LifeCare Alliance


His years in for-profit industry behind
him, Charles W. Gehring brought a critical
focus to LifeCare Alliance in 2001.
LifeCare, a nonprofit organization that is
charged with providing health and nutrition services to those in need in Central
Ohio, is in an industry where turnover is
rampant. Even though LifeCare’s rate of 70
percent was below the average for the
industry, Gehring knew that his company
couldn’t maximize the assets it had with
such outstanding rates.
Pulling ideas from his time in various
financial and operational management companies like Anheuser-Busch Companies
Inc. and Sanese Services Inc., he made
engaging employees one of his top missions. By creating a management training program that helped with retention
and goal planning, he was able to
decrease the number of employees who
saw the company as a short-term opportunity. Focusing more carefully on the hiring practices and the evaluation process
for employees, he created a more valid
system to ensure that the proper filters
were in place for employees.
From there, he established Vision 2010,
a comprehensive strategic plan that
included more than 300 goals from 20
areas of the agency. He already knew the
company had a great cause, but aligning
employees around it hadn’t been a top priority before Gehring’s time. By truly
focusing on employee relations, he was
able to make LifeCare a destination career
instead of a job for those passing through.
As a result, LifeCare’s turnover rates have
dropped to less than 20 percent.
HOW TO REACH: LifeCare Alliance, (614) 278-3130 or
www.lifecarealliance.org