1.1  Senior leaders set and communicate organizational values, direction, and performance expectations.

Are values documented, visible, and consistently modeled by leaders?

1.2  Leaders create an environment that fosters learning, innovation, and employee engagement.

Are improvement ideas welcomed? Is there a process to act on them?

1.3  The organization meets its legal, ethical, and public responsibility obligations.

Compliance programs, ethics policies, community commitments.

2.1  The organization has a documented strategic plan with clear goals, timelines, and owners.

Is the plan written, reviewed regularly, and connected to day-to-day work?

2.2  Strategic planning considers strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, and competitive environment.

Is a SWOT or similar analysis performed? How often? Who participates?

2.3  Action plans are deployed throughout the organization with resources allocated to achieve strategic goals.

Are strategic priorities reflected in departmental work plans and budgets?

3.1  The organization systematically listens to customers and acts on their feedback.

Surveys, complaint tracking, satisfaction scores — are results reviewed and used?

3.2  Customer groups and their distinct needs are identified and service is tailored accordingly.

Residential vs. commercial; vulnerable populations; special programs.

3.3  Complaints are resolved promptly and root causes are addressed to prevent recurrence.

Is there a defined complaint resolution process? Are trends tracked?

4.1  Key performance indicators (KPIs) are defined, tracked, and reviewed on a regular schedule.

Do you have a dashboard? Are KPIs tied to strategic goals?

4.2  Data is used to identify trends, make decisions, and drive improvements rather than just for reporting.

Can you cite examples where data changed a decision or sparked an improvement?

4.3  Organizational knowledge is captured and shared so it is not lost when employees leave.

SOPs, training documentation, knowledge transfer, succession planning.

5.1  Employees understand how their work connects to the organization's mission and strategic goals.

Onboarding, team meetings, performance reviews — is the big picture communicated?

5.2  Training and development opportunities are systematically provided and aligned with organizational needs.

Is training planned or reactive? Are skill gaps assessed?

5.3  Employee well-being, safety, and engagement are actively managed and measured.

Safety incident rates, engagement surveys, recognition programs, turnover trends.

6.1  Core work processes are documented, standardized, and consistently followed.

SOPs, work order processes, field procedures — are they written down and used?

6.2  There is a systematic approach to preventing problems and minimizing service disruptions.

Preventive maintenance programs, reliability metrics, emergency response plans.

6.3  Processes are regularly reviewed and improved based on data, benchmarks, or feedback.

Is there a formal improvement review cycle? PDCA or similar methodology in use?

7.1  Customer-focused results (satisfaction, complaints resolved, service reliability) show positive trends.

Can you show 3+ years of improving customer satisfaction or reliability data?

7.2  Workforce results (safety, engagement, retention, development) show positive trends.

Incident rates, turnover, training completion, engagement scores over time.

7.3  Operational and financial results show improvement and compare favorably to peers or benchmarks.

Cost per customer, system reliability, financial ratios — tracked and benchmarked.

7.4  Leadership and governance results demonstrate ethical behavior, stakeholder trust, and community impact.

Audit outcomes, board engagement, community perception, regulatory compliance.