Company: Medtech College, Atlanta, GA
Entry Submitted By: O'Connell & Goldberg PR
Company Description: A healthcare education and continuing professional development brand, Medtech College is a nationally accredited post-secondary network of colleges and institutes with the goal of advancing healthcare career training. Working hand-in-hand with students to provide an exceptional learning environment, Medtech College helps them create an extraordinary new future for themselves.
Nomination Category: Management Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Executive of the Year - Diversified Service Industries

Nomination Title: John L. Hopkins, Chairman, CEO & President

Tell the story about what this nominee achieved since January 1 2013 (up to 525 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

Affinity for hospitality values make John Hopkins very passionate about customer (student) service. It’s how he leads…and pushes Medtech College to lead healthcare education. Throughout 2013, he expanded Medtech’s “Be Extraordinary” mantra to encompass the company’s three distinctions: “Be Extraordinary with C.A.R.E. – Customer Service, Associate Engagement, Regulatory Excellence… in Every moment.”

Keeping Medtech’s distinctions front and center, his leadership guided creation of a template reinforcing each of Medtech’s distinctions. It’s used by every campus director to outline what associates should focus on that day – their Daily C.A.R.E. Lineup. These messages cascade across each department as leaders use the same grid to huddle with their teams, provide high-level overviews of the business, and department-specific updates for front-line associates.

Hopkins ensures management is accessible and approachable, leading by example. In fact, he flipped the traditional organizational pyramid so his customers (students) are atop an inverted pyramid, with associates in the middle and management at the bottom. Creating something he calls “the messy organization” by eliminating rigid formal organizational charting of roles and responsibilities, associates work in a more collaborative “tribal” culture.

Though atypical, it creates a stronger, more extraordinary workplace. For example:

•Executive offices and conference rooms have glass doors, no locks, and no blinds to foster true transparency. Associates can walk into Hopkins’ office to chat – no appointment needed.

•He sparks engagement with words that perpetuate collaboration: “tribe” instead of “team,” “collaboration” not “cooperation” and “breakdown” over “problem,” living the tribal culture through words that signify active support for shared goals.

•Everyone, including Hopkins, is accountable for demonstrating organizational values and developing team members while supporting a culture, envisioned and designed by associate input, that makes Medtech an extraordinary place.

•Hopkins brought “precision and routine” to Medtech’s operation so everyone understands her/his job and routinely executes responsibilities flawlessly.

•Recognizing the importance of strong communication in a multiple-location organization, Hopkins launched weekly Intranet “Monday Messages” to share successes across our network. He sets examples by showcasing best practices, news and associate recognition – linking them to Medtech’s distinctions embodied in being extraordinary with C.A.R.E.

Everything Hopkins implemented last year centered on the student experience, reflecting the associate-based customer service culture and values he instilled. He personally lives the culture, knowing it fosters harmony, collaboration, and defines Medtech as truly the sum of its parts.

Led by his examples, Medtech associates focused more clearly on their three distinctions – Customer Experience, Associate Experience and Regulatory Excellence – enabling them to consistently exceed customer expectations, provide environments where associates want to be, and enhance student outcomes, all well-documented in Medtech’s performance metrics.

Leaders who listen to their troops command the greatest respect. They’re also universally admired and followed. That describes Medtech College President & CEO John Hopkins. Rather than singularly developing a corporate vision, he engages associates from all campuses in culture transformation workshops to define what Medtech is and what it will become. He inspired associate engagement through his commitment to the C.A.R.E. program throughout the past year, and reinforced the company’s “tribal culture” and Noble Cause weekly with his Monday Message. Leading by example – it’s what makes him Medtech's Executive of the Year.

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Provide a brief (up to 125 words) biography about the nominee:

John Hopkins’ organizational transformation at Medtech College garnered great admiration from for-profit education and private equity sectors. When industry revenues decreased, he led Medtech to 20% year-over-year growth despite extensive transformative change. Hopkins attributes that to a strategy of re-inventing the overall education experience while integrating multiple campuses and operational cultures.

Hopkins’ more than 20 years as a senior hospitality executive developed his deep appreciation of the customer satisfaction business model. Previously Chairman, President and CEO of the former MedVance Institute, his vision guided industry-leading branding, expansion, and performance outcomes.

Recipient of a 2012 Stevie Award as Maverick of the Year for his leadership strategies at Medtech College, Mr. Hopkins is not just transforming a company and an industry…he’s once again transforming the educational experience.