Rebuilding a VP / Director Relationship to Retain a Key Employee The Challenge: A Vice President and a Director who was a direct report had completely opposite behavioral styles and clashed constantly on how the Director should run her department. It was essential for the organization, a major healthcare facility, to retain the Director who had key technical skills and ran a department of skilled technologists who are expensive and difficult to hire. However, it was clear that the Director was the one who would have to adapt. The Solution: Extensive interviews were held with the Vice President, the Director, and the Vice President of Human Resources. In addition, the Director took several instruments to begin to clearly identify the differences in style and approach. During the feedback session, there was extensive discussion on the Director's approach and comparing and contrasting it with the Vice President's. To implement the behavioral changes required, the Director and her coach met frequently for the next three months. The Results: By the end of the three months, the Director understood the approach required for directors in that organization and had implemented many of these in real situations during that time period. The friction between the Vice President and Director lessened substantially and they were working together effectively. |