What Clients Expect - through the eyes of a CEO
Monday, February 13, 2012
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Posted by: Jim Surman
One
of my clients, Raymond Graeca, CEO of the newly-formed three hospital merged healthcare
organization (Penn Highlands
Health Care System)
in Western Pennsylvania, recently shared the attributes and outcomes that he
values in a consultant and a consulting relationship at a recent Institute of Management
Consulting (IMC) meeting at the Engineers Society of W. PA.
He
stated his main considerations included:
Ø
Technical
competency – their grasp of
the subject matter
Ø
Professionalism – are they serious
or "semi-retired” or "in-between jobs”
Ø
Ability
to communicate verbally and in
writing
Ø
Ability
to understand and adapt to a
changing environment
Ø
No preconceived
ideas
and not let bias operate when analyzing problems or making recommendations
Ø
Good
listening skills
Ø
Does
not "turn the tables” and ask
the client to weigh in on a description of their problems or root causes
Ø
Conforms
to a very clear set of ethics
Ø
Brings
new knowledge to the organization,
new ways of analyzing and solving problems
Ø
Values the relationships that they formed
Ø
Helps
the client structure the implementation to build
accountability within their organization
An example of
real leadership: We assisted this CEO in creating an innovative right-sizing
plan resulting in $3.6 million in cost reduction. The CEO set aside $500,000 to
pay salaries of displaced employees for six months to avoid lay-offs. Employees
in this "pool” were assigned non-mission-critical tasks such as backlog filing
as well as re-trained to fill positions open due to temporary absences,
retirements or voluntary separation. This program had a measureable impact on
the back office business (e. g. backlog filing, Preventive Maintenance, etc.)
and the future productivity (re-training employees as jobs opened up due to
attrition). In a twist of pure irony, there was one employee left unassigned at
the end of six months who was retrained in a position that provided value added
services to the hospital’s bottom line.
The CEO stated
in an interview in the Western Pennsylvania Hospital News, a healthcare trade
journal, referring to this engagement stated "empowering our own staff was a
benefit that taught us to help ourselves.” He went on to say, "This experience not
only teaches you how to help yourself but, this way, you don’t need to rehire a
consultant every time you experience changes, get new equipment or begin a new
service. More importantly, this was achieved without laying off care givers and
support staff.
At the time of
the start of the engagement the facility had 840 employees in just the one
location. After implementation of our management control system, many operational
changes and the addition of 5 new service lines, the total number of employees
totaled over 1400. This is a clear example of right-sizing as a positive, and
not causing the trauma typically associated with managing resources.
Hospitals
are a very labor intensive environment, with budget expenses typically
involving 50% in staffing, 35% supplies and equipment, and 15% all other budgeted
costs. This healthcare client clearly values the people who work in his
organization and it’s a privilege to work with him, solving problems in this
very challenging business and struggling with the uncertainty of dramatic
changes in the health care industry in economically-challenged locations.
Mr.
Surman, CMC (Certified Management Consultant) is the President of "Resource
Productivity Institute, Inc.” (A healthcare management consultancy) for the
past 20 years, has 9 years of experience with a big 4 Accounting Firm and can
be reached by email at RPIConsulting@msn.com or by phone at 412
841 6300. He is currently President of
the Institute of Management Consulting, W. PA. Chapter (the preeminent
international certifying organization for management consultants)
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