Advice for Gentiva's Senior Management

StrangeTony,

How many people will Gentiva's senior leaders need to track down to restrain or rehabilitate?  Glassdoor has a long list of advice for top brass.  Consider the voice of Gentiva's voiceless from 2014:

Everyone in branch is so over worked, they are stretched beyond capacity and it leads to burn out and frustration of everyone. Have to allow people the PTO they request... Ridiculous to have to fight for requested time off. (7-21-14)

Please become more involved in what is happening at the branch level...Several of the branch managers are nothing more than warlords who hold an employees family and livelihood in their hands like its a toy....Constant threats ,constant profanity,constant belittlement of clinicians...if they want to fire you they will fabricate a reason to do so and there is nothing that can be done about it..In my clinic alone the MCPs have changed over 4 times this year alone and it has become common place to see the office staff in tears ..16 fantastic clinicians have quit in the last 24 months..that should tell you all you need to know..the branch manager is very unprofessional and will even post demeaning comments on his Facebook page about his staff. (7-18-14)

Grow up, take stock of your "management" employees and clean house. This could be a great company if it stopped the head in the sand approach to problems. (7-15-14)

Invest in training staff properly. Un-freeze raises. (7-7-14)

It's hard to listen to your employees when you're doing all the talking. (7-6-14)

Doesn't matter unless you are friends of theirs they don't listen anyway. We are just expendable, interchangeable, low ranking peons. Our opinions don't matter. (7-21-14)

Let your employees know they are appreciated by being a little more generous with pay and perks. Don't just end all you emails with " Thanks for all you do" . Prove you appreciate your employees! (6-7-14)

You cannot run a hospice like a home health if you want to be successful. The businesses are similar only because the patients are cared for in their own home. The goals of care are different. The regulatory expectations are different. You also need to work at identifying the wolves in sheep's clothing. There are MANY who talk the talk - and do an excellent job at it. I was unable to locate anyone in upper management (regional level and above) who could actually walk the walk. But I guess you don't really need to worry about it because all of the hospice patients will be dead anyway. They and their families are the ones being hurt!! Lastly, I do believe my work is my calling. That is why I left - caring is my calling - not providing minimal care so the stakeholders (and management) can make money!!! (On a personal level, as a PCM, I couldn't even enjoy the incentive package - the money I got was on the backs of hard working employees (who have all left!) - they got nothing, I was left with guilt! (5-23-14)

I would offer some advice, but they do not care to have it. We all know they are just about the $$$! (5-13-14)

Listen to the staff about their concerns. Treat us like you want to be treated. Walk in our shoes for a day. We're out there making a difference. To many write up's for nonsense. Look at the staff that are not providing good care. Poor orientation, lack of leadership. Don't demand us to recert a patient if their goals have been met. It's all about $$$. Compensate us for going above and beyond. Make it known to other employees and cooperate. HR needs to make on site visits to branches and stop redirecting the complaint back to the branch management. Who do we go to with a problem with management bullying staff. Very mean people that only care about themselves. They're all in the wrong profession!!!! (5-6-14)

One hand does not know what the other hand is doing: Get organized! Treat your nurses with the respect they deserve. Recognize and acknowledge the employees achievements/accomplishments regularly instead of focusing on the negatives all the time. (4-18-14)

Please select leadership team members with hospice experience and especially those who will demonstrate the hospice philosophy in their management style. Willful deception, gossip and reactionary behaviors have no place within Hospice management. Experienced Hospice professionals will look for other opportunities where they will be treated respectfully, with integrity and where they will be challenged professionally. (2-22-14)

Please get some management and supervisory staff in here who knows what is going on and how to run a business. You have excellent field staff but you are losing them because of the brutality of management (1-14-14)

Poor Leadership, unqualified managers that belittle you. Lack of support. Constant turnover and no one in upper management cares. A lot of work is done at home that you are not compensated for. (5-2-14)

These Gentiva voices are from across the company.  They ring a consistent theme.  What do numbers obsessed top leaders think about the drop in Gentiva's overall Glassdoor rating from 2.6 to 2.5?  That's not in the direction of goodness.

Other business surveys show the risk of bully managers: 

38% said supervisors in their organizations display attitudes or behaviors not reflective of a commitment to ethics and compliance

Gentiva can deal with bully managers by listening to the voice of their employees or they can shoot the messenger.  I've seen the latter reactions numerous times.  Fire!, Ready, aim?

More than 42% of executive leaders were frustrated with their employees, blaming complacency.   47% of executives blamed culture as the biggest roadblock to innovation.

Culture is created and modeled at the top. Corporate Boards of Directors see reputation as their softest spot for ethics failures:

72% of respondents identified reputational risk as their primary concern

Welcome to Gentiva, where image triumphs over substance on a daily basis.