CHALLENGE
A regional medical facility was in transition, from a standalone medical center to one partnering with other centers to deliver improved and expanded care, as a means to thrive in a more profitable manner. A new CEO was coming on board to drive the change which would require evolutions in strategy, team, operations and culture.
The new CEO faced the dual challenges of quickly strengthening the internal capability and culture of the institution while leading the decisions of whether and how to merge or partner with other institutions. In order to get the job done, it was clear that the CEO needed to invest in building a cohesive, high performing leadership team.
A second focus area to drive success was a robust leadership onboarding program. This included how the medical center hired, oriented, developed and prepared potential new executives … how to get leaders integrated, up-to-speed and delivering … quickly. Historically, while some common processes were in place, there was too much dependence on individual executives’ willingness to commit time and energy to supporting their new leaders.
ACTIONS
To help the medical center achieve its business and organizational goals, PrimeGenesis undertook 2 projects:
- We engaged with the institution to onboard the new CEO, working closely with him and his leadership team during his first 100 days, to help him quickly assess the situation, co-create a shared imperative with his team, and embed operational and organizational processes that drove action and results.
- At the same time, we partnered with the organization to build a Total Onboarding Program, a new and more effective way to bring new leaders of all levels into the organization quickly and effectively, so that they could assimilate into the culture, align their teams, and deliver better results faster.
RESULTS
Executive Onboarding of the CEO
- Built a cohesive leadership team through a process of co-creating the mission, vision, values, goals, strategies and action plans – led to faster decisions and results
- Established partnerships with other medical centers to improve growth and profits
- Reversed financial performance – moved from unprofitable to profitable
- Achieved record donations in the CEO’s first 2 years, reflecting new, focused plan led by new Chief Development Officer (whose onboarding was also supported by PrimeGenesis)
- Assessed leadership team and effected upgrades where needed
- Aligned with the board on roles, priorities, actions, timelines and expected results
- Infused a culture of urgency regarding the market changes throughout the leadership team, causing the team to lean in and solve the challenges they faced
Total Onboarding
- In the first two years, 44 leaders participated in this program, with 41 successfully delivering at or above expectations in the organization, consistent with the PrimeGenesis 95% success rate
- Change mandates for new leaders are more forcefully communicated and results have improved
- The process especially helps new medical leaders get the support they need to integrate into a sophisticated, complex, high performing clinical organization. This is done through an embedded physician specializing in driving the onboarding process
- Consistent, skillfully managed, well-understood and integrated Total Onboarding Program is in place. “This is how we do it”
- Onboarding is a recruiting competitive advantage. Organization Development specialists work closely with hiring leaders and recruiters to build an onboarding plan for each new leader before they start. “You will be supported as soon as you accept your position”
- Hiring leaders have the commitment, skills and tools to support their new leaders’ success
- New leaders have described the process as a key to successful starts and integration into the culture at the institution
