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Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions about the Sterling Self-Assessment and Recognition Process

Frequently Asked Questions about the Governor's Sterling Award

Frequently Asked Questions about the Sterling Navigator

Frequently Asked Questions about the Sterling Challenge

What is the Sterling Criteria for Organizational Performance Excellence?

The Sterling Criteria are a tool used by Florida organizations to stay abreast of ever-changing competition and improve performance. The Criteria provide a valuable framework that can help an organization, regardless of size, sector, private, public, or not-for-profit, assess performance on a wide range of key business indicators: customer, product and service, operational, human resource, and financial. The Criteria can help you align resources; improve communication, productivity, and effectiveness; and achieve strategic goals.

As a basis for organizational self-assessment, the Sterling Criteria is based on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Criteria, and is nationally recognized as the world-class standard for organizational excellence.

What is the purpose of the Sterling Criteria?

The Sterling Criteria are the basis for organizational self-assessments, for making and granting the Governor's Sterling Award, and for giving feedback to award applicants. In addition, the Criteria have three important roles in strengthening Florida's competitiveness:

  • To help improve organizational performance practices, capabilities, and results
  • To facilitate communication and sharing of best practices information among Florida organizations of all types
  • To serve as a working tool for understanding and managing performance and for guiding planning and opportunities for learning

What are the components of the Sterling Criteria?

The Sterling Criteria are a framework that any organization can use to improve overall performance. Seven categories make up the award criteria:

Leadership—Examines how senior executives guide the organization and how the organization addresses its responsibilities to the public and practices good citizenship.

Strategic Planning—Examines how the organization sets strategic directions and how it determines key action plans.

Customer and Market Focus—Examines how the organization determines requirements and expectations of customers and markets.

Information and Analysis—Examines the management, effective use, and analysis of data and information to support key organization processes and the organization's performance management system.

Human Resource Focus—Examines how the organization enables its workforce to develop its full potential and how the workforce is aligned with the organization's objectives.

Process Management—Examines aspects of how key production/delivery and support processes are designed, managed, and improved.

Business Results—Examines the organization's performance and improvement in its key business areas: customer satisfaction, financial and marketplace performance, human resources, supplier and partner performance, and operational performance. The category also examines how the organization performs relative to competitors.

What are the Sterling assessment processes?

The Sterling assessment process are graduated, starting with the Navigator, progressing to the Sterling Challenge, and finally the Governor's Sterling Award, each helping organizations move towards their goal of performance excellence. Each process is based on the Sterling Criteria and becomes more rigorous and detailed in order to achieve maximum results.  While an organization can begin at any step, the Navigator and Sterling Challenge are more suitable for organizations in the early stages of their quality journey, whereas the Governor's Sterling Award is suitable for more mature organizations.

What is the Governor's Sterling Award (GSA)?

The GSA is the state of Florida's most prestigious award for performance excellence. The GSA assessment process leads to the recognition and designation of "Role Model for Organizational Performance Excellence." The award is not given for specific products or services. It is given to organizations for their achievements in quality and business performance and to raise awareness about the importance of quality and performance excellence as a competitive edge.

How does the Governor's Sterling Award differ from ISO 9000?

The purpose, content, and focus of the Governor's Sterling Award and ISO 9000 are very different. The Governor's Sterling Award, based on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award that was created by Congress in 1987, was established to enhance Florida business competitiveness. The award program promotes quality awareness, recognizes quality achievements of Florida organizations, and provides a vehicle for sharing successful strategies. The Sterling Criteria focus on results and continuous improvement. They provide a framework for designing, implementing, and assessing a process for managing all business operations.

ISO 9000 is a series of five international standards published in 1987 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Geneva, Switzerland. Companies can use the standards to help determine what is needed to maintain an efficient quality conformance system. For example, the standards describe the need for an effective quality system, for ensuring that measuring and testing equipment is calibrated regularly and for maintaining an adequate record-keeping system. ISO 9000 registration determines whether a company complies with its own quality system.

Overall, ISO 9000 registration covers less than 10 percent of the Sterling Criteria.

Why was the Governor's Sterling Award (GSA) established?

In the early 1990s, many Florida business and government leaders saw that a renewed emphasis on quality was not longer an option for Florida organizations but a necessity for doing business in an ever expanding, and more demanding, competitive marketplace. Florida's economy is one of the largest economies in the world. Former Governor Lawton Chiles established the Governor's Sterling Award in 1991 as a standard of excellence that would help Florida organizations achieve world-class quality and thus become most competitive.

How many awards are given each year?

There is no predetermined number of Governor's Sterling Awards awarded in any given year. In the same respect, there is no predetermined number of Awards given by sector or size, such as a certain number for manufacturing, service, education, public, or service, large, medium, or small. If, in the opinion of the Panel of Judges, an applicant organization meets the standard of being a "Role Model for Organizational Performance Excellence" as examined and judged against the Criteria, then they may become recipients of the Award.
Click here to download All Previous Governor's Sterling Award Recipients

Can only Florida organizations receive the GSA?

Yes.  Any for-profit, not-for-profit, education, manufacturing, health care, public, or service organization located in Florida may apply for the GSA. There are, however, some restrictions:

  • A subsidiary and its parent company may not both apply for the GSA in the same year
  • Other subsidiaries of the same parent company are eligible to apply
  • If an organization receives the GSA, the organization will be ineligible to reapply for a period of three years
  • If a subsidiary receives the GSA, it is ineligible to reapply for a period of three years
  • A company or its subsidiary is eligible only if its practices and business units are inspectable in Florida; more than 50% of the unit's employees and physical assets must be located in the state of Florida

Do the Sterling Criteria take into account an organization's financial performance?

Yes. The Sterling Criteria include many factors that contribute to financial performance, including business decisions and strategies that lead to better market performance, gains in market share, and customer retention and satisfaction. Organizations are urged to use financial information, including profit trends, in analyzing and reporting on improved overall performance and to look for the connection between the two.

How can my organization apply for the Governor's Sterling Award (GSA)?

The first step for an applicant is to submit the GSA Application of Intent. Applicant organizations then submit a 50-page written application to be evaluated by a team of Sterling Examiners. The application is scored against the seven Sterling Criteria categories. The process includes a substantial four to six day on-site review by the team to clarify and verify the written application. Each applicant receives a comprehensive, detailed feedback report highlighting the organization's strengths and opportunities for improvement and information the organizations can use for future planning. The Sterling Panel of Judges selects organizations that have successfully implemented the Sterling Criteria across the organization, and these recipients are recognized at the annual Awards Banquet.

What are the dates and costs associated with the Governor's Sterling Award (GSA)?

For the 2006 Award year, the cycle commences with the Application of Intent. This is due at the Sterling office by September 12, 2005. The application provides the Sterling office necessary information needed to plan for the upcoming examination cycle, such as how many applicants, the location and size of each applicant, and the sectors represented. This information also assists the Sterling office with determining the number of Examiners needed for the award cycle.

The 50-page full application is due at the Sterling office no later than November 14, 2005. Between that time and January 8, each member of the assigned Examiner teams will be independently scoring your application. Commencing around January 18, 2005, the teams will meet to achieve consensus on each applicant's strengths, opportunities for improvement, and initial score. The site visits will occur between February 23 and March 23, 2006.

The costs associated with the Governors Sterling Award are as follows:

  • Application of Intent: $100
  • Application Fees:
              Small/Medium Size Organization (Less than 250 employees): $2,500
              Large Organization (250 employees or more): $4,500
  • Site Visit Fee: $2,500 (Additionally, the applicant organization is responsible for all reasonable Examiner expenses incurred as a result of the site visit; e.g. hotel rooms, meals, and travel).

If we receive the Governor's Sterling Award (GSA), are there other participation requirements?

Organizations recognized as GSA recipients are asked to share their experiences with other Florida organizations by:

  • Conducting at least one open house during the following year
  • Making a presentation at the next Sterling Conference
  • Hosting an exposition booth at the Sterling Conference
  • Providing one or more Examiner candidates for the next award cycle

What precautions are taken to ensure there is no conflict of interest for members of the Board of Examiners and Panel of Judges?

Highly qualified Examiners and Judges who represent all five sectors and all areas of Florida review all GSA applications. All applicants remain anonymous throughout the process. Only the names of actual recipients are released.

Names of applicants, individual applications, commentary, and scoring information developed during the review of applications are regarded as proprietary and are kept confidential. Rigorous rules are followed at every step of the award process. Members of the Board of Examiners are assigned to applications following strict conflict of interest rules and receive no information regarding the content or status of applications to which they are not assigned. It is a violation of the code for board members even to ask for information on applications other than those to which they are assigned.

My organization is not yet prepared to apply for the Governor's Sterling Award. What other options does Sterling offer?

The Sterling Council offers a graduated assessment process, starting with the Sterling Navigator, progressing to the Sterling Challenge, and finally the Governor's Sterling Award. Each helps organizations move towards their goal of performance excellence. Each process is based on the Sterling Criteria and becomes more rigorous and detailed in order to achieve maximum results.

What is the Sterling Navigator?

The Sterling Navigator is the first phase of the Sterling Assessment process. It is a simple, cost-effective, and quick tool that provides organizations with a snapshot of where the organization currently is on their performance excellence journey. The process begins with the organization administering a survey to a cross section of employees. The Sterling Council analyzes the results and provides feedback to the organization, including strengths and opportunities for improvement.

The Sterling Council provides two additional services to the Navigator organization. Mentoring as a follow-up once the Navigator feedback report has been delivered is available. The mentoring is customized to the needs of each organization.

New this year, the Board of Examiners is available to assist the Navigator organization through a site visit of two or more days. The team of Examiners performs interviews with management and employees to verify and clarify the information obtained during the written survey process. A formal feedback report describing strengths and opportunities for improvement would be provided to the organization. As a result of the site visit, customized mentoring can be provided by the Sterling Council to further enhance the organizations self-assessment experience.

What are the costs associated with participating in the Sterling Navigator process?

The Navigator Survey fees consist of the following:

  • 25 or less completed surveys = $895
  • 26-49 surveys = $895 plus $35 per survey over 25
  • 50 completed surveys = $1790
  • 51-74 completed surveys = $1790 plus $35 per survey over 50
  • 75 completed surveys = $2685
  • 76-99 completed surveys = $2685 plus $35 per survey over 75
  • 100 completed surveys = $3580
  • For more than 100 completed surveys, add the cost for 25, 50, 75, or 100 to get as close as possible to the actual number of surveys, then add $35 each for the remaining surveys.

The applicant organization is responsible for all reasonable Examiner expenses incurred as a result of the site visit (e.g. hotel rooms, meals, and travel.)

Contact the Sterling office for information on the costs for mentoring.

We have been using the Sterling Criteria for awhile, but we are not ready to apply for the GSA.  What other options does Sterling offer?

The intermediate-level Sterling Challenge could be what you are looking for. Organizations submit a 20-page application (versus a 50 pages for the GSA) that is evaluated by a team of Sterling Examiners. The written application is scored against the seven categories of the Sterling Criteria: Leadership, Strategic Planning, Customer and Market Focus, Information and Analysis, Human Resource Focus, Process Management, and Business Results.

The Sterling Examiner team then conducts a three to four day on-site review to clarify and verify the information in the written application. Each Challenge applicant organization receives a feedback report that highlights strengths and opportunities for improvement, which can help your organization strategically plan for further steps on your performance excellence journey.

How do we start the Sterling Challenge application process?

All applicants for participation in the Sterling Challenge must submit an Application of Intent form prior to submitting the full Challenge application. This form must be received at the Sterling Council, along with the application of intent fee, 30 days before submitting the Challenge application.

How often can our organization take the Sterling Challenge?

An organization is eligible to participate in the Sterling Challenge process as many times as it feels is practical. The Florida Sterling Council, however, will formally and officially recognize a Sterling Challenge participant only one time. The intent of the Sterling Challenge is to be a stepping-stone to achieving recognition as a recipient of the Governor's Sterling Award (GSA).

How much does it cost to take the Sterling Challenge?

The fees associated with the Sterling Challenge are as follows:

  • Application of Intent $100
  • Application Fees:
              Small/Medium Organization (Less than 250 employees): $1,500
              Large Organization (250 employees or more): $3,500
  • Site Visit Fee: $2,000 (Additionally, the applicant organization is responsible for all reasonable Examiner expenses incurred as a result of the site visit; e.g. hotel rooms, meals, and travel.)
CONTACT INFORMATION

If you have questions, need additional information, or desire consultation, just call or write the Sterling Council at:

Florida Sterling Council, Inc.
P O Box 13907
Tallahassee, FL 32317-3907

Phone: (850) 922-5316
Fax: (850) 488-7579