Talent Mgmt WP 9NOV10 2C

8/7/2019 Talent Mgmt WP 9NOV10 2C

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Talent management:

a crystal ball into yourorganizations futureWill Powley

GE Healthcare


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What will your organizationsnext generation of leaderslook like? With a generation of

baby boomers approachingretirement age, the reinsare about to be handed toa new, younger set of nowmanagers and supervisors.Will they be prepared to

assume the responsibilitiesof their forebearers?

As healthcare organizations face

mounting pressure to maximize

efciency and minimize costs, they are

increasingly taking cues from other

industries on effective operation and

administration. But one critical area is

often overlooked: talent management,

a rigorous, structured process necessary

to identify and nurture the leaders

of tomorrow.

Adapting to the changes and challenges

of healthcare reform means healthcare

organizations are faced with the

perfect opportunitynot to mention

the economic impetusto upgrade to

a more rigorous and consistent talent

management process. This includesevaluating both employee performance

(i.e., what they have accomplished) and

employee values (i.e., how their work was

accomplished). Moreover, this process

should be performed, at a minimum, on

an annual basis. Although it takes effort

and time, investing more strongly in your

employees will yield ample returnsand

failing to do so may result in nancial

losses or even obsolescence.

Consequences of neglectingtalent managementUnfortunately, healthcare organizations are far less likely

than top companies in other industries to have formal

talent management processes in place. The fast pace of

healthcare engenders an environment in which the natural

state is reaction, not proactive preparation. Recent data

warn, however, that healthcare organizations will soon have

no choice but to confront the issues arising from insufcient

talent management. According to Press Ganey Associates

2010 Hospital Pulse Report: Employee and Nurse Perspectives

on American Health Care,1 45% of hospital employees say

theyre disengaged, disempowered, and unhappy with their

jobs. The survey, which garnered responses from more than

235,000 employees at nearly 400 U.S. hospitals, pinpoints a

generation gap when it comes to employee satisfaction; both

Gen Y and Gen X employees report low job satisfaction, putting

them at retention risk. The report also notes that organizations

providing the best environments for their employees receive

higher satisfaction scores from patients.

The nancial impact of neglecting to properly foster

organizational talent can be staggering. In hospitals, the

median length of transition between a successor being named

and that successor assuming his or her new role approaches

a full year.2 The price of identifying and hiring an outside

replacement for a position can mount quickly. Setting aside

costs associated purely with recruitment, other factors that

contribute to the economic impact of hiring a leader from

the outside include:

Overtime logged by employees in roles adjacent to the

open position

Lost productivity from the team or department absent its leader

The new hires signing bonus

In total, the economic impact of hiring a C-level executive

from the outside can approach $70,000. And the costs dont

end there: research by Equilar Inc., Redwood Shores, CA,

indicates that in 2007 and 2008, the median compensation

for an external hire was 65% higher than that for an internally

promoted individual, in part because executives hired from the

outside want a higher salary to compensate for the risks and

costs associated with leaving one organization for another. Yet

2 of 5 new corporate CEOs fail in the rst 18 months, according

to theHarvard Business Review

.

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Assess all levels

Talent assessment should not be limited to C-level positions,

but should be a systemwide initiative aimed at building strong

managers, directors, and supervisors, and shoul

start as early as an individuals rst year on the

job. Smaller projects and assignments can be

used to assess the potential of employees who

are young in the organization, helping leaders

identify those individuals on whom to focus thei

development efforts.

Talent management should be a highly visible

organizational initiative, with high-potential

individuals and their managers included in the

feedback loop. This transparency motivates

employees to work harder and encourages

talented top performers to remain with anorganization where they feel valued and

appreciated. This is particularly critical for healthcares at-risk

Gen X and Gen Y employees, who, according to a May 2010

Harvard Business Review article,4 grow when leaders are

recognizing early and often, explicitly linking their individual

goals to corporate ones, and letting them help solve the

companys biggest problems.

Current leaders should not be content with accepting the

assessment of an individuals job performance delivered by his

or her direct superior. Instead, the process of assessing talent

should be diversied to ensure no diamonds in the rough

are overlooked. Assessment interviews, testing by assessment

experts and attendance at leadership programs are all means

by which current leaders can both verify and attain a deeper

understanding of an employees performance evaluations.

Include all levels

Talent assessment also should not be limited to the human

resource department. Instead, the process should be owned

by all levels of management, informed by input from individua

employees and supported by C-level personnel. The human

resource department should provide tools and guidelines

for talent review and management, supporting instead of

superintending efforts by current leadership.

As the Baby Boom Generation approaches retirement age and

younger generations of workers cope with the apathy and

restlessness engendered by a lack of engagement with their

positions, employee attrition will become a problem healthcare

organizations literally cannot afford to

ignore. Now, more than ever, it is critical that

healthcare organizations develop effectivetalent management processes to ll the

leadership roles of tomorrow.

Steps to effectivetalent managementAs we look at developing talent within an

organization, it is important to look at how

this activity links with the operations of

the health system. Talent identication,succession planning, and organization design

assessments, which encompass the leadership

and talent review box (see Figure 1), are directly linked to how

work gets accomplished, how organizational strategy is dened

and activated, and how a health system meets its nancial

commitments each year. If health system C-teams are serious

about improving operating margin, revenue, and efciency,

leaders must make an investment and commitment to spending

20% to 30% of their time developing their people in a formal

process such as the leadership and talent review.

Develop a cross-organizationsuccession plan

Beginning with high-risk positions, managers should build

a pool of candidates suited to occupy these roles should they

become vacant. This approach represents a departure from

the traditional practice of grooming a single candidate

for a higher-level role. Instead, managers should look for

individuals with leadership skills who will be capable of moving

laterally as well as vertically within the organization, and helpthese leaders of tomorrow develop competencies in new

areas to better prepare them for the future. This is particularly

critical in healthcare; hospitals have a tendency to buttonhole

talented employees in limited roles, when in fact the core

competencies that serve them well in their current positions

can often be leveraged elsewhere.

Leaders must make

an investment and

commitment to

spending 20% to 30%

of their time

with developing

their people.


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important to note that at-risk employees are not just those

who might leave the organization, either for another position

or to retire; top talents likely to be promoted to higher position

are also retention risks.

Predictive workforce planning

Although its often more efcient and effective for organizationto promote internal employees, there are circumstances unde

which hiring from the outside represents the best possible

option. Instead of beginning the search for outside candidates

when a position becomes vacant, current leaders should

anticipate which roles are at a high retention risk and conduct

ongoing exploratory interviews with potential external hires.

Establishing a pipeline of qualied outside individuals saves

both time and money in the event that an internal candidate

cant be identied for a position. Additionally, the process of

conducting exploratory interviews can help leaders identifyadditional qualities and competencies theyre seeking from

internal candidates, fostering even more thorough talent

development within the organization.

Envisioning the futureAs the Baby Boom Generation approaches retirement age

and Generations X and Y begin to dominate the workforce,

healthcare organizations that neglect talent management will

nd themselves behind the curve, risking both nancial securit

and employee satisfaction. Those organizations that adjust to

the opportunities and demands of healthcare reform, as well a

the mounting importance of actively engaging new generation

of employees, will attract and retain top talent.

Cultivating the leaders of tomorrow is critical to ensuring no

management position at any level stands vacant, and requires

current leaders to devote larger proportions of their time and

energy to developing and managing their staffs. Investing in

future leadership will yield enormous returnsnot only in the

expense saved by having a pipeline of qualied candidatesat the ready when positions become open, but also in the

retention of talented employees whose potential matches

their performance, enabling current leaders to see with

certainty the future of their organizations.

Building a comprehensiveorganization chart

An issue faced by organizations across all industriesbut one

increasingly pertinent to healthcare as its nancial, regulatory,

and technological climates all rapidly evolveis the inability to

predict future leadership structure. Assessing the organizational

chart for gaps in leadership helps identify where new positions

may be needed, and underscores the importance of developing

talent who can step into more than one role if required. Thisapproach not only ensures a pipeline of viable candidates will

exist for any potential leadership position that may arise, but

it also enables organizations to better reward high-performing

employees by moving them into higher-level positions as they

open up instead of reserving them for specic roles that may

not be vacated for years.

A timely example is healthcare IT. Healthcare reform aims to

accelerate the adoption of healthcare IT, offering hospitals

the necessary funding to modernize their processes through

the implementation of technologically complex information

systems. Of course, most hospitals dont currently have the

organizational infrastructure to support these IT projects;

building a good talent development strategy around the IT

department will be critical, and this will include identifying rising

stars both within and outside the organization. Effective talent

management processes could have prepared hospitals for

this technological revolution, and implementing them now will

ensure organizations are prepared for the changes to come.

An effective organizational chart doesnt merely map anorganizations chain of command, but it also includes detailed

information on each individual, including how long he or she

has held his or her current position; the complexity of the

position; and the positions key deliverables. Assessing this

information will enable managers to identify both leadership

gaps and positions that are at a high retention risk, two

areas on which to focus their talent management efforts. Its

The process of assessing talent should be

diversied to ensure no diamonds in the

rough are overlooked.


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Mission/vision

Stategic imperatives

Stategicoperating plan

1-year operatingplan/budget

Goals andobjectives

Leadershiptalent review

Performancereview

Values andbehaviors

Quarterly/monthlyreviews

Leadershipdevelopment

PerformanceImprovement

Talent management components Leadership and talent review is an integral part of the talent management components in the model.

Figure 1: Model for Organizational Strategy and Talent Management

Getting started

Our GE Healthcares Performance Solutions experts

recommend three steps to launching a rigorous, effective talent

management program:

1. Build the road map. Assemble your executive team for a dayor two for a strategic leadership working session evaluating

the current and future state of the organizations operating

calendar, management systems, talent development

program and processes.

2. Create the tools and templates. Design and implement

an annual talent assessment process, aligned with your

organizations operating cycle. The templates are a guide

to having robust dialogue about each key talent.

3. Keep up the momentum. Ensure follow-up, coaching, and

consistency of the talent review program. Remember thatyou are initiating a cultural change, and let leaders and

their employees know this process is an integral part of you

organizations operations.


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Author

Will Powley, Senior Consulting Manager

with Performance Solutions. He has

imparted the GE talent assessment

approach to more than 15 healthcare

system clients across the United States,

applying his knowledge of human resource

processes, continuous improvement,organization design, leadership curriculum,

customized design, leadership competency,

and values development to solve complex

human capital problems. Leading human

resource teams in three different GE industries,

Will brings diverse experience to his

work with healthcare leaders. He can be

reached at [email protected].

References

1Press Ganey Associates. 2010 Hospital Pulse Report: Employee and Nurse

Perspectives on American Health Care. Press Ganey Associates, 2010; accessed

online at http://www.pressganey.com/galleries/default-le/2010_Hospital_PulseReport_

Employee_Nurse.pdf on 8/16/10.

2Garman, A and Tyler, JL. CEO Succession Planning in Freestanding U.S. Hospitals:

Final Report. American College of Healthcare Executives, October 27, 2004; accessed

online at http://www.ache.org/pubs/research/SuccessionRpt04.pdf on 8/16/10.

3Ciampa, D. Almost Ready: How Leaders Move Up. Harvard Business Review, January 1,

2005; accessed online at http://hbr.org/product/almost-ready-how-leaders-move-up/an/

R0501D-PDF-ENG on 8/16/2010.

4Martin, J and Schmidt, C. How To Keep Your Top Talent. Harvard Business Review,

May 1, 2010; accessed online at http://hbr.org/2010/05/how-to-keep-your-top-talent/

ar/1 on 8/16/10.

2010 General Electric Company All rights reserved.

GE and GE Monogram are trademarks of General Electric Company.

GE Healthcare, a division of General Electric Company

GE Healthcare3000 North Grandview Blvd.

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PS-BR038-10.10

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Talent Mgmt WP 9NOV10 2C