There is a buzz among many Florida organizations, both public and private. It has evolved from being the passion of a few to the curiosity and interest of the many. The Florida Sterling Council's processes for helping organizations reach a new level of performance are hitting the mainstream.

Since the early 1990's the Florida Sterling Council has provided a variety of tools to help organizations assess and improve performance in the areas of leadership, customer satisfaction, planning, quality, employee involvement and teamwork, and profitability. At the centerpiece of their efforts is the Florida Governor's Sterling Award.

The Governor's sterling award (GSA to some) provides organizations a process to evaluate current practices and develops a roadmap to reaching a new level of performance. Organizations that have exceptional business practices resulting in outstanding financial and customer-related results are recognized awarded the Governor's Sterling Award. They stand out as one of Florida's best run organizations.

The Sterling processes are consistent with a national program put on by the National Institute for Standards and Technology featuring the esteemed Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award. Since 1987, 43 different states have adopted similar quality programs. According to many knowledgeable people, the Florida Sterling Council is well on to living up to its vision of Florida being the National Benchmark for Quality by providing leadership and setting the pace for other State programs to follow.

The backbone of the Sterling processes is what is called the Criteria for Performance Excellence. This criterion becomes an invaluable tool for organizations to use to compare how they are currently conducting business compared to how world class organizations do it. Whether you run a resort, a car dealership, a construction company, a law firm or a marine manufacturing operation, the criteria helps you develop a plan to address those critical few areas that need your attention in order for you to achieve breakthrough results.

As we head in the next millennium, it appears that the Sterling process, first adopted by large, manufacturing organizations, is generating much more interest by organizations of all shapes and sizes. Naturally, the benefits of Sterling were bound to become known and desired by others.

Here are a few statistics that demonstrate the growing interest and awareness in Sterling:

400% growth of Florida Sterling Conference attendance in 5 years

An annual conference in Orlando has grown from 300 attendees primarily from large corporations such as FPL and Motorola to over 1200 attendees representing small business, government and healthcare in 1999.

15 fold growth of the Sterling contact database

Each time a person contacts the Sterling office requesting information or attends a Sterling event, their name is put into a database. The database has grown from approximately 800 people over five years ago to almost 15000 contacts in 1999.

350% growth in Team Quality Showcase attendance in Southwest Florida

An annual showcase event for the Southwest Florida region has grown from fewer than 100 attendees to almost 400 attendees in 1999. The most recent showcase at Barbara B Mann Hall drew the most diverse group yet.

According to Jim Sherlock of the Florida Sterling Council office, there are several reasons for the increased interest and growth. "We've made the criteria much more user friendly," he says. "The way that the criteria are worded into questions using common language has made is much more accessible for any organization. On top of that, we have a graduated process utilizing the Sterling Navigator, the Sterling Quality Achievement and the Governor's Sterling Award to make it practical and feasible for organizations at any size or level of expertise to be more successful in its performance excellence journey."

Another reason may be that business leaders are forcing themselves to spend less time caught up in the short term problems and more time preparing their organizations for a brave new Y2K business environment. In any case, a proven process that yields a practical roadmap to get to the next level of performance is a primary goal.

Southwest Florida has played a leadership role as a loyal supporter of the Florida Sterling Council and a strong advocate of the Sterling processes for performance excellence. In fact, the current President Elect of the Florida Sterling Council is Mr. Leo Willenbacher, the Vice President and General Manager for Yoder Brothers' operations in Fort Myers. His operation has participated in several Sterling processes. "To some degree, every organization struggles with the need to manage change in an environment of rapidly emerging situations," he says. "I have found that properly utilized, the Sterling Criteria for Performance Excellence to be the agent for managing change at all levels of an organization."

Serious about launching your company into the next millenium? Sterling may be your springboard.

For more information locally contact the Chamber of SW Florida at 278-4001 or www.chamber-swflorida.com and follow the "Quality" link. To contact the Florida Sterling Council directly, call (850) 922-5316 or visit www.floridasterling.com.