When trouble intrudes on star employees' work
When trouble intrudes on star employees' work
How can you re-motivate an employee?
One of the star performers at Coastal Surgical in Pasadena, TX, has been with the practice for more than six years. She has been so successful at whatever tasks she was given that recently, administrator Ann Shorter created a position for her that rewarded her abilities. That's why it was a shock 18 months ago when her work started slipping. She was missing work on Mondays, projects weren't done on time, and they weren't done to her previous capabilities.
It took about six months of coaching, commiserating, and encouraging to get the employee back on track.
"When I came here, she was just a kid, but she had a lot of potential," Shorter recalls. "She was a mom, going to school at night, determined to get a degree in health care administration. She was a great floater, a great assistant. If you gave her a task, she found you a solution."
The change was dramatic. "She was leaving early; she was out Mondays, and I had to worry about the projects I gave her." Shorter brought the employee in and learned her marriage was ending.
For Coastal Surgical - a four-physician practice with 15 staff due to double in size through merger before the end of the year - a family atmosphere filled with good humor and good friends is the norm. That allowed Shorter and the rest of the team to work with and support the employee until she got back on her feet. "There was one point where I had to tell her, 'We need you; you have to be here for us,' and she came through. But we had four years invested in her. I wasn't going to flush all that."
When you see a problem, go to the person and ask what the matter is, says Shorter. That is the direct approach she always takes. But if you aren't close to the employee, or you aren't the hands-on manager Shorter is, ask one of the employee's peers or another supervisor to intercede.
The latter is the tack Donald Lloyd, FACMPE, CEO of Murfreesboro (TN) Clinic, often takes. He makes use of his human resources manager, who is a woman - as are most of his 250 staff - and a more sympathetic presence.
Whoever is designated to approach the employee should have a heart-to-heart from somewhere other than behind a desk, says Shorter. "Sit on a sofa, or two chairs that face each other," she says. "You want to be in their personal zone."
That works best when the two people are of the same gender, Lloyd says. Precautions are necessary when they are of the opposite sex. But, Shorter says if it is appropriate, don't be afraid to invade that personal space.
The next step is to assess the problem, Lloyd says. "You need to know if it is an internal or external problem. If it's someone who has been here a while, I ask [the employee], without prying, what the problem is. I tell that person he or she has been the most dependable of employees but is not now."
Lloyd then asks if the problem is at work. "If it is, I ask if he or she can share it so that I can fix that problem. Nine of 10 cases are not work-related, though. Most of them are family-related."
The one in 10 cases is often easy to solve. For instance, sometimes it is a matter of placement, Shorter says. "We had one person who was a real obsessive/compulsive person, but we had her in a place where she had to deal with patients and referring physicians. She had potential, but she wasn't in the right place. She stressed. Once we discovered the problem, we moved her to a task-oriented job that wasn't in direct patient relations - credentialing, negotiating vendor supply contracts. It was a real turnaround."
If the problem isn't work-related, Lloyd may try to be the good listener himself, get the human resources manager involved, or perhaps direct the employee to a professional who can help. "If you have an employee assistance program, get them into that. If you don't, maybe one of your physicians can help, or a psychologist or psychiatrist who you work with can be of assistance," he says.
Flexibility is important, Lloyd says, and you should be willing to provide the employee with a flexible schedule or a leave of absence. But you also have to remind employees they are here to serve patients. "Sometimes they need to remember that the other employees and patients also have problems, and they need to try to divorce themselves at work from their personal lives." n
Methods and Tools for Breakthrough Improvement, Oct. 5-7, Boston. Sponsored by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, 135 Francis Street, Boston, MA 02215. Telephone: (617) 754-4800. Fax: (617) 754-4848.
5th Annual Congress on Health Outcomes & Accountability, Oct. 11-13, San Diego. Sponsored by The Zitter Group, 90 New Montgomery, 8th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105. Telephone: (800) 270-8440 or (650) 326-7790. Fax: (650) 326-3945. World Wide Web: http://www.zitter.com.
Quality of Care - Meeting the Needs of Diverse Populations, Oct. 28-30, Arlington, VA. Sponsored by the Center for Clinical Quality Evaluation, 1140 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 1010, Washington, DC 20036. Telephone: (800) 833-3046. Fax: (202) 833-2047. E-mail: [email protected]. World Wide Web: www.ccqe.com.
Survival Strategies Through Innovation and Partnership, Oct. 29-30, Houston. Sponsored by St. Luke's Episcopal Health System. Contact Betty Walding at the Center for Clinical and Quality Integration, 6720 Bertner Ave., MC4-278, Houston, TX 77030. Telephone: (713) 794-6190. Fax: 713-794-6717. E-mail: [email protected]. n
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