Develop new leaders
When building and implementing a cultural and strategic change, Van Gorder says the two most important things you can do are find enthusiastic leaders and listen to them.
“When you give somebody an opportunity to step up, there is a loyalty and a drive that comes with that,” he says. “I surrounded myself with hard chargers who were excited to be leaders, then I listened to them. Listening is a key piece. I listened to my corporate leadership, my middle managers and my employees, and that connection jumped our culture ahead by literally years.”
It can be a lengthy process to find the right people who can become effective decision-makers and promoters of the culture in a decentralized organization. But the time and effort is worth it if you can make the right hire.
What makes for a “right hire”? One critical element you should always look for is an interest in your business and industry.
“You always want to be looking for people who are interested in the business you’re in,” Van Gorder says. “When I was interviewing for our CFO, I interviewed candidates for over a year. Our search firm brought in some of the most talented people I had ever seen. They had outstanding backgrounds, but you could tell that they often thought they needed to run a bank for me. They had to manage our money. But what I wanted them to understand was how the money was to be used in patient care. We don’t run a bank. We earn our money for one thing, and that’s patient care.”
It comes back to one of Van Gorder’s guiding principles, which is to build his organization around people who are able to view decisions and policies from the perspective of how it benefits the whole organization. In Scripps’ case, the organization doesn’t benefit unless patients receive a high level of care, so all decisions need to impact patient care in a positive fashion.
That mindset has helped make Van Gorder’s turnaround of Scripps a success. In fiscal 2009, the system had an operating margin of a little more than $100 million.
Van Gorder ended up hiring a chief financial officer who is not a certified public accountant. Instead, he hired a management engineer who understood organizational operations and how money needed to be used to achieve Scripps’ end goal of outstanding patient care.
“Every CFO, CEO, every leader is looking for what they believe to be a good attitude,” Van Gorder says. “We do take some of the objectivity out of it by requiring everybody we hire to take an exam that helps identify some attitudes and traits. But when push comes to shove, it’s really about the persona connection between manager and subordinate.
“We do make mistakes. I’ve made mistakes in the past with people who I thought would be a great fit, but they didn’t fit. But over the years, I’ve made that mistake less and less because I’ve developed a level of experience and I trust my instincts more.”
How to reach: Scripps Health, (800) 727-4777 or www.scripps.org
