North Carolina Awards for Excellence Participation

Participate in the North Carolina Awards for Excellence

If you are interested in NCAfE to support your business goals in improving operational performance, financial effectiveness, and market competitiveness, please contact IES to learn how to get started. You may contact your area IES account manager or complete the online NCAfE Interest form.

An NCAfE specialist will then work directly with you to determine the appropriate level of participation based your current business environment. Additionally, we will discuss any training or coaching necessary to help you understand how to integrate the Baldrige Criteria into your organization.

The NCAfE Awards Process Assessment

Once your business is determined eligible for the process, you will begin one of two different Awards Process Assessment Methods:

Collaborative Assessment (NCAfE Level 1 only) - The Involvement (Level 1) of the NCAfE process is collaborative and involves the organization in the assessment. Level 1 includes a half-day of training and support to understand and use the Baldrige criteria. During the one-day collaborative assessment, this assessment consists of jointly assessing the organization against specific criteria (four items of the Baldrige criteria in a group setting with senior leaders, process owners, process users, management, and examiners serving as facilitators. A list of strengths and prioritized opportunities for improvement is generated. In addition, the participant will receive a formal feedback report.

Application/Site Visit Assessment (NCAfE Levels 2-4) - In the Commitment (Level 2), Advancement (Level 3) and Leadership (Level 4), the organization provides responses to the Baldrige criteria in an application, prepared in a narrative form to the level criteria items for which the organization is applying. Once the responses are submitted to NCAfE, they are assessed independently and collectively by a group of examiners and then clarified/verified at a site visit. A Review Board independent from NCAfE evaluates the recommendation of the examiners and determine the level of recognition for the organization. A formal feedback report is provided by NCAfE to indicate the organization’s strengths, opportunities for improvement, and item scoring.


NCAfE Recognition and Awards

NCAfE recognition and awards are based on the criteria assessments at four levels. Participation is recognized at the Involvement (Level 1), and awards are presented the Commitment (Level 2), Advancement (Level 3), and Leadership (Level 4). Recognition and awards ceremonies will be held either at an IES public event or at the participant site.

More NCAfE program details are available in the NCAfE Process Booklet.