"All the participants felt that they left with new skills to deal with agency and personal change. Many have asked for follow-up support in maintaining and implementing the knowledge gained"

-Fred Valerius, Ed.D, Butler County Board of Mental Retardation & Developmental Disabilities

See How We Helped These Organizations

An agent is someone who produces an effect; an instrument by which a guiding intelligence achieves a result. The CHANGE AGENT's extensive research and customization produce results. Patti Hathaway interviews your people to gain insider (intelligence) information which guides her in customizing the program content to meet your specific concerns.

Perspective is the capacity to view things in their true relative importance. When you're so close to the situation, it is hard to have perspective. The CHANGE AGENT has worked with thousands of people across the United States. This provides us with an outside perspective that is credible and powerful. When we blend our outside perspective with your specific issues, the results speak for themselves.

The following real cases demonstrate the results and recommendations of The CHANGE AGENT.

• Meet Your New Boss Lady
• Sleeping with "the Enemy"- Merging Two Practices
• If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It - Dealing with a Reorganization

For more information on how you can contribute to Patti's next book content click here.

Real Audio Excerpts:
"Mourning the Past" (2.58 minutes)
"Patti's Unique Approach to Change" (7.40 minutes)

Situation: When a new president comes on board, excitement and apprehension go hand in hand. The arrival of the new president to Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, was met with great excitement. As the new leader, he appointed all new Vice Presidents to his cabinet.

The Vice President selected for the Business and Fiscal Affairs division quickly implemented some changes in the way her division conducted business. Some of her expectations included: preparing trend analyses rather than just producing numbers on the fiscal reports, and the implementation of business process improvement for the paper flow in the entire division. Her main goal was to have people think for themselves rather than having someone give them step-by-step instructions of what to do as was the norm.

The new VP's style was met with fear (for job security), mistrust of her motives, and frustration at having to change the way staff had done their job (have we done everything wrong all these years?). She tried to keep the communication channels open by writing a monthly division newsletter and hosting division-wide informal chats. These efforts were met with a lukewarm response.

Solution: After discussions with the Assistant Vice President for Human Resources, it was agreed to bring in Patti Hathaway, The CHANGE AGENT, to do some confidential focus groups in order to develop a full-day training program for the management team and a half day training session for the rest of the division's staff (approximately 250 employees). As a result of the success of the programs delivered in the Business and Fiscal Affairs division, Patti Hathaway was asked to conduct a two-day retreat for the President and Deans to assist them in building more effective partnerships. She also worked with several other departments to facilitate team retreats.

"Thanks for an impactful series of programs on change for our entire division. Your programs made a difference from the President, Cabinet, and Deans to the maintenance workers! Because of your unique ability to understand our needs and customize your content to address those needs, we're excited you are doing a series of management and professional development programs for the entire university staff."

Joyce Carter, Assistant Vice President for Human Resources
Wright State University

Recommendations for Similar New Leadership Situations

1. Ease the number of changes being implemented simultaneously.
   
2. Avoid making comparisons to previous organizations you have worked for and previous employees.
   
3. Copy your staff on articles which discuss higher education trends and changes.
   
4. Encourage management and line staff to attend higher education conferences and continue to upgrade their skills.
   
5. Involve staff in providing input for reorganization recommendations.
   

The CHANGE AGENT's Recommendations for Staff:

1. Attend the Vice President's chat sessions and ask questions and provide input.
2. Keep upgrading your technical and non-technical skills. Professionals are committed to continual learning.
3. Look for ways to get rid of reports or work that is no longer valuable to your institution.
4. Volunteer to serve on committees which are dealing directly with the change process.
5. Learn how to analyze problems, be creative, and find solutions. Do not become comfortable with status quo.

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Real Audio Excerpts:
"Are You Sitting Down?" (2.50 minutes)
"Our Natural Reactions to Change" (13.35 minutes)
"Patti's Unique Approach to Change" (7.40 minutes)

Situation: In 1991, Dr. William Martin was doing his annual strategic planning session. He interviewed several insurance executives to try and predict what would happen in the marketplace with managed care. He was convinced that insurers would prefer to deal with as few providers as possible. His medical practice would need to become vertically integrated to be successful. After examining several options, he decided to contact the five-office, eight-doctor Kahn & Diehl Centers for Progressive Eye Care to discuss joining forces. Optometrist and co-owner Paul Kahn would consider it only if the transaction were a merger and they could be equal partners.

After consulting with legal consultants, two professional corporations were developed - one medical and one optometric. Once the merger was consummated, more problems started. Internally, it was a challenge to make diverse backgrounds come together. For instance, the medical side of the business made extensive use of computers and used comprehensive financial controls and management information systems. The optometric practice used 3x5 cards and used a hand-written ledger system. Dr. Martin and Mary Martin, the operations director, pushed the optometric business into modernization and received "tremendous opposition". Some of the employees felt like it was a "hostile takeover" and 30% of the employees left.

There was tremendous financial pressure and the expected surge in capitated med-surgical contracts was slow to come. The practice earned next to nothing the first year of operation. The end result however is producing several key benefits: surgical volume increased and was profitable from the first year of operation. The practice as a whole last year also posted a profit.

Preparedness. When managed care fully arrives in Northwestern Ohio, the practice is well-positioned to bid on contracts. They can offer the whole package or cafeteria style.

Economies of scale. The practice has been able to economize on expensive instruments. They have also been able to hire a full-time advertising executive which would not have been possible with an individual practice.

Patient care. The merger has increased the technical abilities of the entire practice. Dr. Kahn states, "I see patients I wouldn't have seen before and I've learned to use techs, including scribes. I have learned more in the past two years than I did in the previous 23."

"She was not a waste of money' -- that's a high compliment coming from one of our employees following your workshop. The owners second that. Our only regret is that we didn't have you come in sooner after merging our practices."

William Martin, M.D., Managing Partner
The Kahn and Diehl Centers for Progressive Eye Care

Recommendations for Similar Merger Situations

The CHANGE AGENT's Recommendations for Management:

1. Share the fiscal books openly with staff so they can see the logic behind the merger and the need to implement new management systems.
2. Encourage employee input into changes which directly impact them.
3. Keep staff up-to-date with managed care happenings so they can see the "bigger picture".
4. Teach not only technical skills but explain the "why" and benefits behind the need for modernization.
5. Address rumors as they occur.
6. Praise progress in learning and celebrate small successes.
7. Hire replacement employees as much for their positive attitude and ability to deal with change as for their technical abilities and expertise.

The CHANGE AGENT's Recommendations for Staff:

1. Ask questions of the owners and management. Provide on-going input.
2. Embrace technology and more efficient ways of doing business.
3. Always remember the importance of customer service no matter what.
4. Keep in mind the big picture and the vision for where the organization is going. Take pride in being a pioneer in your field.
5. Look for ways to build a team between offices and locations.
6. Take an interest in cross-training so you can be of assistance to others in your office.
7. Keep healthy and raise your resistance to stress.
8. Minimize other personal changes in your life.

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Real Audio Excerpts:
"Job Security Fears" (4.30 minutes)
"Patti's Unique Approach to Change" (7.40 minutes)

Situation: As part of the governor's effort to streamline government to better serve the citizens of Ohio, the Department of Commerce's Division of Financial Institutions was created. The division reorganized the Division of Banks, Credit Unions and Savings and Loans/Savings Banks into a single coordinated entity. The consolidation forced the reorganization of the management structure as well as the regions.

The major goal was to reduce the annual expenditure of the three former divisions by a significant amount. This would be accomplished in part by reducing the administrative redundancy that resulted from the operation of three relatively small divisions engaged in very similar work. An additional goal of the reorganization was to cross train examiners to be able to assist other examiners for institutions outside of their areas of specialty.

The division staff's initial response was one of fear for their job security. People were concerned about how the organizational structure was created and how it was to be implemented. The new superintendent asked for input and received none. The staff wanted to provide input but were unsure of who to tell. In general, there was a lack of trust and communication among administration and staff. A major concern was who the field examiners were to go to in the main office with questions.

Solution:As part of the reorganization, all three former divisions met together for their first annual combined conference. Patti Hathaway, The Change Agent, was invited to be speaker for the opening day of the conference.

"Your opening day presentation received "rave" reviews and provided the perfect ice breaker for the conference. The staff was especially impressed with your knowledge and insights of where we are in the change process, and they appreciated your helping us to recognize and deal with our feeling toward the changes that have taken place during the past months. I look forward to working with you again in the future."

Brian K. Morgan, Training Coordinator

Ohio Department of Commerce, Division of Financial Institutions

Recommendations for Similar Reorganization Situations

1. Provide avenues for input to the management structure with the caveat that the director will have the final say. Ask for feedback from those employees who will be directly affected.
2. Develop a newsletter to address the concerns as they arise.
3. Consider including a "Rumor of the Month" section and provide facts to refute the rumor(s).
4. Try to minimize extra layers of management with the new structure since the original goal was to save $1 million in expenses. Management is considered by line staff to be an expense.
5. Once the management structure has been defined, allow for focus group feedback on how to implement the new structure.
6. Allow staff to state their concerns and try to address those concerns.
7. Provide a flow chart outlining the new responsibilities in the main office so people know whom to contact.

The CHANGE AGENTs's Recommendations for Staff:

1. Provide constructive feedback on the originally proposed structure.
2. Give feedback to the director when asked. Volunteer to work on a transition team.
3. Concentrate on doing your job to the best of your ability. Don't waste time on rumors.
4. Ask questions.
5. Develop your own career plan to continue your own growth. Look at all new career options in the new structure. Upgrade skills as needed.
6. Volunteer to be cross-trained.

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© Copyright 1999 The CHANGE AGENT. Patti Hathaway, CSP, 1016 Woodglen Road, Westerville, Ohio 43081. Phone: (614) 523-3633 Toll Free: (800) 339-0973 Fax: (614) 523-3515. Comments about this site? Please send mail to Patti Hathaway.