Organizational Assessments
When focusing on continuous improvement for your system, how do you know where to start?
To help you answer this question, APQC Education offers two types of Organizational Assessments and they are the Baldrige-aligned Organizational Assessment and the Process and Performance Management Assessment.
Our CEO and Founder, Dr. Jack Grayson helped found the Malcolm Baldrige Award in the early 1980’s, and we are proud to offer school districts with a customized Baldrige-aligned Organizational Assessment. Secondly, we also offer a Process Performance and Management Assessment that helps you measure the vitality and maturity of your internal process management systems. These assessments are a service that can be requested on an individual bases or paired together to help benefit your district's development goals.
Baldrige-aligned Organizational Assessment
An Organizational Assessment (OA) is a process of gathering and analyzing information collected from various stakeholders to assess a district’s performance from a systems perspective. The assessment instrument consists of 7 core components and 57 elements. The instrument is research-based and modeled after the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award as well as various state awards.
The seven core components used in assessing a district are:
-
Leadership– strong, visionary, results-oriented leadership
-
Strategic Planning– alignment of action,resources, and results
-
Curriculum & Teaching– standards-based curriculum and powerful teaching
-
Stakeholder Engagement– active engagement of internal and external stakeholders
-
Stellar People– stellar teachers, boardmembers, leaders, support staff who are continuously learning and growing
-
Effective and Efficient Processes– aligned and linked core business processes to support the system
-
Accountability – employee and student accountability for results
The Purpose. . .
The OA is designed to measure a district’s performance. The findings of an organizational assessment provide valuable information which can be used to refine and improve strategies.
Specifically, the purpose of the organizational assessment:
-
To assess the performance of a district from a systems perspective
-
To provide a rigorous, objective, external view of the organization
-
To assess performance toward the 7 core components and provide a diagnosis of areas needing additional attention
-
To provide the district written feedback highlighting strengths and opportunities for improvement
The Outcome. . .
On the final day of the OA, the team meets with district leaders to report findings and assist the district in the analysis of the results. This session allows district leaders to receive feedback from external reviewers and compare the actual findings of the OA to the district’s own perceptions of performance. The feedback session is also an opportunity for district leaders to understand the district’s strengths and opportunities, evaluate the sustainability of current initiatives, outline next steps in organizational reform, and incorporate the OA findings into future strategic planning.
While each district has embraced the process in a different way, they all have come to understand that it is not a “gotcha”. Most districts realize that the feedback they receive as a result of the OA is helpful in continuing their reform journeys. Some districts have merged the OA results with their strategic plan, while others have used the results as validation of improvements from key initiatives. The important thing is to use the results . . . let them work for you in becoming a more efficient and effective organization and supporting all students in being successful.
Process and Performance Management Assessment
How many of your core processes are documented and communicated with all personnel in your district? What kind of governance systems exist in your district that measure and monitor ongoing performance and identify improvement priorities? How do you currently ensure linkages of your strategic plan to department and campus plans – even to the classroom level? Are you just cutting your budget – or are you cutting out waste and non-value added activities to increase ongoing savings?
If you are not sure about the integrity and effectiveness of your Process and Performance Management System, we can provide a two day assessment that reviews all your leadership processes that govern your current status and provide feedback on how to move forward, enhancing your organization’s ability to monitor and improve performance in all processes. The assessment entails an examination of the design and implementation of the PPM Structure:
- leadership team processes and governance
- process documentation
- measurement systems
- the use of scorecards, dashboards and data display
- strategic plan alignment with measureable goals into departments and campuses
- the district’s process for identifying and prioritizing continuous improvement opportunities
- processes in place for sustaining gains from improvements
- how the district captures and transfers best practice
A report will be provided to the district leadership on current status and suggestions/actions for districts to create or enhance their Process and Performance Management System.
CONTACT US TODAY and let us know how APQC Education's Organizational Assessments can help your organization.