Are the departments within your organization performing to your expectation? If not, why not? Are you being told there is not enough resources, not enough cooperation, not enough? Do you have the right people in the right positions? Do you have a succession plan for your key department leadership positions? Do you know what is or is not contributing to your performance concerns?

Current challenges that many health care leaders face today in improving departmental performance include:

• Recruiting and retaining department leaders
• Transitioning managers into their new position
• Departmental Succession Planning
• Managing departmental growth
• Improving service
• Improving financial / budget performance
• Improving overall performance
• Improving the performance of the team or of a key employee

We believe that improving departmental performance is predicated on two factors:

1. Understanding the work environment and what is really required to improve, and
2. Identifying, hiring (or promoting) and integrating talented employees who are capable of improving the work environment.

Too often organizations focus on one of the two issues only to experience frustration and disappointment with the results. Complicating improvement initiatives in health care organizations is the challenge of finding talented individuals to fill management positions.

Health care leaders should clearly understand the factors affecting departmental performance and the initiatives required to improve performance. It is important to take a structured approach to reviewing department and leadership performance. Such an approach replaces innuendo and perception with facts and observations.

Examples of a structured approach to departmental reviews include:

• Department performance assessment – 360 degree review of the department
• Rapid Process Review SM
• Department leadership assessment
• Succession Planning
• Recruiting, Integration and Retention strategies

Improvement strategies are only effective and credible when they are based on observable facts. It is simply too costly to address the wrong problems both in terms of dollars and credibility.

And what are the benefits?

• Clear understanding of what is required to improve performance
• Improved operational and financial performance
• Improved teamwork and intra-organizational cooperation
• Improved individual performance
• Succession Plan to reduce the uncertainty and crisis that develops when a key resource leaves
• Improved retention rate
• Improved overall patient safety

Copyright 2009 Kubica and LaForest

Kubica & LaForest Consulting
132 Governors Drive, Warwick, RI 02818
(800) 887-5004

http://www.kubicalaforestconsulting.com

Improving Performance; Navigating Transitions; Accelerating Results

Kubica & LaForest Business $ense; Growth without Sabotage a model for performance and organizational improvement will reduce or eliminate sabotaging behavior (the negative intangibles in business) and dramatically improve performance by decreasing cost and increasing profitability.

Co Authors of the forthcoming book on the damaging effects of self-sabotaging behaviors in business.

Visit their Blog: http://blog.growthwithoutsabotage.com