Thunder Bay Regional Health Services Centre, a client of Predictive Success Corporation, is an acute care teaching hospital with 2500 employees. When Don Halpert, the Chief Human Resources Officer joined Thunder Bay, he came on board with 20+ years of experience with the PI and believed that there was no other way to hire people. Today, one of the many areas they have grow in is their communication – 18% since their 2007 evaluation.
Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBHSC) is an acute care teaching hospital serving people in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. With 1200 non-medical employees, 2500 in total, this state-of-the-art facility enjoys a stable workforce and very low turnover. Don Halpert joined the executive team in 1999 as the Chief Human Resources Officer.
Don learned that hiring decisions for management positions were based on professional credentials and the interview process rather than personal attributes, which are a greater indicator of success in management positions.
With several bad hires behind them, Don presented to the senior team another data point option – the use of a behavioral assessment tool to provide insight into the motivations and drives of individual to ensure a better cultural and job fit. Don shared his 20+ years experience utilizing the assessment tool Predictive Index® (PI®) and its value not only for hiring but for employee and leadership development. Don quickly gained executive support that, today, has cascaded throughout the organization. The Predictive Index is actively used at the management level to hire the right managers and at the operational level to develop more effective teams.
Selection
First steps in the Predictive Index (PI) process were for Don and his team to use The PI Job Assessment, which defines the requirements of the job in PI behavioral terms. The new process included the top candidates being given the PI prior to the final interview for management roles, and provided their results during the interview. This insight allowed Thunder Bay to uncover the fits and gaps between the job and the candidate and allowed for the development of probing interview questions and dialog to uncover the ability of the candidate to actually do the job and provide necessary leadership.
Team Building
It did not take long for the senior executives to realize the value of PI beyond hiring. The Predictive Index became part of the foundation for Thunder Bay’s “GO TEAM” initiative, which stands for “Great Organizational Teamwork”. This multi-step process includes the individual team members taking the PI workforce assessments and their results provided on a one-to-one basis. The next step involves the facilitator taking it to the team level by sharing how specific PI defined behaviors impact team communication, dynamics, work styles, pace of work and more. This provides a clear picture to the individuals and the manager on how to improve team effectiveness by adjusting their own personal communication style for better performance, teamwork, and morale. Managers continued their use of PI beyond “GO TEAM” to coach their people for improved individual and team success.
Thunder Bay conducts a staff satisfaction survey every two years. In light of today’s economy, where companies are struggling financially and employees are more and more stressed out at work, these results are amazing. Highlights include “Communication” scores improving by over 18% over the 2007 scores and Teamwork improving by 13.4% over a flat rating from the prior evaluation. Don attributes the improved scores to the programs such as “GO Team,” better job fit and team effectiveness-with PI playing a key role.
“Our staff satisfaction scores have improved largely because of improved leadership, recognition programs and enhanced communications.” Don credits PI with assisting in these changes.
Succession Planning
Twenty percent of Thunder Bay’s managers will be retiring over the next 5 years, with an average of over 20 years experience each at Thunder Bay. In early 2010, under the direction of Don Halpert, Thunder Bay has developed a Leadership Development program, including succession planning. The process begins with developing the core competencies for each of these critical jobs then using the Predictive Index process to identify critical behavioral traits followed by key input from the entire management team. This has produced a high level of confidence within the management team in looking ahead to the future of Thunder Bay. Don says, “Our Leadership Development will be the key to our success in the years to come. Using tools such as PI will assist in giving focus as to where to put our limited resources and, on an individual level, how to identify development potential.”