HHT #169 - Lessons for Home Health Leaders from the U.S. Open

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Lessons For Home Health Leaders From The U.S. Open

What we can learn about home care from professional tennis

September 16, 2009

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In this issue...

-- Lessons From The U.S. Open

-- Pulling From A World Wide Talent Pool

-- Recruiting and Retention, Planning and Coaching

-- About the Author

-- Permission to Reproduce

Welcome,,

Welcome to this issue of Home Health Care Today, the leading electronic newsletter for home health care and hospice executives who want to grow their business and get ready for the future. Every other Wednesday, we bring you strategies and insights that will help you take your agency to new heights.

For ideas to grow your Private Duty Home Care business, subscribe to Private Duty Today, the bi-weekly newsletter for non-medical home care CEOs. Your complimentary subscription is available at www.privatedutytoday.com.


Lessons From The U.S. Open

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u s openLast week, Elizabeth and I were working in New Jersey, and we had the opportunity to take two days to go up to New York City. On Tuesday evening, we went out to Flushing Meadows to watch the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament. What a tremendous experience!

Part of it is just being in the big apple. We went in on the train from New Jersey, walked from Penn Station to Times Square, and stayed in a hotel on Broadway. Then we took the subway from Times Square to Flushing Meadows and the Billie Jean King Tennis Center. We had a Carnegie Deli sandwich in the courtyard, and then went into Arthur Ashe stadium for the match.

The other part is being at the tournament. We had the opportunity to watch Serena Williams give a tennis lesson to Flavia Pennetta from Italy, and then saw Rafael Nadal of Spain in a very competitive match with Gael Monfils of France.

Being there motivated us to watch later matches on TV. I got home from the office on Monday to catch the final sets as Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina upset five time defending champion Roger Federer of Switzerland.

As I was traveling back to New Jersey on the train from New York, I thought of some of the lessons we can learn in home health care from watching a major, international sporting event. Here are some thoughts to consider as you get ready for the future:

1. Winning starts with talent.

There's no doubt that in professional sports, talent wins and wins consistently. In individual sports, the players with the most natural ability rise to the top.

Recruiting and selection are the keys in team sports. The teams that can find and keep the best players win.

This is true in home health as well. The agencies that can attract and retain the very best talent will consistently win in the marketplace.

2. Even the winners have trainers and coaches.

As we watched the U.S. Open, the cameras frequently focused on the coaches of the players. The world's best tennis players hire personal trainers to help them with their physical conditioning, and coaches to help them with their tennis skills.

What are you doing to provide training and coaching for your star performers?

3. The ability to focus is critical!

One of the things we observed in Arthur Ashe Stadium was the ability of the players to stay focused on the match in spite of constant distractions from fans, officials, ball boys and girls, and live television.

This ability to concentrate and focus is key to winning. How are you and your team at staying focused on the goals and action steps in front of you?

4. What gets measured gets managed.

I know. You're tired of hearing me say it. But it's still true. What gets measured gets managed.

Through out the match at the U.S. Open, we were given facts and data about the match and the players. The chair official gives the score after every point. The built in radar gun shows you the speed of every serve. The big screen at each end of the court serves up relevant facts and data about the players. The TV and Radio commentators constantly provide relevant facts and data - and sometimes not so relevant. (We had tiny radios provided by American Express that brought us the audio sound track from the ESPN television coverage of the match.)

What are you doing to capture the facts and data that show how well you are playing the game of home health and hospice?


Pulling From A World Wide Talent Pool

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This week, I was reading another interview in Time Magazine with Andy Roddick. Readers sent in questions and the magazine published Roddick's answers. Here's one I thought was very interesting:

"Why is it that American tennis just seems to be unable to produce the tennis stars that we used to?" Danny Wang, ALBANY, N.Y.

"Well, to me it's pretty obvious. The fact of the matter is, [tennis is] now pulling from a worldwide talent pool. We're probably the second biggest sport worldwide, and there's not really a country that's not involved in tennis right now. So with the growth of the game worldwide, the talent is going to be a lot more spread out. I think you're seeing that on a smaller scale with basketball. It used to just be, 'How much is the American team going to win by?' Now the sport has grown so much that the Olympics are interesting again." Andy Roddick.

As I read the question and Roddick's response, it struck me that this same thing is happening in home health care. I'm getting calls every week from home health care leaders who are struggling to grow their business in a marketplace that they once dominated. What's happening? How come?

Well, we're in a much more competitive marketplace than we were two years ago. There are more home health agencies, and they have gone out into other business sectors to find experience and expertise in sales, marketing, and business development.

The things we used to do to bring in referrals that turned into admission just don't work as well any more when you are faced by stiff competition.

What are you doing to stay ahead of the competition? Are you developing the talent within your agency, or are you bringing in new talent to keep pace with the changing competition?


Recruiting and Retention, Planning and Coaching

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As we think about the talent in professional tennis, it brings us back to the talent in home health care and hospice in America. This is an amazing industry with thousands of talented individuals who are committed to caring for our patients and their families.

As the need for home health and hospice services grow, and as the baby boomers age, we'll need more and more talented and dedicated individuals to lead our agencies forward.

For many years now, we've focused a portion of our time and energy at Leading Home Care to studying the best practices for recruiting, selecting, training, and retaining talented clinicians, managers, and sales professionals in home health care and hospice. While many of you think of us for our work in Private Duty Home Care, I want to remind you that a very big part of what we do is provide planning and coaching for home health and hospice. Another big part of what we do is provide guidance in improving your recruiting and retention.

Now is the time to build your bench strength. Now is the time to get ready for the future that will come your way with the passing of health care reform legislation.

One of the services we offer is our Home Health & Hospice Recruiting and Retention Planning & Coaching Process. This involves four specific steps:

  1. Assessment of your current reality in terms of talent and bench strength
  2. Planning for the future growth of your agency
  3. Coaching your HR team in finding and keeping top talent
  4. Measuring the results of your strategic staffing process

For more information on Recruiting and Retention Planning & Coaching


About the Author

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Stephen Tweed, CSP, is Chairman and CEO of Leading Home Care ... a Tweed Jeffries company. For over 25 years he has been a recognized leader in strategy and leadership development for home health care & hospice companies and associations. He is the author or co-author of seven books, five of which were written specifically for the home care industry. He has served on the boards of directors of three not-for-profit home care agencies, and has served as interim President & CEO of a $25 million home care company.

Stephen is a past-President of the National Speakers Association, a 3500 member international society of experts who speak professionally. He is also the father of a 38 year-old son who is physically disabled and uses the services of home care on a daily basis.

Meet the entire Leading Home Care Team


Permission to Reproduce

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Permission is granted to healthcare publications, associations and companies to reproduce this article in your publication, or to distribute copies to your leaders, on the condition that you reproduce the credits and contact information as follows: "Reprinted with permission from Home Health Care Today. Copyright 2009 Stephen C. Tweed. To receive a FREE subscription to this newsletter, log on to www.leadinghomecare.com."



Contact Leading Home Care

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phone: 1-866-209-5101

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