Baldrige Program Seeks Examiners

Examiner Application available online and will be open until Jan. 10, 2013.

Published: Tuesday, November 27, 2012 - 12:08

(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- It’s been said that the one of the most prestigious qualifications a professional can have is to say that he or she was part of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Board of Examiners. To say you served as a Baldrige examiner and were part of building American competitiveness gives you a sense of pride—and probably even patriotism.

The Baldrige Performance Excellence Program is seeking applicants for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Board of Examiners for the 2013 Award cycle.

The Examiner Application is now available online and will be open until January 10, 2013.

Baldrige examiners are part of an elite group of more than 500 professionals who commit their knowledge, skills, and time to help evaluate applicants for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award—the only Presidential award for performance excellence.

The board is comprised of senior leaders and experienced management professionals from across all sectors of the U.S. economy, including manufacturing, service, small business, healthcare, education, government, and nonprofit. Examiners make a major contribution to the national effort to recognize and promote performance excellence, and they benefit from an unparalleled networking and educational experience.

Examiners have the unique opportunity to explore in-depth examples of best practices, innovation, planning strategies, and ways to engage customers and the workforce, which builds their professional acumen. A Baldrige examiner brings back all of that valuable learning to his or her own organization.

Examiners are selected based on knowledge of the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence, industry expertise, good oral communication, good written communication, skills at leading a team, and team-participation experience. More information on who should apply is available online.

As part of the Examiner Preparation course, examiners evaluate a case study (a fictitious Baldrige application) and engage in peer learning; in-depth criteria training; and facilitated team, leadership, and technical writing training. Examiners then volunteer more than 100 hours in the evaluation of an actual Baldrige Award applicant, which includes independent, consensus, and site-visit reviews. Baldrige examiner training has been named a top-10 leadership development program by Leadership Excellence magazine for three consecutive years.

According to Baldrige Judge Jackie Beede, president of AIM Inc., “Most of what I get from the [Baldrige] program is such a sense of contribution, contributing to the success of other organizations, contributing to the success of the country, helping America grow and become much more competitive.... The Baldrige Preparation Course is very experiential in nature, rather than being lectured to or doing a lot of reading. It's a great learning experience and I've always told people it's probably the best training I ever received.”

Visit the Baldrige Web site for testimonials of why others serve and a video that features Baldrige examiners sharing their experiences on the board.

The application for appointment to the 2013 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Board of Examiners will close Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, at 6 p.m. Eastern. Complete information is available on the Baldrige Become an Examiner page.

Related news on the 2013 Baldrige Award process: Updated information and guidance regarding the 2013 Baldrige Award Application is now available. The 2013 eligibility and application forms will be posted by early January; more information to come soon.

About The Author

NIST

Founded in 1901, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is a nonregulatory federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce. Headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland, NIST’s mission is to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life.