You can go home again

By: Administrator Posted: February 21, 2012

Guest post by Jean Dowdall

One or more overseas postings—long-term or not—are critical for those whose goals include a successful global career. But what do you do when you want to come home? Re-entering the U.S. job market can be almost as daunting as going overseas, especially in these times of tight budgets. So unless you’ve considered your move overseas to be permanent, the time to think about when, where, and what you’ll do when you return is soon after you’ve settled into your overseas role.

Is your “home” institution an option? For many academics, the best re-entry opportunities will be at their “home” institution. Many employers have policies governing leaves of absence and obligations to accommodate returning faculty members. One significant and obvious benefit of returning to your home institution: Many professional and personal adjustment issues are immediately eliminated for you and your family.

Maybe you want a new U.S. experience. Going back to your home institution may not be your goal. Once you decide to pursue a position at a new campus, begin planning and networking right away.

If you want to return quickly, you’ll need a flexible transition plan. Consider pursuing positions that may not be suitable for the long term but that can re-establish you in the U.S. while you do a full search: adjunct faculty appointments or interim administrative appointments or project-based work like designing curricula or building strategies for internationalizing the honors program.

Translate your experience for search firms and on your CV. If your overseas experience is not immediately self-explanatory, make sure you convey the leadership and decision-making responsibilities that you’ve had, especially if you’ve progressed significantly in your career overseas and would like to return in a more senior role than you held when you left.

Avoid jargon, acronyms, and insider language; link emerging issues in U.S. higher education with the issues you’ve encountered abroad. Be knowledgeable about current hot topics.

Network, network, network.  Expanding your professional network is always critical and even more so in these competitive times. However, your overseas experience gives you special strengths—many U.S. institutions need help expanding their global reach and finding strategic leadership for international programs.

How to be a long-distance candidate. Remove as many barriers as possible for the search committee or the consultant. For example, don’t assume that a search committee will understand the size, type, and status of your overseas employer, or the meaning and organizational placement of your position. Make contact information for you and for your references clear and complete.

Think ahead about interviews; if you’ll be in U.S., mention that. Consider contributing to your travel costs, and if you’re willing to have a video or phone interview, say so. If you give your salary in a foreign currency, provide a dollar equivalent, along with equivalents for any unusual benefits.

Be patient. Be prepared for a protracted process in which communication seems inadequate. Do what you can to enhance that communication: Make sure you provide e-mail addresses through which you can be contacted quickly, as well as phone numbers with all the necessary dialing codes. Make it as easy as possible to call you.

Understand that returning home and finding the right position requires time and energy, but the process can pay off, not only in the right U.S. role for you, but in the opportunity to re-examine your personal and professional aspirations.

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CDO role is maturing

By: Administrator Posted: February 6, 2012

Guest post by Lucy Apthrop Leske and Oliver B. Tomlin, III

Today’s college or university Chief Diversity Officer (CDO) is more likely than not to have been at the forefront of establishing the diversity leadership role. In less than two decades, these groundbreakers have worked with senior leadership to move the CDO role from tactical to strategic. The successful diversity leader needs negotiating, diplomatic, communication, and analytical skills in addition to educational credentials, and CDOs continue to seek broader engagement and influence on their institutions’ strategic plans.

At Witt/Kieffer, we see increasingly that within our client organizations positions responsible for carrying out the strategic vision for diversity are at or near the C-suite level. The diversity role is changing and being filled by a new breed of leaders.

Last year, we decided it was time for a national CDO survey. We received responses from people who represented both public and private institutions. These provide a baseline of data regarding the CDO role, including what institutions can expect to see as they seek talented, skilled, experienced professionals to fill these important senior leadership roles. Here is what we learned:

1.      CDO reporting relationships, titles, and compensation vary from institution to institution. More than half of the respondents are members of their institution’s leadership team. Thirty-six percent report to the president and 20 percent report to the provost. Thirty-four percent report to other positions, including dean, chancellor and vice provost. Twenty percent hold an “assistant” title, such as assistant vice president, assistant dean, or assistant provost. Eighteen percent are director and 14 percent are vice chancellor or vice president. Compensation also varies considerably, from 27 percent earning less than $100,000 annually to 14 percent reporting annual income above $200,000.

2.      The word “diversity” is increasingly being replaced with “multicultural” on many campuses, reflecting a broader definition of inclusion and diversity that recognizes a more global society.

3.      CDOs come from a broad range of backgrounds and career tracks, including human resources, equal employment opportunity and academic affairs offices, student affairs, faculty, academic administration and enrollment/admissions. Other backgrounds include diversity positions in health care or the corporate sector, leadership consulting, diversity training, ministry and more.

4.      The work of today’s CDO is much more strategic and policy-oriented than in the past. Early CDOs focused on programming in student affairs, student recruitment or employment and affirmative action policies. Today’s universities increasingly recognize the strategic importance of a broadly inclusive campus community facilitated by a leader who is a member of the senior management team.

5.      The CDO’s reach into the organization is deepening. Responsibilities and functions assigned to today’s CDO include diversity strategic planning, diversity training, institutional research and/or campus climate surveys, multicultural student recruitment and financial aid policy, student programming, faculty recruitment and retention consulting and support, curriculum review, HR and affirmative action policies and diverse alumni relations.

6.      Most CDOs (69 percent) say that their presidents are engaged in their institution’s diversity strategic planning processes and diversity initiatives, and annual budgets for more than half exceed $300,000.

7.      Successful CDOs have specialized skill sets. Almost all of the respondents agreed on the important attributes a chief diversity officer must possess:

• the ability to influence the strategic plan of their institution (100 percent)

• the ability to engage senior administrative staff (99 percent)

• organizational leadership skills (99 percent)

• strategic planning and implementation (99 percent)

• public relations and communication skills (98 percent)

Our survey shows significant opportunity for growth in the field of diversity leadership, but as one foundation president summed it up: “There is still much work to be done in addressing issues related to diversity as a part of one’s career.” A more detailed overview of the CDO survey is available here.

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Diversity in healthcare leadership: Step 2: Board action

By: Administrator Posted: January 23, 2012

Guest post by Howard Jessamy

I recently described the need for health care organization boards to educate themselves on the value of assigning strategic importance to diversity in C-suite leadership. Now I’d like to address the proactive steps a board can take to advance diversity within the hospital’s leadership team.

  1. Define diversity broadly. Organizations need new ideas, new ways of thinking and new experiences to stimulate growth and that means going beyond ethnic diversity. Ask questions that lead to defining and documenting just what you mean by diversity.
  2. Make diverse leadership a strategic priority. Discuss diversity regularly in meetings. Insist that cultural sensitivity to patients and employees be an organization standard. Set diversity objectives and guidelines for the CEO to implement within specific timeframes. Encourage the dissemination of information about diversity programs to employees at all levels of the organization. Ask for regular reports on the organization’s acceptance of diversity by measuring retention of minority staff, surveying employee attitudes, and monitoring representation of people with diverse backgrounds in key functions and on key committees.
  3. Learn about the possibilities and pitfalls in diversity recruiting and retention. Take the opportunity to learn from the best practices of other organizations—both other health care providers and those in other industries. Review the demographics of your community and how they may have changed over time. Ask about the experience of your own diverse executives.
  4. Make diversity a part of formal succession planning and mentoring processes. In its simplest form, succession planning gives people opportunities to grow. Formal mentoring programs represent one of the most powerful tools an organization has for grooming future members of the C-suite. The board must understand that as the talent war heats up in health care, more and more organizations will need to look inside for promising leaders.
  5. Mandate diverse slates for leadership positions. Demonstrate that the board and senior leadership are serious about diversity recruiting. Network with diversity leadership organizations, e.g., Diversity in Health Management and the National Association of Health Services Executives, and attend minority-based conferences and events.
  6. Provide opportunities for minority leaders to gain exposure to the workings of the board. Future leaders need to know how to work with the board, be comfortable with trustees and understand governance responsibilities. Consider inviting up-and-comers to attend board meetings, make presentations to the board, and become staff participants in board committees.

Board members can exercise considerable influence by making the case for diversity as a competitive advantage; by insisting on an inclusive work environment; and by encouraging, educating, suggesting, inspiring and leading the way.

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Diversity in health care leadership: Step 1: Board member buy-in

By: Administrator Posted: January 3, 2012

Guest post by Howard Jessamy

Evidence suggests that organizations thrive when they embrace ethnic, cultural and racial diversity just as when they seek diversity of opinion, background, experience and knowledge. Other industries are way ahead of health care when it comes to diversity at the executive level. So what is the board’s responsibility for turning this situation around?

While the CEO is typically the only executive the board hires, it can influence other hiring decisions and increase the odds of success by making and keeping diversity a strategic priority. But it’s hard to address diversity in executive leadership ranks unless there are a variety of perspectives represented on the board. A recent survey by the hospital Research and Educational Trust of the American Hospital Association finds that the average hospital board has 13 members, of whom 13 percent are women and 9 percent are non-Caucasian. 

This suggests that the board’s first job is to convince itself that internal diversity is critical to organizational success.

Consider the experience of hospitals and health systems with diversity programs:

  • Organizations with significant and enduring representation of minorities in their top ranks are more likely to attract the most talented minority candidates for all C-suite positions.
  • Organizations whose operations demonstrate cultural competence at all levels are more likely to gain and hold the loyalties of diverse markets within their community.
  • Organizations whose employees see their value reflected in the composition of the leadership team are more likely to maximize effectiveness in all employees.
  • Organizations that engage physicians and other caregivers from a wide variety of backgrounds are more likely to provide the highest quality patient care.

And perhaps the most compelling argument for diverse leadership in health care lies in the competitive advantage that results from addressing and reflecting the cultural mix of the community the hospital serves. Diversity at the top helps hospitals attract, retain and represent a range of people, and improve the ability to understand and meet their needs. In other words, diversity leadership can result in better outcomes, improved efficiency, greater customer satisfaction among patients and physicians, and enhanced public image.

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Shhhh…presidential search in progress

By: Administrator Posted: December 19, 2011

Guest post by Dennis Barden

While it is still common for educational institutions in the final stages of a leadership search to bring candidates to campus for open visits—public institutions are often required by law to do so—some candidates are pushing back. The issue of transparent governance versus the candidate’s right to privacy is an old one but the current climate is shifting toward a more confidential process.

The reason for this is paralleled by a shift in the nature of the daily work of university presidents and chancellors.  With increasing responsibility for external relations—raising private funding, working with lawmakers on appropriations and earmarks, seeking alternative sources of support, creating partnerships and leverage—the value of academic leaders’ personal connections with key funders and other stakeholders has risen.

The candidate who fears being compromised at his or her current institution while considering another job opportunity may insist upon privacy until he or she is selected as “the” candidate. In cases where the recruiting institution cannot or will not accommodate a candidate’s desire for confidentiality, some superior candidates will opt to stay away.

Boards understand this and realize they are competing with a large number of institutions for a limited number of highly qualified candidates, including those candidates’ current employers.

There is no right or wrong answer to the question of an open interview protocol versus a confidential one. For some institutions, a state legislature may have preempted the choice. And even when confidentiality is an option, tradition often creates the expectation that faculty and students will be participants in the process—or at least fully informed of its progress.

Regardless of the approach the board chooses, it must discuss the issue of confidentiality at the outset of the search process. A quiet path to the highest-quality candidate pool could result in a noisy arrival for a new leader if the followers are not agreeable.

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Cultivate your staff as if they were your donors

By: Administrator Posted: December 13, 2011

Guest post by Jon Derek Croteau

Have you seen any openings for advancement staff lately?

Of course you have. Open advancement positions abound across the United States and as institutions in Europe, Asia, and Australia become more sophisticated seekers of philanthropy, they are recruiting talent in North America, too.

With supply and demand contributing to high turnover, nonprofits aren’t just losing employees.

1.      They’re losing money. According to business consultant William Bliss, the cost to replace an employee runs from 150 to 250 percent of that employee’s annual salary.

2.      They’re losing prospects. When a key advancement professional leaves, they take long-term personal and professional relationships with them.

3.      They’re losing effectiveness. Turnover contributes to falling morale which reduces satisfaction and engagement across an institution.

Imagine the development officer who is working on a million-dollar prospect and then leaves before the ask is made. That donor must be assigned a new prospect manager. Both have to establish rapport. Now, multiply this loss by the number of prospects in each of your advancement officer’s pools.

So how do you lock down this revolving door? You begin by recognizing that your human capital is critical to your institution’s success. Demonstrate employee value by fostering and cultivating your staff the way you do your donors. Put people first by asking for feedback, opinions, and ideas. Organizations that invest in their people are typically organizations with greater staff satisfaction. And lower turnover.

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Get It Right the First Time

By: Administrator Posted: December 5, 2011

Guest post by Carson F. Dye, FACHE

Your healthcare organization will make a significant investment of time and money when hiring executive leadership. Avoid disappointment and the high cost of hiring mistakes by following these six tips to improve your hiring process:

1.      Recognize potential for bias

Despite good intentions, subjective impressions and poor chemistry can silently derail the assessment process. A personal connection between interviewer and candidate based on shared geographic roots, academic background, or other arbitrary commonalities says nothing about how well the candidate fits the job.

2.      Move from the subjective to the objective

Develop a success profile for the position. Include prior experience, leadership style, education, and the competencies required to succeed in the job. Make the profile detailed and thorough and use it to identify candidates who bring translatable experience from an environment of similar size, scope, and complexity.

3.      Create a competency model

Describe the behaviors a candidate needs to successfully execute the responsibilities of the position. A useful model defines each competency, determines the behaviors that indicate proficiency, and describes the outcomes. For example, conflict management could be defined: “Is not afraid of conflict; sees conflict as opportunity; uses strong listening skills to get to the heart of conflicts; smoothly moves disputes toward resolution; finds common ground; is persuasive in gaining the cooperation of others.”

Competency models provide a template for interview questions and a common language with which to compare candidates.

4.      Craft behavioral questions

Generally, interview questions fall into four types: fact-finding, projective, self-reflective, and behavioral.

Fact-finding questions often serve to confirm information provided on a resume or available outside the interview. Projective questions do not provide information relevant to potential performance. Self-reflective questions about leadership style or strengths and weaknesses tend to produce answers with little validity.

On the other hand, situation-based questions (“what would you do if…?”) and evidence-based questions (“what did you do when…?”) reveal behaviors. They help paint a truthful and detailed picture of how a candidate handles challenges.

5.      Develop your interviewers

Expert interviewers are made, not born. They need to study and practice good technique. Organizations can give interviewers a leg up by crafting behavioral questions. Then, depending on candidate responses, interviewers can probe for additional details; inquiring about what caused a specific event, how a conflict manifested itself, or what lessons were learned.

Similarly, when discussing accomplishments, interviewers should explore how a project originated, what role the candidate played, and what strategies were used to achieve success. This information aids the evaluation of leadership style and how well the candidate fits with the culture of the hiring organization.

6.      Reap the rewards of a formalized assessment methodology

Design your process with input from human resources management, executives to whom the new hire would report, subordinates, the board of directors, and physician stakeholders. Some organizations find it valuable to involve an executive search consultant to help evaluate and define needs.

By seeking and relying on data rather than superficial impressions, organizations can improve their odds of selecting the right leader for the job the first time.

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The board’s role in CEO transition—Part 2

By: Administrator Posted: November 28, 2011

Guest post by Karen Otto

My last post focused on the lead-up to a health care CEO transition. Now let’s look at the actual transfer of power.

Any transition plan should approach transferring authority in a way that minimizes organizational disruption and maintains employee, physician, and community good will. Once a new CEO has been chosen, it is important to let that person lead with minimal interference. For example, if the incumbent has a continuing role with the organization, handle all logistical details, such as office space, well in advance of the new leader’s arrival.

A final farewell to the outgoing CEO can celebrate achievements and serve to publicly mark the transition. Celebrating a long-standing leader’s contributions is entirely appropriate, but decisions about the size of the fanfare should be based on the CEO’s reputation within the organization and the broader community, rather than on board members’ personal feelings.

When a hospital or health system transitions from one leader to the next, it’s a great opportunity for organizational reflection and renewal. But that potential will only be realized if the board is prepared with a transition plan that allows for a graceful and honorable exit for the outgoing leader and a clear, positive entry for the new CEO. When the board confidently controls the transition, the person taking the helm will be fully equipped and empowered to move the organization forward.

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The board’s role in CEO transition—Part 1

By: Administrator Posted: November 21, 2011

Guest post by Karen Otto

When a health care CEO leaves—whether the departure is expected or unplanned—the board needs to be in control. A transition in leadership can be a turbulent time. Organizations can avoid the turmoil by putting a transition plan in place proactively.

Start here and now

Identify a transition team. Which board members—the executive committee or the whole board—will be responsible for the transition process?

Revisit your leadership profile

Organizations grow and change, and the transition team should review ideal leadership qualifications every few years. Seek the input of critical stakeholders as part of the process. With a defined CEO profile in place, the board is less likely to be caught off guard by an unanticipated leadership departure, and the transition to a new CEO will advance more easily if stakeholders have had a voice.

Build a succession pipeline

While it is the CEO’s responsibility to develop the hospital’s or system’s future leaders, the board needs to take the reins in evaluating candidates—internal as well as external. Failure to address a leadership transition plan leaves a board ill-equipped to fulfill its governance obligations and can result in undue influence on the process by the outgoing CEO.

Manage the separation

The board’s primary responsibility is the current and future health of the organization. Ensuring a smooth separation is an important contributing goal. Once the board is made aware of the CEO’s intended departure (ideally, two or more years in advance), it should act quickly to communicate expectations for the transition.

Provide an outline of the process and the incumbent’s role in meeting priorities until his or her departure, including a defined timeframe for providing the new leader with background on the organization’s operations, finances, strategy, etc. This makes it clear that it is the board and not the CEO that is in charge of the process.

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Not-for-profit healthcare lures top candidates with support for relocation

By: Administrator Posted: November 7, 2011

Guest post by Elaina Spitaels Genser

One ripple effect of a tough economic climate is that organizations struggle to land top candidates when selling a residence and relocating to a new community are issues. In response, hiring organizations are becoming more creative offering relocation benefits to for C-suite and vice presidential candidates. Here are some relocation options that have been used successfully by not-for-profit healthcare organizations:

•        House-hunting trips. Covering the costs associated with two trips of up to four days for a candidate and his or her spouse is becoming a standard allowance.

•        Movement of household goods. Hiring organizations are footing the bill for relocation costs including packing, storage, and unpacking. Most are grossing up these allowances to avoid negative tax impact on the new hire.

•        Sign-on bonus. Ranging from $20,000 to $100,000, sign-on bonuses are often tied to longevity at the hiring organization with a prorated portion to be repaid should the candidate resign voluntarily within a defined window of employment.

•        Extended living subsidies. The single biggest change since the economic downturn has been the lengthening of temporary housing subsidies from six to 12 months with options up to 36 months if the individual’s home does not sell in that time period.

•        Travel allowances. Organizations are covering travel costs for six months to a year for new hires to visit their families who haven’t yet relocated.

•        On-going housing allowances. In higher-cost-of-living areas, we’ve seen an increase in housing assistance programs. These include a set monthly allowance for up to five years.

•        Bridge loans. These loans of up to $250,000 allow a new hire to buy a new principal residence even if the former home hasn’t sold. Generally, bridge loans are repaid in full 30 days after the former residence is sold.

•        Mortgage assistance programs. Longer-term loans are made available at a lower rate of interest that is repaid upon the future sale of the new home.

•        Real estate commissions and closing costs. Increasingly, organizations are paying full real estate commission costs so that the full value of the home can be realized by the seller. We are also seeing clients pay loan origination fees of up to one percent of the loan value of the new residence, as well as other costs including appraisals, city and county taxes, title insurance, title transfer, etc.

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