Administrators' retreat:
Accountability, leadership emphasis at retreat, says Surko
Tuesday, May 4, 2004 - Roderick Benns
After two days of meetings between OMNI home office and its 15 administrators, Toni Surko says accountability and leadership were two major themes of the retreat.

Toni, administrator of Forest Hill in Kanata, OMNI's second-largest long-term care home, says one of the things that struck her about the retreat was the strong emphasis on developing leaders.

"We discussed developing the whole person when it comes to leadership potential. The role of Robin Sharma was discussed, for instance," says Toni,
referencing the well-known inspirational speaker OMNI has employed to help ignite the leadership potential of all its managers.

In September, OMNI will be sending about 60 of its 120 managers to Ottawa for an 'Elite Performance Series' with Robin. This is a two-day, leadership-focused session. Two months later, the other 60 managers will attend the same presentation. OMNI will also be working further with Robin for the next 18 months in various ways.

As well, there was an emphasis on accountability, says Toni, through leadership management techniques. "This was given greater priority, being accountable and being part of a larger" team dynamic, she notes.

Toni says the retreat focused on OMNI developing a more detailed strategic plan, something she says is reassuring to administrators. "It gives an administrator a lot of security" to know such a long-range, thoughtful strategy is in place.

And, says Toni, rather than dealing with policies and procedures on a piecemeal basis, Pat Powers, chief operations officer, will be heading up this new focus. "It gives OMNI consistency," says Toni.

Toni says what came out of the two-day retreat was the fact it is "not about Forest Hill and OMNI Health Care. It's a seamless flow -- Forest Hill is
OMNI and OMNI has a bit of Forest Hill in it. This is the dynamic that is really being cultivated."