Assessments & Awards — Start Here
Not Sure Where to Start?
Sterling offers several paths to improve how your organization operates. The right one depends on where you are and what you want to walk away with. Use the guide below to find yours.
The real problem
Most improvement efforts fail because they attack symptoms.
If your strategy feels disconnected from daily work, your improvement initiatives feel scattered, or your teams keep solving the same problems twice — the issue isn’t willpower. It’s the system. And you can’t fix what you haven’t honestly looked at.
A Sterling assessment is an external, expert read of how your organization actually operates. What’s aligned. What’s leaking value. What to do next.
Your decision guide
Two Questions to Find Your Path
Answer each question. Some answers lead directly to the right program; others narrow the field.
Step 1
Have you won a Sterling award before?
Step 2
What are you looking for?
Two tracks
Which One Are You After?
Every Sterling assessment uses the same Criteria and the same trained examiner corps. What differs is what you walk away with.
Consultative Assessment
You want to know how you actually operate.
A trained assessment team works onsite with your senior leadership, interviews staff, and observes processes — then leaves you with directed feedback you can act on. No competition, no award attached.
Best for organizations new to the framework or unsure of readiness.
Competitive Assessment
You want to be measured against the Criteria.
Your organization is evaluated by a trained examiner team against the Criteria for Performance Excellence. Mature processes and results are judged, and role-model organizations are recognized.
Best for organizations with mature systems ready to be evaluated.
Governor's Sterling / Georgia Oglethorpe Award
For organizations with mature systemsSterling's highest honor for organizational performance excellence, presented as the Governor's Sterling Award in Florida and the Georgia Oglethorpe Award in Georgia.
Learn moreSterling Sustained Excellence Award
For past award winnersFor past Governor's Sterling / Georgia Oglethorpe Award recipients who maintain and strengthen their management systems over time.
Learn moreSterling Manufacturing Business Excellence Award
For manufacturersPerformance excellence recognition for manufacturers.
Learn moreWhy it matters
The organizations that win Sterling awards don’t chase them. They chase better leadership systems. The award is what happens when the system works.
You can’t put together an award-level application without confronting hard questions about how your organization actually operates. And that confrontation is where real change begins.
The outcome
What You Walk Away With
An external expert view of how well your goals, plans, processes, and measures actually align
A written Feedback Report with cross-cutting recommendations, strengths, and opportunities for improvement
High-level plans to address the opportunities that will move the needle
Leaders inside your organization are educated to carry the framework forward
A strong baseline of key strengths and opportunities, including action plans with resources required to move your organization to Performance Excellence
A clear read to see if you're ready for that next step
Recognition at the Governor's Sterling Award Banquet
Proof
2026 Award Recipients
Organizations that completed a competitive assessment this cycle:
Fulton County Schools Human Resource Division
Northeast Georgia Medical Center Braselton
Alachua County Tax Collector
How it works
What Happens After You Submit
Every assessment follows the same arc — from Application of Intent to the site visit to your Feedback Report. The scope and depth vary by program, but the structure is consistent.
Application of Intent
A simple form that tells us about your organization and which program fits. Submitted right on the product page.
Site Visit
A trained examiner team works onsite with your senior leadership, interviews staff, and observes how your operation actually runs.
Feedback Report
A written report with cross-cutting recommendations, key strengths, and the opportunities that will move the needle most.
Start here
Ready to Look Honestly at How You Operate?
If you’re ready to submit, the journey starts with an Application of Intent. If you’re not sure, start with a Sterling Collaborative — it’s the most direct way to gauge readiness.