Signature service
The Health Check
A Strategic Capabilities Audit that shows where your organization is out of alignment, how that affects performance, and what to fix first.
Based on the Baldrige criteria for performance excellence and built on the BEAM model. Presented at the American Society for Quality and the International Society for Performance Improvement.
When an organization needs one
An organization’s health, like your own, affects how it performs and, eventually, whether it survives. A Health Check makes sense:
- Periodically, especially when competition, legislation or market trends shift, so you can act ahead of the change.
- During major change, such as new technology, process redesign or a merger, to restore balance and keep the transition smooth.
- When something is wrong: performance lags, customers leave, or morale drops, and you need to know why.
What it answers
The Health Check looks at how your organization does its work and what results it gets, and at how well the parts fit together. For each area, it asks four questions:
- How do you accomplish the work?
- How well do you accomplish it?
- What are the results?
- How good are the results?
What you get
A diagnosis and a plan
A health rating for each area
Leadership, strategy, customer focus, measurement, technology and more, each scored on a six-level scale.
Specific findings
How each area works today, in concrete terms, and how it affects the rest of the organization.
Ranked recommendations
Every recommendation sorted by strategic fit, payoff and ease, so you know where to start.
Measures to track progress
The metrics you need to track quality and performance from then on.
How findings are scored
Each area gets a health rating
Findings are scored on a six-level scale, described the way a doctor would describe a patient.
- 0CriticalDire functioning. Unable to accomplish anything.
- 1GuardedMinimal functioning. Weak but stable.
- 2GoodBasic functioning. Adds value in selected areas.
- 3HealthyEffective functioning. Performs well.
- 4AthleticEfficient and effective. High achievement.
- 5World classSuperstar performance. Sets records.
Recommendations come ranked
A Health Check can easily produce dozens of recommendations. Two filters turn them into a plan.
First, strategic fit. Each recommendation is rated for how closely it aligns with your strategy and how much business impact it would have. Only the high-alignment, high-impact ones move on.
Second, payoff against effort. The survivors are placed on a payoff matrix. Pursue a few “gems” early to build momentum, while you put real effort into the harder, high-payoff work.
In one engagement, 51 recommendations went through the first filter. 36 passed: 12 gems and 24 that needed extra effort.
Where it fits
BEAM, applied to your organization
The Health Check looks at each part of the BEAM wheel and at the culture at its hub. It works for a single department or the whole enterprise, and shows how problems in one unit connect to the rest. It is also the first phase of a larger path, if you want one.
- Phase 1DiagnoseConduct the Health Check, identify improvement opportunities, then select and prioritize initiatives.
- Phase 2DesignStructure the initiatives, design the projects, and implement them with your team.
- Phase 3SustainRoll out, assess after rollout, and put measurement and feedback in place for continuous improvement.
You can act on the findings yourselves, or ask TPS to help with the next phases.
In practice
Used to choose what to do next
For a financial services organization, TPS built a Health Check that drew on data the company already had and produced evidence-based recommendations, fitted to the company’s own business architecture. Leadership used it to manage risks and vulnerabilities and to choose its strategic initiatives.
Stu presented the method at the American Society for Quality’s Quality Management Division conference with Eileen Santos, then of the Law School Admission Council, and wrote about it in The National Provisioner.
Common questions
About the Health Check
Is the Health Check only for large organizations?
No. Small and mid-sized organizations face the same problems, and are often more vulnerable, because keeping the business running leaves little time to build capability. The Health Check is scaled to the organization.
Can it cover one department instead of the whole organization?
Yes. It can focus on a single department or division, the whole enterprise, or both. Because it uses the BEAM framework, it also shows how a department’s strengths and problems connect to the rest of the organization.
How long does a Health Check take?
It depends on the size of the organization and the scope you choose. We agree on the scope, timeline and deliverables before we start.
What do you need from us?
Access to the data and documents you already have, and time with leaders and staff. The Health Check builds on existing information wherever it can, to keep the demand on your people low.
What happens after the Health Check?
You get ranked recommendations and the measures to track them. You can act on them yourselves, or ask TPS to help design and carry out the initiatives.
Start a conversation
Facing something like this?
Tell us what’s going on. If TPS is a good fit, we’ll suggest a sensible first step.