Testing Today’s Interim Leaders for Culture Fit

(In this post, MedBest talks about the advantages of using interim senior living professionals to test for culture fit when needing leadership assessment, stability, cost-savings, potential for long-term fit and flexibility. Included in this piece is a MedBest Interim Case Study depicting how testing interim leaders is a smart approach to long-term leadership selection.)

What Exactly is Culture Fit? 

“Culture fit” refers to how well an individual’s values, work style, and personality align with the overall culture of a company, meaning they would fit in well with the existing employees and contribute positively to the company.
 

Have You Considered Hiring Interim Leaders to Test Culture Fit? 

As senior care recruiters, we know that finding the right leadership fit is critical for senior living and long-term care organizations where culture directly impacts team morale, resident care, and operational success. Hiring the wrong leader can be costly in a number of ways. For example, if a Nursing Home Administrator or Executive Director is a mismatch, this could disrupt your team dynamics, impact the quality of resident care,  staffing levels, employee retention, and hinder progress towards facility goals.

Hiring interim leaders can be a great way to assess culture fit before making a permanent hire. They provide immediate leadership while allowing your organization to see how their leadership style, values and decision making align with the existing culture.

Advantages of Utilizing Interim Leaders to Test Culture Fit:

-Real-Time Leadership Assessment

Your organization can observe how the interim leader interacts with staff, makes decisions, and embodies company values in real situations.
 

-Maintain Stability 

During a transition period, an interim leader who aligns with your company culture can help maintain stability and morale among employees by upholding existing values and practices.

-Effective Communication

A culturally aligned leader can communicate more effectively with your team, fostering trust and cooperation.

-Minimizes Hiring Risks

Instead of rushing into a permanent hire, an interim hire provides a trial period for you to determine if they are truly a good fit. Testing the culture fit with an Interim Nursing Home Administrator, Executive Director, Assisted Living Administrator, Director of Nursing, Resident Services Director, MDS Coordinator or Business Office Manager, provides a low-risk, high-reward approach to building strong, stable leadership teams.

-Potential for Seamless Transition 

If the interim leader proves to be a strong cultural fit, they can be offered an opportunity to transition into the permanent role, creating continuity of leadership without any disruption at your senior care community or organization.

-Stronger Long-Term Decisions

Even if the interim leader isn’t the right long-term fit, your organization can gain valuable insights and clarity on the leadership qualities you need for the long-term.

-Reduces Hiring Costs 

Potential cost savings when using a staffing firm such as MedBest. MedBest will credit the perm conversion fee based on the amount of time the Interim was in place prior to the perm conversion.  

–Flexibility for Change 

While cultural fit is important, some situations might require an interim leader with a slightly different perspective to drive necessary change within your senior care organization.

Testing an Interim’s Culture Fit is a Smart Approach to Leadership Selection

Senior living and long-term care organizations need interim and permanent leaders who do more than meet job requirements. They also need to align with your values, heart, and mission of the community. Here’s a MedBest Interim Solutions Team Case Study that emphasizes this point.

CHALLENGE:

Our Client, a Not-for-Profit, faith-based CCRC, suffered a critical vacancy when their Director of Nursing was reassigned to a different building. In addition, recruiting a new Director of Nursing for their Illinois location proved to be very difficult. This caused two significant challenges they were trying to solve:

• Meeting the requirement of having a Director of Nursing on staff at all times or being out of compliance.
• Facing the costs of an open Director of Nursing position – nearly $10,000/month plus their DON’s departure was having a negative impact on staff, residents and culture.

SOLUTION:

Our CCRC client, through leveraging our extensive network of interim Director of Nursing talent and expertise, was eager to schedule interviews with our bench of interim Directors of Nursing. Key areas of focus included:

• Regulatory & DON experience within Illinois
• Sense of urgency by presenting interim options within 1-2 days
• Removing “under the gun” pressure of immediately hiring the wrong full-time DON
• The option of “try before buy” and testing cultural fit

RESULTS:

Our CCRC client immediately hired the interim DON we presented and this enabled them to:

• Decrease deficiencies. The average number of deficiencies in Illinois is 12.6. Our Interim DON reduced that to 5 citations, all low in scope and severity
• Maintain their impressive 4-star rating
• Meet regulatory compliance requirements by the state of Illinois
• Find a leader who aligned with the heart and mission of their NFP CCRC community
• Save money by hiring an interim before making a long-term commitment
• Eventually make a permanent offer to our DON…They were a perfect fit all along

What are some of the best ways to assess culture fit for interim leaders?

-Behavioral Interviewing: 

Ask questions about past experiences to understand how the interim candidate has navigated different workplace cultures. 

-Personality Assessments Such as DISC:

DiSC® is a personal assessment tool used by more than one million people every year to help improve teamwork, communication, and productivity in the workplace. DiSC is an acronym that stands for the four main personality profiles described in the DiSC model: (D)ominance, (i)nfluence, (S)teadiness and (C)onscientiousness.

-Reference Checks: 

Inquire about the interim candidate’s cultural impact on previous roles. 

-Team Meetings: 

Arrange meetings with key stakeholders to gauge their comfort level with the interim candidate’s leadership style and values.

The MedBest Interim Solutions Team understands the importance of selecting an interim leader who meets compliance, fits the culture, and adapts to the challenges of the position plus ensures continuity and success of your senior living / long-term care organization.  

MedBest presents interim options within 1-2 business days. Contact us for interim leaders including NHA, ED, DON, AL Administrator, MDS Coordinator, RDS, and BOM:  kpiperata@medbest.com / 727-526-1294 / www.medbest.com/client/.

About MedBest:

MedBest is an award-winning national Executive Search Firm exclusive to the Senior Living / Long Term Care Industry. For more than two decades, we have connected senior living / long term care organizations with exceptional senior living executive talent for both permanent and interim roles. MedBest was named as a Top 20 Executive Search Firm in the US 2024 and Top 10 Interim Services Provider 2023! In addition, we were one of American’s top companies by Inc.5000 and a Tampa Fast 50 Company in 2021! MedBest is a member of the National Association of Personnel Services (NAPS) and American Staffing Association (ASA). Contact MedBest at info@medbest.com / 727-526-1294.