Pal's Business Excellence Institute (Pal’s BEI) is honored to announce it has won the prestigious Excellence Award from the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence (TNCPE). Excellence Award recipients are outstanding examples of high-performance organizations, exhibiting high sustainable results, and world-class processes that serve as role models for others.
“Since this program was founded in 1993, only 22 organizations have attained the excellence designation, so I congratulate Pal’s Business Excellence Institute for this significant achievement,” says Governor Bill Haslam. “Tennessee is a better place to live, work and raise a family when individuals and organizations commit to this level of excellence and continuous improvement, and I thank them for that commitment.”
Pal’s BEI provides training and consulting, based on the world-class practices of Pal’s Sudden Service, a regional quick-serve restaurant chain, and winner of the ultimate award for excellence—the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
“Pal’s BEI trains leaders of all types of organizations who want to manage at the highest possible level” says David McClaskey, Pal’s BEI president and cofounder and an expert in quality management.
“We are honored to join the ranks of the outstanding organizations that have previously been recognized at the Excellence Award level over the past 23 years, which includes four organizations that have also won the Baldrige Award McClaskey says. “The TNCPE and Baldrige processes are at the center of both what we teach and how we manage for excellence.”
With only three full-time team members, Pal’s BEI is by far the smallest company to win the Excellence Award. Many of the companies that have won the Excellence Award have hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of employees. “It shows that this level of excellence can be accomplished by organizations of any size,” says Katie Wood, director of marketing and administration at Pal’s BEI.
Pal’s BEI’s mission is to “inspire and enable organizations to be extraordinary through operational excellence.” Classes are offered at the Kingsport location twice a month, and all types of companies and organizations from around the world have come to learn how to operate their organizations at the highest possible level. Many companies send multiple groups year after year.
When asked about the Achieving World-Class Results training, Teddy Ferguson, director of operations at the Chickery in Washington, D.C. says “I’ve been in the restaurant business for more than 30 years. This was the most important and sustainable training session ever.”
Pal’s BEI has sold out the last 30 classes in a row. The next available classes are December 16–17 and January 20–21.
“Winning this award demonstrates that we apply and role model what we teach to others,” says David Jones, Pal’s BEI vice president.
McClaskey adds that while this is a wonderful award, the culture of Pal’s BEI doesn’t allow for complacency.
“We are always learning,” McClaskey says. “The TNCPE Award process is such a great systematic process to learn from. It helps provide a comprehensive assessment of all the major aspects of your management system.”
The awards will be presented at the 23rd Annual Excellence in Tennessee Conference and Awards Banquet on February 24, 2016, at the Franklin Marriott Cool Springs, Franklin, Tennessee.
