Dise & Company

Throughout her career, Lynn Sargi, the Director of Human Resources at the County of Summit Developmental Disabilities Board, has lived and learned through  two CEO transitions, and is at the threshold of her third.  The DD Board, recognizing Lynn’s experience with leadership transitions, has charged her with supporting and guiding them through the search and selection process for the next CEO. 

Lynn’s three CEO transitions have occurred relatively recently.  She worked for her first CEO, who she greatly admired, for 17 years before he retired.   After the board selected his successor Lynn remained with the organization for an additional three years before joining an agency in 2006 that would soon embark on a similar experience – the search for a successor for a long-time, well-respected leader.   She joined Summit DD in 2011 and its Superintendent announced his intention to retire last month.    

Lynn, based on her experience, categorizes a CEO transition into three phases.   First, is the period leading up to a retirement announcement, a time of uncertainty and anticipation for staff.  Second, the actual search and selection process which is often driven by speculation and excitement, and finally the onboarding process for a new leader, a period of acceptance, adaptation and adjustment. 

As Lynn approaches her third CEO transition, she is reflecting on lessons learned to help guide her upcoming work.  First, it is critical for the board to focus on the leadership skills that will be required to successfully steer the organization into the future.  Second, it is important to skillfully handle internal candidates, especially if not selected, since executive leadership continuity can be critical to a smooth transition.  Third, if the board wants staff to be involved in the process, it should clearly articulate staffs’ role.  And finally, it is helpful for the board to assist the new CEO and his/her staff with the onboarding and orientation process, especially if the person selected is new to the field or is unfamiliar with the community. 

And Lynn is looking forward to continued learnings, especially as it relates to the need for and impact of a strategic plan.  The CEO and board at her first employer chose not to initiate an updated strategic plan before his retirement thereby allowing the new CEO to shape it.  The CEO and board at her second employer had a plan in place to guide its new leader, although the new CEO chose to set her own course.   Summit DD just adopted a new long-range plan intended to ease the transition, and only time will tell its influence on the next CEO. 

In Lynn’s opinion, the most significant changes resulting from a CEO transition are cultural.  She reflected on one personal experience.  The outgoing CEO at her first employer ensured throughout his tenure that the Board and staff were guided by a well thought-out strategic plan.  The new CEO preferred a much more entrepreneurial approach that resulted in more trial and error and less direction — frustrating some staff that were accustomed to working within an aligned and agreed-upon framework.

Lynn was a long-term senior staff member who had to adapt to a significant cultural change introduced by her company’s new leader during her first leadership transition.  From there she went on to assist an agency where many of its senior leadership team had worked for decades for the same leader and were experiencing similar emotions to what Lynn had done a few years back.  And now in her current role of helping Summit DD plan and execute a sophisticated process to identify its next leader, Lynn is well on her way to ensuring the continued success of the County of Summit Developmental Disabilities Board.

Stacy Hinners, labor and employment attorney with Buckley King, presented to a full house at the Union Club on “The Seven Deadly Sins of Employment Law.”

Stacy’s Seven Deadly Sins describe the dangerous traps companies sometimes fall into that encourage a large settlement in favor of a former employee who sues.   They split into two different categories: single actions taken by employees, often managers, that will directly result in a larger cash settlement and systemic risks that cause issues over a period of time. 

In the category of single actions that can cause problems, the single biggest thing that Stacy advised not to do is put racial epithets in the record.  Since ALL emails sent by a company are subpoenaed during the discovery phase of a civil suit, and destroying ANY documents during discovery can result in a large fine, one of the Sins is destroying any documents related to a lawsuit.  If a plaintiff’s attorneys search through discovery documents and find an epithet referring to their client, the courts will make you pay through the nose.  Stacy’s advice is to never put a racial epithet in an email.  Ever. 

Another single action that can lead to a larger cash settlement is retaliation. Stacy advises that supervisors should be careful not to demote or fire anyone who comes forward with a written complaint about how they are being treated at work, since that would be retaliatory. That’s especially in light of the last mistake Stacy sees employers making- assuming that employees have not consulted a labor lawyer. If they have consulted a lawyer, they may be filing the complaint just to see if they will be retaliated against, at which time they can sue and try to get a settlement out of their employer.

Systemic risks include failing to train your frontline supervisors to effectively recognize and resolve problems effectively, and failing to document real failures in employee evaluations. Poorly trained supervisors who fail to recognize when employees have legitimate grievances often ignore or punish aggrieved employees. On the other hand, failing to be brutally honest in evaluations in order to spare feelings can make employees appear to be good at their job when they really aren’t, so a civil court will later assume that their firing was discriminatory, when it was really for cause.

The main thrust of Stacey’s presentation was that leaders should seriously consider the merits of employee complaints. They should be honest about employee capabilities and achievement. They should not write or say bigoted things about employees, especially in electronic documents. They shouldn’t retaliate against employees, and also shouldn’t destroy or alter documents after a lawsuit begins. Finally, if a leader suspects that an employee has been mistreated, or that a lawsuit may be forthcoming soon, Stacy advises them to consult a labor attorney as soon as possible.

Failing to address concerns and sometimes going so far as to punish employees who come forward about difficulties they are experiencing at work are common “mistakes” supervisors make. The common thread seems to be that supervisors just aren’t connecting with their employees the way they ought to.  

Stacy grants that most employers want to do the right thing, but they will often go about it the wrong way. For instance, most people hate to give someone a bad performance review or tell the unemployment office that they were let go for cause. The problem is, if you fired an employee for being bad at their job but tell the unemployment office you had to let them go because there wasn’t enough work but their performance appraisals say they met expectations, they suddenly have an attractive and expensive case for your average labor attorney.

Dr. Toby Cosgrove, President and CEO of the Cleveland Clinic, spent his first 40 years in medicine performing cardiac surgery, before he suddenly found himself in the limelight, living under a magnifying glass.  Now he is attacked on blogs for eating stadium food at sporting events.  When he was a surgeon, he only ever visited his own facility and a few nearby.  After becoming CEO he acclimatized himself by touring every Cleveland Clinic facility in the country, including the ones at Cleveland Clinic Florida.  Dr. Cosgrove discussed his transition from surgeon and his leadership philosophy at Dise & Company’s November Senior Executive Thought Leader Forum, our last forum of 2012. 

            Although he was fortunate to draw on the knowledge of successful CEOs and academic Thought Leaders, Dr. Cosgrove described his first two years in the hot seat as the toughest two years of his life.  He had to educate himself almost from scratch in what it takes to manage and develop the largest employer in the Greater Cleveland area.  He vowed that neither his successors nor the Clinic itself should ever have to go through a transition that difficult again.  Under his leadership, the Clinic now maintains a detailed succession plan, and has instituted a leadership development program for future high level managers. 

Toby went on a mission to drive the Clinic toward a strong patient-centered ethos.  Their “secret sauce” has been organizing “departments” into “institutes,” bringing related specialties under single patient-centered organ and disease focused umbrellas, incentivizing communication and cooperation between different care-givers.  This means that someone with, for instance, a severe digestive disorder who has to be treated in different departments will not be given the same tests by each doctor, since the results of the prior tests are shared throughout the Digestive Disease institute.  This system both improves care for patients and reduces costs.     

            The Clinic has developed an almost industrial or LEAN mindset to resolve problems.  They identify areas that are obstacles to success, and have found ways to reduce the number of blood transfusions given and lowered the instance of hospital acquired infections in recent years. 

            Under Toby, the clinic has made a point to incentivize minimally invasive, cost-effective care.  Since all staff are salaried, surgeons only recommend surgery to patients who absolutely need it.  They also renegotiate each doctor’s contract annually, so the Clinic can analyze outcomes for patients and make sure results are up to snuff.  It’s all part of a desire to pay for value rather than volume, and drive up the quality of service.

Mayor Frank Jackson recently spoke to the Dise & Company Executive Thought Leader Forum about the upcoming school levy and the leadership style he has developed in 36 years of public service.  He could have retired from public service years before he was elected mayor, but realized he still wanted to make a difference in the city of Cleveland.

Mayor Jackson asks himself over and over: “how do I make Cleveland a great city?”  His first answer is: find ways to let everyone take part in improved living standards, without relying on welfare or charity.  His second answer is: find ways to keep young people in Cleveland. 

Mayor Jackson aims to make Cleveland a 24 hour city, by attracting enough people to live downtown round-the-clock to encourage grocers, retailers, and restaurants to stay open into the late evening and during the weekend.  He hopes that more people living downtown will bring supporting businesses downtown.

Mayor Jackson has cultivated a leadership style that avoids the controversy of other politicians who crave the media spotlight.  It allows him to work as an “administrator” and negotiate the disparate elements of Cleveland politics to get things done.  He tries not to let tough rhetoric or flying elbows ruffle him.  For instance, when describing unions: “Unions are unions.  People might get mad because they seem unreasonable.  They’re unions.  That’s what they do.”  They represent some of the people or organizations he leads who are difficult to work with, but Mayor Jackson believes that it is imperative for leaders to be patient and seek middle ground, especially when it seems most difficult.

The first step to helping more people enjoy improved living standards in Cleveland is reforming education.  Mayor Jackson used the negotiations behind the levy to insist that the school district go from a seniority only plan to one that considers performance and measurement.  50% of the teachers’ performance evaluation scores will be based on student achievement, meaning that teachers with failing students will be the first to go the next time there are cuts.  In return, the unions expect to be given a role in designing a standardized and transparent process to remove teachers.  Their main concern is that teachers be given due process. 

            Mayor Jackson helped develop the 15 mill levy, which is expected to raise $77 Million.  He believes the levy is necessary because falling property values and  depleted stimulus funding forced the school district to cut $115 Million dollars last year.  “Mill” is a technical term; in a 15 mill levy, a homeowner must pay $15 for every $1,000 a home is worth.  The mayor is hoping the additional revenue will allow the school district to restore some services and lengthen the school day to at least where they were before the cuts.  In addition, a portion of the revenue, an estimated $5 Million, will be directed to Charter Schools within the city. 

Mayor Jackson suggested three ways anyone can help the levy pass. 

1.       They should have intelligent, positive conversations stressing that the levy will help bring success to the City of Cleveland. 

2.       Leaders can’t (and shouldn’t) tell their employees that they MUST vote in favor of the levy, but they CAN stress the benefits a good education has on a company’s long term profitability.

3.       They could place a poster for the levy in their office. 

Many of those who attended the Forum were impressed by Mayor Jackson’s openness, his firm grasp of issues, and his ability to articulate the complexities of his work in an easily understood fashion. 

Judging by billions of dollars of new development within the city limits, Mayor Jackson’s “leadership from under the radar” approach is working.

Dan Walsh, President of the Greater Cleveland region of Huntington Bank, is optimistic about the future of Huntington in Northeast Ohio.  He’s just finished hiring a number of corporate lending “rock stars,” and there are an additional 60 positions that will have to be filled by the end of 2012, with more to come later. 

            In May 2010 Dan moved to Huntington from Key Bank to take the regional president job.  At Key he traveled all over the world to make deals with successful companies and saw how cities have developed over time globally.  He compares accepting responsibility for Huntington in Northeast Ohio to “making a bet on Cleveland,” since measures of his success are now tightly bound to the success of the area, rather than his ability to identify clients.  These include number and value of deposits, returns on loans, and mortgage rates.  Now that he has more responsibility and influence, he’s overhauling the way Huntington does business in hopes that he can contribute to a “Cleveland Renaissance.” 

            In their overhaul, Huntington has made a big investment in Cleveland and has committed to improving convenience for its customers:  they’ve enacted a 24-hour grace period to put money in overdrawn checking accounts before fees are assessed, they’ve opened new branches inside area Giant Eagle stores, and they’ve extended branch hours, which now includes opening on Sundays.

Huntington’s investment in these programs costs the company millions in foregone fees, but it’s made Huntington more competitive against the other banks in the area, causing thousands of customers to switch to Huntington.  Dan has helped lead Huntington from seventh to first place in customer satisfaction in the area according to JD Power & Associates.  He’s improved convenience, promoted brand loyalty in Huntington, and attracted depositors from other banks. 

            Dan’s encouraged that his bet will pay off given the 30,000 job openings in biotech and advanced manufacturing industries in Cleveland.  He points to a further $6.8 billion dollars recently invested in Cleveland, in the Health-Tech Corridor, the Medical Mart, American Greetings, Eaton, Jumpstart, the casino, the Innerbelt Bridge, University Circle, and the Museum of Contemporary Art.  These recent investments will go a long way toward attracting the businesses Huntington will need to succeed, and Dan is dedicated to innovative banking solutions that allow Huntington to take advantage of these opportunities.

Judi McMullen became Vice President of Human Resources for Cuyahoga Community College in June, 2010, leaving her role as Global People Consultant at Ernst & Young.  Her mission:  improve the caliber and deliverables connected to every aspect of Human Resources services.  The first challenge: deciding what really matters most.  The second challenge: deciding how to measure current performance and how to chart ongoing progress.

The old comment, “50% of marketing works… but I don’t know which 50%” could be applied to human resources in many organizations.  Judi deploys metrics as one of the major weapons in her arsenal to figure out which half of policies work by measuring the results of key HR initiatives.  Judi likes to say: “some is not a number, soon is not a time frame!”  She insists on strapping a solid deadline and objective to every program, and she uses metrics to make sure things are running on schedule.  Metrics track the “how much” and “when” for process improvement.  They give decision makers the objective data to identify specific constraints limiting department effectiveness. [Read more...]