As healthcare moves away from being a mostly provider-controlled industry to a consumer driven one, more hospitals are looking to recruit executives from outside the industry.
These organizations recognize that skills used in other industries — such as banking, entertainment, marketing and consulting — can easily apply to healthcare.
For instance, San Francisco-based Dignity Health hired Darryl Robinson as chief human resources officer in July 2013. He came to the health system from Charles Schwab and URS, a provider of engineering, construction and technical services.
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center hired Michael Fisher, former president and CEO of Premier Manufacturing Support Services, as CEO.
Shore Medical Center in Somers Point, N.J., hired David Hughes, formerly of Trump Entertainment Resorts, as CFO.
Some organizations are timid about hiring "outsiders" because they anticipate a large learning curve. However, board members and leaders of hospitals and health networks find that considering and bringing on new leaders with nontraditional credentials — particularly in key C-suite offices other than CEO/CMO, such as chief human resources officer, CIO, CFO, general counsel and chief marketing officer — can prove beneficial for the future of the organization, according to Jena E. Abernathy, a senior partner at executive search firm Witt/Kieffer. Ms. Abernathy specializes in helping hospitals and health systems identify C-suite leaders and board members.
"While there are plenty of strong leaders within healthcare, it's an industry undergoing change and therefore outside perspectives are needed," Ms. Abernathy says. "Hiring new executives brings in fresh ideas and challenges the way things have always been done."
Here, Ms. Abernathy discusses four things CEOs can do to get their hospital boards' support in considering nontraditional candidates.
1. Focus on the candidate's strengths outside of healthcare.
Organizations are ultimately looking for a leader, so CEOs pitching to boards should focus on the skills, potential and past successes of the candidate that are not healthcare-centric. If someone has been able to prove himself or herself in various environments, those success habits will usually translate to healthcare.
"I think that's where you start to say, 'Look, these are people that have been able to walk into various enterprises and they've been able to succeed through X,Y and Z, and this aligns with what you're looking for,'" Ms. Abernathy says.
2. Know the precise competencies the organization needs.
Unlike experience, the competencies are focused on the type of leader that the organization is seeking. Leadership competencies can include an ability to earn trust, energize staff, build consensus or drive results. "It's taking the emphasis off the years of experience and putting it on the competencies of the role and how to match that up with that individual's competencies, attributes, etc.," Ms. Abernathy says.
For instance, the candidate may be strategic or have great communication or people skills. All of that revolves around competencies, not the healthcare experience, so organizations should focus on that first, according to Ms. Abernathy.
3. Identify a candidate from an industry known for innovation.
Healthcare is focusing on patients as consumers, so executive candidates from industries such as consumer goods, retail and hospitality are intriguing. The hospital board may want a chief marketing officer who understands social media and how to make connections with the public, so that person could be found from a number of industries besides healthcare. "I think it's really getting finite on the responsibilities of the role itself, and whether an outsider from a specific industry can excel at those tasks," Ms. Abernathy added.
4. Inform the board of leadership gaps and innovation needs.
This is a time to be honest. Hospital executives should be able to tell the board what the organization needs in terms of leadership positions, where the organization has gaps as far as executive skills and innovation, and how a particular candidate is going to close those gaps.
"It's a matter of looking at that leadership team, looking at the skills and saying 'Here's what we're missing,' whether that's around technology, innovation or being able to improve quality of care across the continuum," Ms. Abernathy says.
The hire is just the start
If a hospital or health system ends up hiring an executive with nontraditional skills, there is still much more to do to ensure success. First of all, the existing hospital executives have a responsibility to help onboard the new leader, according to Ms. Abernathy.
She has found organizations that do not give the new leader proper support, education and exposure to peers do not foster the executive’s success.
The onboarding of nontraditional candidates "may be a little more cumbersome, but the CEO and others have to commit to helping to make them successful, helping to educate them about healthcare and how it's different and complicated," she says. "Healthcare is unique. So it's a matter of telling new executives what conferences to attend, who to partner with, what peers to rely upon, what meetings they should be attending, and so on," Ms. Abernathy says.
"Once you hire a nontraditional candidate, invest in that person as an extremely valuable asset."
More articles about healthcare leadership:
Former president and CEO of BCBS of Louisiana CEO dies
Alabama Hospital Association names new president: 3 things to know
CHS CEO talks spinoff: 5 thoughts