Utilizing Data Analysis to Exceed Customer Satisfaction at Talbert House

Talbert House’s partnership with New Horizons expands their Technology experience in order to improve the company’s collective goals.

Interview with Brad Gray, IT Director, Talbert House 

Lead Magazine: Give me a brief description of your role at Talbert House.

Brad Gray: I joined Talbert House four years ago as a network engineer. I shifted focus to project management overseeing large IT projects, and ultimately transitioned to my current role as IT Director. Over the past 50 years, Talbert House as grown from a small grassroots organization to one that provides a full continuum of care throughout Southwest Ohio for children, adults and families. The agency has over 900 staff with 13 employees in the IT Department including one co-op.

Two years ago my focus was on customer satisfaction. When I became Director it was one of our rough spots, and now it is one of our top attributes. We have been able to shift our focus toward project knowledge. Our team members contribute varied knowledge, skills and experience, bringing cross-learning to the team. I enjoy my job and appreciate that I have one of the best teams in the industry.

A valuable learning tool for me as I moved into management was my participation in the Excel Leadership class offered through The Nonprofit Leadership Institute of Greater Cincinnati - a partnership between Talbert House and Executive Service Corps of Cincinnati, this spectacular nine-month course is designed specifically for non-profits. I was able to understand more about myself and my leadership style through this opportunity.  I would recommend any boss, leader, or supervisor to take the Leadership Research Strength Finders test provided by Gallup themselves. The test is based on the book "Strength Based Leadership." I, along with four of my team members, took this test with the goal of matching up our individual strengths to lead our organization most effectively.

Another one of our major priorities is data analysis. We recently hired our first data analyst. This new member of our team has helped every department better understand their data and to base their decisions on fact rather than solely on intuition. 

As far as new technology is concerned, we are now totally cloud managed through Cisco/UCS and Nimble. We implemented that change last year while switching to laptop devices rather than smart terminals. We started using Office 365 two years ago and have completely rebuilt and restructured the IT Department. We have also been through a complete overhaul of our network infrastructure with Time-Warner Cable. A useful tool we have integrated into our work is Skype for Business. We made this change two years ago and use it as our primary communication tool to help build efficiency as we have over 30 service sites across Southwest Ohio.  

My goal at Talbert House is to encourage others to think differently about how to solve workplace problems and to consider technology in those solutions. There is a great deal of diversity in the IT field, and it is a priority of ours to be able to express our differences in a positive, interdependent way.

A big challenge for nonprofits – including Talbert House – is staff retention. We are fortunate to offer excellent benefits with great internal opportunities that include an emphasis on training. We have two employees who are fully Cisco certified and one staff person who has gone through Microsoft training sessions. All Talbert House staff participate annually in 30 hours of training. We have partnered with New Horizons the last two years to meet our technology specific training needs. 

The last three years we have spent building an infrastructure to support Talbert House. We talk to our internal customer to identify problems and our team comes together to problem solve. We have four help desk people to trouble shoot with our employees and once a week, they visit one of our 36 sites to understand the challenges faced by our direct care staff.  Our team goals are driven by standards, standards we set for ourselves and for each other. Talbert House is a complex, comprehensive agency and I’m proud to say that our IT department plays a large role in our mission in continuous quality improvement.