The critical role of talent management, leadership development and succession planning in an era of change
The healthcare industry is in the midst of revolutionary change that is beginning to completely redefine medicine and healthcare delivery in America. As part of this transformation, we face two significant leadership and management challenges: 1) identifying and adequately preparing the next generation of leaders and managers, and 2) enhancing the skills and competencies of our existing leaders and managers.
As noted in the results of a recent study by Success Profiles and Healthcare Performance Solutions on healthcare leader performance, the exponentially increasing rate of change and mandate to redesign a healthcare delivery system that is much more integrated, less costly, of higher quality, and provides a better experience for those we serve, requires an enhanced competency and skill set that many leaders and managers lack (e.g., proactive change management, rapid process improvement, critical thinking and problem solving, etc.). Led by our CEO, Chuck Beaman, Palmetto Health is fully committed to addressing these opportunities.
First, the study raised the significant concern associated with the imminent retirement of many leaders in our industry, and we, at Palmetto Health, are no different. In 2011, we predicted the retirements of many of our experienced executive- and director-level leaders over a five-year horizon and, as such, launched a concerted effort to assess the effectiveness of all leaders across our health system as well as to prepare a formalized succession plan to ensure we have the bench strength to meet our leadership needs. We are now in the process of completing the third cycle of our Talent Management Eye Chart as well as our Performance Management Eye Chart. This process and data are proving to be invaluable leadership alignment and talent management tools. Although we have more work ahead in the short term, the information gleaned from our Eye Charts will inform the ongoing development of our succession plan.
Second, the study brought to light the increasing rate of leaders who are struggling in their current roles. Given the magnitude and pace of change as well as the changing skills and competencies needed by our various leaders and managers, we are doubling down on our ongoing training and development efforts. For example, we recently brought on board a Learning Officer who is tasked with evaluating and redesigning the curriculum of our Leadership Institute, which was launched in 2007, to align with the current and anticipated skill and competency needs of our organization. In addition, in 2011, we studied high-performing health systems around the country and subsequently made the decision to shift from a traditional vertical organizational structure to a matrixed horizontal leadership structure. We felt our new structure would best position our health system to identify and eliminate unnecessary variation across our system and more effectively identify and spread best practices. The results have been impressive; however, the switch to a new matrixed operating model brought a new set of leadership challenges and opportunities that we continue to work through. Our ongoing leadership development and succession planning efforts will take this into consideration as we work to ensure we have the right people in the right roles. And, the issue of leaders who are struggling in their roles is amplified with the imminent leadership turnover due to retirement — and the lack of adequate 'bench strength' is proving to be a significant challenge, especially with certain leadership and management positions.
We recognize the intense struggle to find strong leadership and management talent who possess the full range of skills required to lead a hospital, ambulatory, and physician practice network into an integrated delivery environment with numerous and diverse component parts. Now, perhaps more than any other time in the history of healthcare delivery, it is vitally important for healthcare providers of all types to ensure we have strong leaders and managers in our organizations to help guide us through the challenging transition ahead. Effective talent management is essential as healthcare becomes more competitive and dynamic. Top-level talent will require ongoing training and education to stay abreast of new developments in healthcare, and we are living in an industry that demands "lifelong learners." To thrive and prosper in the future and to ultimately bring an extraordinary experience to life for our team members, physician partners, and patients and guests, we must commit the time to rise above the challenges of each day and develop the strategic direction around talent management, leadership development and succession planning. We find this to be the strategic imperative of our time — and we fully expect Palmetto Health to have the best-in-class leadership, management and work force — and to be a model for others in our industry.
John Singerling is the President of Palmetto Health in Columbia S.C.