There’s a modern mantra that says winning isn’t everything – it’s the taking part that counts! That’s all well and good when perhaps we are trying to encourage our children and young people to have the confidence to participate and make the most of their capabilities without feeling the pressure to be No.1 at everything.
 
However, try telling that to the runners in last year's Glasgow half marathon as the official distance of the course was recently found to be 149.7m short of the full 13.1 miles. Not only does this invalidate the record set by winner Callum Hawkins, but all 9,500 runners who recorded a personal best have had their times removed from the records.
 
Similarly, Six Nations Rugby fans gripped with the results of last weekend’s matches and eagerly awaiting this week’s fixtures wouldn’t dream of being content with ‘just taking part’.
 
At CCA we are often asked about who is ‘best in class’ and who is ‘industry leading’. Defining what that is or ‘what good looks like’ can take many forms and elements of excellence can be identified across different sectors, size of organisations and of course through our people.
 
Through January we profiled excellence by showcasing the winners of our Excellence Awards 2016 – all of whom stood out in their relevant categories as either driving innovation, demonstrating excellent customer experience or being outstanding at service delivery at the front-line. One element for achieving success that’s clearly rising to the top more and more is effective leadership particularly given the complex and demanding environment we all work in.
 
Recognising and rewarding our achievements is important as it fosters an environment for people to strive to achieve and also to feel part of the journey. Those organisations that bravely put themselves forward for independent assessment against CCA Global Standard© are now benefitting from CCA Strength Finder© which looks to identify those parts of their business that may seem to them as ‘business as usual’ but when reviewed by our Standards Board are actually leading practice and a core element of their success.
 
So perhaps 2017 is the time for you and your organisation not to just ‘take part’ but to push for the finish line and be a winner! CCA Excellence Awards© 2017 is now open for applications across 20+ different categories so check out which ones could be for you.
 
What’s essential to note is that recognition through CCA Global Standard© and our Excellence Awards programme is recognition by your peers. For both initiatives all assessments and submissions are reviewed and scored by colleagues in industry allowing true innovation and excellence to rise to the top as decided by your peer group. The collective expertise of our Standards Review Board and Excellence Awards Committee equates to a vast amount of knowledge, experience and industry understanding. And also – they are people who are just like you; striving to deliver excellent service and drive innovation across their business.
 
So take the challenge now and make 2017 your year! Be a winner – don’t just ‘take part’!
 
Follow the links for more information on CCA Global Standard© and our 2017 Excellence Awards programme.