GMHC Leans on Triad for Better Service, Efficiency

Gay Men’s Health Crisis, the Manhattan-based AIDS educator, health and social-services provider and fundraiser hit a rough patch in 2013. For the first time in its history the nonprofit reported six-figure losses. Under its new chief executive office Kelsey Louis MSW, MBA, the 34-year old organization has regained its footing.

Reporting at the 20^th Annual United States Conference on AIDS in Hollywood, FL, the group offered a poster session on how to remain an effective, audit-ready organization through structured management.

GMHC believes in using a triad of practices: continuous quality improvement, skills building, and data-driven administrative supervision, according to the team’s presentation.

Organizations should consider that approach if they have any of the following problems:

• No standard way to accurately identify root causes of problems.
• Inability to track funder deliverables in a unified way.
• Inefficient departments or systems.
• Are unprepared for audits.
• Have no objective way to compare staff performance.
• Encounter staff perceptions that decisions are subjective.
• Offer no clear path for professional growth.

According to GMHC, all that will change if organizations adhere to the three management practices.

The outcomes listed include being ready for audits, aligning programs and departments with the organization’s goals, increased efficient and fair human resource decisions based on measuring performance with data. That should lead to more efficiency and improved organizational effectiveness, the team concluded.

The management principles are achieved by usinga "data-driven culture" that involves key managment indicators, balancing accountability with authority and emphasizing a learning environment.

It is also important to apply the three practices at all levels of the organization, GMHC's presentation noted.