Cover Story

Keeping score

By Mark Scott

The Volovar File

Joanne Volovar saw a lot of hard work being done at Molina Healthcare of Missouri. Employees were giving great effort to make sure clients were helped and that peers had what they needed to effectively do their jobs.

“But they were so overwhelmed with helping out and performing operations that were not necessarily under their purview to keep the business running,” says Volovar, the company’s president.

When the $3.1 billion Molina Healthcare Inc. purchased the health care provider in 2007, it brought about some changes in the way things were done.

“You were taking a company that had been operating in one way and then converting it and transitioning it into the way Molina operates their plan,” Volovar says. “What was missing was a vision that was being worked on day to day. Whatever was on fire, whatever was screaming the loudest, that was what you worked on. That’s typically what you see in organizations if they don’t have the staffing that’s necessary to perform all the operational functions. All you have time to do is put out the fires.”

Despite the hard work and commitment to putting out those fires, Volovar says the situation could not be allowed to continue.

“You really need to have individuals focusing on specific areas to keep the operations of the health plan running smoothly so you can be proactive and not reactive,” Volovar says. “If you’re in the office doing operational processes, it’s because you’re lacking leadership in middle management. You really don’t get to focus on your core competencies to do those to the best of your abilities.”

Volovar needed to take all the jobs that needed to be done and get them assigned to specific individuals at the 89-employee company, which itself took in $225.3 million in 2008 revenue. She needed to stop the firefighting and give everyone a clear set of duties that he or she would be responsible for.