Professional Documents
Culture Documents
People Perception
Summary ‐ Benchmark Report 2009
EFQM Shares what works
For the past twenty years we have shared what works between our member organisations as a
way to help them implement their strategies: a mission which is as important as ever.
Through our network of members comprising private and public organisations of every size and
sector, many active around the world, EFQM applies its know‐how and extracts outstanding
approaches by engaging with executives and front‐line managers.
Ricoh / EFQM Pact Project
In 2007, the EFQM Board of Governors developed the concept of PACT Membership. Leading
companies were invited to establish “Pact Projects”, forming a partnership to use their collective
knowledge, skills and experience to generate new and innovative products and services that would
benefit all EFQM Members. This report has been developed as part of the Ricoh / EFQM Pact
Project.
We have been working closely with the EFQM Members to identify specific areas of interest and
best practice to improve the knowledge sharing between member organisations. As with most
“knowledge management systems”, there isn’t a single solution. We will be developing different
methods of sharing the knowledge and experience of members; giving real examples from real
organisations.
The output of this project will be a series of benchmarking reports, case studies and best practices
that will be made available to the membership in a variety of formats.
Through these reports, as well as through our other products and services, EFQM aim to "Share
What Works".
Acknowledgements
The information in this document has been contributed by a number of EFQM Member
Organisations. Without this contribution, publication of this report would not have been possible.
We therefore thank all the individuals and organisations who have taken the time to share their
knowledge, experience and expertise with us.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means (be this electronically, mechanically, through photocopy, or recording or otherwise) without either the prior
written permission of, or a licence permitting restricted copying, and use for a third party, from the publisher.
This report has been written by Matt Fisher, Ricoh Europe, a member of the EFQM Strategy Committee. Any enquiries
relating to the content of this report should be addressed via the EFQM (info@efqm.org).
Foreword
Moving Ideas Forward
Building a sustainable organisation that continually achieves its goals is only possible with a strong
team of people, who understand the organisation’s vision, mission and strategy. It is important
that they are supported within the business to thrive both personally and professionally. This is a
key challenge not only for Human Resources professionals within an organisation but for all
leaders. Creating a genuine dialogue between the people and leaders of the organisation is key,
enabling clear communication of strategies and how the organisation can rise to meet the
challenges it will face. This is especially important in the current economic climate, where many
organisations are under extreme pressure and face many uncertainties in their core area of
business, but let us be clear that these challenges of constant change will not disappear as
economies recover. The way and the speed with which they organisations adapt to these
challenges will determine their future success.
Engaging people in these changes is vital; ensuring they are clear on the overall direction of the
business and are motivated to succeed. To effectively engage people, leaders must have the trust
of their people and ensure they have the processes in place to deliver on their promises.
Assessing current organisational capabilities and determining the skills required to meet new
challenges are only the start. Being able to effectively deliver the training and development
required is crucial. In addition to the right skills, people also need the right tools, encouragement
and environment to deliver.
People Perception Surveys are a key tool in understanding how effective the strategies and
processes developed are performing. However, without external reference they only tell us
introspectively how well we are performing. Benchmarking with other organisations helps us to
understand general trends and identify areas where we either have advantages or need to
improve to ensure our organisation retains, motivates and manages the performance of their
people at all stages of their career.
The EFQM Excellence Model provides organisations with a common language, enabling the
exchange of ideas between members, regardless of size or sector. It is our ability to learn from
these examples that will determine our ability to move our ideas forward, meet the challenges we
face and succeed in achieving sustainable benefits for our stakeholders into the future.
Greg Holder
Vice President, Human Resources
Ricoh Europe
People Perception Benchmark Report 2009
Compiling this Report
The data contained in this report has been provided by applicants from the European Excellence
Award processes during 2007, 2008 and 2009. These organisations have achieved a known and
comparable level of excellence, as determined by the Award Assessor Teams who visited them as
part of the assessment process.
As users of the EFQM Excellence Model, we understand the need to compare our performance
levels with external organisations to understand where we excel and where we may need to make
improvements to stay competitive and deliver sustainable benefits to our stakeholders. These
comparisons can be made both within the market we operate and beyond, to bring in new ideas
and innovative ways of working that will enable us to make “breakthrough improvements” or gain
access to new markets.
The EFQM Excellence Model provides us with a “common language” for sharing information, ideas
and good practices between organisations. Once the “level of excellence” of an organisation has
been determined through assessment against the Model, it is possible for them to compare their
performance against organisations who have achieved either a similar level of maturity or to
compare themselves with members who have achieved their target “level of excellence” to
understand where they need to make improvements in order to achieve this.
Obviously, benchmarking goes far beyond comparing numbers but this can be a useful step in
identifying gaps and which areas to focus on. Aligning this to the strategic objectives will help
identify the priorities for improvement. Once these priorities are agreed, the process of
benchmarking approaches can begin.
Creating Comparable Data
There are 2 common issues encountered when people try to compare perception data:
The questions are worded differently
The scoring scales are not the same
What tends to happen is people buy benchmark data from their survey provider, although often
have little idea who they are benchmarking against, therefore how valid the benchmark is. This
also does little to promote the exchange of ideas.
However, whilst the wording of the questions might be different, the themes explored are usually
the same, such as “communications” and “personal development”. For example, one company
may have a question worded “How satisfied are you with opportunities for personal
development?” in their People Perception Survey and another may ask “Do you have
opportunities to learn and develop in your current role?”. In essence, these both ask about the
same thing and the approaches adopted in a company that will drive this result will have the same
objective. By identifying the common themes, we can ask the participants to select the relevant
questions from their survey which measure perception against these themes.
The other issue is the range of different scoring scales used. Ultimately, if someone is highly
satisfied, they will give you a high score and, if they’re not, they’ll give a low score. Calculating the
average score and converting this to a percentage, we can create a common approach to scoring
that enables us to create a benchmarking index to identify companies with very high levels of
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Summary Report
people satisfaction. For example, if the organisation is using a scale of 1 to 5 and the average
rating was 4.0, this would be equivalent to 75%. Whether the comparison between organisations
A & B is 100% accurate is not the point. The objective is to identify areas where organisation A
could learn from organisation B.
Identifying the Common Themes for Comparison
To identify the “common themes” which were being used to measure customer perception, we
took a sample of submission documents from the last 3 years, taking a mix of 75 page and 25 page
submissions and ensuring we had a mix of private and public sector organisations. We then
compared the data presented in the “People Perception” criteria and compiled the list below:
Overall Satisfaction
Understanding vision, mission & strategy
Trust in leadership
Communications
Recognition
My manager
Setting personal targets & objectives
Performance appraisal
Team working
Training
Personal development
Career development
Working environment
Involvement in improvements
Job security
Management of change
Environmental policy / activities
Health and safety
Contribution to society / local community
Response Rate
We have selected ten of these common themes for inclusion in this summary report. The full set
is available in the full “People Perception Benchmark Report 2009”.
Identifying “Best Practices”
The Assessor Teams identify and describe “best practices” during the EFQM Excellence Award
(EEA) assessment process, based on the 8 Fundamental Concepts of Excellence which underpin
the EFQM Excellence Model. These provide the EEA Jury with further information on the applicant
and why the Assessor Team feel they should be considered as a “role model” for other
organisations. The “best practices” identified are documented in a standard template, based on
the RADAR.
A selection of these “best practices” is included in the full version of this report, available to order
from the EFQM webshop (www.efqm.org).
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People Perception Benchmark Report 2009
Segmentation of Data
In this summary report, we have presented comparisons of the average ratings achieved for the
applicants, segmented as:
Comparison of Finalists and Prize & Award Winners
Comparison of Private and Public Sector Applicants
In the full report we have segmented the data into 7 categories:
All applicants
Finalists
Prize and Award Winners
Large Organisations
Small and Medium Organisations
Private Sector Organisations
Public Sector Organisations
For each category, we have included data on the “Average” of the group, plus the Maximum and
Minimum scores achieved each year. This may not always be the same organisation i.e. Applicant
A might have the maximum score in 2007 but Applicant B could have the maximum score in 2008.
Data Presentation
As described previously, we asked the applicants to send the average rating given, expressed as a
percentage, for each of the themes we had identified. We have presented the data in both tables
and in graphical format.
The theme appears at the top as the title of Overall Satisfaction
the graph. 100%
The average rating for each organisation has 80%
been given as a percentage. For example, if 60%
40%
they are using a scale of 1 to 5 and the
20%
average rating was 4.0, this would be 75%.
0%
The average for each segment is then 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
How can this report be used?
Organisations compare results so they can identify where they have “competitive advantages”,
where they need to improve and how much they need to improve by to achieve their strategic
objectives.
This Benchmark Report can be used by members to:
Understand where they’re particularly good compared to a suitable peer group, depending on
their current or desired “Level of Excellence”
Identify priorities for improvements
Calibrate their target setting processes and aspirations
Understand key approaches adopted by leading organisations
5
Summary Report
Section 1: Comparison of Finalists and Prize & Award Winners
6
People Perception Benchmark Report 2009
Section 1: Comparison of Finalists and Prize & Award Winners
Career Development Communications
100% 100%
80% 80%
60% 60%
40% 40%
20% 20%
0% 0%
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Environmental Policy / Activities Job Security
100% 100%
80% 80%
60% 60%
40% 40%
20% 20%
0% 0%
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
My Manager Overall Satisfaction
100% 100%
80% 80%
60% 60%
40% 40%
20% 20%
0% 0%
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Recognition Team Working
100% 100%
80% 80%
60% 60%
40% 40%
20% 20%
0% 0%
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Training Trust in Leadership
100% 100%
80% 80%
60% 60%
40% 40%
20% 20%
0% 0%
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
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Summary Report
Section 2: Comparison of Private and Public Sectors
8
People Perception Benchmark Report 2009
Section 2: Comparison of Private and Public Sectors
Career Development Communications
100% 100%
80% 80%
60% 60%
40% 40%
20% 20%
0% 0%
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Environmental Policy / Activities Job Security
100% 100%
80% 80%
60% 60%
40% 40%
20% 20%
0% 0%
2005 2006 2007 2008 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
My Manager Overall Satisfaction
100% 100%
80% 80%
60% 60%
40% 40%
20% 20%
0% 0%
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Recognition Team Working
100% 100%
80% 80%
60% 60%
40% 40%
20% 20%
0% 0%
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Training Trust in Leadership
100% 100%
80% 80%
60% 60%
40% 40%
20% 20%
0% 0%
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
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Summary Report
EFQM Excellence Model 2010
The EFQM Excellence Model is regularly reviewed and updated, in cooperation with our key
stakeholder groups, to ensure it reflects the world in which our member organisations operate.
The latest revision was launched in September 2009 and comes into effect for the European
Excellence Awards in 2010.
While all of the Fundamental Concepts of Excellence will involve an organisation’s people, the one
which most focuses in this area is “Succeeding through People”.
Get involved
The examples we’ve described here represent a tiny sample of what’s happening within EFQM
Member Organisations. We hope it gives you ideas on how you can make a make a difference
within your organisation.
Through EFQM, there are numerous opportunities for you to engage in interactive discussions or
activities on this or other topics. For more information, please contact us.
Get the full report
The full “People Perception Benchmark Report 2009” is available from EFQM Publications. This
includes “best practices” identified from the EFQM Excellence Award process, as well as more data
on the full set of common themes identified.
Please visit www.efqm.org to order it directly from our webshop.
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No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means (be
this electronically, mechanically, through
photocopy, or recording or otherwise)
without either the prior written permission of,
or a licence permitting restricted copying, and
use for a third party, from the publisher.
EFQM is a non‐profit membership foundation.
We have spent over twenty years sharing
what works between our member
organisations as a way to help them
implement their strategies. Through our
network of members comprising private and
public organisations of every size and sector,
many active around the world, EFQM applies
its know‐how and extracts outstanding
approaches by engaging with executives and
front‐line managers.
© EFQM 2009
EFQM
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Tel +32 2 775 35 11
Fax +32 2 775 35 96
info@efqm.org
www.efqm.org