By Stephen W. Earnhart, MS
CEO
Earnhart & Associates
Austin, TX
I am always surprised when I read something in the news like, “the acting FBI director is in charge until a new director is hired,” or the “assistant chief of surgery” will be in charge until the new chief of surgery is appointed.
This seems sort of embarrassing for the one labeled “acting.” Isn’t the “assistant director” or “assistant chief” in training for the real thing? But what if, when the opportunity finally becomes available, the boss turns around and hires someone else after you performed the job while management looked for another? Where does that leave you? That’s a morale killer.
Have you ever heard this one: “The assistant vice president of finance will lead the search for a new vice president of finance.” If I were that assistant vice president, I wouldn’t look too hard to find that person. I would drag it out and then take the job myself when management gives up looking for someone else. Such a position must mean more money and better bathrooms, right? I’m pretty sure that if you are the “assistant” of anything and you get passed up for the real thing, you need to consider a career change.
In hospitals and surgery centers, nothing says, “This is the place to work because they hire from within.” They recognize homegrown talent that has been training as an assistant for years, just to be ready to step up when someone steps down. I am always impressed when I learn that the new department head was the past assistant department head, or that the CEO once scrubbed the floors in the lunchroom and worked up the chain to their current position. “But I like being the ‘assistant’ because I don’t want the responsibilities of being the ‘real’ person.” If you don’t want to consider that you eventually might be called on to be the “real thing,” then you shouldn’t be the assistant to begin with.
Most businesses like ours need a strong mixture of full- and part-time staff because of the wide swings in case load. Sure, not everyone experiences those swings, but most do, and it is nice to be able to draw on a flexible staff during those unpredictable days. Most personnel are part-time for a reason, but those reasons change over time. It is always good to check first from within before going out to find new people.
Consider flex positions: Why do so few organizations not give the option for two part-time people to become one full-time person? We used to routinely combine two people (or three or four) into one full-time position, and it worked beautifully. As a past ASC administrator and hospital OR department head, I would have loved and encouraged the opportunity to employ 40 part-time people in my facility over 15 or 20 full timers. One might think this would create a paperwork nightmare; however, an administrator could take those two or three individuals, by name, and make them responsible for their own schedule. They will be much better at covering themselves and keeping track of their hours than you ever could be. Not only is it more efficient and malleable, but usually part-time staff do not need benefits — another bonus. When one part-timer needs time off for vacation or illness, the others can cover for him or her.
Many businesses and companies advertise on TV or place posters in subways and airports that tout slogans such as “Our Employees Make the Difference,” or “Job Satisfaction is Our Goal.” Hiring from within, along with offering built-in perks such as flexible staffing options, a 10-hour work day, profit-sharing in ASCs, creative time off with pay, or other ways to make life just a little easier for the front-line professionals that make the rest of us look better and enhance the patient experience, is worth the effort.
Earnhart & Associates is a consulting firm specializing in all aspects of outpatient surgery development and management. Earnhart & Associates can be reached at 5114 Balcones Woods Drive, Suite 307-203, Austin, TX 78759. Phone: (512) 297-7575. Fax: (512) 233-2979. Email: [email protected]. Web: www.earnhart.com.
Keep ambulatory surgery center staff morale high by promoting employees from within.
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