In this episode, Nadian Zak and Kacie Scott, Partners of Zak Consulting Group, here to discuss how to build a high-performance team.
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Learn how to listen to The Hospital Finance Podcast® on your mobile device.Highlights of this episode include:
- Who is Zak Consulting Group
- The importance for companies to have an HR department
- Attributes and qualifications that healthcare leaders should look for when building their teams
- What a high-performance healthcare team looks like
- The shift in the way healthcare leaders are hiring
- Soft skills
- Challenges associated with hiring in healthcare
Kelly Wisness: Hi, this is Kelly Wisness. Welcome back to the award-winning Hospital Finance Podcast. We’re pleased to welcome Nadian Zak and Kacie Scott, partners of Zak Consulting Group. With their over 30 combined years of experience, both women are influential leaders in human resources, from startups to Fortune 500 companies. They work directly with founders, CEOs, and leaders to implement successful HR systems to recruit and retain top talent and create attractive corporate culture. In this episode, we’re discussing how to build a high-performance team. Welcome, and thank you for joining us, Nadian and Kacie.
Nadian Zak: Thank you for having us. We’re very excited to be here.
Kacie Scott: Yes, hello. Thank you so much.
Kelly: Great. Well, let’s go ahead and jump in. So, tell me about who you are and what you do.
Nadian: Sure. So, this is Nadian. I am, as you mentioned, the founder of Zak Consulting Group. And I am a– I call myself a recovering corporate HR executive. I’ve been in the HR field for just about 20 years or so before I ventured into starting up my own practice. And so what we do, we are an outsourced HR firm, and we partner with small to mid-sized companies to A, keep them out of trouble. B, help them find top talent, and C, help them retain top talent. And so, we just love what we do and have been doing this for a long time.
Kacie: Yeah, my name’s Kacie Scott. I’m the co-founder of Zak Consulting Group. Much like Nadian, I had a very successful career in corporate America, really more of an emphasis on the talent acquisition, so the recruiting and talent management side. I’ll say corporate was fun until it wasn’t. Nadian pitched the idea of Zak Consulting Group to me one day, and I immediately jumped on board. And it’s been a very exciting educational ride ever since.
Kelly: Sounds like a great partnership. So, let’s jump into it. Why is it so important for companies to have an HR department?
Nadian: Yes. So HR, I think let’s just start with some of the obvious reasons. One, keeping the businesses out of trouble. So, most entrepreneurs go into business wanting to do what they’re passionate about, right? They’re solving a problem in the marketplace. And they really want to focus on that. They never think about starting a business and really having to address and deal with a lot of the HR administration stuff, right? So, I think, first and foremost, keeping businesses out of trouble from an HR compliance standpoint is a big, big reason to have an HR team on hand, whether it’s internal or an outsourced firm like us. We really mitigate risk for business owners. And the last thing we want is for business owners to get fined over policies that they weren’t aware they needed to have, right? So just ensuring that they are safeguarded from a policy HR compliance standpoint is, I think, one, a very obvious reason as to why to have an HR team. I think secondly, I think every business, whether it’s a product or a service, is a people business. So, emphasizing the human element, employee engagement, employee retention, you are as good as your team members are.
And since we’re all in the human business, I think another very obvious reason why an HR team is very prudent to have is because that is a big role of an HR person is to ensure that there is close alignment to the strategic direction of the organization and how employees are directly linked to that strategic direction. So, making that interpersonal connection and being that link between employees and company objectives and strategy is a big role that HR plays. So yeah, I think those two reasons are big ones to start with.
Kacie: And then adding on to that, as an entrepreneur, if you’re looking to scale your business at all, you’re eventually going to need to bring people along on that journey with you. So just really ensuring that you’re recruiting the right people at the right time.
Kelly: Now, those reasons make a lot of sense, ladies. Thank you for sharing those. What are some attributes and qualifications that healthcare leaders should look for when building their teams?
Nadian: Healthcare specifically, so I’ve been in healthcare leadership roles for almost a decade. And what I would say for healthcare is many, many, if not most, healthcare organizations are very mission-driven. Really, the ultimate outcome is delighting in the patient experience and really focusing on excellent patient outcomes. So, in order for that to happen, you really need to have a very effective, I think, starting from the top, executive leadership team that can chart the direction and the emphasis and the focus on what’s important and why. Again, really focusing on the mission, the patient outcomes, the quality of care, and ensuring that the team members have the tools that they need in order for them to accomplish the task at hand. So, some of the attributes, in my opinion, would be, is the leader or the team member mission-driven? The second thing, do they have a service heart? So, someone that is really looking to serve the healthcare ecosystem and make it better. And then the third one in healthcare, I mean, things are changing so fast. So, I don’t necessarily think that healthcare experience is necessary, per se, but ability to adapt and pivot are really important attributes, in my opinion.
Kelly: Now, those are great attributes and qualifications. Thank you. What does a high-performance healthcare team look like? Can you break this down for us?
Nadian: Yeah, so a high-performing healthcare team, one, just starting at the top, starting at the leadership team. Is the leader providing clear objectives and direction to their team members? B, do the team members know how their day-to-day work impact the overall direction of the company. That connection of team member versus company objectives is so important. Team members need to know what they’re working towards, right? What is the overall goal? I think third is for team member dynamics. Having very open, transparent type of and frequent communications are telltale signs of a high-performing team. Is a leader transparent with the team members? Are the team members transparent with the leaders? And an example of this would be– really, if a team member has concerns about an initiative, is that team member speaking up? And are they bringing that up to their leader? That’s an indication that there is safety in that for the team member to bring up their concerns. And vice versa, if a leader, if there’s a change in direction, change in strategy, is the team member– is the leader bringing their team along for the ride. And again, those frequent touchpoints and transparent communications are key. And I would say the last one of a high-performing team is there’s accountability, and everyone knows how they’re performing and where they stand.
And there are no surprises from a performance management standpoint because the leader is having frequent one-on-ones and touchpoints and providing that live feedback where the team member knows exactly what’s expected of them. And if they did a great job, then they know about it, and vice versa. If there’s opportunities, they know about that as well. And they don’t learn from it a year after an opportunity occurred or something happened. So, I think all of those attributes are those of a high-performing team.
Kelly: I love that. Sounds like a team I want to be part of, right? Yeah. So, is there a shift in the way healthcare leaders are hiring now versus, say, 20 years ago? And if so, can you explain what?
Kacie: Yeah, so the war for talent has definitely changed, not really, I mean, a lot over the past 20 years, but a lot since COVID as well. I think that a major shift is people are very interested in hiring for soft skills. I think that’s extremely important and become really on the forefront of people’s minds: ability to shift, adaptability, empathy, communication skills. They’re just so important..
Kelly: Agree. Soft skills haven’t really gotten the recognition that they deserve until recently, so I think it’s a good change.
Kacie: Yes, completely agreed.
Kelly: Yes. So, what are some of the challenges associated with hiring in healthcare right now?
Kacie: I mean, the challenges, there are quite a few of them. I think one of them is just, once again, the war on talent. There are not enough– there’s not enough talent out there. So, you have to create a really well-baked out employee value proposition to make sure that you’re catching the eye– not only catching the eye of top talent but making sure that you’re retaining top talent as well. What are you offering to these potential candidates and to these wonderful healthcare professionals? And it doesn’t have to look like straight cash compensation, either.
Kelly: Yeah, those are some great challenges, and we’re certainly being quite challenged right now. So, what makes you all passionate about the healthcare industry?
Nadian: I think for me, knowing that the healthcare ecosystem is so broken, knowing that while we’re one of the wealthiest nations in the world, in terms of our healthcare system, we’re the one country that’s one of the farthest behind. And I think having an impact through people, through employees, and making their experience a wonderful one because we ultimately know that the outcome is the patient outcome. I think for me, while it’s far removed from patient care, we still have an impact through the organizations that we work with through their people. So just knowing that we have an impact in that way is very fulfilling.
Kelly: Completely agree. I’ve been in healthcare a while myself, and it’s challenging but pretty awesome at the same time. So, thank you both for joining us today, Nadian and Kacie, and for sharing your insights on how to build a high-performance team. We really appreciate all the great information.
Nadian: Thank you so much, Kelly. We really appreciate it.
Kacie: Yes, thank you so much.
Kelly: Yes, and if a listener wants to learn more or contact you to discuss this topic further, how best can they do that?
Nadian: Yeah, so just going right on our website, we’re at https://www.zakconsultinggroup.com. And if you would like a free consultation, there is a form to complete, and you will hear back from one of our team members or one of us.
Kelly: Awesome. Thank you for sharing that. And thank you all for joining us for this episode of The Hospital Finance Podcast. Until next time…
[music] This concludes today’s episode of the Hospital Finance Podcast. For show notes and additional resources to help you protect and enhance revenue at your hospital, visit besler.com/podcasts. The Hospital Finance Podcast is a production of BESLER | SMART ABOUT REVENUE, TENACIOUS ABOUT RESULTS.
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