CHICAGO – An important key to the success of an organizational psychiatry consultation lies within the consultant, Dr. C. Donald Williams said at the annual meeting of the Academy of Organizational and Occupational Psychiatry.
“The consultant can be profoundly positively impacting,” said Dr. Williams, an occupational psychiatrist and certified group psychotherapist in Yakima, Wash.
He described several lessons he learned during a 2-year consultation with a private, nonprofit community health plan that was in financial and organizational crisis.
For example, to provide that positive impact, it is important to establish and maintain trust through practical competence, consistency, and complete commitment to the consultation, he said, adding that the consultant should exceed expectations and embody the changes that are promoted.
That is, when a consultant asks a company to be accountable, available, on time with execution, reality focused, and results oriented, that consultant must be accountable, available, on time with execution, reality focused, and results oriented, he said at the meeting, which was cosponsored by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Also, Dr. Williiams learned that parallels exist between organizational change and personal change. For example, organizational change requires commitment by the chief executive officer and the consultant, and individual change requires commitment and time of the patient and the therapist.
Among other important lessons to keep in mind during an organizational consultation are the following:
▸ Character, skills, integrity, and work ethic are indispensable.
▸ A positive change climate is crucial to morale.
▸ The relationship between the CEO and board is key for success, and should be promoted.
▸ The CEO, board, and senior management team must embody best practices.
▸ A healthy organization has a system of checks and balances, without depending entirely on “one good person.” (“I try to model that through the use of consultants,” Dr. Williams said).
▸ A healthy organization maintains standards for work and behavior that promote good “new hires.”
▸ It takes years of ongoing effort to make lasting and effective organizational change.
Dr. Williams said he found his experience as a group psychotherapist to be an asset to this particular consultation. An insistence on a minimum of weekly contacts also was beneficial, as was an entrepreneurial spirit on his part.
Liabilities included remoteness to the consultation site, which required reliance on videoconferencing for weekly contacts, and an incomplete data set. It was a challenge to stay in the information loop without being on site, he explained.