Archived Publications eBook: Confidence in the Development of your Futur | Seite 11

This environment requires hospitals and health
systems to rethink how they deploy succession plans
to avoid introducing vulnerabilities into their
organizations; however, many healthcare organizations
are barely at the starting line when it comes to
succession planning. According to a 2014 American
College of Healthcare Executives survey, only 52%
of hospitals have formal succession plans to replace
their CEOs, and just 51% are prepared to replace
other senior leadership roles. Similarly, a 2013 survey
of 200 healthcare CEOs over age 55, conducted by
Witt/Kieffer, found that less than half have a
succession-planning process. On top of this, hospital
CEO turnover increased 20% between 2012 and
2013, according to the American College of Healthcare
Executives. This is the highest rate since 1981, when
the ACHE began reporting these numbers.
For those organizations with succession planning
programs in place, much of what they do is steeped
in business principles that have worked fairly well in
the past. Consider this: succession planning today
focuses on building robust pipelines that lead to
filling specific roles and positions. It’s basically
replacement planning. The pipeline approach gives
organizations a clear picture of their pipeline vs.
positions—usually via a “names in boxes” exercise.
It also informs them how individuals should be
trained over the long run for those positions. The
primary goals are to identify and replace current
positions, prepare individuals for their next role in
the organization, and report to executives and
board leaders on pipeline health. The end result,
hopefully, is to maintain low turnover and fill
executive positions from within the organization,
rather than from outside, with vet ted and
experienced leaders.
This approach worked well, but is limited in this new
healthcare environment. This approach keeps the
pipeline full and ensures seats are filled. Still, this may
not be enough. As hospitals face an onslaught of
new business challenges, it’s dangerous to assume
this succession-planning model will adequately
supply the next crop of leaders.
A New Approach: Choose Successors
Who Will Solve Future Business Challenges
So, what’s next? Is it out with the old and in with the
new? Current succession pipelines do serve as
valuable frameworks for identifying future leaders.
It’s time, however, for healthcare organizations to
shift their thinking on how succession is viewed. It is
not enough anymore to simply “fill seats” with a
person who has terrific leadership skills and is “next
in line” to be promoted. Organizations must design
succession plans that identify and groom individuals
who can handle specific future business scenarios.
Under this new approach, the basic pipeline remains
intact, but the way organizations identify, develop,
and report on successors will change.
As hospitals ramp up talent
management programs and focus
intensely on improving quality and
the patient experience, they will
also require nimble leaders who
are both generalists and specialists.
Hospitals should not focus succession planning on the
roles that will need “filling” in the future. Instead, it is
time to create a process that hones in on the potential
business scenarios and challenges that will need to be
addressed by hospital leaders in the future. Instead of
asking, “Do we have the individuals to succeed into
existing positions,” we must ask, “Are we preparing to
address the critical business challenges this facility/
business will face in the future?”
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