02/24/2025
Recently while consulting with senior leadership of an organization who was struggling retaining Administrators. I was asked what creates turnover in a role that pays well and has freedom to manage independently on a day-to-day basis. Why is there constant churn creating tremendous cost and loss of facility leaders?
Being in this role for a while I can safely say the varying business models of organizations dictate the selection of an Administrator. In 19 years, I have seen those organizations that throw away administrators when at the 1st sign of a downward financial trend or a few regulatory challenges bubble up they go a different direction. I have also seen the opposite end of the spectrum where administration is retained well beyond their usefulness. Because they don't want to make a change due to the waves change makes, they stay the course and reap irreputable outcomes.
The foundation of a good administrator does not lie solely in the financial success year after year or the 5-star surveys attained. The foundation of an administrator is groomed, mentored and fully supported through various applications. The challenge in today’s facilities is the RDO/RVP attempts to hire the very best and then there is a hands-off approach to see if there is success or failure because there's a fire somewhere else that needs attention. The key is to spend time physically and virtually walking through the day, especially with a less seasoned administrator. Then over time there is separation, once trust, verifiable positive outcomes and financial accountability is attained.
In today’s marketplace, with the current regulatory mandates, it behooves organizations to invest and support the administrators by providing mentorship and support mechanisms which allow the administrators to remain successful in a very demanding environment. Not to add another layer but as a buffer between the regional team and the facility should be a seasoned senior administrator who has been there and done that, so the churn stops, and regulatory and financial outcomes become stable.
There is always work to be done, Special projects, filling in for RDO/ RVP when away, facility resets or transitions. As a consultant I have the luxury of looking in from the outside, seeing that which is blurred by years of doing it the same way and expecting a different result. If you want success, you have to set your organization up operationally for it.
