HUTT CITY COUNCIL WINS EXCELLENCE AWARD

Hutt City residents can draw real pride from news that Hutt City Council has won the local government category of the Performance Excellence Awards, said Mayor John Terris.

“This is a fantastic achievement and a real demonstration of the commitment and dedication of Council staff to achieving the highest possible standards of service,” said Mayor Terris.

The Awards were launched in 1992 to encourage high-quality performance in organisations, using the internationally recognised Baldrige Performance Excellence Criteria.

Last year the Customer Service Group of Hutt City Council won the local government division of the awards. At that time the decision was made to extend the Baldrige Performance Excellence Criteria across the whole organisation.

“While our staff are committed to driving performance excellence throughout the entire organisation, it still comes as a very pleasant shock to win the award at our first attempt,” said Hutt City Chief Executive Rik Hart.

“This award shows what can be achieved when everyone works together as a team. The overall goal has always been about improving the way we run our business and this achievement forms part of an ongoing commitment to that goal,” Rik Hart said.

Minister for the Environment Hon Marian Hobbs said: “This Award is a wonderful acknowledgment of Hutt City Council’s top-notch performance. Council staff and Hutt residents can be proud of their Council’s achievement.”

“All the Study Award recipients achieved an impressive standard of performance by applying the performance excellence criteria - the panel of assessors noted that the standard of entrants was the highest since the Awards were launched in 1992,” said Ms Hobbs.

The criteria provides a framework for assessing an organisation’s performance in seven categories: leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, information and analysis, human resource focus, process management and business results.

Runner-up in the local government category was the Far North District Council. The business sector winner was ACC Healthwise and the runner-up Degussa Peroxide Limited. Auckland Regional Council was assessed as the most improved local government sector applicant.

The main award winners are invited to participate in an annual American Study Visit programme later this year. Ms Hobbs and Award sponsors will present the winners with their awards at a ceremony in the Parliament Buildings early this October.

The Awards are sponsored by the Ministry for the Environment, Air New Zealand and Business Excellence NZ.

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