From the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund:

IMRF Receives Malcolm Baldrige Award

OAK BROOK, Ill. — We are pleased to announce that IMRF is a recipient of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. 

A Presidential-level honor, the award recognizes exemplary U.S. organizations and businesses that demonstrate an unceasing drive for radical innovation, thoughtful leadership, and administrative improvement

IMRF is the first public pension fund in the nation to receive our country’s highest presidential honor for performance excellence. 

Not only are we in rare company among the best of the best in the nation, but this award shows that we are leading the way for excellence in the public pension industry. 

Of the more than 7.6 million U.S. businesses, less than 1% have received this distinction, with only 121 total winners over the last three decades. 

This is a tremendous honor for IMRF. 

It is the culmination of a decade-long journey toward organizational excellence that includes the achievement of multiple honors at the state level.

We first began integrating the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence into the way we do business in 2008.

IMRF Executive Director Brian Collins received news of the award on Tuesday, during a call with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross.

“It is because of our commitment to excellence and to continuously improving how we serve our members and employers that we have reached this pinnacle in IMRF’s Journey of Excellence,” said Collins. “We are incredibly proud of this accomplishment.”

IMRF Receives Baldrige Award – External from IMRF on Vimeo.

A national distinction from the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Baldrige Program:

• raises awareness about the importance of performance excellence in driving the U.S. and global economies;
• provides organizational assessments, training, tools and criteria;
• educates leaders in businesses, schools, health care organizations and government and nonprofit organizations;
• shares the best practices of national role models;
• and recognizes those role models with the Baldrige Award. 

Over the last 10 years, IMRF has analyzed, evaluated, and improved the organization in many ways, using the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence as a guide.

Some of these improvements include redesigning the organization’s strategic-planning process and leadership system, expanding our customer feedback and surveying program, and benchmarking performance against peers from both the public and private sectors.

These improvements ultimately benefit our members and employers.

IMRF ranks within the top 15% of North American public pensions for cost-effective customer service. 

IMRF’s journey will not stop here.

We will use insights gained from Baldrige’s review and feedback process to continue improving and striving for excellence. 

We will also be active in sharing our best practices with other interested organizations who are on their own journeys to excellence.

The Baldrige Award was established by Congress in 1987 and is not given for specific products or services. Since the first group was recognized in 1988, 129 awards have been presented to 121 organizations (including eight repeat winners).