BSA Blog: The Excellence Test

Posted: 5th January 2022

By Robin Fletcher, CEO, BSA and BSA Group

Most of my family don’t set New Year’s resolutions. I do though and mine is around getting leaner and fitter (how original). But in listing some personal goals I wonder how many organisations have also set them?

At one level any company, school or other entity that’s performing well against its long-term strategy and in-year business plan doesn’t need any further resolutions. Why suddenly throw one in when they should also be thought out well in advance anyway?

But setting an additional, overarching aim at the beginning of a new year is not necessarily a bad thing. And if it can be encapsulated in just one word, so much the better.

At any point in time there are lots of vogue buzzwords. Think of Covid-19 and it doesn’t take long to talk of boosting (jabs), capacity (health service) and restrictions (lockdown rules). Think of management and leadership and there is a lot around currently about equity (diversity, inclusion) innovation (new products, services and processes) and servant leadership (supporting others to succeed).

Cutting through all these however my one word for 2022 is ‘Excellence’. Why? Because it’s a great term and we all know, statistically or otherwise, that excelling at something is generally a pretty positive place to be. And ‘Excellence’ is not restricted by any boundaries anywhere in the world.

Most BSA Group customers are boarding schools and no doubt many boarding schools are excellent in many ways. If a school is full to capacity and achieving its best-ever academic results, then surely it passes the Excellence Test?

Well, yes and no. Because school roll and exam performance are perhaps fairly obvious and traditional measures, but they certainly do not describe the state of a whole school.

If one was to tour, randomly, the student accommodation at a typical UK boarding school for instance, would every room, wall, bed, study, kitchen, carpet or stick of furniture pass the Excellence Test?

And if one was to look at succession and development plan for boarding staff at that school, or the recruitment process for domestic and international students, would these too pass the Test?

We all know in our own lives the things we could improve, either to help ourselves or others around us. These are areas which, if we are truly honest, are not ‘Excellent’ in the true sense of the word.

The challenge then is there for all us, whether we work in a school or non-school organisation. Forget about Covid-19 (not literally, obviously), set aside the strategy and business plan (but still deliver it), and apply The Excellence Test.

There is no prize for guessing that The Excellence Test will inevitably produce some uncomfortable results. But that’s the point, of course. After all, if you are going to set a New Year’s Resolution it may as well be meaningful and a little bit stretchy, or it’s not worth a great deal.

So here’s to an ‘Excellent’ 2022, whatever that might mean. Good luck!

Categories: BSA News