The Office of Organizational Development at the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services was awarded a Kansas Award for Excellence during a banquet October 26 at Raytheon’s Beech Activity Center in Wichita.

SRS Executive Director of Human Resources George Vega accepted the award, a Level 1 Award for Excellence. Lieutenant Governor Gary Sherrer made the presentation.

The Kansas Award for Excellence (KAE) is a not-for-profit foundation created in 1995 to facilitate and recognize Kansas organizations for business excellence and competitive improvement. KAE implemented a statewide recognition award program based on the globally recognized Malcolm Baldrige assessment and award program.

According to the Kansas Award for Excellence, the Level 1 Commitment to Excellence award shows that the organization demonstrates "a serious commitment to the use of quality principles."

Janet Schalansky, secretary of SRS, said the award was a major recognition of work well done at Organizational Development. "This award demonstrates the accomplishments and commitment to continuous improvement of the entire Organizational Development staff," she said. "It shows the quality of their program and that the processes are in place for quality improvement."

Mark Andrews, director of Organizational Development, emphasized that the team concepts in use at the division helped bring about the recognition. He pointed out that they had to demonstrate to a Board of Examiners an exceptional commitment to quality. And he praised work done by Craig Kibbe and Marie Ortiz in coordinating and producing the application.

"Above and beyond the satisfaction of receiving an award, Organizational Development gained much from having a better understanding of our organization as well as having objective examiners from outside SRS make an assessment of the areas needing improvement and areas where we excel," Andrews said.

Page Last Updated: May 29, 2001