Develop the Recruitment Criteria and Select the Change Facilitators
There are three types of people in this world: those that make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what happened.
—Mary Kay Ash
Once the job descriptions are ready, you need to develop recruitment criteria, internal and external job postings, and an advertising plan to attract the right talent. Then you must design the interview and selection process. Design a process that tests candidates not only on their experience, knowledge, and skills, but also on their attitudes and behaviors. In the words of Tom Peters, “Hire for attitude. Train for skills.” Use scenarios, simulations, and/or personality tests to select the candidate who is expected to be a superior cultural fit. A poor culture fit due to turnover can cost an organization between 50%–60% of the person’s annual salary.
At Hospital Heal, a rigorous hiring process was implemented to select core team members and value stream coaches who had an excellent combination of technical talent and soft skills. To give you a sense of rigor, the six value stream coaches were selected among 182 applicants (Figure 8.1). Candidates who passed the initial screening went through a creative-problem-solving profiling exercise, a presentation based on a case scenario, an interview comprising situational behavioral questions, and a 360-degree recommendation check before being offered the position. A similar process was conducted for selecting the members of the central core team to support continuous quality improvement, project management office, patient and family–partnered care, education, professional practice, knowledge management, accreditation, organizational policies, procedures, patient safety, and risk management. Positions that were not filled by internal candidates were posted on external job sites to hire the right candidate and ensure that the selection criteria were not compromised.
Given below is a sample candidate profile requirement for a value stream coach.
POSITION PREREQUISITES:
Required Qualifications:
Must be highly versatile, energized, and self-motivated
Demonstrated ability to influence and negotiate at all levels, internal and external to the organization
Demonstrated leadership, change-management, problem-solving, critical-thinking, conflict-resolution, team-building, and communication skills
Must be able to support and contribute to a culture of safety and prevention of adverse health events in our organization
Intermediate/advanced knowledge of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel
Good attendance and work record
Criminal reference verification (recent as of three months)
Specific Certificates:
A bachelor’s degree in health, administration, health planning, or business administration, and/or equivalent education and experience, including clinical, with a minimum of five (5) years in a healthcare environment.
DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS (ASSETS):
Experience, knowledge, and active involvement in leading/implementing quality improvement initiatives/projects are an asset.
Certification in Lean/Six Sigma/PMP is an asset.
Bilingualism (English/French) is an asset.
Sensei Gyaan: A full time dedicated resource assigned for supporting continuous improvement projects has a capacity to simultaneously facilitate 8 projects or alternatively lead 4 projects, provided each project is scoped well to complete between 4–6 months. Use this formula as a rule of thumb for resource and budget allocation.