Steps to Excellence Award Recipients Recognized at Annual Meeting

Birchwood Cottages, Mankato and Owatonna and Moose Lake Village, Moose Lake were the recipients of the first annual Steps to Excellence Awards at this week’s LeadingAge Minnesota Annual Meeting & Leadership Forum held at Grand View Lodge, Nisswa.

Both organizations achieved all three levels of the Steps to Excellence program, which was created to provide a stepwise, manageable approach to integrating performance excellence into the day-to-day work in areas of leadership, strategy, customer service, data, workforce, and operations.

“These awards serve as a testament to the dedication to continuous improvement and the unwavering commitment to excellence that makes these organizations great. The Steps to Excellence Awards are more than accolades; they are a celebration of the journey these organizations have undertaken to strive for excellence in their missions of service to older adults,” said Barbara Klick, LeadingAge Minnesota Board Chair, as she presented the awards to Birchwood Cottages and Moose Lake Village.

To achieve the first level of Steps to Excellence, the award recipients focused on developing effective, systematic approaches to key operational processes. In step two, the organizations examined performance results, and in the last step, an organizational profile was completed to gain insights into key needs, opportunities, and constraints to be considered for current and future success.

Accepting the Award for Birchwood Cottages: Andrea Rupe, Vice President of Business Operations; Laura Kaiser, Executive Director of Owatonna; David Lewis, Executive Director of North Mankato

Accepting the Award for Moose Lake Village: Shawna Smith, Administrator and Ashley Zuk, Human Resources Director

How can you get involved in Steps to Excellence?

The next round of Steps to Excellence training and applications starts in the Spring. Watch for more details and reach out to Julie Apold, Vice President of Quality and Performance Excellence to learn more.

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