17 Points of Quality
with ALL Review Criteria
CUSTOMER
FOCUS
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
- Integrating civic responsibilities into business
activities.
-
Maintaining a professional
business image in the community.
MANAGEMENT
LEADERSHIP
EXCELLENCE
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.
- 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 areestablished, 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
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.
- 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
10.0 INFORMATION:
Required information is clear, complete, accurate, timely, useful, accessible and
integrated with products, services, processes and procedures.
- 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
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.
- 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 erro
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
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.
