Healthcare Executive - November/December 2013 - 22

bent	spans	the	entire	sector,	adds	Drake.	“Healthcare	
needs	leaders	who	know	how	to	use	data	to	make	wise	
business	decisions,”	she	says.	
Beyond	that,	“Who	understands	the	business	of	healthcare	and	your	organization’s	mission,	vision	and	values,	
and	is	willing	to	think	about	the	implications	of	decisions	
around	health	reform	and	Medicare	cuts	on	the	future	of	
healthcare	delivery	and	the	move	to	population	health?”	
Drake	asks.	These	are	the	people	to	cultivate.

which	includes	an	assessment	tool	to	help	hospitals	and	
health	systems	plan	the	workforce	of	the	future.	The	
report	and	tool	can	be	found	at	www.ashhra.org/
toolkits/s-z/workforce_planning.shtml.

Says	Drake,	“If	your	workforce	is	75	percent	older	baby	
boomers	who	are	thinking	of	retiring	and	looking	for	more	
work-life	balance,	what	are	you	doing	to	balance	that	equation?	Are	you	looking	at	the	knowledge	gap	you	may	have	as	
that	workforce	retires?	Human	resources	should	be	looking	
at	the	data	and	creating	the	strategies,	but	they	need	input	
And	don’t	wait	to	cultivate	them.	A	2007	AcHE	report,	
and	support	from	the	c-suite	and	the	board	of	directors	to	
“Succession	Planning	Practices	&	
help	them	figure	out	what	will	
outcomes	in	U.S.	Hospital	
work	and	what	is	really	impor“Human resources should be looking
Systems,”	found	49	percent	of	
tant	to	the	organization.”
at the data and creating the
the	104	responding	health	sysWellStar Health
tem	cEos	said	successor	canstrategies, but they need input and
System
didates	have	been	identified	for	
support from the C-suite and the
It	is	safe	to	say	that	WellStar	
their	position	and	only	27	perboard of directors to help them figure Health	System,	Atlanta,	
cent	of	the	679	responding	hospital	cEos	said	the	same.	A	
out what is going to work and what is understands	the	importance	of	
more	recent	survey	conducted	
preparing	future	leaders.	The	
really important to the organization.”
by	Witt/Kieffer,	oak	Brook,	Ill.,	
system	also	knows	the	need	to	
illustrates	not	much	has	
do	so	is	greater	now	than	ever,	
Stephanie Drake
changed:	Their	2012	survey	of	
says	Reynold	J.	Jennings,	
American Society for Healthcare
200	healthcare	cEos	over	the	
FAcHE,	president	and	cEo.	
Human Resources Administration
age	of	55	reported	that	52	per“The	speed	and	breadth	of	
cent	of	respondents	reported	
changes	underway	are	
having	no	one	prepared	to	step	into	the	cEo	role	after	they	
unprecedented	in	my	history	in	healthcare,	and	I	go	all	
left.	only	39	percent	said	they	had	worked	with	their	boards	of	
the	way	back	to	1972,”	Jennings	says.	“Just	the	movetrustees	to	develop	succession	plans,	and	just	34	percent	said	
ment	in	the	past	18	months	in	the	number	of	people	
they	had	mentored	a	successor.	one	cEo	surveyed,	who	is	
going	into	large	high-deductible	healthcare	plans	is	
planning	to	retire	in	four	to	five	years,	said:	“There	is	no	disaffecting	decision	making.”	
cussion	of	succession	planning.	corporate	will	make	the	decision.”	Another	individual	planning	to	retire	in	more	than	five	
As	the	largest	healthcare	provider	in	northwest	Georgia,	
years	stated:	“Succession	planning	is	not	on	my	radar	yet,	
WellStar	will	need	a	steady	supply	of	astute	leaders	who	
though	I	know	it	should	be.”
can	navigate	the	organization	successfully	through	all	of	
the	change.	To	this	end,	succession	planning,	mentoring	
ASHHRA	recently	co-published	a	report,	“Developing	an	 and	leadership	development	are	woven	into	the	system’s	
Effective	Health	care	Workforce	Planning	Model,”	
organizational	fabric.

22

Healthcare	Executive	
nov/DEc	2013
Healthcare Executive - November/December 2013

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