KEY POINTS:
Insurance company Vero has taken top honours in this year's Business Excellence awards.
It is the only New Zealand organisation to achieve a Gold award this year.
Under the New Zealand Business Excellence Awards ranking system of gold, silver and bronze awards there are no limits to the number of awards given in any one year.
Vero, which provides insurance to people across New Zealand and employs 850 staff, rated highly against the Baldrige Criteria a demanding and comprehensive list which considers all aspects of a modern company.
Vero had been working towards the award for 10 years. Its improvement programme saw it achieve bronze in 1998 and silver in 2004.
Chief executive Roger Bell said the company saw the gold award as a huge achievement; only a handful or American businesses reach the same level and only one other New Zealand organisation New Zealand Aluminium Smelters, has obtained the gold award.
Bell said the challenge was now to maintain its gold ranking when it is reassessed in two years' time.
Vero had already reaped benefits from its commitment to the award both in financial returns and a high level of staff engagement, Bell said.
"The Vero staff are so motivated by this process that I couldn't stop them now even if I wanted to."
He said the awards provide a good framework for businesses of all sizes to work at being overall top performers, rather than having pockets of excellence.
The Business Excellence awards, administered by the NZ Business Excellence Foundation, will be presented today.
The New Zealand Business Excellence Foundation (NZBEF) is a not-for-profit charitable trust set up by private and public enterprise to help improve the overall performance of New Zealand organisations.
