Part three of four

Baldrige Award Winner Profile

An interview with Jill Cook, Los Alamos National Bank's senior vice president of loans and a leader of LANB's quality council.

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by Robert A. Green

On April 6, President Bush presented the 2000 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award to four companies during a ceremony held in Alexandria, Virginia. Among those winners was Los Alamos National Bank, the largest independent bank in New Mexico. LANB provides a full range of financial services to consumers and commercial and government organizations.

 What follows is an interview with Jill Cook, LANB's senior vice president of loans and a key driver of the bank's QMS and cross-functional performance improvement teams. This is the third of four interviews conducted with representatives from each 2000 Baldrige Award winner to be published in consecutive issues of Quality Digest.

Quality Successes In its most recent survey, 80 percent of LANB customers said they were "very satisfied" with the service they received -- considerably better than the levels received by its primary competitors and the national average of 55 percent for all banks. Returns on key financial indicators have exceeded local competitors' and the national average. For example, the bank's net income has increased by more than 60 percent over the last five years, and earnings per share increased from $1.20 to nearly $2. For the past three years, employee satisfaction results have been well above those of other banks its size in five of eight key indicators of employee satisfaction. In 1999, LANB received New Mexico's highest quality award, the Zia. In 1996, Inc. magazine named LANB one of the 26 "Banks We Love" for its service to small businesses and in 1995, Money magazine named LANB "the best bank in New Mexico."

QD: When did your company first formalize its quality management system?

Cook: In 1996, when we first applied for a New Mexico Quality Award. One major outcome of our participation in this program was the establishment of our LANB quality council. This team, made up of senior and departmental management and employees from throughout the bank, monitors and coordinates our process improvement efforts.

 By 1997, we believed that applying for the New Mexico Quality Award would be invaluable in helping us to assess our progress. That year, we received invaluable feedback from our examiners and Roadrunner recognition for our efforts. We repeated the process in 1998, receiving Roadrunner recognition again. In 1999, we involved the quality council and employees of all areas of the bank in our self-assessment. The quality council chartered a team for each category in the application, allowing us to make the most comprehensive assessment of our internal processes. The effort resulted in our receiving the Zia award, the highest level of state recognition, demonstrating progress in our efforts.

QD: When and how did you discover the Baldrige Award?

Cook: We discovered the Baldrige in the 1980s when our senior management began studying the management philosophy of W. Edwards Deming and attended Motorola University quality briefings in 1988. Our quest to improve the quality -- and competitiveness -- of our products and services meant learning to listen more carefully to our customers, employees and shareholders. We also continually examine and improve our internal processes in response to their needs.

QD: When and how did your Baldrige journey begin?

Cook: With the discovery of the Baldrige criteria. This dedication to becoming a quality-driven organization inevitably led us to the Baldrige process. Adherence to the Baldrige criteria gave us a systematic approach to our growth, encouraging proactive planning based on facts rather than just intuition.

 By the early 1990s, a number of organizations in New Mexico felt a need to develop a statewide quality program to enhance the state's competitiveness in an emerging global economy. Bill Enloe, CEO of LANB, was a founding organizer of Quality New Mexico and currently serves on its board of directors. The creation of Quality New Mexico gave LANB and other organizations in the state a Baldrige-based mechanism for self-assessment that addresses all key areas of their operations. Feedback reports from LANB's New Mexico Quality Award applications have helped us emphasize our strengths and identify our opportunities for improvement.

QD: Were there any obstacles in implementing the Baldrige criteria?

Cook: We had some resistance to change. Some people viewed this change as work they would have in addition to their already busy schedules. Once it was implemented and under way, though, most people found that it created a better way to manage their work rather than an addition to their normal work load. Some could never accept the change and grow with it, which did cause us to lose a few employees.

QD: What are some dos and don'ts you'd suggest for companies looking into implementing the Baldrige criteria?

Cook: Don't continue if you don't have full support from management. Don't try to do it piecemeal. Do involve everyone, do be consistent, and do be patient.

QD: Will your company apply again?

Cook: Yes, we will be applying again. This was not an end result but a continuous process.

QD: How does your organization define "beyond Baldrige"?

Cook: We define "beyond Baldrige" by the phrase "keep it up!" We will continue to do what we have been doing and strive to improve for our customers, employees and investors. It's a commitment that we have dedicated ourselves to and plan to retain in our organization, beyond just winning the Baldrige Award.

About the author

Robert A. Green is Quality Digest's news editor. E-mail him at contact_us .