The examination items included Voice of the Customer (3.

1) and Customer
Engagement (3.2). This category examines how an organization engages its
customers for long-term marketplace success and builds a customer-focused culture.

Voice of the Customer examines an organization’s processes for listening to

customers and determining their satisfaction and dissatisfaction. It also examines
processes for using these data. The aim is to capture meaningful information in order
to exceed your customers’ expectations. Voice of customer programs can include a
wide range of tasks, from collecting data, to extracting insight, to putting then to work
in your customer lifecycles.

3 Step Approach to Capturing Your Customer’s Voice

1. Listen – Capture insightful feedback by giving your customers frequent

opportunities to submit feedback.
2. Act – Follow up promptly so customers know that they are heard. Quicker
response to customer feedback results in a greater impact.
3. Analyze – Assess progress againt goals and mesure improvement to keed the
program on track.

Customer Engagement examines an organization’s processes for identifying and

innovating product offerings that serve customers and markets; enabling customers
to seek information and support; and using customer, market, and product offering
information. The item also examines how the organization builds relationships with
customers and manages complaints in order to retain customers and increase their
engagement.

Baldrige Self-Assessment: Seven Steps for a Full Examination

Below are seven steps toward developing responses to the individual questions in all
seven categories of the Criteria for Performance Excellence (Leadership; Strategy;
Customers; Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management; Workforce;
Operations; and Results):

1.       Identify the scope of the assessment: will it cover the entire organization, a
subunit, a division, or a department?

2.      Select seven champions, one for each Criteria category, to lead a team in
preparing responses to the questions in the category. Have the champions write your
Organizational Profile.

3.      Form category teams. Have the members collect data and information to
answer the questions in their respective categories, referring to the notes after each
item and the Category and Item Commentary as guides.

4.      Have the teams share their answers to the Criteria questions and identify
common themes and missing linkages.
5.      Have each category team create and communicate an action plan for
improvement based on their answers. Consider using the Self-Analysis Worksheet, a
Word file that may be downloaded for free from our website.

6.      Have the seven champions and other senior leaders build an overall action
plan based on overall organizational priorities.

7.      Evaluate the self-assessment process, and identify possible improvements.

Involve senior leaders, champions, and teams. The teams will need to collaborate to
address questions that link the categories to each other.

Organizations of any size and sector (business/nonprofit, health care, or education)

can conduct a full Baldrige self-assessment in order to improve performance and
achieve excellence. If you’re a manufacturer, service business, small business, or
nonprofit organization (outside health care and education—that is, you don’t call your
customers “patients” or “students”), you’ll use the Baldrige Excellence Framework,
Business/Nonprofit version of the booklet (which includes the Criteria for
Performance Excellence. See the Baldrige website for ordering information.