February 2006
Staff changes and theft aside, we are back to work in force. Staffing is an ongoing challenge, and I think it will take three more months of training to get it really comfortable again. I am still short two positions and continue to interview. Unfortunately, one of the new hires is not capable of handling her job. It is over her head, I think. So, I am preparing to let her go. She has a chance to bring up her game, and I hope she does it. However, I have doubts. It's a tough thing to let go of someone for alot of reasons. The greatest reason for me to resist it is that I am so tired of it after this last year! Hiring the right person is one of the most difficult things to do.
It is amazing what kind of havoc (i.e. business trauma) comes with staff changes. The staff turnover has been something that I have never experienced in 16 years of business and I still can’t make sense of it. Some good things have transpired as a result. There are better training methods in place, and it certainly has trained me to focus on the actions that are most critical to effect to have business continue. I did count the changes and there were 16 staff turnovers in 18 months. Nothing like this has happened in 16 years of business.
There are still challenges associated with cashflow even though the thief was identified. The amount of money stolen and lost, as well as other complications, have been growing since January. It is tedious and demanding to handle it. It takes a lot away from the priorities of growing a business. On the other hand, there are better cash controls in place and I have learned some really valuable lessons.
Interestingly, just when I am getting back to spending some time on new business activities people seem to be coming out of the woodwork to help with marketing and advertising ideas and campaigns. This support comes out of the patient base. Patients have just started to volunteer their time and ideas. They tell me that they are excited about their experiences and want to share them with others. It is serendipitous that many of the patients are also advertising or sales execs. I have had three meetings this month with different people and will continue in March with two more.
In the meantime, I have arranged to speak at some new mother and women’s groups to present the Program for Solving Incontinence. That, along with the new lecture I am selling, “After Pregnancy: When Women Are Forgotten” should be good for enlightening our community about this particular service. This will take place in March and April. One of our doctors just wrote a new lecture that he presented last week. He did a great job. I am going to teach him two more of my lectures and get him scheduled, too. Public education goes a long way towards increasing new patient activity. Since we are in a large city it is almost impossible to get into advertising for a digestible price, so we are sticking with marketing and public relations for now.
With the advise, support and interest of my coach and some advisors it has been a period of growth – most of all ‘reality checks’. It is amazing to see what a second pair of eyes see. Ginny’s questions are really helpful and have helped me to prioritize. With all of the many, many tugs in different directions it really is critical to get to the issues that matter most rather than try randomly to put out fires.
It is amazing what kind of havoc (i.e. business trauma) comes with staff changes. The staff turnover has been something that I have never experienced in 16 years of business and I still can’t make sense of it. Some good things have transpired as a result. There are better training methods in place, and it certainly has trained me to focus on the actions that are most critical to effect to have business continue. I did count the changes and there were 16 staff turnovers in 18 months. Nothing like this has happened in 16 years of business.
There are still challenges associated with cashflow even though the thief was identified. The amount of money stolen and lost, as well as other complications, have been growing since January. It is tedious and demanding to handle it. It takes a lot away from the priorities of growing a business. On the other hand, there are better cash controls in place and I have learned some really valuable lessons.
Interestingly, just when I am getting back to spending some time on new business activities people seem to be coming out of the woodwork to help with marketing and advertising ideas and campaigns. This support comes out of the patient base. Patients have just started to volunteer their time and ideas. They tell me that they are excited about their experiences and want to share them with others. It is serendipitous that many of the patients are also advertising or sales execs. I have had three meetings this month with different people and will continue in March with two more.
In the meantime, I have arranged to speak at some new mother and women’s groups to present the Program for Solving Incontinence. That, along with the new lecture I am selling, “After Pregnancy: When Women Are Forgotten” should be good for enlightening our community about this particular service. This will take place in March and April. One of our doctors just wrote a new lecture that he presented last week. He did a great job. I am going to teach him two more of my lectures and get him scheduled, too. Public education goes a long way towards increasing new patient activity. Since we are in a large city it is almost impossible to get into advertising for a digestible price, so we are sticking with marketing and public relations for now.
With the advise, support and interest of my coach and some advisors it has been a period of growth – most of all ‘reality checks’. It is amazing to see what a second pair of eyes see. Ginny’s questions are really helpful and have helped me to prioritize. With all of the many, many tugs in different directions it really is critical to get to the issues that matter most rather than try randomly to put out fires.
posted by Dr. Amelia Case at Thursday, March 30, 2006
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