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Identity Crisis (CONT’D FROM PAGE 34)
It’s always important to phrase your questions in a non-interrogatory way and allow people to open up to you on their own if you want their real opinions. In addition, the adage that “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach” has often proven true in my experi- ence. Take an employee to lunch, or have lunch catered into the office. (Recognizing that these are more complicat- ed ideas during COVID-19). You might be surprised by the feedback you get when people are comfortable talking, and how many good ideas even the quietest employees have that can make your facility better. The second step is to make changes. Identifying and acknowledging the issues that are hurting your facility’s reputation are just the first step. You then have to own them and actively work to fix them. If the doctor says your dangerously elevated blood pressure and cholesterol are the result of eating too much McDonalds and sitting on your butt all the time and your answer is to stop for McDonalds on your way home to sit and watch three hours of TV, that’s a problem. You have to take action. If it turns out the bad reputation is the result of a few bad eggs that don’t work there anymore, then maybe you should take a look at your hiring process and figure out what went wrong and why those people were hired. By diving in and identifying what traits you want, you can form questions that allow candidates to tell you themselves if they’re a good fit. That sounds better than
Deserved or not, plenty of your facilities have bad rep- utations, and it is affecting your ability to attract top talent. What Can You Do? There are three steps to overcome a poor industry rep- utation. The first step is to identify the problem. This is the most challenging part, because, as usual, it requires you to be totally honest about your facility and leadership team. Is the rumor just the result of a few bad apples? Or is it a widespread culture issue? The best way to do this is to talk to the people in your facility. For the most part, these reputation issues start and end with current and past employees who grumble to their friends or spouses, who then gossip to their friends and spouses, who then gossip to their… you get the idea. Sud- denly, your facility sounds like some kind of authoritarian hellscape. I recommend you sit down with your team and find out what they think about the facility and what they would change. Obviously, you have to set this up in a way that people are comfortable sharing and being honest. The worst re- sult is that employees tell you what they think you want to hear, because they think they’re going to get in trouble. In this case, you end up with a false, unhelpful view of the facility and will not be able to solve the challenge.
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September 28, 2020
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