2022-03-15_joey.taylor_TheKey - General Manager Questionnaire - Questions and Answers.docx

Pre-Interview Questionnaire

General Manager

Home Care Assistance

Thank you for your interest in the General Manager position with TheKey (formally Home Care Assistance). Please take a few moments to provide answers to the following questions and return as soon as possible. This will help us go into much more detail during our phone conversation.

Thank you again and I look forward to our next steps.

What was the appeal of this position, and based on what you know about this position, how has your background prepared you to be successful in the role?

Answer: After working as a Human Resource/Staffing Manager at Home Care Assistance for 3 years, I believe this is the next step in my career path. I have developed and managed the HR and staffing program with great success over 3 years and now look forward to developing and helping the company grow in its entirety. My background has allowed me to manage and develop relationships with my colleagues and learn the culture of the office. These relationships are vital in the success of the business.

Please provide me with the big picture of your most recent or most relevant position. What is/was the size and mission of the organization, and what is/was the focus and size of your responsibilities?

Answer: As an HR and staffing manager, I have developed and managed two parts of the business:

A. HR: When I started with Home Care in 2019, we were two HR coordinators responsible for all aspects of HR including hiring 3-5 employees per week. 3 years later, we now have an HR department that has one recruiter who is responsible for the entire hiring process as well as an HR administrator who handles all paperwork and administrative HR processes. Our HR department is more efficient than it has ever been, and I am responsible for these changes. 

B. Staffing: At the beginning of the pandemic, a lot of families were canceling private care as they were afraid of letting people in their homes. We had to adapt our business to survive. One of the ways we did this was signing a partnership with the government in 2020, which entailed sending them personal support workers to work in government funded nursing homes. The government made this same partnership with at least 10 other agencies. One of the strategies I developed and used during this time was sending quality over quantity. While most agencies tried to profit quickly during this time by sending anyone, we sent high quality nurses and workers. By the end of 2020, we were the only agency left in these facilities as the government had ended the contract with all other agencies. They had even called us to discuss how impressed they were with our personnel. We are still actively working within this contract which has generated $6,000,000 of revenue during this time.

By looking at your recent career history, and by including specific analytics and measures of success, how have you effectively demonstrated a record of increasing revenue, efficiency, and scalability through streamlining and/or consolidating business unit operation. How involved were you in defining the strategy, and what were some of the challenges you faced? How did you overcome them?

Answer: As demonstrated above, I have broken down this response into two categories (HR and staffing):

A. HR: During the pandemic, we had to adapt our practices to work from home. This involved me working closely with the previous GM to get our caregiver application form online. I was involved in putting all contracts and background check forms on DocuSign, and I was deeply involved in creating an online orientation for caregivers. These changes allowed us to process double the number of caregivers we had when we worked from the office. In the month of January 2022, our HR department set an HCA record by putting over 60 caregivers to work! In a time where the caregiver demand is scarce, Home Care Assistance has a pool of 1000 active caregivers and an emailing list of 10,000 caregivers that we can send job requests to at any given time. This sets us apart from our competition and allows us to grow at much higher rate.

B. Staffing: Since taking over as staffing manager, we have increased yearly revenue from $669,000 in 2019 to $3,714,000 in 2021. The staffing team has grown from 1 full time employees to now 3 full-time employees. My team focuses on relationship building, relationship management, and providing quality staff. Working closely with the government contract discussed above as well as with about 15-20 private nursing homes in the Montreal area. As of January 1st, 2022, the staffing side if our business has done $1,000,000 of revenue. Our strategy for the rest of the year is to focus more on private nursing homes as we do anticipate the government contract ending within the next few months. We have recently hired a Liaison (HCA Montreal has never had anyone in this position) to help sign new residences, build, and develop relationships, and ultimately increase revenue.

Please describe the breadth and size of your P&L/revenue responsibility. How are you held accountable to these numbers and what strategies do you employ to ensure that the numbers are managed in a way that satisfies both growth expectations and client demands?

Answer: As of January 2022, I have been included in the Montreal Month End Finance Review. My schooling and work history has provided an understanding and experience of reviewing a P&L statement. In my day to day, I am responsible for making sure caregiver wages are about 50% of client revenue within the Montreal office. I am responsible for caregiver yearly increases as well as client increases. I also do weekly billing and biweekly payroll reviews to ensure that we are hitting the margins we strive for as a company. 

Under the GM role, I understand that a lot more goes into the P&L. I have ideas for cutting costs in relation to rent, marketing, office staff wages, and group medical. With any business, you want to grow while saving costs. I believe that we have the opportunity to make some significant savings within the next year.

Please provide an example of where you worked with an inexperienced or failing team member to help them improve their alignment with business goals. How did you address their issues and what was the eventual outcome?

Answer: Our previous staffing coordinator/scheduler work ethic changed during the pandemic when we began working from home. Her work was not getting done, we had shifts not being staffed, and we had employees who followed her on social media show us evidence that she would be running errands during the workday. As her manager, I had to have a discussion with her about these issues as well as put her on a performance improvement plan. This plan worked well at the beginning as she had tangible objectives she had to meet. As time went on, she started to lose focus on her objectives and would have excuses on why the work was not getting done. One specific day, she joined a team strategy meeting from outdoors in front of a building that clearly was not her home. As she was using a company iPhone, we tracked the location to a nursing home in which she used to work. She then confessed she was there for an interview. She is no longer with our company.

We are passionate about providing families personalized, dignified care for their aging loved ones, how do you see our mission aligning with your passions and why?

Answer: Before working for Home Care Assistance, I worked for a government health care provider for almost 3 years. Working in that type of environment was extremely difficult as the quality of care was subpar. Caregivers were overworked, underpaid, and failed to deliver quality services. I was extremely passionate about working in this field as my main goal in my career was to find meaning in my job and to help others. Joining Home Care has been the perfect fit. Being able to provide families and clients with high quality caregivers, developed care plans from client care managers, and allowing our elders to live respectful and dignified lives is a passion of mine.

How many people reported to you (titles and/or departments)? How would you describe your leadership and management style?

Answer: I currently have 4 employees who report to me. Two HR coordinators and two staffing coordinators/schedulers. I would say I have a great relationship with my team. We have daily meetings where we set our list of goals and priorities for the day. My team is aware of the company’s targets, goals, and mission so we are all on the same page when it comes to goals and expectations. We have developed KPIs to make sure that we are accomplishing these goals. I believe it is important to have an open and honest communication stream with your team, so they feel comfortable to discuss any issues that arise.

What are your salary expectations for this role?

Answer: I am looking to make between $105,000 and $110,000 USD per year. I understand the time and demands included with this position are not a 9-5 type job but an around the clock position.

***I use Home Care Assistance in all my responses as we have not moved over to the Key yet in Canada***