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Discover the 5 Star way!
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1.0
CUSTOMER FOCUS:
Satisfying customers through meeting their requirements and value
expectations is the primary task of every employee.
1.1 Knowledge of Customer Expectations
and Requirements
- Determining current requirements and
expectations.
- Addressing future requirements and
expectations.
- Interacting with customer to maximize
agreements.
- Keeping all employees aware of customers
and their needs.
1.2 Customer Relationships
- Providing information and easy access.
- Resolving complaints and using feedback.
- Developing on-going interfaces.
- Responding to inquiries and needs for
information.
1.3 Customer Satisfaction
- Determining customer satisfaction.
- Comparing customer satisfaction results
to competition.
- Improving customer satisfaction.
- Providing customer commitments and
guarantees.
1.4 Community Involvement
MANAGEMENT LEADERSHIP EXCELLENCE
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2.0
COMMUNICATIONS:
Verbal and nonverbal communications throughout all parts of the Agency
are two-way, clear, timely, consistent and forceful.
2.1 Mission, Vision, Values, Strategies,
Policies, Initiatives and Expectations
- Communicating by management and understanding
by all employees.
- Planning communications to address
needs.
- Integrating communications with business
initiatives.
- Reinforcing key messages.
2.2 Upward Communications
- Establishing two-way communications
as the cultural norm.
- Providing mechanism for communicating
ideas, questions and feedback.
- Sharing results of actions resulting
from upward communications.
2.3 Action versus words
- Supporting verbal communications with
actions, behaviors and nonverbal signals.
- Acting in accordance with expressed
beliefs and expectations.
2.4 Public Responsibility
- Communicating improvement processes
and results to public.
- Participating in outside activities
aimed at quality improvement.
3.0
VISION:
Management establishes vision for the Agency and leads the initiative
to set direction and align everyone in pursuit of the vision.
3.1 Vision Statement
- Defining, documenting and communicating
the vision.
- Reinforcing vision in context with
ongoing Agency activities.
- Assessing progress toward vision.
3.2 Supporting Visions
- Cascading visions at Agency levels
that fit with and support the top level vision.
- Using vision to guide key decision
making.
3.3 Agency Values and Beliefs
- Establishing values and beliefs that
define desired Agency attributes.
- Communicating, understanding and applying
values and beliefs.
3.4 Change Leadership
- Managing change.
- Involving affected personnel in planning
and implementing change.
- Accomplishing desired change.
4.0
PLANNING:
Planning at all levels of the Agency keeps everyone focused on its vision,
goals and strategies and provides a framework for achieving desired results.
4.1 Strategic Planning
- Evolving from vision, goals and customer
needs.
- Identifying and addressing performance
issues.
- Maintaining dynamic strategic planning
that responds to changing conditions.
4.2 Tactical Planning
- Translating strategic planning into
functional objectives and tactics.
- Monitoring planning effectiveness and
feeding information back to enhance plans and the planning process.
4.3 Agency Planning
- Anticipating changes in people and
business needs.
- Enhancing structure effectiveness and
people capabilities to respond to changing business conditions.
- Identifying and planning for environmental,
health and safety requirements and issues.
5.0
ACCOUNTABILITY:
Accountability measures and indicators for Agency performance are established,
reported, analyzed and effectively used.
5.1 Performance Measures
- Initiating key performance measures
at all levels of the Agency.
- Using results of key measures to improve
performance.
- Providing visibility of performance
measures throughout the Agency.
5.2 Work Group and Individual Objectives
- Aligning performance and improvement
objectives with Agency goals.
- Maintaining performance indicators.
- Evaluating team and individual performance
on achievement of improvement goals and objectives.
5.3 Improvement Trends
- Using measures that are aligned with
vision and other key areas.
- Using measures to drive improvement.
- Improving trends that are meeting targeted
objectives.
- Reevaluating objectives when exceeded.
HUMAN RESOURCE EXCELLENCE
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6.0
SELECTION:
Employees are selected using criteria that promotes the needs and expectations
of the Agency both in the short term and the long term.
6.1 Strategic Human Resource Needs
- Translating overall requirements from
strategic and tactical planning to specific human resource plans.
- Considering expected or planned changes
in demographics of the work force.
6.2 Human Resource Selection
- Ensuring a balance of technical knowledge
and people skills.
- Encouraging diversity of backgrounds
in selected personnel.
6.3 New Employee Orientation
- Providing new employees with orientation
that familiarizes them with the operating philosophies and practices
of the Agency.
- Training new employees in the key aspects
of the Agency and their role in it.
7.0
DEVELOPMENT:
People are recognized as key strategic resources. Development opportunities
are provided to assure that each employee understands, supports and contributes
to achieving Agency success.
7.1 Development Process
- Using education and training as a key
vehicle in building Agency and individual capabilities.
- Developing all employees as key strategic
resources.
- Seeing employees as a major source
of competitive advantage.
- Emphasizing career development.
- Establishing a formal development process.
7.2 Needs Assessment
- Assessing development and training
needs.
- Using needs to plan training and development
activities.
- Reviewing needs assessment regularly
and updating as appropriate.
7.3 Training Programs
- Providing awareness training to assure
each employee's understanding, support and contribution of the improvement
initiative.
- Providing sufficient training in techniques
and job skills for success in job assignments and to support improvement
initiatives.
- Providing training in problem solving,
innovation and behavioral skills to enhance employee's development
and capabilities.
- Providing cross training in appropriate
areas to broaden the employee's knowledge and competencies.
8.0
INVOLVEMENT:
All employees are involved in establishing and achieving initiatives for
performance and improvement goals.
8.1 Management Involvement
- Holding staff and workplace meetings
in a planned, scheduled and effective manner.
- Maintaining open door policy.
- Leading by example and hands-on involvement.
- Leading improvement initiatives.
8.2 Functional Involvement
- Having input from impacted parts of
Agency.
- Involving appropriate personnel in
improvement activities.
- Working in a teamwork manner that is
cooperative and seeks mutual advantage.
- Monitoring and evaluating effectiveness
of interfunction activities.
8.3 Internal Customer
- Understanding and applying the internal
customer concept.
- Responding to internal customer needs.
- Monitoring internal customer performance
and improving internal customer satisfaction.
8.4 Empowerment
- Establishing a culture whereby employees,
while doing their job function, have the decision making authority
to continually improve their services, processes and performance.
- Exhibiting empowerment behaviors that
push information knowledge, decision making, and rewards throughout
the Agency.
- Reinforcing empowerment behaviors.
9.0
MOTIVATION:
Employees are motivated through trust, respect, recognition and a work
environment that is conducive to the well-being and growth of all employees.
9.1 Climate and Environment
- Believing that employees want to do
a good job.
- Having a positive atmosphere of trust
and respect at all levels.
- Creating a climate for resolving problems
that fosters risk and is non-blaming.
- Providing equipment, materials and
information to do the right things right the first time.
- Viewing change positively.
- Showing pride in work, self, Agency
and performance.
9.2 Recognition
- Recognizing individuals and groups
regularly and fairly for measurable contributions to business and
improvement successes.
- Communicating recognition widely.
- Celebrating successes.
9.3 Employee Well-Being and Satisfaction
- Improving environment, health, and
safety factors.
- Making special services, facilities
and opportunities available to employees.
- Evaluating employee satisfaction.
- Complying with applicable regulatory
requirements.
PROCESS EXCELLENCE
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10.0
INFORMATION:
Required information is clear, complete, accurate, timely, useful, accessible
and integrated with products, services, processes and procedures
10.1 Information System
- Selecting and managing information
needed to drive improvement of overall Agency performance.
- Supporting the business with complete,
timely, accurate, useful, secure, clear and appropriate information.
- Providing feedback measures of internal
performance on meeting customer requirements.
- Documenting system used to implement
the improvement initiative.
10.2 Customer Requirements
- Communicating customer requirements
to those that must meet them.
- Updating customer requirements and
promptly communicating them.
10.3 Information Improvement
- Recognizing information quality as
an essential element of performance.
- Involving all job functions in information
systems planning and implementation.
- Identifying and correcting information
quality problems.
- Using information to set priorities
for improvement actions.
- Providing reliable information through
secure information hardware and software.
- Using competitive comparisons and benchmarking
as input to information improvement.
11.0
BUSINESS ASSOCIATES:
Contributions of business associates (vendors, partners, alliances, subcontractors,
etc.) for business opportunities, products and services meet all requirements
and add value to business results and performance improvements.
11.1 Business Associate Processes
- Integrating business associate processes
with other processes and plans to support business objectives.
- Establishing business associate requirements
by involving internal job functions as appropriate.
- Involving key business associates early
and continuously to assure requirements are mutually established,
clearly understood, effectively communicated and consistently met.
- Building business associate partnerships,
as appropriate, to enhance performance.
11.2 Management of Business Associate
Performance
- Determining and measuring how well
business associates are performing.
- Communicating performance information
to business associates.
- Working with business associates to
improve quality and performance.
11.3 Business Associate Relationships
- Identifying the key contacts for building
strong business associate relationships.
- Developing these relationships to maximize
agency performance.
- Nurturing these relationships to ensure
ongoing effectiveness.
12.0
INNOVATION:
Innovation is planned and effectively utilized in developing,
implementing and improving processes.
12.1 Pursuit of Innovation
- Assessing competitors' process innovations.
- Benchmarking most successful processes.
- Planning and using appropriate innovation
for competitive advantage.
12.2 Equipment and Facilities
- Quantifying benefits of new or modified
equipment and facilities.
- Evaluating effectiveness of processes
and determining equipment and facility enhancements that are appropriate.
12.3 Process Improvement
- Using innovative process improvement
methods.
- Involving innovative capabilities of
personnel from all job functions to improve processes.
12.4 Creating Value
- Knowing value/cost ratios.
- Comparing value/cost ratios to competition
and most successful practices.
- Improving value/cost performance.
13.0
INTEGRATION:
Processes and the products and services created by them are jointly designed
as an integrated system.
13.1 Agency Automation
- Translating customer requirements into
new technology needs or enhanced technology.
- Planning for development or acquisition
of needed technology.
- Reviewing and/or testing new technology
to ensure trouble-free application.
- Evaluating technology in regard to
customer satisfaction and meeting organization goals.
- Using new or enhanced technology to
improve quality, cycle time and performance.
13.2 Systematic Approach
- Considering all processes when introducing
automation, a new process, or changing a process.
- Minimizing system-related inhibitors
to process effectiveness.
- Focusing on improving process cycle
time.
- Matching product/service characteristics
and process capabilities for high value.
13.3 Agency Support
- Ensuring the Agency structure supports
the processes as an interactive system.
- Providing functional interaction on
processes that cross job functional lines.
- Supporting continuous process improvement
in a proactive and consistent manner.
- Involving all functions early in process
designs to ensure integration, coordination and capability.
PRODUCT AND SERVICE
EXCELLENCE
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14.0
CARRIERS/MARKETS:
Well chosen partnerships with carriers and other markets are key to providing
excellent products and services.
14.1 Business Plan
- Establishing a plan of goals and objectives
for company recruitment.
- Assessing and modifying the plan to
address changing business conditions.
14.2 Carrier Prospecting
- Identifying markets that best fit the
business plan.
- Soliciting the preferred company prospects.
14.3 Agency Contracts and Other Agreements
- Achieving win-win contracts and agreements.
- Managing terms and conditions of contracts
and agreements for compliance.
- Reviewing contracts and agreements
proactively and proposing appropriate changes.
14.4 Relationships
- Identifying the key contacts for building
strong business relationships.
- Developing these relationships to maximize
Agency performance.
- Nurturing these relationships to ensure
ongoing effectiveness.
15.0
BUSINESS RESULTS:
Financial and business improvement results meet objectives, show positive
trends and substantiate Agency success.
15.1 Financial Results
- Achieving planned financial performance
targets.
- Maintaining positive trends in key
financial performance indicators.
- Using financial results to achieve
staff ownership and motivation for Agency success.
15.2 Business Improvement Results
- Achieving non-financial business improvement
goals.
- Improving non-financial measures that
are contributing to ongoing business success.
- Using non-financial business improvement
results to achieve staff ownership and motivation for Agency success.
16.0
PERFORMANCE:
The Agency's products and services are managed to ensure that customer
requirements and expectations are met and both quality and operational
performance are continuously improved.
16.1 Performance Verification
- Verifying processes before use and
thoroughly understanding and effectively managing them.
- Performing formal reviews or verifications
to assure products and services meet all requirements.
- Measuring performance in delivering
products and services.
16.2 Continuous Improvement
- Using customer feedback, internal measures
and other information to identify improvement opportunities.
- Using new or enhanced technology for
improvement and competitive advantage.
- Monitoring new developments for effectiveness
and timeliness.
- Stressing error prevention throughout
Agency.
- Using process control techniques to
identify sources of improvement.
- Using corrective action techniques
to determine and resolve root causes of errors.
16.3 Product and Service Expectations
- Comparing product and services to customer
value expectations.
- Matching products and services to customer
expectations.
- Maintaining awareness of product and
service options.
- Improving products and services.
17.0
RELIABILITY:
The Agency's products and services consistently provide superior value
throughout the business relationship.
17.1 Customer Requirements and Expectations
- Knowing and addressing customers' intended
and potential uses of products and services.
- Establishing performance standards
that result in desired acquisition and retention.
17.2 After Delivery Service
- Monitoring satisfaction with products
and services during customer use.
- Responding to customer needs during
use of products and services.
- Informing customers of new or improved
products and services.
- Providing products or service enhancements
to customers.
To find out how you can begin your journey
to the Five Star Agency Designationsm,
please contact Heather Kramer, CIC, Vice President of Education at 800/222-2699
or by email at hkramer@massagent.com |
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Points of Quality with ALL Review Criteria