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What Do Awards Tell You About Companies?

Every year, companies compete for a variety of awards to bolster their reputation and gain recognition for innovation in their fields. But what do awards really tell us? Which awards are actually valuable and what can we gain from studying award winners? PeopleWorks International places value in giving back to the business community by acting as examiners for a number of awards that we believe are improving business practices as a whole. Several of our partners have been practitioners for teams winning these prestigious awards or are experienced site examiners for them.

Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award

The Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award is the highest level of national recognition for outstanding performance that an organization in the US can receive. The award was established by the U.S. Congress in 1986 and focuses on business performance in 5 areas:

• Product and process outcomes
• Customer outcomes
• Workforce outcomes
• Leadership and governance outcomes
• Financial and market outcomes

The Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award recognizes U.S. companies that have implemented successful quality-management systems. Up to 18 awards are given across 6 different categories: manufacturing, service, education, small business, nonprofit and health care. 

The Shingo Prize

The Shingo Prize is a worldwide award given to organizations that are rated highly on their recent business improvements and accomplishments. They must be assessed by Shingo Institute examiners and are scored on how close their culture matches the “ideal” as defined by the Shingo Institute. They examine the organization on their culture and each individual’s behavior. Many organizations hold the Shingo Model as a standard of excellence that they aspire to achieve.

AME Excellence Award

The AME Excellence Award recognizes organizations with outstanding manufacturing and business operations. This award focuses on an organization’s continuous improvement, best practices and innovation. Winning this award demonstrates that team members are dedicated leaders committed to improving their standards for business operations.

The Texas Quality Award

The Texas Quality Award, also known as the Texas Award for Performance Excellence, is one of the best awards that an organization can receive in the state of Texas. Winning this award proves that your organization strives in personal development and excellent performance. Their management systems exceed others within the state and have developed strong and successful team members.

Learning from the Best

PeopleWorks International strives to work with companies that are seeking to raise their standards and become leaders in their industries. We believe that participation as examiners for prestigious awards is a great way to keep our consultants at the forefront of the best business practices. We are constantly challenging ourselves to think of new processes, leadership skill and better methods for running businesses. We do not coach our clients on how to win awards. We apply experience and knowledge of current business trends to help companies create their own unique mark on their employees, community and industry as a whole.

The Benefits of Being a Great Workplace

You know the old saying: The only thing certain is change. You don’t have to be a strategic management consultant to know a seismic shift is transforming the business world. The Pew Center for Research reports that 56 million millennials (individuals 22 to 36 years of age) now make up the majority of today’s workforce—eclipsing the 53 million GenXers and 41 million baby boomers still earning a paycheck.

The most digitally connected generation in history is flipping workforce management on its head with very different attitudes about cradle-to-grave loyalty, job satisfaction, and a desire to be engaged in meaningful, purpose-driven work. But sweeping generational change isn’t the only worry keeping CEOs, human resources VPs, and hiring managers awake at night. The quest to attract, motivate and retain qualified employees is an ongoing challenge—across generations. More than one study reveals that on any given day, less than 15 percent of most organizations’ workers are engaged in what they’re doing.

If your company happens to fall on the wrong side of statistics, very few of your people are working with enthusiasm, efficiency and passion. Only a small percentage is contributing to the healthy growth, profitability and long-term success of your mission, values, and operational goals.

 A Great Workplace Culture is the Cure

As strategic management consultants, PeopleWorks International knows the antidote for a host of corporate ills—high employee turnover, lackluster productivity, poor quality, uninspired customer service, flat or declining profitability—is a thoughtfully cultivated workplace culture that nurtures trust on many levels. A culture that not only believes in servant leadership, but one that affirms that employees truly matter through its policies, communications and benefits.

Today, a high-trust culture is no longer viewed as an intangible or soft asset, but rather is a must-have for organizations determined to maximize their success on all levels. Companies that get it right are handsomely rewarded for their efforts—in many ways.

The Perks of High Trust

Research by the independent investment firm FTSE Russell notes that cumulative stock market returns among publicly held Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® are nearly three times greater than the market average. They also reap healthy gains in their operating and income per employee margins, growth rate and return on assets. And when employees—your biggest brand ambassadors—are empowered to make decisions they believe are in the best interest of the customers, good things happen. An eight-year study of Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For by Cornell University’s Industrial and Labor Relations School discovered that high-trust companies earn customer satisfaction scores that are 2.8 to 3.2 points higher than their competitors.

Time and time again, our strategic management consultants have seen that organizations with a high-trust culture are able to attract, retain, develop and inspire top talent across generations. Empowered employees are happier, feel a sense of purpose and have a lower volume of voluntary turnover (10% versus the 24% national average). In fact, millennials are 25 times more likely to plan a long-term future with companies that are honored as one the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For.

 “Simply put, companies that treat their employees better do better,” Alex Edmans of the London Business School revealed during a TedX Talk about his research on the link between employee well-being and high-trust companies.

How to Get There

With all the compelling evidence at hand, most organizations acknowledge the critical importance of a high-trust culture, yet few understand how to go about defining, building or sustaining one. Our strategic management consultants can help. For more than 30 years, PeopleWorks International has been helping companies develop the kind of enviable culture that optimizes their potential across every key performance indicator—employee and customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, quality improvement, profit growth, and more. 

The fanatical pursuit of excellence is a hallmark of Best Companies to Work For, and it can be yours too. PeopleWorks International will set you on the path to transformative change. Connect with us today. Call (800)505-3978 or email to get started.