industry insider AdvAntAge
“There are definite benefits to hiring executive directors who have
experience in the industry,” says Earl Parker of Waltonwood Management.
For starters, you don’t have to spend as much time training them—
which means there’s less down time between one executive director and
another. They also tend to establish credibility more quickly with employees, families,
and residents.
Still, “industry experience shouldn’t be the be-all, end-all,” Parker adds. “If you’ve got
one candidate who has industry experience but also is more introverted, for instance,
and you have another candidate who has not worked in the industry before but is
intelligent and has the ability to connect with people, I wouldn’t be afraid to hire the
second candidate. We all worked outside of the industry at some point in our careers.”
Maria Oliva of Pathway Senior Living says she’d do the same thing. “We’ve certainly
hired many people from within the industry, but we’re not against hiring someone
without experience if he or she exhibits high emotional intelligence and has a proven
history of building relationships with and influencing people. We can teach them some
of what they need to know to lead one of our communities, but what we can’t teach
them is how to connect with the people—the employees and residents, especially—
around them.”
being the life of the party—or even extroverted. The executive director does
have to build relationships and trust,
though—and quickly. “It’s vitally important that they become a part of the
team in terms of that community’s associates, residents, families, and external resources,” explains Cunningham.
affects the department head teams and
how they function, it affects the associ-
ates and how they work with each other,
and it affects the residents and the kind
of care they receive.”
As anyone in the business knows,
there’s no magic formula for choosing
the best person for the job, but a few
industry veterans offer some tips that
might help.
them to do more and better.”
The ability to connect with and build
relationships with people at every level,
including staff, residents, and their
families, is essential, adds Parker.
But don’t confuse that attribute with
Adaptability and urgency
“It’s rare that the challenge of today
is the same challenge of two, three, or
four years from now,” says Parker, so
executive directors must be adaptable
and willing to ask for help.
If, in order to respond to current challenges, you hire someone who is strong in
certain areas—such as marketing or sales,
for instance—but weak in others, “you’re
not hiring for the long term,” he adds.
For example, say one of your communities finds itself facing a census
challenge. According to Parker, the
“perfect” executive director in that situation will approach his or her regional
sales manager and say, “I can see this
challenge before me. What do I need to
do differently to become a better sales
manager so I can do this?”
tOOLs fOr the seArch
heart and soul
Senior living veterans tap an array of tools to help them determine
if a potential executive director has the attributes and traits
required to run one of their company’s communities:
n The disc assessment tool classifies four aspects of behavior (dominance, influence,
steadiness, and conscientiousness) by testing a person’s preferences in word
associations.
n The Predictive index provides insight into the natural workplace behaviors of
prospective and existing employees. “It speaks to how a potential executive director
is going to build relationships and trust with the department head team and other
associates,” says Jessica Cunningham of Benchmark Assisted Living.
“It’s valuable in helping you identify the innate talents and traits of a person,” adds
Earl Parker of Waltonwood Management. “It also helps you fit those talents and traits
to a particular role.”
n topgrading, created by authors and business consultants Bradford D. Smart and
Geoffrey H. Smart, relies on extremely detailed, chronological interviews in which
interviewers probe every success, failure, and relationship in a candidate’s career and
then draw conclusions from the patterns that emerge from the conversation. (See
page 30.)
Parker has used the topgrading methodology—and a related written tool—to help
him hire executive directors since 2005. Instead of an application, candidates receive
the written tool and asked to fill it out—which can take two hours or more.
“Most people don’t even bother,” Parker says. “It really helps us filter out who is
committed to and interested in the position, and who isn’t.” It also helps them hone in
on a candidate’s past successes, which Parker considers to be “the key to finding the
perfect executive director.”
28 Assisted Living executive | July/August 2010 | www.AlfA.org
www.AlfA.org | July/August 2010 | Assisted Living executive 28
