At Barclay Friends, staff members live out daily the mission to serve older adults with a focus on compassion and kindness, excellence and continuous improvement.
This year, Barclay Friends embarked on a journey to more explicitly define what it means to provide “excellence” within the community. By focusing on this aspect of the community’s mission statement, Barclay Friends aimed to further advance services that enhance the quality of life.
Setting “Excellence” as the Standard
Recognizing that excellence can manifest differently across departments and teams, each director and manager was tasked with defining what excellence means for them and the department they oversee. This inclusive approach ensured that “excellence” was not just a lofty ideal, but a practical guideline rooted in the day-to-day operations of each department and team.
With great thought and care, departments and managers contributed statements outlining how they embody excellence in their daily responsibilities. This process provided the Barclay Friends leadership team with a comprehensive understanding of Excellence how excellence permeates throughout the community’s operations.
“Witnessing the Barclay Friends community unite to articulate how they embody excellence in their work was truly inspiring,” shared Linda Sterthous, recently retired Executive Director of Barclay Friends. “By committing to a shared meaning of ‘excellence’, we are holding ourselves accountable to reaching this standard, ultimately allowing us to provide enhanced service to older adults.”
Demonstrated Commitment
To further demonstrate their commitment to a set standard of excellence, the Barclay Friends leadership team collaborated to identify common themes across departmental statements. This dialogue facilitated alignment and enriched the collective understanding of what excellence is within the Barclay Friends community and Kendal. The final statements were then shared to formally codify the excellence statements as a standard to be met by all team members of Barclay Friends.
At Barclay Friends, “excellence” is more than a description of the type of service that can be found at the community. Team members take the mission to heart and ensure that each pillar of the mission statement is defined and upheld across all facets of the community.
Through this journey, Barclay Friends concluded that “Excellence is showing that we genuinely care about our residents, their families, our team members, and our community partners. We are committed to exceeding their expectations by completing our daily tasks and going above and beyond.” This statement is now clearly defined in the mission.
As the campus looks ahead, the team remains committed to evolving, innovating and reaffirming a dedication to providing unparalleled support and services to older adults.