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So, you have a sudden vacancy or a planned one in your agency. Maybe this is new territory when it comes to replacing administrative positions. If so, then you need to understand the role of an interim manager and why not considering one may be a costly move. Let’s look at roles, benefits, and core competencies of an interim manager. Why An Interim Manager? First of all, this isn’t a permanent position. You consider interim management because your new executive cannot be found soon enough to cover the role. It also applies when you don’t have someone within the organization with the skills or time to function as acting manager while someone else is found. Typically, interim management is 3-9 months in length, but shorter and longer scenarios are also common depending on the agency. The interim manager is present to help an agency undergoing a major change, implementing a critical strategy, or to plug a critical management gap. 7 Benefits Of The Interim Manager: If this is a brand new concept for you in your agency, then you need to know what a interim manager brings to your agency’s table. Here are our top 7: 1. High Level Agency Review: The interim manager can provide an unbiased review of the organization with plans for correction where needed. 2. Speed: Those individuals who fill these roles are available quickly. Most are available to start within days with minimal recruitment or termination formalities. 3. Experience: Typically, these individuals are overqualified for the roles they fill. This means they can operate autonomously if necessary with very little guidance. 4. Results: Track records and performance really count, so interim managers are used to being judged by results. Therefore, they know to deliver. 5. Knowledge Transfer: With experience comes skill, contacts, and knowledge transferred to your team that become long-term. 6. Objectivity: While sensitive to the company’s ethos, they are not constrained by company politics, personalities, or protocols. This includes recommendations for “right-sizing” the agency. This may include elimination of staff that is underperforming or positions that are unnecessary because of inefficiency. 7. Delivery: Interim Managers can act as counsel to the Board of Directors while rolling up their sleeves to help deliver the strategy as well. Core Competencies: In order to be considered for a role in interim management, there are certain core competencies that have to be in place. Here are the 6 things to expect in an interim manager: 1. Independent worker that can function and produce without direction. 2. Strategic thinker 3. Innovative 4. Broad and deep understanding of the industry 5. Process planning/ Plan management skills 6. Works well under pressure while managing personalities and other management staff with ease and calm Part two of our interim management series will focus on job responsibilities, researching and finding the right interim manager, and succession planning/ strategic planning with interim management. At Kenyon Homecare Consulting , we offer the industry experts to fill the role of interim managers in your agency. We have those with expertise in clinical skills, operations, and financial matters. Call us today at 206-721-5091 or contact us online and let us help you find the interim manager that meets your needs.

Over the years we have provided numerous home care interim managers for home care executive level positions. On a few occasions we have been told that the cost of using one of our senior home care executives is more than they can afford. This has always intrigued me, because when we do a cost of service comparison, we frequently find that by the time we add in all the benefits and overhead burden, the interim home care executive costs about the same and in a couple of situations less. What we have found is that some home care organizations only look at the monthly salary of the previous executive and measure against that number alone. We find that if the employee burden of an organization is 20% or more, the cost of using one of our interim managers is about the same or depending on the salary of the previous executive, a little less. So there always needs to be a comparison of apples to apples when calculating the cost of an interim home care manager for a senior level position. But cost is only one area that a home care organization needs to think about in using an interim home care executive. The benefits sometimes prove to be so beneficial that in retrospect we have been told that the vacated executive position gave the organization an opportunity to really look at themselves, their weakness and strengths, and develop a meaningful and effective strategic plan to carry the agency forward. When we fill an interim manager position, we do require that an organizational assessment be accomplished in order to make sure that the services are meeting the needs of the home care agency and that the interim home care executive is focused on the issues and goals that need attention. Not uncommon is the discovery of issues and problems that were not apparent to the higher level managers of the home care agency. Sometimes we find that the staff filling certain positions is either not competent for the position or their personality and style are disruptive to the team which makes it difficult to build a cohesive and effective management or staff team. In other situations we have found that the home care organization has very dedicated and competent staff, but the systems of the organization has not kept up with the changes in the environment and the implementation of required processes or software. In these cases we see time consuming “ work arounds” developed by the staff to accomplish what they know needs to be done. All of this is costly to a home care agency and frequently are not identified because the work is getting done. The benefit of an outside consulting firm with interim mangers doing the organizational assessment is that these types of issues get identified with recommended solutions for the owner or corporate officers so they have directions on how these can be addressed and resolved to the benefit of the agency. Finally, the benefit of using an interim manager is that the agency does not lose momentum on previous projects and initiatives. It allows the agency to continue to function effectively and maintain their progress toward organizational goals and objectives. It also gives stability to the organization in a time of stress and flux. Using a seasoned executive assists the staff to move forward with confidence that they will be okay. One of the biggest mistakes that an organization makes is to allow a key position such as the Director, Administrator or CEO to go unfilled for 4 to 6 months. The company becomes distressed that the business is down, referrals are not coming in, and collections have fallen off the radar. Without a leader at the helm, critical things fall by the way side because there is no one at the top with the view of the “world” of the agency. It is a critical mistake to leave an executive level position empty. An agency without a leader is an agency afloat on the sea with no one at the rudder. If you are in a position with an executive level position open and need help during this time of change, call Kenyon Homecare Consulting at 206-721-5091 or contact us online to see how we can help you through your agency transition.

Nothing is more unsettling to a home care organization than the loss, or impending loss of an essential leader. Home care agencies that fail to plan for this event experience major disruptions in their business; initiatives lose momentum or are completely lost, uncertainty increases, staff resignations, and business drops off causing a decline to the bottom line. To avoid this problem, a home health or hospice organization must have both an emergency succession plan as well as an established succession plan. What is a Succession Plan? A sound home care succession plan is an ongoing process that contains the following: 1. Identification of critical positions needed for your home care agency. 2. Determination of the requisite skills needed for those positions. 3. Identification and assessment of potential successors or sources capable of providing individuals with the requisite skills. 4. Management and leadership involvement at all levels throughout your home care agency in developing the plan. 5. Ongoing commitment to developing internal talent and monitoring progress. A successful home care agency leadership succession plan identifies the environment, prepares for contingencies, and minimizes disruptions. Therefore, effective succession planning must be an ongoing process of regularly identifying, assessing, and developing talent to ensure leadership continuity for all key positions in a home care agency. The process must be in keeping with your home care or hospice agency’s ongoing strategic goals and objectives. This may mean that the kind of leadership style, skills, and behaviors that need to be developed and promoted might be different in the future from those in the existing culture. Therefore, the plan must be visited yearly and updated to match what your home health or hospice agency needs moving forward. It must be understood that "succession planning is not a "replacement" strategy. A properly prepared succession plan is a proactive, systematic effort designed to ensure the continued effective performance of an organization, division, department or work group.” Christopher Simoneau, The Business Review With an up-to date succession plan, a situation creating one or more vacant leadership positions is less of an emergency for your home care agency. If individuals within your home care agency are not capable of taking the helm and leading your organization, then an alternative will need to be implemented as soon as possible to prevent damaging disruptions to your business. This replacement is frequently an interim home care manager with the requisite skills to fill the position. With both an emergency and a succession plan in place, the selection of an appropriate interim home care manager is considerably easier. The requisite skill sets have been identified and updated and the essential work elements are in place with all staff on board with their identified responsibilities during the interim home care manager’s time with your agency As with all things in our lives, planning makes a big difference. We never want to think of disasters occurring, but we all know that they do. People experience fires at their homes and businesses, hurricanes occur, earthquakes happen, and people become ill or die. How we plan for these times dictates the outcomes. As interim home care managers, we too often see the failure to plan. Kenyon HomeCare Consulting can assist agencies with succession plans that help them through leadership transitions and lay the groundwork for when an interim manager is needed. The interim manager then helps to fill the gap until a permanent leader can take the helm. It you need assistance with either developing succession plans or interim management, call Kenyon HomeCare Consulting at 206-721-5091 or contact us online today. We are here to help.

Managing a home health or hospice business becomes more complex as the years go on for this industry. As an administrator, it is sometimes overwhelming to keep up with regulatory changes, personnel and patient care concerns all while trying to remain fiscally sound. Whether you are an agency that is community based or part of a healthcare system, interim management may be just what you need to help through a hurdle or replace a position. Let's look at the top 5 reasons you should consider interim management and when to do it. Top 5 Reasons To Consider Interim Management: As you are immersed in the day-to-day of running your business, you may not know how an interim manager can help you or even what role this individual would play within your agency. As we consider the top 5 reasons to hire one, think about where your agency struggles. Interim Managers have decades of experience in high level clinical and/or administrative roles and the expertise to help you agency where it struggles or where you need a temporary administrator. Replacing An Administrator: Whether you are the one leaving or retiring, you may need someone to fill the role or someone to help train your replacement once you are gone. Not all situations are ideal and maybe within your hospital system you do not want the current administrator to train a replacement. This is where interim management can help to fill the position as well as help train the replacement. Unfortunately, interim management is sometimes a necessity during times of unplanned absences or losses of an administrator. Regardless the reason, these interim positions can be in place anywhere from 1 month to 6 dependent upon the circumstances within your agency. Operations Management: Let's say you have built your agency from the ground up. No one knows it better than you. Now, you are struggling with turnover more than you ever have and can't figure out why? Maybe it's a need to break down the clinical process to cut some direct costs from your budget, but you don't know where to make that change. Regardless what is going on with your agency, an interim manager can also work side-by-side with you to deep dive into process management and staffing to make sure you meet financial goals. This is just a couple of potential operations issues although there are so many more that can be managed with a short term interim. These types of situations may mean someone on site several times a week for a month as opposed to a longer term engagement like loss and training of an administrator. Financial Management: We see a lot of agencies with clinical administrators who have good financial heads on their shoulders. However, they also have good finance managers in their agencies. Now, should you find yourself without a finance director, you would want someone to work on site to help keep the flow of finance in place as well as identify any potential shortcomings in the finance department. This is often a 1-3 month process depending on the size of the agency and the scope of work for the interim manager. Clinical Management: This is the exact opposite of the last bullet on finance management. Superior financial or operational administrators that run superior agencies have superior clinical management at their side. If you need someone to fill the role of clinical management/ administration, you need an interim manager who is a nurse administrator to fill the role. Hiring The Right Replacement: You may be the person in charge of the healthcare system that needs to replace your home health or hospice administrator. You may need some help to choose the right person as you don't typically function in this realm of your healthcare system. This is an expensive position and you don't want to pick the wrong person. Enter interim management. They can help you through the initial screening and them complete a deep dive into the hiring process to advise you while running the agency while the role is vacant. Whether you need a replacement or you just need some objective help to get things back on track, call Kenyon Homecare Consulting . We can talk you though the issues within your agency and find the right interim to meet your current needs. Call us today at 206-721-5091 or contact us online to see how we can help you!

We get numerous calls a year for interim management services. Some have experienced a sudden departure of an executive. Others are in the process of altering their executive team and are preparing to bridge the inevitable gap of leadership the vacancy will leave. Regardless of the reason for the vacancy, these agencies realize the lack of a leader, even a temporary one, can leave the home health or hospice agency vulnerable to internal and external breakdown. These are the agencies that have assessed themselves and realize that they are at risk. Unfortunately, many home health or hospice agencies wait until the leadership position has been vacant for a period of time and the disintegration has begun. Only when they see the revenues falling and the referrals dropping off do they begin to think of hiring a temporary leader. Many that I have talked to felt they could replace the position within a couple of months but six months later, it hasn’t happened. This prompts the call to a firm offering interim executive management services. Ready For An Interim, What Do I Need To Know? When engaging a firm to provide interim management there are several things you should remember; 1. The cost of the interim manager will probably be an additional 30 to 40% of your current salary plus any out of pocket expenses which could include rent, auto, gasoline, airfare, and food. 2. There should be a comprehensive organizational assessment prior to the interim manager starting services. (Without the assessment, the interim staff will take much longer to get on board and be able to turn the home health or hospice back in the right direction). This is an additional cost above and beyond the monthly expense for the interim manager. 3. Allow at least six months for the interim staff person to be able to show corrections resulting in increased referrals and revenues. Why Do You Need The Organizational Assessment? The next questions are why so much and why so long? We only need someone for a couple of months and can’t afford that much. Why do we have to have the assessment? First, an assessment not only identifies priority areas for the interim manager to work on, it gives the company an opportunity to have unbiased eyes on your operations. This gives you a picture you rarely see. If the assessment is comprehensive, then it should uncover issues and problems that have not been identified by either the management or the staff. In some circumstances, it is the key to determining why you are having compliance or financial issues. Secondly, fresh eyes of a seasoned executive brings potential for a myriad of different solutions. This allows the home health or hospice agency to experience new perspective. It provides the tools and processes to carry the home health or hospice agency successfully into the future. Let Kenyon Homecare Consulting Help: If you find that your home health or hospice agency has a vacancy in a key leadership position and need to fill the position with a temporary executive, let us help. Kenyon HomeCare Consulting is your answer. Call us at or at 206-721-5091 or contact us online for a free consultation about your needs.