Explosive business growth in fiscal year 2014 presented Morrison—a member of Compass Group, a support services company dedicated to providing food, nutrition, environmental and support services, and operations management to health-care and senior living communities—with many challenges. In particular, struggles with communication and leadership among new and existing hourly supervisors were negatively affecting service quality and associate engagement. The company needed a way to grow new and more veteran leaders alike.
In response, the Training team developed the Supervisor Training Series: Establishing Your Roots as a Manager. This new face-to-face program has three main goals:
- Reinforce the company vision and culture
- Equip hourly supervisors with the tools they need to become better leaders in their current positions
- Help hourly supervisors grow into higher leadership positions in the organization
Program Details
The 10 training modules of Establishing Your Roots are facilitated by a certified trainer, an HR representative, and a regional vice president (RVP). Through leadership buy-in, the RVPs were committed to develop a module they would teach at each and every training series. This would allow senior leadership to develop deep relationships within the organization while sharing their passion and teaching Morrison’s culture by their own personal examples.
Sessions are conducted every two weeks over a two-month period. Each session is a two-hour class that combines lecture, small group discussion, blended learning, and class activities. Homework assignments compel learners to go back to their accounts and seek feedback from their account director and other associates. Some assignments require learners to seek certain data about their account, while other assignments help learners to reflect on their leadership abilities and how they can become more effective. These assignments are self-reflective and are reviewed in the next session with feedback from fellow learners.
Results
Morrison began to roll out the Supervisor Training Series in 2013, and conducted 48 complete series in 2014. More than 500 associates have completed the training, and 16 attendees already have been promoted. What’s more, patient surveys at the facilities where attendees work have shown a 62.5 percent increase in HCAHPS scores (The HCAHPS Survey—Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems—is the first national, standardized, publicly reported survey of patients’ perspectives of hospital care) for environmental services (a general facility score) and a 59.7 percent increase in food service scores, according to results from health-care marketing research leader PRC-Professional Research Consultants.
Demonstrating the more effective leadership skills of program graduates, these same facilities have seen a 37.5 percent increase in associate engagement and 45.1 percent increase in satisfaction among people who dine in Morrison cafeterias.
