What New Managers Need to Know… and How We Educate Them – (Part 2 of 2)

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 If you recall, our previous blog post (Part 1) described the frustration and high failure rate associated with managers who have been magically transformed from staff person to manager by internal promotion or who have been hired externally and lack familiarity with your organization’s culture and procedures.  I suggested that to combat this chronic problem a low cost management orientation and education program can be designed and presented entirely in-house.  While the Human Resources and Organizational Development function can create the structure and much of the content, the secret sauce is having the directors of the various departments present their particular module.  It enables them to focus on the key aspects of manager productivity and effectiveness, establishes personal relationships in a low-stress environment and provides a professional development opportunity for those who normally do not deliver group instruction.

Management Orientation Program Design

The management program we created for the acute care hospital where I was working was segmented into six modules running from an overview of the organizational structure and its relationship to the parent company to the proper submission of time and expense reports.  The sections were divided as follows:

  •  What does it mean to be a manager?

This module covers management’s role in the functioning of an organization

    • Importance of the manager’s positionRole in the functioning of the organization
    • Performance and modeling expectations
    • Employee development opportunities
  •  Organizational structure and processes

This section provides an overview of the various internal components of the company and its relationship to the parent                        organization, partners and other entities.

    • Primary drivers of business success
    • Internal organizational structure
    • Key contacts and their responsibilities
    • Corporate structure and related entities
    • Partner organizations
    • Vendor and customer relationships
  • Human Resource management

This segment deals with the core components of managing other people and the policies that govern proper conduct.  Some                 aspects like annual performance appraisals were only discussed in general as there are regular educational sessions for that                process.  Nor did we attempt to have the managers become policy experts, particularly in areas such as leaves of absence in               which HR manages the bulk of the process.

    • The role of the Human Resources Department
    • Interviewing and selection
    • Staff on-boarding process
    • Staff performance and behavior expectations
    • Counseling, coaching and discipline
      • Setting performance and behavior expectations
      • Regular review and feedback
      • Addressing outstanding and poor performance
      • Addressing misconduct and behavior issues
      • Sexual harassment guidelines
    • Managing employee work schedules
      • Fairness and transparency
      • Overtime, time off, LOAs
  • Risk Management

As this is a critical area for a healthcare provider, significant time was devoted to everyone’s role in recognizing, responding               to and preventing risks to patients, family members and caregivers.

    • The role of the Risk Management Department
    • Patient safety
    • Family care and protection
    • Caregiver safeguards
    • Infection control
    • Confidentiality and data security
  • Finance and payroll

Financial matters impact every aspect of hospital operations and a focus of this portion is to illustrate how each                                         department’s fiscal decisions affect the entire organization.

    • The role of the Finance, Accounting and Payroll Departments
    • Budgets and monthly department reviews
    • Revenue and expenses
    • Billing, insurance and reimbursements
    • Payroll
  • Marketing and public relations

This final section reviewed branding and image as well as media responses and interactions.

    • The role of the Marketing, Public Relations and Communications Departments
    • Organizational image and branding
    • Utilization of creative staff for department initiatives
    • Media interactions
    • Crisis management

I wish I could report that I had substantive data demonstrating major improvements in management turnover, performance ratings and employee satisfaction, but I don’t.  We did not think about measuring the impact of the program and the potential ROI.  But, it is a worthy exercise to identify key variables and track their change over time.  Just a word of caution about not attributing change in either direction too specifically to the management education program as there are a multitude of factors contributing to these measures.

If you are considering developing a management orientation program and would like assistance in its development or delivery, contact Greg Gast greggast@thirdstageconsultingllc.com or 215-514-7095.

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