Improved Organizational Performance & Results

Organizations that won the SLNQA have proven that applying the SLNQA Criteria to run their businesses has led to better financial results, an increase in satisfied and loyal customers, improved product and service quality, a highly engaged and motivated workforce, and breakthrough gains in performance.

Feedback Report to Improve Results

As part of applying for the Performance Excellence Award, organizations receive a feedback report from a team of SLNQA Examiners, experts with remarkable sector and industry knowledge. This provides a framework for addressing future strategic challenges and assessing progress as a result of shifting dimensions of the global economy. Organizations use the report in their strategic planning to focus on their customers and improve results, as well as to help energize and guide improvement efforts.

Focus on Results

Results are the bottom line in the SLNQA process : 450 of the 1,000 points in the SLNQA scoring system are allocated to results, one of the seven SLNQA criteria categories. This results focus helps your organization to determine the most critical areas to measure, create and balance value for key stakeholders, and improve performance in key areas such as customer engagement, process performance, product performance, student learning, and health care outcomes.

International Recognition

Winners are eligible to enter and compete for the Global Performance Excellence Award (GPEA) conducted by the Asia Pacific Quality Organization (APQO). APQO is a non-stock, non-profit organization that serves as an umbrella group that brings together all of the leading quality professional societies in the Asia Pacific Region. Many SLNQA winners won the GPEA in their respective years and received international recognition.

Aligned Efforts and Resources

The linkages among the requirements of the seven Baldrige Criteria Categories can help your organization achieve better coordination and consistency among plans, processes, information, resource decisions, actions, results, analysis, and learning.

Recognize as Role Models

SLNQA winners get the opportunity to share their success stories and best performance practices with organizations, corporate executives, and university graduates around the country. And SLNQA winners help improve the competitiveness of Sri Lankan organizations by inspiring them to improve their performance.

SLNQA Logo to use as a Marketing and Sales Tool

SLNQA Trademark regards itself as a quality symbol and is recognized by all high-performing organizations. Winners of the SLNQA get the opportunity to imprint the SLNQA trademark on their products, advertise their award, and gain public recognition for a 5-year period.

Applicant organizations are evaluated for seven criteria,

Applicant organizations are evaluated for seven criteria,

• Leadership

Leadership has two parts, covering senior leadership in the first and governance and societal responsibilities in the second.

• Strategic Planning

The Strategic Planning category guides you in examining how your organization develops strategic objectives and action plans, as well as how you implement, change, and measure progress on those objectives and plans.

• Customer Focus

The Customer Focus category guides you in examining how your organization engages customers to attain long-term success in the marketplace, including how you listen to the “voice of the customer,” build customer relationships, and use customer information to improve and identify opportunities for innovation.

• Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management

The Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management category examines how you select, gather, analyse, manage, and improve your organization’s data, information, and knowledge assets.

• Workforce Focus

The Workforce Focus category guides how your organization assesses the capabilities of its workforce and creates an environment conducive to high performance.

• The Operations Focus

The Operations Focus category guides you in examining how your organization designs, manages, and improves the systems it uses to accomplish its work, including all external and internal resources.

• Results

The Results category guides you in analyzing and reviewing results data and information in all key areas of your organization—product performance and process effectiveness, customers, workforce, leadership and governance, and financial and market performance.

This set of criteria is based on the criteria used for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in the USA.

The SLNQA is open to public or private sector large, medium, and small organizations in the Manufacturing, Service, Education and Health Care sectors. The size of the organization will be determined by the number of full-time employees as listed below.

• Large - more than 250 full-time employees
• Medium - from 50 up to 250 full-time employees
• Small - less than 50 full-time employees

• Sri Lanka National Quality Award
• Merit Award
• Commendation Certificate

Award recipients may publicize and advertise their Awards. In addition to publicizing the receipt of the Award, recipients are expected to share information about their successful quality strategies with other Sri Lankan organizations.

Any business stationed in Sri Lanka for a minimum period of three (03) years prior to the application date may apply for the Award. Eligibility for the Award is intended to be as open as possible to all organizations. Eligibility restrictions and conditions ensure fairness and consistency in definition. For example, publicly or privately owned, domestic or foreign-owned, joint ventures, incorporated firms, sole proprietorships, partnerships, and holding companies are eligible to apply.

Eligibility Restrictions

• Subsidiaries, divisions, or business units of larger organizations are eligible to apply if they primarily serve the public or engage in business activities other than the parent organization.
• Both parent and subsidiary companies cannot compete for the award in the same year.
• Winners of the award and all its subsidiaries are not eligible for a period of 5 years for any consideration of the second award.

The evaluation process is based upon performance excellence criteria. In responding to these criteria, each applicant is expected to provide information and data on the company’s improvement processes and results. Information and data submitted must be adequate to demonstrate that the applicant’s approaches could be replicated or adapted by other companies.

The evaluation process is designed not only to serve as a reliable basis for making Awards but also to permit a diagnosis of each applicant’s overall quality management.

Application Review

Applications are reviewed and evaluated by members of the Board of Examiners, Review Committee and the Panel of Judges in a five-stage process.

Board of Examiners of SLSI will nominate the Examiner Groups to evaluate applications taking into account the nature of the applicants’ businesses and the expertise of the Examiners. Assignments are made in accordance with strict rules regarding conflict of interest.

All applicants receive feedback reports at the conclusion of the review process. The feedback is based upon the applicant’s responses to the Performance Excellence Criteria. This report indicates their strengths and areas for improvement. Many applicants use the feedback report as a guidance document in improving the performance of the company.

At the time of applying for the SLNQA, the following fee is to be paid.

• Large - scale organizations: LKR 65 000
• Medium - scale organizations: LKR 50 000
• Small - scale organizations: LKR 35 000

Fees are subject to change

Relevant government taxes are applicable