Performance Improvement: Sterling Award
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Organizations submit a 50-page application that is scored against
the seven categories of the Sterling Criteria:
1) Leadership
2) Strategic
Planning
3) Customer and Market Focus
4) Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge
Management
5) Workforce Focus
6) Process Management
7) Results
When an organization submits a Governor’s Sterling Award application, the Sterling Office assembles a team of six to eight Examiners. These Examiners complete an independent review of the application. They then meet for two days to come to consensus on their findings of strengths and opportunities for improvement, and to prepare for the substantial five to six day site-visit.
On site, the team interviews employees at all levels of the organization, reviews additional documents and results to verify and clarify the original application in its relationship to the Sterling Criteria for Organizational Performance Excellence.
Finally, the team prepares a detailed written feedback report highlighting key strengths and opportunities for improvement for future organizational 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 Governor’s Sterling Award Banquet.
Since its inception, the Sterling Council has acknowledged 57 organizations as Governor’s Sterling Award recipients and “Role Models for Organizational Performance Excellence.”
The Governor’s Sterling Award application is most suitable for organizations that:
View a list of "PowerPoint Presentations" highlighting the Criteria categories.
View the Major Components of The Sterling Criteria in HTML format.
View the 2007 Governor's Sterling Award
Recipients in HTML format.
Click below to download:
The Sterling Criteria - ![]()
Corrected page 25 of The Sterling Criteria
2008 Award Application
Book - ![]()
Healthcare Notes
Education Notes
All Governor's Sterling Award Recipients
Governor's Sterling Award Recipients
Current Role Models
2008
Hillsborough County Tax Collector
Marion County Sheriff’s Office
Orange County Clerk of Courts
Shands HealthCare
The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota
2007
Brevard Public Schools
Division of Blind Services, Florida Department of Education
Howard D. McMillan Middle School, Miami
Landrum Professional Employer Services, Inc., Pensacola
Miami VA Healthcare System
Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, South Florida Business Unit
2006
Miami-Dade County Health Department (Miami)
Ramblewood Elementary School (Coral Springs)
Previous Recipients of the Governor's Sterling Award
2005
Charles R. Hadley Elementary School, Miami
Tropical Financial Credit Union, Miramar
2004
Cargill Phosphate Production, Riverview
Dante B. Fascell Elementary School, Miami
Motorola iDEN Subscriber Supply Chain Operations, Plantation
North Beach Elementary School, Miami Beach
2003
Boeing Special Operations Forces Aerospace
Support Center, Ft. Walton
City of Coral Springs
Clerk of the Circuit Court, Palm Beach County
Kendale Elementary School, Miami
2002
Miami-Dade County Health Department
2001
City of Jacksonville
Sarasota Memorial Hospital
2000
Azalea Elementary School, St. Petersburg
Northeast Florida State Hospital, Macclenny
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, Naples
1999
East Coast Transportation, Jacksonville
Florida State Hospital, Chattahoochee
1998
United States Coast Guard Marine Safety Office, Jacksonville
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Elementary School, Pinellas Park
Amelia Island Plantation, Amelia Island
Florida Department of Revenue
Florida Department of Labor – Division of Unemployment Compensation
1997
Cargill Juice Products, Frostproof
City of Coral Springs
Omni Jacksonville Hotel, Jacksonville
1996
AT &T American Transtech, Jacksonville
Baptist Hospital of Miami
Merrill Lynch Credit Corporation, Jacksonville
Mike Shad Ford, Jacksonville
1995
AT & T Paradyne, Largo
Honeywell Military Avionics Guidance & Navigation Operation, Clearwater
Merrill Lynch Insurance Group Services, Jacksonville
Morton Plant Mease Healthcare, Clearwater
1994
Florida Hospital, Orlando
Group Technologies Corporation, Tampa
John Crane Belfab, Daytona Beach
Monsanto Company, Nylon Fibers Division, Pensacola
Naval Station, Mayport
Sacred Heart Hospital, Pensacola
1993
Armstrong World Industries, Pensacola
AT&T Universal Card Services, Jacksonville
Honeywell Space Systems Division, Clearwater
Pinellas County Schools, Largo
To find out more about the Florida Sterling Council, call (850) 922-5316.






