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LEARN FROM YOUR STAFF
Often, those of us at the top of an organization do not see clearly what is going on below. Elicit feedback
and suggestions from your front line staff. They may have great ideas about how to improve quality and
operate more efficiently. I am reminded of another early ALFA conference in which the keynote speaker
was Robert Kriegel, author of the book “Sacred Cows Make The Best Burgers.”Mr. Kriegel told a story of
working with a large tire manufacturer. The CEO latched on to Mr. Kriegel’s suggestion of soliciting input
from workers. They put together a program that included suggestion boxes on the factory floors. The CEO
rented out a basketball arena to roll out the program and his remarks were received warmly. At the end of
his presentation, he asked if there were any questions. A 19-year-old employee raised his hand and said, “I
work in a retail store. When the tires come in, they are individually wrapped in plastic. We have to cut
the metal bands and remove the plastic and that involves a fair amount of work. Why do we wrap
the tires in plastic?”The CEO responded, “That’s a great question young man. But there is a good reason we do this.
Our customers don’t like it when their white walls get streaked.”The employee responded with another question,
“What’s a white wall?” It seems that, for decades after white wall tires went out of vogue, the company was
continuing to wrap tires in plastic to protect non-existent white walls. What are you wrapping in plastic in your
community? (Hint: Chuck Berry just died. He was 90. I don’t think he enjoyed listening to Lawrence Welk.)
And don’t forget to solicit suggestions from the employees on the noc shift. In my experience, noc
shift employees don’t get many chances to interact with the executive director. Simply showing up
on occasion makes a big difference. If the executive director and each manager make an occasional
appearance in the middle of the night, this can be an effective deterrent to any issues, and can be
a positive. Bring in a pizza. Let your employees know that you care about them, that you want to
check up on them and make sure that they are doing well and have what they need. They are just as
important a part of your team as any of your other employees.
FOSTER RELATIONSHIPS WITH YOUR LPA
If you have an issue in your community, contact your LPA (licensing program analyst)
for advice. According to the Department of Social Services (DSS), LPAs are there
not just for enforcement but for collaboration. I just attended a non-compliance
conference in DSS’s Oakland Office. My client was called in due to an incident. The
executive director had a very good relationship with her LPA. While this did not
prevent the community from receiving a deficiency or from being called in for the
meeting with the regional manager, it created a positive tone for the meeting. We
left the meeting with DSS acknowledging that this was a well-run community and
that they viewed the incident as an anomaly. No compliance plan was imposed. DSS
accepted the plan of correction proposed by the community.
FOSTER RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER KEY PEOPLE
Having a good relationship with ombudsmen, paramedics, police, and local officials
is also of benefit. A number of years ago, one of my clients was having theft problems in its
parking lot. The executive director called the police. The police officer who arrived was very
helpful and made some good suggestions to reduce risk of break-ins. As he was finishing, the police officer
asked if he could use the living room to write up his report. Of course, the executive director said “Yes.”They
proceeded to chat while the officer wrote his report.
While they were chatting, the executive director learned that police write a lot of reports. He also learned
that much of the time, and especially at night, police officers in that part of town (removed from the police
station) tended to write their reports in convenience store parking lots. The executive director then invited
the police officer to invite any of his colleagues to come into his community any time, day or night, to write their reports. And
the police did just that. After all, he offered a nice, comfortable, well-furnished living room, clean rest rooms, coffee, and snacks.
In fact, the executive director started putting out donuts at night. Suffice it to say that whenever the community needed some
cooperation or assistance from the police department, they received it.
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Of course, these five tips are just scratching the surface of what it takes to be an effective executive director. Readers
can find other helpful information in my previous articles, which can be found on the CALA website. And I’m sure as
we tackle new challenges in the years ahead, I will come up with more to share with you.
Joel Goldman is a partner at Hanson Bridgett, founding board member of CALA, and nationally known expert on Assisted Living.
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