Developing Leaders in Non-Profit Public Health Service Provider

In a large, multi-state public health company that provides developmental, behavioral health and education services to individuals and families there was an opportunity to create and deploy leadership development experiences to support both new and tenured leaders.

Strategically, the programs were developed to support leaders of direct service providers and leaders of frontline leaders. The focus was to deepen and enhance knowledge, skills, and abilities in the management of tasks and the leadership of people. 

This $60M+ non-profit organization operates in 12 statues, with over 8,000 employees annually supporting over 40,000 individuals and families who have addiction, intellectual and physical disabilities, as well as veterans and children who are in need of homes, food, and education or job skills.

Direct Service Providers are the majority of employees, and they interface with the organization’s clients daily, very frequently in onsite or home-based 24-hour support structures. The people who fulfill these direct service roles are in highly taxing jobs that are not highly compensated but are invaluable to those who receive their services. Leaders of these practitioners are faced with typical challenges of leadership as well as other challenges unique to the kinds of services provided and the personal and high-pressure nature of the work. 

Frontline leaders and second-level managers had not participated in leadership development for several years. Employee sentiment surveys indicated that leaders were hungry for development and that frontline employees wanted to receive compassionate and candid feedback. Employee turnover is typically very high in the direct-service care industry, this client’s employee churn was painfully higher than industry averages.

The chief executive and other senior leaders were committed to investing in leadership development to support their leaders in managing the work and leading the people who perform the core functions across the business’s service lines.

In close collaboration with the client executive team and program owner, we devised a two-tiered solution to deliver robust leadership development and management training in a multi-modal hybrid experience. The first program was delivered to support leaders who were new to leadership or to their current role within 1-year. This program featured distinctions between leadership and management, self-awareness, coaching and feedback practices. The second program was delivered for tenured leaders who have been a leader and been in their current role for over 1-year. In this program, we focused on advanced coaching skills, empathy, creating and sharing a compelling vision and strategic moments of leadership.

The inaugural cohort for each program (New Leader Program and Tenured Leader Program) each included over 20 participants. Program NPS was 85 and participants recorded increased commitment to the company, its mission, and its client population.

Participant quotes:

• • “I think it will help a new leader to navigate difficult situations that arise when trying to manage personalities and balance this with task completion.”
  • “I came in here with no manager experience and was very nervous but feel much more comfortable now. I feel much more confident with the tools you’ve provided me.”