By: Kriss Barlow, RN, MBA | kbarlow@barlowmccarthy.com
It’s the time of year when we hear about the favorite song of the year or the most popular word for 2018. We look back and reflect before we move on to the year ahead. I admit, I don’t pay much attention to the best song, but I do spend time thinking about how field teams and their leaders assess their success.
That’s human nature, I guess, but it’s hard to reflect on the fruits of our labor, let alone pull out the single, most important accomplishment. As part of our holiday webinar, we asked attendees to share their best accomplishments of 2018. With more than 100 responses, there were six major categories or themes that emerged:
Volume Growth: The top accomplishment was related to achieving a volume growth goals. Twenty seven (27%) of the respondents mentioned success with a practice group or specialty area. As our market opportunities get tighter and tighter, the ability to convert a physician, earn a recruit or grow outpatient offerings is a significant achievement. I trust you’re reminding your leaders of the discipline, effort and skill to stay the course and earn this business! If not, try to find a way to help change that!
Program Expansion: Close behind, at 24% of the attendees, was accomplishing a level of program expansion and/or integration. One area that I included in this category was the addition of new talent. Many new liaisons listened in the webinar and cited the accomplishment of that steep learning curve of clinical and program immersion. Several mentioned market expansion, some as the result of acquisition, or the need for expanding the geography.
Field Model Enhancement: Twenty-one percent (21%) called out elements of model enhancement. For some this was related to better use of data or their PRM tool. For others, it was ability to create high-functioning field teams. I suspect that those outside our industry will have no idea how much effort goes into creating the internal visibility and getting leader support to change the model or the tools. It’s hard work that totally deserves a pat on the back.
Personal Achievement: For 13% of our respondents, the attention was on personal achievement like speaking, getting a promotion at work, or the more personal goals for exercise or even preparing for a race.
New Tools: We had 12% who called out some level of new tools. Talk about making work life easier; sometimes it’s the little stuff that is big stuff when you are doing a field sales role. Teams received tablets, got a sense of staffing ratios and benefited from new methods for visibility with their target audience.
Doing More with Less: The final category is a reality for some organizations at many levels of care delivery and service support. Two percent of our attendees felt good about doing more with less. The internal strength to push on harder when there are cuts and sometimes a feeling that “you might be next.” It is truly an accomplishment.
So, what’s your best accomplishment or recollection of 2018? What did you do on your own that earned you that success? And were there others that believed in you and helped get you achieve success? In this season of joy, spread it around. Next, I will let you know what our respondents told us about their concerns in the year ahead.
From our team to yours, best wishes for a Happy New Year that is filled with the right kind of blessings for you!