Monday, January 31, 2011
Great News!
Great news! Kathy C. Yohalem has been appointed to Historic House Trust's Directors Council - a dynamic organization located in New York. Look at the website: www.historichousetrust.org
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Announcement: April 5, 2011 Date for Viewpoint Seminar #2 HSBC USA in Partnership with Kathy C. Yohalem Ltd for Not-for-Profit Executives
HSBC Bank USA in Partnership with Kathy C. Yohalem Ltd.
A great panel and great topics.
A great panel and great topics.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Just Like Algebra, Management is Truly a Useful Skill
Like the algebra classes we all sat through and thought we would never use, it turns out management education is useful after all. This week we've been discussing the challenges of management in the health and human services field (Does an MBA Qualify You To Be a Clinician? all members), and today I would like to focus on management education. OPEN MINDS Circle member Deborah M. Fisher, Psy.D., Deputy Director, Jewish Foundation for Group Homes, shared her thoughts on the importance of management education for the field as a whole, clinicians included:
As a clinician who became a manager when I expanded my private clinical psychology practice to include associates and various products, I started to learn about the unique finance, personnel issues, marketing strategies, and customer relations challenges that a successful business requires. [...]
It all leads me back to the one complaint that I had with the otherwise superb graduate education that I had, which is that business management, leadership development, organizational change – any and possibly all of these areas should be included in all clinical training programs. While all clinicians may believe that all they ever want to do is see clients, the truth is that even in “just” seeing clients, they are small business owners and should understand what types of business practices are necessary for doing so competently and successfully.
Further, considering the types of Continuing Ed courses that are offered, I cannot recall one that ever focused on the business and management skills necessary to move clinicians into different roles and responsibilities.[...] To me, the problem rests with the clinician community as a whole for not valuing the importance of gaining training in management/business, and clinicians individually who do not acknowledge that to be in private practice is to be a small business entrepreneur, and to work in a clinic or social services agency or hospital, is to be a middle or executive manager of an organization – either for-profit or non-profit.
As a clinician who became a manager when I expanded my private clinical psychology practice to include associates and various products, I started to learn about the unique finance, personnel issues, marketing strategies, and customer relations challenges that a successful business requires. [...]
It all leads me back to the one complaint that I had with the otherwise superb graduate education that I had, which is that business management, leadership development, organizational change – any and possibly all of these areas should be included in all clinical training programs. While all clinicians may believe that all they ever want to do is see clients, the truth is that even in “just” seeing clients, they are small business owners and should understand what types of business practices are necessary for doing so competently and successfully.
Further, considering the types of Continuing Ed courses that are offered, I cannot recall one that ever focused on the business and management skills necessary to move clinicians into different roles and responsibilities.[...] To me, the problem rests with the clinician community as a whole for not valuing the importance of gaining training in management/business, and clinicians individually who do not acknowledge that to be in private practice is to be a small business entrepreneur, and to work in a clinic or social services agency or hospital, is to be a middle or executive manager of an organization – either for-profit or non-profit.
Misunderstood Motivations Lead To Bad Management Decisions
Our team at OPEN MINDS has recently been having some robust discussions about the challenges to building a service delivery organization with a good management team and experienced clinical staff. The theme of many of our discussions is that most managers in the field don't seem to know what management is. . . (FYI, the Drucker definition of management is that managers are the "dynamic, life-giving element in every business" who are "specifically charged with making resources productive")
I think one of the reasons for the management deficit in the field is the widespread belief that it is more important for managers to have clinical knowledge than management knowledge. This leads to the promotion of staff members to management positions based on their clinical skills – not on their potential to be great managers.
Many sets of regulations contribute to this problem. Often licensing requirements demand that administrative positions be filled by someone with a clinical degree and/or credentials. This creates a natural organizational "preference" for managers with a clinical background. Unfortunately, I've never seen licensing criteria that require managers and administrators have formal management education.
At the same time, current fee-for-service reimbursements are reinforcing the clinician-to-manager career path. An organization can maximize their profits by using the lowest paid clinical team member to provide the service. From a profit perspective, an organization is better off hiring new inexperienced clinical team members at entry-level salaries, rather than increasing the salaries of its more experienced team members.
This leads clinical staff to conclude (and rightly so) that the best way to increase compensation is to seek a "promotion" to a management position – even if they lack the appropriate skills or an interest in management. It is a perverse self-reinforcing cycle. The solution is that management teams need to step back and look at the organization’s "big picture" – realize the 'cost' of promoting managers who can’t manage and the loss of clinical talent that happens without a clinical career ladder.
I think one of the reasons for the management deficit in the field is the widespread belief that it is more important for managers to have clinical knowledge than management knowledge. This leads to the promotion of staff members to management positions based on their clinical skills – not on their potential to be great managers.
Many sets of regulations contribute to this problem. Often licensing requirements demand that administrative positions be filled by someone with a clinical degree and/or credentials. This creates a natural organizational "preference" for managers with a clinical background. Unfortunately, I've never seen licensing criteria that require managers and administrators have formal management education.
At the same time, current fee-for-service reimbursements are reinforcing the clinician-to-manager career path. An organization can maximize their profits by using the lowest paid clinical team member to provide the service. From a profit perspective, an organization is better off hiring new inexperienced clinical team members at entry-level salaries, rather than increasing the salaries of its more experienced team members.
This leads clinical staff to conclude (and rightly so) that the best way to increase compensation is to seek a "promotion" to a management position – even if they lack the appropriate skills or an interest in management. It is a perverse self-reinforcing cycle. The solution is that management teams need to step back and look at the organization’s "big picture" – realize the 'cost' of promoting managers who can’t manage and the loss of clinical talent that happens without a clinical career ladder.
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