EFQM Excellence model
What is EFQM Excellence model?
The EFQM Excellence Model is a further practical tool to help enterprises on the road to improvement. The model is based on the experience of many thousands of business enterprises across Europe. Accordingly, it provides a benchmark against which a company can compare its own performance, as a basis for improving its management techniques and practices. It is a dynamic model, now accepted as an international management philosophy.
Main Concepts of the Excellence Model
The EFQM Model is a non-prescriptive framework that recognizes various approaches to the achievement of sustainable excellence. The EFQM Model is based on number of key principles. They are as follows:
- Focus on results – Excellence depends on the ability to ensure and satisfy the needs of all key stakeholders (including employees, customers, suppliers and society in general, as well as those financially concerned of organizations well being).
- Customer focus – We must recognize that the customer will decide where to place his business, based on product and service quality. We can retain customer loyalty only if we always focus on his current and future needs.
- Leadership & consistency of purpose – The behavior of on organizations leaders creates a culture and unity of purpose within the organization and an environment in which the organization and its people can excel.
- Process & fact management - Organizations perform more effectively when all inter-related activities are understood and systematically managed and decisions concerning current operations are planned. Improvements can be made using reliable information that includes stakeholder perceptions.
- Employee involvement & development – The full potential of an organizations employees is best realized through shared values and a culture of trust and empowerment, which encourages their involvement.
- Continuous learning, innovation & improvement – Organizational performance is maximized when it is based on the management and sharing of knowledge and within a culture of continuous learning, innovation and improvement.
- Developing partnerships – An organization works more effectively when it has mutually beneficial relationships, is built on trust, sharing of knowledge, and integration with its partners.
- Public responsibility – The long-term interest of the organization and its people are best served through the adoption of an ethical approach and by exceeding the expectations of the community at large.
Overview of the EFQM Excellence Model
The EFQM Excellence Model is a non-prescriptive framework based on nine criteria. Five of them are Enablers and four are Results. The Enabler criteria cover what an organization does. The Results criteria cover what an organization achieves. Enablers cause Results.
The Model is based on the premise that:
Excellent results with respect to Performance, Customers, People and Society are achieved through Partnerships and Resources, and Processes.
Model contents structure
The Models 9 boxes, shown above, represent the criteria against which to assess an organizations progress towards excellence.
To develop the high level meaning further each criterion is supported by a number of sub criteria. There are 32 sub criteria.
At the heart of the model lies the logic known as RADAR.
RADAR consists of four elements:
Results - covers what an organization achieves,
Approach - covers what an organization plans to do and the reasons for it,
Deployment - covers what an organization does to deploy the approach,
Assessment - covers what an organization does to assess and review both the approach and the deployment of the approach,
Review - covers what an organization does to assess and review both the approach and the deployment of the approach.
The Model, when implemented correctly, has a very positive influence on the organization and its performance.
