PXT Helps Conquer Fear of Change in a Healthcare Organisation

Although leaders often notice certain behaviours in managers who are resistant to change, leaders may not recognise these behaviours as symptoms of resistance. Here is what to look for:

• expressions of frustration at the mere suggestion of change
• skepticism when someone notes that change is necessary
• resistance even after concerns are addressed
• reminiscing about "the old way" instead of embracing what will come
• doing things the same way but expecting new results
• obvious discomfort with the ambiguity that change brings

• communicating a different message to team members than the one they heard from top leadership

ProfileXT® offers a plan to combat these symptoms, as the leaders of a healthcare organisation with more than 600 employees discovered when they decided that changing the work culture was essential to more efficient operations.

Background
The organisation had grown too large for a centralised decision-making system. After the topmost leader envisioned the changes his organisation needed, he talked to managers about their concerns. This was essential in helping him understand how change sometimes threatens managers.

One specific issue that needed to be addressed was continuous training and development of employees. The PXT revealed job candidates' learning abilities and job skills, as well as what motivated the candidates. The leader found that he could use ProfileXT in almost any stage of an employee's career, even when he was trying to fill an important job from the inside.

Summary
• Within the first two years of using assessments, the healthcare organisation saw 170 people leave voluntarily out of an employee pool of 640-a turnover rate of 28 percent. The workers who left did not want to go through the change process.

• Leaders used assessments as they began replacing the workers who left. In two years, the turnover rate dropped to about 18 percent, the organisation's lowest turnover rate in more than a decade.
• The departure of employees who did not fit the new culture gave leaders the freedom to bring in new individuals that did match, and leaders used a scientific approach in the hiring process.

With new hiring processes in place, top leaders found that the culture was changing in the way they envisioned. Although changes did not happen quickly, they discovered that when employees and positions match each other, the path to change was smoother.