By: Laura Dowling Issue: Innovation, Growth, Job Creation Section: Business

Sustainable Transformation for Organizational

Colorado’s first fast-track program is launching to assist executives in the implementation of the proven Malcolm Baldrige Award methods that boost and maintain long-term company performance. This innovative program is designed for C-level leaders — chief executive officers, presidents, and general managers — in business, healthcare, education, and nonprofit organizations. This new program, called the Performance Excellence Incubator (PEI), is based on 20 years of data from organizations that have achieved long-term sustainable transformation and is designed to implement customized processes similar to those that have transformed Baldrige Performance Excellence Program award recipients into high-performing organizations.

The part-time program, which starts September 2011, is extremely affordable at just $1,000 per month. Only 12 executives will be accepted into the first class, which will last 12 months, and includes six workshops and ongoing virtual support to complete practical roadmaps designed for immediate use.
The program is ideal for executives who:

• Are responsible for organizational success; they know the buck stops with them;
• Have tried to improve internal processes, but changes aren’t sticking;
• Know staying in place is not an option;
• Want proven, sustainable transformation for his/her company without paying exorbitant consultant fees.

“Many executives are frustrated that repeated attempts to transform culture and processes in their organizations haven’t worked,” said Ed Powers, PEI Marketing Committee chair and president/COO of Lifestyle Assets in Fort Collins. “PEI is the state’s first and only affordable program that provides C-level executives tangible methods to lead large-scale, sustainable transformation of their companies into high-performing organizations.”
The PEI program is led by world-class business experts from Colorado’s Monfort Institute, a part of the Monfort College of Business at the University of Northern Colorado and Colorado Performance Excellence who guide a peer group of C-level executives through accelerated coursework. The coursework is based on the same performance and competitive principles that have transformed Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award companies nationwide.
The Monfort College of Business at UNC received the prestigious award in 2004, and their professors have closely studied other Baldrige Award recipients, including Boeing, The Ritz Carlton, and Caterpillar Financial. They fundamentally understand how organizations can maintain gains that will take them to the next high-performing level while remaining competitive.

Just like Baldrige recipients, executives in the PEI program likely will experience greater company profits, lowered expenses, improved customer service, and higher employee morale. But unlike Baldrige companies that typically experience changes over a 7-10 year period, PEI participants can expect to see results within 2-3 years.
“CEOs truly interested in embarking on a quality journey shouldn’t do it alone,” said Tom Nordwick, CEO of Converse County Memorial Hospital in Casper, Wyoming, who is a Colorado Performance Excellence recipient.  “The Performance Excellence Incubator will equip CEOs with the right tools and contacts with peers and industry leaders to help them successfully launch and maintain their quest for quality.”

“No doubt, the concepts of the Performance Excellence Incubator will lead to high quality and continuous improvement,” said John Sackett, CEO, Avista Adventist Hospital in Louisville, Colorado, another CPEx participant. 

The PEI program includes one-day classroom workshops, online services and coursework, and interactive sessions with peers. Participants will study Baldrige methodologies that have transformed companies in recent years. Select successes include:
• Sales at a food manufacturer increased 72 percent in five years;
• Occupancy rate at a hospital jumped from 70 percent to 90 percent;
• Revenues at an engineering/construction firm grew 93 percent in 2006, from $14 million to $27 million;
• Profits doubled over the past five years at an industrial coating company; and
• Customer satisfaction at a manufacturing plant grew to 95 percent.

For more information on PEI or to secure enrollment, contact Colorado Performance Excellence at 303-893-2739 or visit www.coloradoexcellence.org. Colorado Performance Excellence is a regional nonprofit that helps organizations succeed through the effective application of principles and practices embodied in the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence.