The Anatomy of Change The Anatomy of Change - LeadingAge

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were being played off one another by employees like children do with parents.” Assessment and Change At the recommendation of the board, a management consultant, Russell Jensen of Jensen Consulting, was brought in to conduct an organizational assessment. Over two intense days in July 2009, Harris and Hansen’s aptitudes and attributes were tested through online questionnaires, intelligence tests and interviews with Jensen and his organizational psychologist about their management approaches. They also were placed in role-playing scenarios in which they had to explain, under extreme time pressure, how they would solve the management challenges of a dysfunctional family company whose chief executive dies of a heart attack. One area Jensen specifically probed was how they would react if they switched management roles. Jensen also obtained the input of the board and employees regarding how the organization was being run, and their interactions with the men. The final day included a review of the previous day’s exercises. “They were still measuring us,” Harris says. “They would say, ‘If we say to you “you should be COO and Kris should be CEO,” how would you feel about it?’ My response was ‘I don’t care about titles. I want to do what I am good at. I’d move Kris into it.’ They were testing us to see if we were going to blackball each other.” Then the report was released to both men and the board. It said that while both men offered strengths to the organization, a more formal management style with clearer task and employee supervisory responsibilities was needed and, more dramatically, that management performance would improve with Hansen at the helm and Harris as his second-in-command charged with executing the operational details. The report said that Hansen was the better long-term strategist who could better chart the company’s future, while Harris was the detail-oriented operations taskmaster who could ensure that all the necessary steps to execute that strategy were taken. The board asked Harris and Hansen to give their own assessment of what should be done. They took a month to do so, working out the changes they planned to propose. That kept the board in a state of high suspense as to whether one or both of the men would leave, or if the board would be faced with having to choose the appropriate roles for the two, Leibold says. Then the pair delivered the hoped-for outcome: they would accept the consultant’s recommendations and switch roles. 26 LeadingAge magazine | March/April 2011 Leibold recalls that he responded with elation: “I’m so happy you’ve come back! You’ve made my day, you’ve made my week, you’ve made my month, you’ve made my year! You’ve come up with this without forcing us to make a tough call between you.” The choice to accept his new role as chief operating officer was not that difficult, Harris says, noting that he had agreed with that result during the testing: “A couple of times during testing I felt—not like I was being demoted—but rather, ‘Am I a failure in a couple areas?’ I won’t say I didn’t do some soulsearching. But we read each other’s letters from Russell. Both had positive and glowing statements and other areas that were not so glowing. And if not for the utmost trust I had in Kris, I would have felt differently.” Still, both men realized that the optics of the change would be difficult. To many, the switch might look like something was wrong at Western Home, or that it was a demotion for Harris, Hansen says. Hansen says that they responded through a press release that emphasized the positives and sought to anticipate and dispel negative rumors. They also intentionally made few changes at Western Home for the first six months to reemphasize a sense of continuity and avoid the appearance of a cleaning of house. The effects of the realignment have been positive, the pair say. “There is not as much stress as there was because we are not tripping over one another,” Hansen says. “Being in the role you are designed for helps limit that.” Harris says he is pleased he can now spend more time cultivating relationships with residents and employees. And Western Home, which will celebrate its 100th year of operations in 2012, continues its growth. Formed originally by the Evangelical United Brethren Church to develop a small, 12-unit retirement home, it now has 500 employees and serves approximately 750 residents in several levels of care. Western Home also manages and consults with other long-term care and senior living providers around the state. More than anything, Harris and Hansen say, it is the realization that they are only one part of that community that has helped ease the transition: “This organization is not just about Jerry and me,” Hansen says. “We are smart enough to know that employees are our customers and if we take care of them, the ultimate customers will be well taken care of. We try to come as close as we can to being a bicycle wheel where we all support one another. If you break a couple spokes, you end up in a pretzel.” David Tobenkin is a freelance writer who lives in in Chevy Chase, Md.
LeadingAge-Recognized Insurance Programs More Choices More Coverage More Cost Savings “LeadingAge created this insurance model in the late 1980s when long-term care organizations had a hard time getting coverage. United Methodist Homes has been a LeadingAge member for 35-plus years, so when we put our insurance out to bid this year, we directed our agent to include LeadingAge programs. We were pleasantly surprised to find two carriers under the LeadingAge umbrella, giving us access to two very competitive proposals with just one phone call. It’s a win-win — we get fairly priced coverage and we are supporting our national association as well!” Keith D. Chadwick, President and CEO, United Methodist Homes Please visit us at booth #817 at the Future of Aging Services Conference & Leadership Summit on April 11-13. Call toll-free (800) 865-7307, ext. 8553 or visit LeadingAgeInsurance.com/choice Aon Association Services is a division of Affinity Insurance Services, Inc.; in CA (Insurance License #0795465), MN & OK, a division of AIS Affinity Insurance Agency, Inc.; and in NY, a division of AIS Affinity Insurance Agency. © 2011 Affinity Insurance Services, Inc. LA0211
Page 1 and 2: magazine March/April 2011 VoluMe 1,
Page 3 and 4: American Data presents: ECS (Electr
Page 5 and 6: Well Spring Christian Care Communit
Page 7 and 8: Responding To Change, Making Change
Page 9 and 10: ehab and affordable housing; 24 per
Page 11 and 12: How will HealtH RefoRm affect my Se
Page 14 and 15: Reaching the Underserved As relentl
Page 16 and 17: attention. Describing their service
Page 18 and 19: The Anatomy of Partnerships For the
Page 20 and 21: University of North Carolina-Greens
Page 22 and 23: The ACOs Are Coming … Accountable
Page 24 and 25: “Successful post-acute care organ
Page 26 and 27: A Switch (Just) in Time How and why
Page 30 and 31: Celebrating Our 50 th A look back
Page 32 and 33: senior as a individual who should h
Page 34 and 35: LeadingAge Public Policy Objectives
Page 36 and 37: ■ A federal pilot training progra
Page 38 and 39: Self-Scheduling for Nursing Assista
Page 40 and 41: Self-Scheduling Guidelines Used at
Page 42 and 43: Evidence-Based Programs Are Core of
Page 44 and 45: making regular trips to the vet or
Page 46: Don’t miss four days of exception

The Anatomy of Change The Anatomy of Change - LeadingAge

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