Team Players

For most businesses, the normal reaction in tough times is to reduce staff and cut, if not eliminate, staff education. But what if you considered any opportunity to develop your staff’s personal and professional skills as an investment in your company’s future?

Would that perhaps boost your bottom line, as well as provide the best-trained and empowered staff to help see you through turbulent times?

One home medical equipment company discovered that was indeed the case. By investing in its staff via a training program, it underscored for employees the belief that they were valued. It also enhanced their relationships in the workplace.

Here’s the company’s story:

At least on the surface, this Midwest HME business was doing all the right things. With three locations and a workforce diverse in both age and experience, it routinely held a number of management and staff development sessions, usually between its two busiest seasons — the winter and summer — to boost morale.

It had a motto, “PRIDE,” an acronym for “People Resolving to Improve (Themselves) by Developing Empowerment.” And, aware that there was increased competition for both customers and employees, the provider was committed to offering professional development opportunities to employees and managers through in- ternal training.

Yet, some problems were beginning to crop up. There was a sense of rivalry among the three locations; a sense of teamwork was lacking; and, with the threat of competitive bidding, increased costs and uncertainty over the company’s ability to stay in business, the employees were becoming less productive and conflicts were developing between departments.

Believing that the employees needed to understand themselves, and then move on to understanding others, company management decided to utilize communication-style training, recommended to help each person not only understand his or her own behavior but also to begin appreciating and understanding the different behaviors of others, both co-workers and customers. Training was also offered in adjusting participants’ own behavioral style when dealing with someone similar, or someone different from themselves.

Another goal of the training was to help participants learn the language for meetings and other, less formal, interactions so they could use acceptable terminology when they were discussing differences in style and behavior.

Store managers went through the training first, followed by employees. They were split into two groups to provide store coverage during the training.

In the session with store managers, the managers discussed their role in following up with the training during their weekly team meetings. Each store manager was asked to profile his or her team’s composition and brainstorm with the team specific strategies to enhance relationships and improve teamwork.

The staff learned to understand and recognize the behavioral styles of others. Employees became more accepting of each other’s differences and learned how to more effectively communicate with customers and coworkers and re- solve conflict.

The end result: Productivity improved and the staff worked with the managers to find ways to reduce expenses and establish a new way of doing business. The company didn’t just survive the changes it faced — it thrived. While this HME company took the in-house training route to enhance its employees’ personal and professional skills, another way is through educational and networking opportunities offered through state and national associations.

This is an area many providers, feeling a financial pinch, cut in order to shore up their bottom line. But there is great value in meeting with peers face-to-face. Conversations and ideas shared have created many opportunities for growth that would have been missed otherwise.

The payoff is when attendees return with heightened enthusiasm and share their newfound information in an arena that invites discussion and brainstorming about how the new ideas can be incorporated in the company culture.

State and national associations and in-house training aren’t the only mechanisms for boosting your company’s effectiveness, however. Consider training and education opportunities offered by your local colleges, chambers of commerce, health care organizations, etc. These are often provided at a very nominal fee, and the opportunity to network with other businesses can spark learning and growth for your staff.

The financial challenges that we are currently facing are not unique to HME; they are, in fact, affecting all businesses around us. Would it not benefit us to learn how other businesses are thriving and growing? Might some of those ideas also work for your company?

Consider attending or sending your staff members to conferences that are not focused on HME, such as in retail, management, human resources or even those in manufacturing.

We might find ideas and concepts that we could translate into our HME organizations — and save our businesses.

Velma Goertzen, RN, is former general manager of Hutchinson, Kan.-based provider Health-E-Quip. With 20 years of experience in the field, Goertzen now owns A Step Ahead Consulting in Inman, Kan. She can be reached at [email protected] or at 620/585-6812.