Skip to main content    

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

**Official websites use .gov**              A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.            

**Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**              A **lock** (  LockA locked padlock) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.            

https://www.nist.gov/baldrige/results-are-what-leaders-and-employees-believe

            -  Topics  -  All Topics 
-  Advanced communications 
-  Artificial intelligence 
-  Bioscience 
-  Buildings and construction 
-  Chemistry 
-  Climate 
-  Cybersecurity 
-  Electronics 
-  Energy 
-  Environment 
-  Fire 
-  Forensic science 
-  Health 
-  Information technology 
-  Infrastructure 
-  Manufacturing 
-  Materials 
-  Mathematics and statistics 
-  Metrology 
-  Nanotechnology 
-  Neutron research 
-  Performance excellence 
-  Physics 
-  Public safety 
-  Resilience 
-  Standards 
-  Transportation 
 
            -  Publications 
            -  Labs & Major Programs  -  Laboratories    -  Communications Technology Laboratory 
  -  Engineering Laboratory 
  -  Information Technology Laboratory 
  -  Material Measurement Laboratory 
  -  Physical Measurement Laboratory 
-  User Facilities    -  NIST Center for Neutron Research 
  -  CNST NanoFab 
-  Research Test Beds 
-  Research Projects 
-  Tools & Instruments 
-  Major Programs    -  Baldrige Performance Excellence Program 
  -  CHIPS for America Initiative 
  -  Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) 
  -  Office of Advanced Manufacturing 
  -  Special Programs Office 
  -  Technology Partnerships Office 
 
            -  Services & Resources  -  Standards and Measurements    -  Calibration Services 
  -  Laboratory Accreditation (NVLAP) 
  -  Quality System 
  -  Standard Reference Materials (SRMs) 
  -  Standards.gov 
  -  Time Services 
  -  Office of Weights and Measures 
-  Software 
-  Data    -  Chemistry WebBook 
  -  National Vulnerability Database 
  -  Physical Reference Data 
  -  Standard Reference Data (SRD) 
-  Storefront 
-  License & Patents 
-  Computer Security Resource Center (CSRC) 
-  NIST Research Library 
 
            -  News & Events  -  News 
-  Events 
-  Blogs 
-  Feature Stories 
-  Awards 
-  Video Gallery 
-  Image Gallery 
-  Media Contacts 
 
            -  About NIST  -  About Us    -  Leadership 
  -  Organization Structure 
  -  Budget & Planning 
-  Contact Us 
-  Visit 
-  Careers    -  Student programs 
-  Work with NIST 
-  History    -  NIST Digital Archives 
  -  NIST Museum 
  -  NIST and the Nobel 
-  Educational Resources 
 

## Baldrige Performance Excellence Program

-  How Baldrige Works  Expand or Collapse    -  About Baldrige  Expand or Collapse      -  Baldrige Impacts 
    -  History  Expand or Collapse        -  Malcolm Baldrige Biography 
      -  How the Baldrige Program Began 
    -  Baldrige Process Integrity 
    -  Baldrige FAQs 
  -  Baldrige Director  Expand or Collapse      -  Organization Chart 
  -  Baldrige Community  Expand or Collapse      -  Examiners  Expand or Collapse        -  Examiner Resources 
    -  Board of Overseers 
    -  Judges Panel 
    -  Executive Fellows 
    -  Baldrige Foundation 
    -  State & Local Baldrige-Based Programs 
    -  Baldrige Ambassadors 
    -  Communities of Excellence 2026 
    -  International Award Programs 
  -  News/Media Room  Expand or Collapse      -  Researchers 
-  Self-Assessing  Expand or Collapse    -  Getting Started 
  -  Baldrige Key Terms 
  -  Improvement Tools  Expand or Collapse      -  Job Quality Toolkit  Expand or Collapse        -  Recruitment & Hiring 
      -  Benefits 
      -  Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Accessibility 
      -  Empowerment & Representation 
      -  Job Security & Working Conditions 
      -  Organizational Culture 
      -  Pay 
      -  Skills & Career Advancement 
      -  Job Quality Baldrige Style 
    -  Foundations for a Successful Business 
    -  Are We Making Progress? 
    -  Are We Making Progress as Leaders? 
    -  easyInsight: Take a First Step Toward a Baldrige Self-Assessment 
    -  Are You a Role-Model Leader? 
    -  Integrating Baldrige with Other Tools 
  -  Baldrige by Sector  Expand or Collapse      -  Manufacturing  Expand or Collapse        -  Are You Ready to Address Your Business Challenges and Get National Recognition? 
    -  Service 
    -  Small Business 
    -  Education 
    -  Health Care 
    -  Nonprofit/Government 
-  Products & Services  Expand or Collapse    -  Baldrige Cybersecurity Initiative 
  -  Baldrige Excellence Framework 
  -  Baldrige Excellence Builder 
  -  Baldrige Executive Fellows Program 
  -  Baldrige Connect 
  -  Become a Baldrige Examiner 
  -  Baldrige Examiner Training Experience 
  -  Shop Baldrige Gear 
-  Publications  Expand or Collapse    -  Baldrige Excellence Framework  Expand or Collapse      -  Business/Nonprofit 
    -  Education 
    -  Health Care 
    -  Baldrige Excellence Framework Graphics 
  -  Baldrige Case Study 
  -  Blogrige 
  -  Insights on the Road to Performance Excellence 
-  Conferences  Expand or Collapse    -  Quest for Excellence Conference 
  -  Baldrige Fall Conference 
  -  Baldrige Exhibit Schedule 
-  Award Recipients  Expand or Collapse    -  Current Baldrige Recipients 
  -  Name & Trademark Guidelines 
-  Baldrige Award  Expand or Collapse    -  Award Criteria 
  -  How to Apply  Expand or Collapse      -  Application Format 
  -  Award Cycle Overview 
  -  Is Your Organization Eligible? 
  -  Award Process Fees 

## Connect with us

TwitterGovDeliveryYoutube

# The Results Are In . . . What Leaders and  Employees Believe

## Share

Facebook

Linkedin

Twitter

Email

Dr. Harry Hertz, Director EmeritusBaldrige Performance Excellence Program

### August 2011

Periodically we ask Baldrige examiners to complete the *Are We Making Progress?* or *Are We Making Progress as Leaders?* survey for their home (employing) organizations. We have recently completed that study with our 2011 Board of Examiners and are reporting the full data on our Web site. While only a snapshot in time, the survey results represent a broad cross section of U.S. organizations and give a sense of current perceptions. The data are based on input from 173 employees and 294 leaders. I am using this month's column to share with you some of my observations based on the survey results.First, here is a little background. The two survey instruments are 40-statement perception surveys based on the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. The survey results allow an organization to gauge its progress in achieving high performance from the perspective of employees and leaders. Furthermore, when answered by both groups, the results allow organizations to determine significant differences in perception that may lead to a need for better communication or a reassessment of actual performance on a given topic.

I will share my observations in three areas:
                  - Areas where employees or leaders had a clear perception of high performance (> 90% agreed or strongly agreed with a survey statement).
                  - Areas where employees or leaders had a clear perception of low performance (<50% agreed or strongly agreed with a survey statement).
                  - Areas where leaders and employees had significant differences in perception (> 15% difference in perceptions).

**High Performance**

***** For the leader survey, substitute "our workforce" for "I" in each statement.While there are some questions above where the employees scored 90% or better and the leaders did not, the leaders were not much below, and the differences do not appear to reflect strong differences. The potential exception is commitment to the organization's success. This latter difference may be the topic for an interesting discussion. Also worth mentioning is that these results for employees have not changed significantly from the 2002/2003 results (PDF version) posted on our Web site. Attributes that were high performing a decade ago still appear that way today in a very different business and global environment.**Low Performance**

I will comment on the two middle statements in the next section. The remaining four statements show general agreement between employees and leaders. These areas pose very significant challenges for all organizations. Strategic planning is almost always a difficult process, and ensuring input of all good ideas (and having no blind spots) vexes even mature organizations. In addition, recent economic turns have documented the need for agility and flexibility. Indeed, the very extensive IBM 2010 Global CEO Study identified building operational dexterity through strategies that allow speed and flexibility as one of three significant CEO challenges.I think many organizations confuse having documented processes (e.g., being ISO 9000 certified) for having good work processes. But when specifically asked about the quality of work processes, both leaders and employees agree that improvement is needed: improvement that would enhance process effectiveness, efficiency, and yield of quality products or services. The result that always amazes me is the statement about removing barriers, which is always the lowest scoring (or close to it) whenever the survey is administered. Admittedly, some of these barriers may be due to extra-organizational factors, but it is surprising what can be achieved by discussing what these barriers are. They get removed, and processes and employee engagement are improved.**Significant Differences in Perception**

The first point of interest is that wherever the discrepancy is large (with one notable exception), the employees have a higher perception than their leaders. In every case, it relates to the employees' work. It seems that there is a lot of opportunity for better communication between leaders and employees across this broad set of companies and industries. Are employees measuring the wrong attributes of their work processes? Do they not know the final outcome of their cumulative work? Is there no true feedback from customers of employees' work? This is obviously a ripe area for organizations to explore and use as a basis for collaborative improvements.The last point I will make is about the one question where leaders rated the statement significantly higher than employees: my boss and my organization care about me. I think leaders do care. But what leaders frequently have not determined is what motivates employee engagement, which is an important sign of leaders' caring. We see employee engagement in Baldrige Award applications as one of the differentiators of truly high performers. Many organizations still focus on and measure only satisfaction, when it is commonly accepted today that engagement drives loyalty and commitment to the organization.I do not know about you, but the results of our latest survey give me a lot of food for thought. I could provide further insights and speculation about these results, but I'll defer for now and leave the interpretation to you. I will reserve the right to use some of these findings as potential topics to explore further in future columns, as we all travel the road to performance excellence!

### Resources

Baldrige Excellence FrameworkBaldrige Excellence BuilderBlogrigeNewsHas Social Media Changed Your Organization? (January 2011)Is Your Organization Strategic When Considering Supplier Relationships? (February 2011)Leadership Yin-Yang on the Road to Performance Excellence (March 2011)Your Quest for Performance Excellence (April 2011)What is Meaningful Use? (May 2011)The Future of Organizational Quality (June/July 2011)Archived Columns

----

You need to have Acrobat Reader installed on your computer to view the PDF file. If you do not have Acrobat Reader installed on your computer, download the program at http://get.adobe.com/reader. People with visual disabilities can download tools and information at http://access.adobe.com to help make Adobe PDF files accessible.

Performance excellenceBaldrige awardBaldrige Framework and CriteriaLeadership development

## Contacts

                -      Baldrige Customer Service    baldrige@nist.gov       (301) 975-2036          NIST/BPEP   100 Bureau Drive, M/S 1020   Gaithersburg,  MD 20899-1020   

### HEADQUARTERS

301-975-2000

Webmaster | Contact Us | Our Other Offices

TwitterFacebookLinkedInInstagramYouTubeGiphyRSS FeedMailing List

Feedback

            -  Site Privacy 
            -  Accessibility 
            -  Privacy Program 
            -  Copyrights 
            -  Vulnerability Disclosure 
            -  No Fear Act Policy 
            -  FOIA 
            -  Environmental Policy 
            -  Scientific Integrity 
            -  Information Quality Standards 
            -  Commerce.gov 
            -  Science.gov 
            -  USA.gov 
            -  Vote.gov