“Elevated turnover among hospital CEOs seems to be a feature of the current healthcare environment,” says Deborah J. Bowen, president and CEO of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
Leadership turnover is a known risk; thus, you should have it in your risk management program.
Healthcare leadership is under a tremendous amount of pressure to navigate all the changes and uncertainties that have become a constant in healthcare. A simple job description for a CEO is to communicate the vision, mission, and values of the organization while aligning the culture to the strategy. This is not an easy task and certainly not a comprehensive description for this difficult position.
The 2015 CEO turnover average is 18% with some states as high as 30%. That is less than the record high of 20 percent in 2013 and still among the highest rates reported in the past two decades. (American College of Healthcare Executives)
Having processes in place that manage a potential vacancy in the CEO role (and for other leadership positions) is critical for a hospital or health system today.
Succession planning should be a well-designed process that is capable of achieving organizational continuity during leadership vacancies. Too often, the only risk considered in succession planning is the vacancy risk. Vacancy in the CEO role is only one of many risks that need mitigation to ensure minimal disruption to the organization.
Beginning with vacancy as the input, you can break the process down into planned and unplanned. A well-defined process has a process owner. The process owner can then determine who needs to be involved in the process for a planned transition and an unplanned transition.
The organizations short and more importantly long-term goals need to be incorporated in the succession plan. Consider what competencies may be necessary for the CEO five to ten years in the future as part of the succession plan. Completion of a risk analysis can reveal areas of the organization that may be affected by a vacancy in the executive role.
ISO 9001:2015 has included a process control titled Organizational Knowledge (7.1.6). This control mentions, “changing needs and trends” when determining the knowledge necessary for the operation of its processes. Beginning with Organizational knowledge, performing a risk analysis, and then using the Design and development control (8.3 – which is not easily excluded anymore) your hospital or health system can begin to design a process that is capable of mitigating the risks of a vacant leadership position.
Consider this closing thought, hope is not a strategy and praying for a miracle is not a plan. Take the time to review your succession plan or create one. Your community, patients, and stakeholders are counting on you.
Bio:
Eric is a Certified Enterprise Risk Manager (CERM©), and a Senior Advisor with BlueSynergy Associates. BlueSynergy Associates maximize innovation, experience and customer perspective to reduce risk and make hospitals a safer environment. He advises and instructs hospitals in quality, risk, and environmental management systems. Eric was the Project Lead and Senior Consultant for the largest ISO 9001 implementation in healthcare at the Veterans Administration. He is a certified Lead Auditor in quality management systems by Exemplar Global. He can be reached by email at eschulze@bluesynergyassociates.com or by calling toll free at 844-424-7825.