The European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) has granted a prize to the company in the category "Taking responsibility for a sustainable future"
Red Eléctrica obtains the highest European recognition for the management of business excellence
Red Eléctrica de España has received the prize for business excellence in the category "Taking responsibility for a sustainable future", as part of the awards that the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) grants every year to the best European companies in the adoption of the most advanced management systems and business practices. It is the first time that the company has been present in these awards, considered as the maximum European exponent of business excellence.

The foundation has granted this prize to Red Eléctrica because, according to the jury, "its ability to address stakeholder needs and generate an effective dialogue with all parties, especially regarding sustainability, is impressive".

In addition to this prize, the EFQM has highlighted as "best practice" the management of Red Eléctrica, not only in the category where it has received the recognition, but also in "Achieving balanced results" and "Adding value for customers". Similarly, as a result of this evaluation, Red Eléctrica has improved its own national scores reaching 650 points (the maximum score given in the 20 year history of EFQM awards has been that of 750).

During the award-giving ceremony held yesterday in Munich, the company chairman, Luis Atienza, affirmed that "the new business model of the company for the 21st century, responsible and sustainable, represents a considerable challenge but it is the only way for companies with a vocation for the future and serving society". In addition, he added that "in Red Eléctrica, the people constitute the pillar on which our commitment to sustainability and ethical responsibility is centred, hence fostering an organisational culture oriented towards our stakeholders, and which is based on excellence, on service and on corporate values".

This prize recognises the continued effort of the company to achieve excellence in business management. Red Eléctrica, that is the only Spanish company of the energy sector having achieved this recognition, includes business excellence as one of the basic lines of its Strategic Plan, looking to increase the competitiveness of the company in a sustainable and responsible manner.

The EFQM has taken into account this commitment in the evaluation process. For Pierre Cachet, Chief Executive Officer of the foundation, "Red Eléctrica is a role model organisation when it comes to integrity and social responsibility. Moreover, their Board of Directors and management committees have instilled a culture of ethical behaviour".

Of the 21 organizations represented at this twentieth edition of the awards, 18 finalists were selected, of which the EFQM later gave prizes to 9 institutions that have demonstrated excellence in some of the management principles that the foundation promotes.

The jury based their decision on the arguments put forward by experts of the EFQM after subjecting each one of the organisations to an exhaustive evaluation process. In the case of Red Eléctrica, a group of 6 evaluators with international experience spent 5 days visiting the head offices of Madrid, Seville and Valencia, where they held interviews with more than 60 employees and 50 people from the management team, in addition to examining in detail all the supporting documentation presented.

After his experience in Red Eléctrica, Sabine Kern, a delegate from the jury, affirmed: "I have seldom seen such an enthusiasm to take responsibility for a sustainable future. Red Eléctrica?s many achievements in the field of corporate responsibility have strongly enhanced their external reputation. Moreover, it has encouraged their people to participate to contribute to the wider society".

Red Eléctrica, that obtained the recognition European Excellence +500 for the first time in 2003, adopted the EFQM European model in 1999.