

CostThe cost of application is: Less than 250 employees £1500251- 1000 employees £2000More than 1000 employees £2500

If you are interested in the Awards process and would like further information, please contact George Wilson on 028 9073 7950 or email george.wilson@cforc.org.

AWARDS PROCESS

Northern Ireland organisations received 50% of the European Excellence Awards in 2007

Tobermore accept their European Excellence Award

The Cedar Foundation accept their European Excellence Award