Applying the Baldrige Criteria for Performance

Excellence to Talent Management

January 21, 2009

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Another key lesson Bronson Healthcare learned on their journey to excellence was to “formalize the informal.” They had all kinds of processes in place but they were not as formal or systematic as they should have been. Beyond the leadership system, other areas Bronson Healthcare has formalized the informal include their strategic planning process and talent recognition process.

To formalize the informal, Bronson Healthcare’s leaders asked themselves how they brought their strategic plan to life, and drew a picture of how it should happen. This helped them formalize many steps that to date had been informal. The result of formalizing their process was a strategic plan cascade which tied to their staff’s performance management system.

Bronson Healthcare’s process of cascading objectives into the work of the organization brought their three overarching corporate strategies to life. It created alignment through individual employee goal setting and thereby “connected the dots” for their staff. Every contributor at Bronson Healthcare understands how the work that they do every day helps to achieve the organization’s vision.

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