Maintain support for growth
If you find a growth opportunity that makes sense for your company in spite of the lagging economy and you are able to capitalize on it, you need to make sure the seeds you planted grow. You need to maintain financial backing for the opportunity and continue to support the people attached to the project, even after the initial flurry of expansion activity dies down.
If you’re merging with or acquiring a company, watering the seeds means bringing the people from the acquired company on board as quickly as possible and giving them the tools they need to succeed in their new environment.
“We do that in a number of ways,” Mashner says. “First, even before the formal affiliation, we provide them with opportunities to come visit our other operations and provide them opportunities to come talk to our peers within our overall structure. Shortly thereafter, when the affiliation becomes official, we have a scheduled management and leadership conference to go over key operating issues. We make sure the management of the new operations is a part of that. So they participate in it, see our overall senior management philosophy, meet more peers in the organization, and that is one way it is very positive.
“Within the staff level, we’ll have an orientation with our policies and procedures. We have a corporate university and training programs ranging from videos to on-site presentations to programs offered in conjunction with other institutions. It’s all part of setting up the system to show that you value your employees.”
You also need to identify the people in the organization who can help promote your mission. If you can find your example setters and make them visible to everyone, you can more effectively keep your mission and growth strategy in front of everyone.
Recruiting goes hand in hand with finding those types of people in your ranks. When you are looking for new talent, you need to make sure the job candidates you are after embrace your vision and strategy.
“It goes back to having a clear mission and vision, so that when you recruit people, you can tell them, ‘This is our mission and purpose as we see it,’ Mashner says. “And you have to find people who can endorse that and build on it. And as they’re part of the organization, you want to continually reiterate that. But the key issue is finding people who endorse that mission and purpose. If you’re a not-for-profit, faith-based organization, people should understand what your viewpoint is. If people don’t endorse your mission, it’s not going to really be effective to have them in the organization, because they’ll be pulling in another direction.”
How to reach: ACTS Retirement-Life Communities Inc., (215) 661-8330 or http://www.actsretirement.org/
