Today, organizations continue to experience challenges like never before: staffing shortages, inflationary pressure & economic uncertainty, managing a virtual/hybrid workforce, navigating supply chain issues, and managing through accelerating change are but a few of the many challenges facing today’s leaders. But – with the complexity of organizations – where does one start? How do you know on which areas to focus? And how to do you sustain the improvement over time?
The Performance Excellence Network — in partnership with the Wisconsin Center for Performance Excellence & the Iowa Quality Center — is pleased to announce a powerful workshop: Getting Started with Baldrige — April 10 from 9AM-12PM. The workshop will be hosted in person (Mystic Lake Conference Center in Prior Lake, MN) and is a pre-conference workshop to igniteEX 2025 conference. You can attend the workshop ala carte or you can attend the workshop (9AM-12PM) and the main conference (Apr 10 1PM-5PM, then all day Apr 11). It will be facilitated by Michael Garner of Momentum, a Minnesota-based consulting firm, and Janelle Rauchman of River’s Edge Hospital.
The Baldrige Framework provides a systems perspective for continuous improvement and achieving performance excellence. It reflects the “leading edge of validated management 
practice,” against which any organization or community can measure itself to identify and prioritize improvement opportunities. In this session, participants will be introduced to the fundamentals of the Baldrige Excellence Framework, including the Core Values and Concepts, the basics of process maturity, and the importance of the Organizational Profile. We’ll explore the structure of the framework and how you can start using the framework right away to build alignment in your organization, improve your processes, and enhance your results. This session will provide opportunities for interaction with other participants and hands-on application of some of the fundamental Baldrige concepts.
The session will be hosted at Mystic Lake Conference Center, Prior Lake, MN on April 10 from 9:00AM-12:00PM. Lunch is included.
Investment is $200 for members ($400 for non-members). No group discounts available for this workshop, as space is limited and it WILL sell out! Members: use the discount code “member25” to get the 50% discount!!
Explore this validated framework to help you navigate today’s challenges — surviving today and thriving tomorrow!
Facilitator Biography
Michael Garner
Michael Garner is a native Minnesotan and was raised on a 4th generation family farm near Atwater, MN. Michael currently resides near Rochester, MN in the rural town of Kasson. Michael has an extensive background in adult education and human resource development, as well as experience and passion for continuous improvement tools and frameworks, particularly the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. With a strong skill set for training and facilitation, Michael is eager to use his talents to enhance the performance of your organization.
Michael’s experience as a trainer and adult educator spans over 25 years. During his time at the University of Minnesota studying Human Resource Development and Adult Education, Michael explored the strong links between workforce education and organizational development. As he moved forward with his career, Michael had the opportunity to combine his passion for helping others to learn with his knowledge of implementing change and improvement frameworks.
Janelle Rauchman, BSN, RN, CIC, CHOP, Chief Quality Officer
Ms. Rauchman joined River’s Edge Hospital in 2016. She is the driver of River’s Edge Hospital’s Journey to Excellence. As a Registered Nurse, Ms. Rauchman worked in obstetrics and gynecology, and long-term care. She a PEN Evaluator, is certified in infection control, has a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and is currently working on her Black Belt project.
