Management training creates leaders
Course teaches skills to become a successful manager
Wednesday March 26, 2008 -- Camille Jensen
Taking the New Managers Training Program has helped Scott Ladoucier better understand what it takes to become an OMNI manager.

Since taking the course, Ladoucier, supportive measures specialist, says he’s realized that managers are regular people who have utilized training and opportunity to work towards their goals.

“Nobody is a born manager,” explains Ladoucier. “They had to learn and it’s a learning process.”

Knowing that OMNI likes to promote from within, Ladoucier signed up for the course after learning about it through a staff memo. The management program is offered free through OMNI’s corporate training initiatives.

Since taking the course, Ladoucier has worked to use his new skills, volunteering to design a pandemic plan for the home.

While a labour intensive project, Ladoucier says he learned time management and how to identify his most productive time of day.

Taking on initiatives and learning new things is a major advantage created through OMNI’s training programs, says Maureen Imamovic, administrator at the Peterborough long-term care home.

She says Ladoucier has become energized by the course and has brought back many new ideas.

“What I see in Scott now is he is really becoming a mentor to his peers and even to myself,” says Imamovic who adds that he has challenged her to look at her own management style.

Imamovic is also an example of the opportunity available at OMNI, having worked her way up to administrator after starting with the company 16 years earlier.

“I’ve had an incredible amount of growth and all of that I can attribute to OMNI’s commitment to education,” she says.

Offering courses on management also helps staff learn skills outside of the health profession, something Imamovic says is important to create leaders.

Three staff members from the home participated in the course and were instrumental in helping in the accreditation process.

While praising the personal growth offered through the courses, Imamovic says the benefits of having knowledgeable staff can be seen throughout the home and especially with residents.

“If you want to impact the residents give some knowledge to the front line staff, " says Imamovic, "because that is where the real quality of living comes from.”

Have you benefited from OMNI’s training initiatives? To share your stories, contact the newsroom at (800) 294-0051.

If you have feedback on this story, please call the newsroom at (800) 294-0051 or e-mail camille(at)axiomnews.ca.